Another August, another Hotel Data Conference arrives.
In its 15th year, Hotel Data Conference will commence at a new venue, the Grand Hyatt Nashville, from Aug. 9-11.
We are so excited to see familiar and new faces there. Don't be afraid to say hi!
While there, I will be moderating a panel titled "Revenge of the Groups." And let me say, it's a rock star lineup of panelists.
We will have Caribe Royale Orlando's Amaury Piedra, Thompson Nashville's Lisa Bush, HVMG's Richard Jones and Knowland's Patricia Shea.
We'll talk about the behavior of group travelers today, who they are and why they're booking. We will dive into strategies for customizing group offerings and how event management teams can best support that level of customization. We'll discuss layering groups in each day with the broader guest mix, finding the most profitable groups and which markets are recovering the quickest.
It's a lot to cover. But like I said, these panelists are seasoned pros. My hope is that you all walk away from this panel with takeaways that you can implement at your own companies and properties.
Before we head into the panel next Thursday, let's review some key trends that we've been noticing in our reporting here at Hotel News Now on group business.
Firstly, group demand is surging, but it's not even.
In terms of what the major brands are experiencing, Marriott International's Senior Vice President of Global Sales Tammy Routh said during a recent webinar that her company is reporting a roughly 25% increase, compared to 2019, in demand from smaller corporations booking meetings and events.
Executives this week on Marriott's second-quarter earnings call said group revenue in the U.S. and Canada grew 10% year year. It's expected to remain healthy through the end of the year.
“Group revenue for full-year 2024 was pacing up 14% year over year at the end of the quarter, an improvement from up 9% just three months prior,” President and CEO Tony Capuano told investors on the call.
Routh said Marriott is leaning into hybrid pricing, which helps protect top accounts and markets with static rates as her team negotiates requests for proposals for multiple hotels.
“This idea of combining a small piece of static, and the rest of it being some form of dynamic is very exciting for us. I know it’s hard to make this change, especially when for years you have certain kinds of metrics that you can measure year over year with cost savings, cost avoidance,” she said. “Something to keep in mind in the hotel industry … we cannot charge more than the market bears. Our [global distribution system] or our websites, they show you our retail rates, our public discounts and our loyalty rates. They’re out there for you to benchmark … it's [the] traveler's choice, and if we’re overpriced, they’re going to choose someone else.”
Executives at real estate investment trust Pebblebrook Hotel Trust said total revenue for third quarter is up by 5.9% with combined group and transient rooms nights increased by 7.9% and average daily rate up by 1.9%, Chairman and CEO Jon Bortz said during his company's second-quarter earnings call.
“We believe this revenue pace advantage is likely to shrink over the course of the quarter, and some transient and group [travelers] have likely booked further out, potentially having less to book on a shorter-term basis,” he added.
Next, hoteliers also need to be aware of meeting planners right-sizing their offerings in company travel programs.
Technology company HP, for example, has nearly 30,000 regular travelers. Adam Turetsky, global hotel and meetings category strategist at HP, said his team had to part ways with some hotels that have been in his company's travel program for years to align with new travel patterns.
Additionally, a trend that has recently stuck is consumers willing to downgrade chain scales. Many groups are now opting for select-service hotels that are more price-friendly.
It's clear from these current trends that there's great recovery occurring in group business, but there's certain nuances driving hoteliers to reevaluate strategies, especially once the shoulder season hits.
I'm most looking forward to hearing about the trends each panelist is seeing at their respective properties. What's great about this panel is each hotelier represents a property/company different from the other.
Piedra's hotel has 1,337 rooms while Bush's hotel has 224 rooms. Jones' company has a diverse portfolio of hotels. Shea is an expert in customer engagement, sales and supporting partnerships with current and prospective customers.
They all bring their own unique and valuable insights.
I want to emphasize the word valuable. We know that customers today need and desire value out of their stays. If hotels aren't equipped with strategies that create value for all stakeholders, then success just isn't in the cards.
I hope you join us on Thursday, Aug. 10, at 1:30 p.m. for some valuable insights on group business.
If you have anything in specific you'd like to hear from us during the panel, send me an email or connect with me on LinkedIn.
The opinions expressed in this column do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Hotel News Now or CoStar Group and its affiliated companies. Bloggers published on this site are given the freedom to express views that may be controversial, but our goal is to provoke thought and constructive discussion within our reader community. Please feel free to contact an editor with any questions or concern.