Meeting News - April 7, 2008 - (Page 19)

Insider Report: New England Esneault: Before, we were typically doing groups of 150 to 300. Now we can have groups of over 1,000 people, even 2,000 people, with 1,200 to 1,300 room nights rather than 600. Rather than just serving regional corporate groups and associations, we’re now in the position to attract national groups that we couldn’t before. Perry: It will allow larger groups. The expansion will get us to 1,100 rooms per night. Most meeting groups are now Sunday to Thursday, but now we can start marketing into 2010 up to 350 or 400 nights on weekends. It opens up all new markets for us, particularly incentives and national associations. position to offer that. We haven’t seen a decline in the market yet. Perry: We haven’t seen a downturn, and I think it actually could work in our favor. Two-thirds of the U.S. population is east of the Mississippi, and we could ﬁnd people wanting to stay closer to home. If managers can’t justify the cost of sending groups to primary cities, we could be The new 919-room hotel tower at Mohegan Sun is part of the the option for them. Q Do you think the downturn in the economy will affect group sales at your property? property’s massive Project Horizon expansion. Q Is group business becoming more or less important to you? Esneault: Foxwoods offers good value compared to city hotels—no parking fees or resort fees and room prices considerably lower than New York or Boston. I think companies will be looking for places that offer real value, and Foxwoods is in a good Esneault: Group business is becoming more important because with MGM Grand, we now have more than twice our previous meeting space. MGM Grand is mostly going to be focused on conventions. Perry: I believe group business will become more important because with the gaming industry growing in the region, and Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun expanding, we need to increase the mix. We do have a bigger need to ﬁll rooms with group business during the week. www.meetingnews.com April 7, 2008 MeetingNews 19 http://www.GoNewport.com http://www.GoNewport.com http://www.meetingnews.com

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