High hotel rates=attrition alert?
This article in USA Today outlines the steep hotel rate increases we’ve all been noticing in many major U.S. cities this year—and how they’re predicted to continue rising, albeit not quite as steeply, in 2007. This is, of course, driving transient and individual business travelers to look outside the usual chains when booking their rooms, but I wonder if it won’t drive some meeting attendees to do likewise?
While I stayed at an extremely budget-conscious hotel during a recent trip to a Baltimore meeting because everything at the headquarters hotel and everything else nearby was sold out or ridiculously expensive ($400+ and/or a three- to five-night minimum stay? In Baltimore? I still don’t get it), I would seriously consider returning to it the next time I’m in town for a meeting. For less than half the cost, a little inconvenience was worth it. I doubt I’m alone in this one, especially since so many companies are squeezing every dime these days when it comes to paying for meetings-related travel expenses. For association meetings, this could be especially harmful to the bottom line if enough people decide to say “enough is enough” and stay somewhere cheaper than what you could get in negotiated rates.
Will it drive more association meetings to smaller, less expensive cities? Especially now that so many have some pretty good convention centers, this could end up being pretty good for the little guys. Unless, of course, they start raising their rates, too. We shall see.
P.S. Sorry for the silence this week. It’s been crazy busy around here lately. I’ll try to catch up over the next several days.
Related Topics: Meetings and conventions, Destinations, Hospitality news
January 3rd, 2007 at 11:31 am
In response to high rates I don’t know why more people don’t use alternatives to franchise hotels. There are so many historic areas that have a high concentration of B&B’s and small hotels that offer better dining, ammenities and the like. More intimate settings with Owners and managers that have more at stake and offer the highest levels of hospitality as a response to their names being on the door. These areas usually offer more than the average franchise as they have sustained their existance for over a century vs. the last takeover. Food for thought.
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