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Ten Meeting Industry Trends for 2003 - Observed by Benchmark Resorts, Hotels & Conference Centers

 
THE WOODLANDS, TEXAS, January 2, 2003 � Benchmark Hospitality, which manages 26 award-winning resorts, conference centers and hotels in the United States, Canada and Japan, has released �Ten Meeting Industry Trends for 2003,� as observed by its properties. (See 2002 Trends)

Trend #1  Technology Rules

Demand for T1 lines, wireless Internet, and high-speed Internet access in guestrooms is becoming the norm for meeting planners today. 

Customers are requiring more advanced technology than ever before but are less willing to pay upgrade charges for it.   LCD and data projectors are rapidly becoming the new �standard� for meetings. 

Trend #2  Meetings Are Strategic and Higher Level

Today�s meetings are strategic, participants are at higher level within their organizations than previously, and the content across industries is focused on top-line revenue growth, new business planning and strategic marketing.

Additional key meeting content issues are mergers and operational savings.  When meetings are for training, they are highly focused.  Fewer product introduction, sales, and incentive meetings are occurring today. 

Demand for teambuilding activities is mixed, with some properties experiencing a continued interest in this training, and for others it has fallen off completely.  When teambuilding programs do occur, they are more basic than in the past, and focus primarily on building camaraderie among participants.

Trend #3  Shrinking Meeting Budgets

Companies have trimmed meeting budgets significantly, and in some cases have cut drastically. 

Additionally, meeting planners are apprehensive to commit to conference space early, as they are well aware it is a buyers' market.  They are negotiating price accordingly and making buy decisions at the last minute. 

Trend #4  Intense Pricing Pressure

Pricing pressure is intense.  This originates from customers as well as from more traditional hotels and resorts competing for conference business, especially during valley periods. 

This is generating creative responses � packages completely customized for the client. City-based conference centers are responding with the "Urban Meeting Package,� designed to enable conferees to explore the vast array of dining options available within a center city setting.   Resort properties are integrating teambuilding or recreation options, such as spa treatments or golf, to add value.

Trend #5  Shorter and More Cost Efficient Meetings

Meetings booked for 2003 are occurring on a less frequent basis than previously,  and in many cases are slightly shorter in length.  Customers are requesting to begin or 
end a conference with a day package, shortening the meeting and enabling further cost savings. 

Conferences tend to be more regional in nature to enable automobile transportation, generating air travel cost savings. 

Trend #6  Websites Excel in developing New Business

Property Websites are important marketing tools today, especially for developing new business relationships and generating Requests for Proposals. 

Email is a preferred means of soliciting and delivering meeting proposals for first-time customers.  For long-term customers, the telephone and one-on-one conversations remain the preferred means of communication.

Trend #7  Booking Pace Shows Improvement

New meeting booking activity for the first quarter of 2003 is stronger than the same period in 2002. 

Booking lead-time, however, remains very short term, as companies delay commitments in order to maximize price advantages. 

Trend #8  Private Functions Continue, But are Scaled Back

Private food and beverage functions continue to be requested as part of a meeting. These functions, however, are much more conservative in nature and are purchased at a lower price point. 

Conferee consumption of alcohol at private functions remains a concern of planners, and is discouraged.

Trend #9  Demand for Videoconferencing Nearly Non-existent

Following the events of September 11, 2001, videoconferencing seemed to offer tremendous opportunity for corporate meetings.  Demand quickly tapered off, however, and today is nearly non-existent.

Where demand for videoconferencing and Web-casting does exist, the technology is used as a means of including as many people as possible without increasing travel expenditures.

Trend #10  Even Fewer Professional Meeting Planners

As companies continue to trim personnel budgets, decisions related to site selection and meeting expenditures are being assumed more and more by senior-level management staff.  These professionals often delegate coordination of the details to their administrative assistants. 

A growing number of companies are electing to outsource all of their meeting and event business to third-party planners.

For more information on Benchmark�s �Ten Meeting Industry Trends for 2003,� or to speak with a Benchmark Hospitality representative, contract Ken Ellens, Ken Ellens Communications, at 201-758-2864 or [email protected].

Benchmark Hospitality, an international hospitality management company based in The Woodlands, Texas, operates luxury resorts, hotels, spas, golf clubs and conference centers throughout the United States, in Canada, and Japan.


 
Contact:

The Woodlands, Texas
www.benchmarkhospitality.com
Also See: Ten Meeting Industry Trends Observed by Benchmark Resorts, Hotels & Conference Centers / Jan 2002
The New Value Proposition for Meeting Planners / KPMG / Winter 2000
Videoconferencing, Teleconferencing and Webcasting Decreasing Corporate Travel / June 2002


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