Prevue September-October 2016 - 54
IRF/Prevue Study
3. Challenges in the Planner-Hotel Relationship
For planners, hotel fees were at the top of the list. Many referred to
being "nickeled and dimed"; as one put it: "Hotels need to train their
sales managers to fully understand hard and soft costs. It costs the
hotel pennies on the dollar, compared to what it actually costs the
client, for the same service."
Those fees can be the tipping point for associations. Said one
planner respondent. "When a hotel is able to negotiate things like
parking fees, resort fees and internet fees that would normally add
to the room cost, we are more able to work with them. We almost
always end up spending the money we saved on F&B, AV or other
amenities, but it helps to keep the room cost down, especially when
guests are paying for their own rooms."
E-RFPs have also de-personalized the site selection experience
and rank high on the list of frustrations for both sides. Planners
feel hotels often don't review them thoroughly, take the time to
understand their needs, or reach out personally to see if there is any
flexibility on dates or other concessions that can be made before
responding with a no.
"Call me 'Old School' and inefficient, but I prefer to send
customized event details to an actual human rather than making my
meeting details fit into a pre-determined set of boxes and sending
it off into the abyss," said Meghan Schilt, CMP, events manager,
King & Spaulding. "Not to mention that in this current environment,
meetings are being boiled down to numbers. In some cities, to give
my meeting a fighting chance at getting preferred space, I need to
rely on relationships."
Response times are a complaint on both sides, but the biggest
issue is the breakdown in communication. "The hotels I often give
Top Concerns Over
the Next 2-3 Years:
PLANNERS:
safety & security concerns * budget cuts * finding
quality people * the seller's market * response times
* accuracy of requests * increasing costs * lack of
creativity from vendors and hoteliers * shorter lead
times * lack of availability at preferred properties
HOTELS:
lack of buyer loyalty * clients' budgets are not
increasing * lack of clear communication and vision
from the clients * international problems such as
terrorism and health concerns * unions * increasing
number of RFPs * the acceleration of change and the
need to keep up * lack of capacity
54 | prevuemeetings.com
TOP 5 Challenges:
PLANNERS
➊ Fees (internet, resort fees, AV, etc)
➋ Salespeople who have not been to the requested
property or know it well
➌ Lack of loyalty and acknowledgement for repeat
business
➍ E-RFP systems
➎ Delegating the site inspection, making it too long or
too short, or not customizing it to the program
HOTELS
➊ E-RFP systems
➋ Lack of information to showcase creative F&B
offerings
➌ Not allowing us to delegate the site inspection, or
not leaving the adequate amount of time or not
giving us enough information to customize the
inspection for the program
➍ Fees (internet, resort fees, AV, etc)
➎ Lack of loyalty to the salesperson or program
the business to are the ones who pick up the phone to discuss
flexibility, priorities and key objectives-those elements aren't always
made clear in an RFP," said John C. Touchette, CMP, vice president
global meetings, events and trade shows, Raytheon.
4. Issues in Execution
The pressures on both sides-planners and hoteliers-are
enormous, as was revealed in the comments they shared when
asked about the top issues affecting their ability to do their jobs.
Much of this has to do with the pace of change and with
technology replacing relationships and roles. Overriding all concerns
for planners is the seller's market. Supply and demand has always
influenced the buyer-hotelier relationship, but after having given
hotels business through a lengthy recession, some planners feel
they are being treated unfairly now.
"I need to see more flexibility and assistance in placing my
meetings. It's a seller's market right now, but that will change and
they will need the business. If a hotel partner is helpful right now,
that planner will remember him or her when the economy changes,"
said one planner.
http://www.prevuemeetings.com
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Prevue September-October 2016
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Prevue September-October 2016 - T1
Prevue September-October 2016 - T2
Prevue September-October 2016 - No label
Prevue September-October 2016 - 2
Prevue September-October 2016 - 3
Prevue September-October 2016 - 4
Prevue September-October 2016 - 5
Prevue September-October 2016 - 6
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Prevue September-October 2016 - S1
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