Group Demand is Back, according to Jan Freitag, SR Vice President, Global Development at Smith travel Research.
The news is positive. The U.S. hotel industry posted a 5.3% increase in occupancy for the first quarter of 2011, compared to 2010. And for both hoteliers and meeting planners, the hot findings was that much of the growth is from group-based business where group-based occupancy was up 7.8% (year over year). U.S. hotels are also reporting that group based RevPAR was up 10.3%.
What this means is that meeting are coming back. According to Freitag, there is strong demand for hotels from groups as well as leisure travelers.
A note of caution though, meeting planners are booking later, short-term or in the quarter for the quarter. Another trend reported is that companies are meeting differently. Rather than having one big meeting, many companies are have three smaller and shorter meetings in regional destinations. This is good for second tier markets.
Source: Convention South Magazine
A note of caution though, meeting planners are booking later, short-term or in the quarter for the quarter. Another trend reported is that companies are meeting differently. Rather than having one big meeting, many companies are have three smaller and shorter meetings in regional destinations. This is good for second tier markets.
Source: Convention South Magazine
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