March 01, 2003
Meetings & Conventions: Newsline
NEW STUDY REVEALS VALUE OF MEETINGS IN A DOWN
MARKETGroup Segment Shows Rare Growth for Hotels
As the
hotel industry suffers through one of its worst periods in decades,
the meetings and conventions business has become an increasingly
important cash cow for hurting properties.
A study released last December by New York City-based
PricewaterhouseCoopers found that when comparing 2002 to pre-2001,
levels of demand, revenue and profits all have grown in one
particular sector: meetings and conventions.
Before 2001, for example, hotels earned 20 percent of their
profits from the meetings business. This percentage rose to 27
percent in 2002. Similarly, revenue generated from groups accounted
for 18 percent of profits before 2001, while in 2002, groups
accounted for 23 percent of revenue.This trend is especially
significant in major draw cities such as New Orleans, where
visitors associated with meetings last year accounted for 59
percent of the demand for hotel rooms and 63 percent of hotel room
revenue.
Even in New York City, where the influx of transient visitors
historically is high, the percentage of hotel rooms booked for
meetings and the share of revenue that those rooms commanded is
significant to the tune of 25 percent and 24 percent, respectively.
The importance of group rate premiums over ordinary transient rates
points to the increasing value of the meetings and conventions
business to hotels.
PricewaterhouseCoopers believes the balance of power will
further shift to the buyer through the current year. As hotels
continue to attempt to maximize revenue in every department, the
value of the meetings business is only expected to grow.
That leverage could translate into better deals for meeting
planners, as hotels try to woo their business. That, in turn, might
mean an easier time for the many planners whose budgets have been
trimmed.
While the group market is a bright spot, the cloud over the
hotel industry remains dark. According to the study, occupancy in
2002 was at its lowest in 31 years.

By Art Pfenning, corporate research director for
NORTHSTAR Travel Media, LLC, M&C’s parent
company.
What Association Executives Earn The gender gap in earnings grows in relation to size of organization, according to a 2001 compensation survey. Male CEOs Female CEOs Trade association $136,775 $92,125 Individual membership association $139,241 $85,204 Total staff size: 2 or fewer $75,000 $60,000 3 to 5 $95,640 $77,000 6 to 10 $116,550 $108,000 11 to 20 $138,200 $126,000 21 to 50 $201,923 $159,280 51 to 100 $237,900 $145,518 More than 100 $287,600 $249,233 Total annual budget: $300,000 or less $67,600 $54,789 $300,001 to $500,000 $75,600 $68,579 $500,001 to $750,000 $90,000 $72,800 $750,001 to $1 million $102,000 $87,525 $1,000,001 to $2.5 million $118,800 $112,425 $2,500,001 to $5 million $170,000 $137,100 $5,000,001 to $10 million $227,750 $160,585 $10,000,001 to $15 million $225,994 $171,750 More than $15 million $285,000 $256,269 Source: American Society of Association Executives
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