Economic forecasts are trending upward, a shift
reflected by the widespread, if still cautious, return of corporate
holiday merry-making.
“We are seeing guarded optimism,” said Sam Bonfe, director of
sales/catering at the Marriott Wardman Park in Washington, D.C. In
some cases, he said, individual departments are going ahead and
throwing a bash just for their workers, in the absence of a
companywide shindig.
But hotels aren’t fully decking their halls just yet. “Companies
are still in the deciding mode,” said Joanne Brooks, president of
the Creative Impact Group in Deerfield, Ill., pointing to the
last-minute nature of much of this year’s holiday bookings. She
also estimated a 50-50 split between on- and off-site gatherings in
and around her Chicago-area headquarters.
“I’m finding people want to hold parties in their office
lobbies,” said Josie Littlepage, president and owner of St.
Louis-based Cosmopolitan Events. “They’re keeping it intimate, but
at least they’re having parties again, which is a big change from
last year.”
Off-site parties are smaller as well, providing a boon for
boutique properties, according to Andrew Freeman, vice president,
restaurant sales and marketing, for San Francisco-based Kimpton
Hotels & Restaurants. His company’s downtown hotels are picking
up holiday business, often in their restaurants or lounge areas, he
said.
Larger hotels, meanwhile, struggled to fill holiday holes as of
November. “We are about $200,000 behind where we should be for
December,” said Vince Fattore, associate director of catering at
the 1,209-room Sheraton Chicago. “Companies are scaling back so
far, they are hitting hotels they would never fit into before.”
Companies also are cutting costs by holding lunch events or
cocktail hours instead of dinners. “Every person who has called me
has accented strongly the fact that they are on a very tight
budget,” said event planner Josie Littlepage. To accommodate
clients, she suggests receptions with passed hors d’ouevres or
appetizer stations, which can be staffed more lightly than carving
stations.
Firms also gave decor budgets a nip and tuck this year, said
Monica Antola, account executive at Los Angeles-based EventWorks.
“We see a trend toward a generic party with less emphasis, if any,
on decor.”