Don’t let what happened to Bally’s in Las Vegas happen at your meeting–according to this article in the Las Vegas Sun, the sterno can under a coffee pot in a meeting room caused a fire that resulted in $500 in damages to the room, and an evacuation of the hotel guests.

What precautions does your hotel take to ensure that this won’t happen at your meeting?

Comments?

To receive a weekly blog update, e-mail Sue.

According to this press release, planners are less likely than they used to be to select sites by visiting sites, distributing RFPs and signing contracts. “Three years of economic downturn put the brakes on corporate travel in 2000 but this year, when meeting planners forecast a four percent budget increase (MPI FutureWatch 2004 survey), the booking environment has changed. Face-to-face conference sales are fast being replaced by Internet-based decisions as meeting planners move their group business to the Internet.”

One example they use is IBM, which has placed stringent restrictions on employee travel and off-site functions, and cut its conference planning teams by 50 percent since 2002. Companies are starting to look at outsourcing event bidding, turning to companies like Conferon and HelmsBriscoe which use Internet technology to distribute RFPs and automate group reservations. “Other corporations continue to manage their conference planning in-house but are partnering with online group event specialists for greater efficiency. Additionally, some buying companies now regard off-site meetings as a procurement item requiring a number of standardized bids from prospective conference properties before they fund the activity, which is driving even more planners to online RFP distribution companies.”

The press release offers a look at how some venues are coping with the brave new world. Hoteliers, how are you addressing the increasing Internet-based conference sales trend?

Comments?

To receive a weekly blog update, e-mail Sue.

Casinos in Las Vegas now can relate to how cruiselines feel when the media plays up a shipboard illness. According to this article from The Miami Herald, nasty gastro-intestinal illnesses have jumped ship and now are plaguing the Strip.

According to the article, one casino had an outbreak big enough to catch the eye of the Centers for Disease Control—1,660 complaints over a four-month period. The CDC told the venue, the California Hotel and Casino, to make sure its dice, chips, and coins were ship-shape in terms of sanitization practices, since these much-handled items usually spread these viruses.

But why wait until you have a problem? I’d say it would be good practice to make sure all items that are handled by many people—from bathroom doors to in-room remote controls—should be sanitized regularly. And it also wouldn’t hurt to remind both employees and guests to wash their hands regularly, just like Mom always told us to.

Comments?

To receive a weekly blog update, e-mail Sue.

When stuck with explaining the vagaries of low-flow toilets required by the Clayton, Mo., building codes to its guests, the Clayton on the Park hotel tried to keep a sense of humor.

General Manager Micarl Hill says in a press release, “It’s a sensitive subject both for our guests and our employees, especially our engineering staff,” explains Hill…Hill won’t say the low-flow toilet problem had become epidemic in his hotel but they were having so many guest calls that they nicknamed them “Code 10s.”

“We had no choice but to educate our hotel guests to flush often,” he said. “It was either that or put plungers in all the bathrooms and that was not a realistic option in a luxury all-suite hotel.” So he designed the message:

And it worked—they cut “Code 10s” by 78 percent in the first 30 days of implementing the card program in January of 2004 and reduced them by 76 percent for the whole first quarter of 2004.

Hey, it’s Friday. What do you expect, War and Peace?

Comments?

To receive a weekly blog update, e-mail Sue.

Despite what the spammer hawking enlargers for certain body parts might try to tell you, it’s not enough just to increase your size—especially if you’re a downtown convention center looking to get a bigger share of the meetings market.

According to this article from The Cincinnati Enquirer, whose city just kicked off a $160 million expansion and renovation of its convention center, the challenge now becomes selling all that new space. Cincinnati’s not alone—the new Boston Convention and Exhibition Center is also giving that city’s authorities a bit of a challenge to find groups willing to commit to fill the space, as are numerous new and expanded centers across the U.S.

So cities are rolling out the incentives to hook the big-fish conventions. I know Hawaii’s done a lot lately, and the article outlines some “economic incentives” being offered by Tucson, Tampa, Detroit, Cincinnati, and a bunch of other cities.

Are these incentives the way to lure your meeting to their town? And what about smaller, less prestigious events not deemed worthy of the perks? I understand the economic pressures, but somehow I’m not sure this is the best way to go—feels a little like bribery to me.

To receive a weekly blog update, e-mail Sue.

Oh no, not again! According to this article from the New York Times, hotels are starting in with the surcharges again. I remember following this trend a few years back when hotels started charging extra fees for energy usage during a shortage—planners were not pleased, to say the least.

According to the article, now we can watch out for daily parking fees, pet surcharges, visitor parking fees, Internet connections, phone calls, beach towels, pool maintenance—even nightly fees for an in-room safe you never open.

