Meeting News - June 16, 2008 - (Page 7)

Inside the Meetings Industry Edited by William Ng william.ng@nielsen.com Hotel Demand Will Stay Buoyant as Economy Sags Energy prices, slow growth in new rooms will keep rates from falling for next 12 months New York—Despite research suggesting that the majority of American companies have implemented or will soon implement stricter spending caps for their meetings and transient business travel, hotel room demand through mid-2009 will remain strong enough that rates in many markets won’t decline, or even level off. This assessment came to the fore during a May 13 webinar for hoteliers and planners hosted by Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International (HSMAI). Bob Gilbert, CEO of HSMAI, noted that for all the current economic turmoil, hotel room demand in North America is down just 0.6 percent year-to-date versus 2007. What’s more, average daily rate is actually up more than 3 percent yearto-date in each of these hotel segments: luxury, upper upscale, upscale, and midscale with food and beverage. Mike Fegley, vice president of global sales for the Americas division of InterContinental Hotels Group, attributed rising rates in the face of lesser demand to energy prices as well as to the fact that growth in new hotel rooms slowed over the past two years. And, despite the fact that more new rooms will come on line in the next two years than in these past two years, Fegley stressed that meeting planners still should not expect to see the type of broad buyer’s market that existed from 2001 to 2004. “It took [the hotel industry] five years to fully recover from the effects of the dot-com bust plus the terrorist acts of 2001,” Fegley said,“We have to do our very best not to cut our rates.” And that might not be difficult: Economic growth for the second half of 2008 is predicted to rebound, while InterContinental is “actually seeing a bit of growth in volume over the next 12 months” for the small and midsize meetings it generally handles, Fegley added. Another factor propping up current hotel demand, and which did not exist during the last economic downturn, is the large number of international travelers coming to North America, particularly to large cities. On the flip side, Fegley noted that some second- and third-tier cities don’t benefit from this trend, and thus will offer good value for meeting groups through mid-2009. From the buyer’s perspective, Cindy D’Aoust, senior VP of strategic meetings management for Maritz Travel in St. Louis, highlighted the recent changes some organizations have made to their meetings strategies. They include reducing the number of attendees; piggybacking meetings to gain negotiating leverage’ simplifying logistics’ and reducing travel for some employees; and using technology to deliver sessions to remote attendees. She added that implementing measurable green meeting initiatives may be time-consuming for planners, but it is inevitable. —Robert Carey New Paper: Online Booking Evolves for Both Planners, Hotels Washington, DC—The Hotel Electronic Distribution Network Association, with travel industry research company PhoCusWright Inc., published in mid-May a white paper entitled “Enabling the Online Marketplace for Meetings: A Toolkit.” The report, created with supporting data from PhoCusWright’s research, describes the balance of interests between customers’ needs for visibility, control, and access to preferred programs versus hoteliers’ needs to optimize revenue and control distribution of availability of guest rooms and meeting space. The report noted that the opportunity for automation in searching, comparing, and acquiring space and services for small meetings has never been more compelling. Also, HEDNA’s Group Committee found that while technology already allows planners to book meeting space, group room nights, and manage attendees in real time, it is not yet possible to do all of it in a single online session. Also examined is the question of how fast online migration will be, and how the balance of interests among corporate and leisure group meeting planners, travel distribution systems, and hotels will evolve. The white paper will help hotels assess readiness for deployment of an online marketing strategy offering real-time booking of meeting facilities, simple catering, audiovisual equipment and guest rooms. It also serves as a practical resource for planning an online booking solution for small groups and simple meetings of up to 75 attendees. For more information about the white paper, visit www.hedna.org. r —RC June 16, 2008 MeetingNews 7 ASAE Sets Membership Record on Strong New Recruitment in April Targets small associations and ‘rising stars’ Washington, DC—ASAE & the Center for Association Leadership announced a 15-percent increase in membership this April, with 2,028 new members joining since the beginning of 2008. This brings ASAE & the Center’s total membership to more than 23,000—the highest it has been since April 2003. ASAE President and CEO John Graham chalked up the success to a “heightened awareness of our core products and services and new membership offers for small staff associations and young professionals. We’re going to focus on exceeding these new members’ expectations and getting them engaged in their profession and in ASAE & the Center.” A new marketing strategy allows CEOs from associawww.meetingnews.com tions with five or fewer employees to join at the regular rate of $295 and extend special group member benefits to the rest of their staffs for a fixed rate of $150. These benefits include full access to the ASAE & the Center website, including hundreds of online professional models and samples; the Knowledge Center, ASAE & the Center’s members-only library; discounts on learning programs; and access to ASAE & the Center’s community listservs. Also, a $100 “young professional” membership is offered to rising stars under 30 years of age who are beginning their careers in the association field; these receive access to online learning programs, discounts to professional development opportunities, invitations to special career development events, and access to the Emerging Leaders online community. An industry partner young professional rate of $195 is available to industry partners under 30. —Terri Hardin http://www.hedna.org http://www.meetingnews.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Meeting News - June 16, 2008

Meeting News - June 16, 2008
Contents
What’s Up @ MeetingNews.com
Inside the Meetings Industry
Social Scene
People Making News
Technology
MN Webcast Report
Advertisers Index
Live from the Forum

Meeting News - June 16, 2008