As the article says, “Getting nickeled and dimed on the road, especially at hotels, is nothing new. But with the economy rebounding and occupancy rates up, something else is - the hotels’ attitude toward unhappy guests,” which the writer suggests is less than accommodating.

Comments?

To receive a weekly blog update, e-mail Sue.

The Hawaii Tourism Authority just launched a new business information Web site, www.hawaiiworks.com, that the state’s hospitality industry hopes will help promote it as a business and meetings destination. It provides information about meetings, conventions, and business development in the islands, including emerging industries like biotechnology and medical research.

HTA’s Marketing Director Frank Haas, who spearheaded the project, explained in a press release, “Hawaii has traditionally been a leisure destination and, consequently, has a very strong leisure travel brand. To this extent, many people are unaware of the significant business activity that takes place here, including important meetings and conventions attended by executives from as close as California through the rest of the Mainland U.S. to other countries in Asia and Europe.”

To receive a weekly blog update, e-mail Sue.

With apologies to Aretha, the Spring 2004 Online Customer Respect Study of 36 airline, travel and leisure firms found that when it comes to respecting the customer in the online environment, some of our faves just aren’t cutting it.

On a scale of 1 to 10, here’s how they shaped up, according to a press release from The Customer Respect Group, which conducted the study:
Hotel/Resort Name Overall
Marriott International, Inc. 7.8
Hyatt Hotels & Resorts 6.9
Starwood Hotels & Resorts 6.4
Radisson Hotels & Resorts 6.1
Caesars Entertainment, Inc. 6.0
Harrah’s Entertainment, Inc. 5.6
Hilton Hotels 5.0
Wyndham Hotels & Resorts 4.9
MGM Mirage 4.2
Mandalay Resort Group 4.1
Boyd Gaming Corporation 3.9
Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts, Inc. 2.9
Hotel/Resort Average 5.3

Airline Name Overall
Northwest Airlines Corporation 7.8
Spirit Airlines 7.5
Alaska Air Group, Inc. 7.4
ATA Airlines, Inc 7.3
American Airlines 7.0
Delta Air Lines, Inc. 7.0
JetBlue Airways 7.0
US Airways Group, Inc. 7.0
Continental Airlines, Inc. 6.8
UAL Corporation 6.3
America West Holdings Corp. 6.2
Southwest Airlines 5.2
Airline Average 6.9

Travel Firm Name Overall
Orbitz 8.3
Hotwire 8.3
Expedia 8.2
Priceline 8.1
Travelocity 7.3
Cheaptickets.com 7.0
Carlson Wagonlit 6.4
Hotels.com 5.2
WorldTravel BTI 2.8
Travel Firm Average 6.8

Travel Solution Firm Overall
GetThere 5.1
Sabre Airline Solutions 5.0
Travel Solution Average 5.1

To receive a weekly blog update, e-mail Sue.

The San Jose CVB’s recent launch of its new web site, www.sanjose.org, is a demonstration of why it makes sense to stay on top of your Web site. Since the new site was introduced on Monday, April 19, the bureau has seen a 53 percent increase in visitors, and the number of Request for Proposals received has been on the rise, according to a press release.

They’re still looking for input, so feel free to visit and send them your comments and suggestions. In the meantime, is there anything you can adapt from their site to improve the functionality of yours?

Comments?

To receive a weekly blog update, e-mail Sue.

So, when we go on the road, we eat too much, drink too much, sleep too little, and generally tend to misbehave, so the findings of this Orbitz Hotel Habits study should come as no surprise—we tend to trash our hotels rooms as well as our bodies.

So, what do we do? “52% of adult Americans who have stayed in a hotel for leisure do things in a hotel that they don’t normally do at home, like throwing towels on the floor (25%), using more towels than necessary since they don’t have to do the laundry (24%), eating in bed (19%) or leaving the television on when not in the room (13%),” says the press release.

But that’s nothing. While “61% of people nab the toiletries, almost 20% of respondents have or have considered taking the toiletries off the housekeeping cart when the housekeeper isn’t looking. Seems as though males ages 18 - 35 confuse the housekeeping cart with the shopping cart, as 32% of this demographic - almost one in three - admitted to taking or considering taking toiletries off the housekeeping cart. Other “souvenirs” include towels (18%), ashtrays (14%), bathrobes (2%) and bathmats (2%).

“The survey also reveals what Americans have snuck into hotel rooms, including extra people (29%), cigarettes in a non-smoking room (12%) and pets (11%). How many people can you fit in one bed? Ask the 52% of 18 - 34 year olds who have snuck extra people into their hotel rooms. Some hotel guests are less likely to pull the sheets over the check-in desk’s eyes - such as married people; only 19% of whom have snuck extra people in as compared to 48% of singles.”

And hotels actually want us to come back? I wonder if people behave any better on business trips? Nah.

Comments?

To receive a weekly blog update, e-mail Sue.