With attrition worries topping the
list of many meeting planners’ concerns, housing
management is a hotter-than-ever topic. But in the post-9/11 era,
hotels have become much more inclined to partner with planners to
solve problems, and thanks in large part to innovative new
technology, many chains are offering high-tech solutions for
keeping track of how many heads are in which hotels’ beds.
While no single product can possibly cover all the bases for
every group, the growing variety of options available is making it
easier for planners to find a solution that meets their particular
needs, whether the event is a citywide trade show with a
multi-hotel block or a small business meeting taking place at just
a single property.
Numbers game
“Meeting planners want hotels to get involved and work with them to
maximize attendance, and the housing issue is at the top of the
list,” says Joel Pyser, vice president of field sales for Bethesda,
Md.-based Marriott International.
For the hotels’ part, “We are looking for solutions to help
customers deal with two major issues in the industry: attrition and
booking outside the block,” says Fred Shea, vice president of sales
for Chicago-based Hyatt Hotels Corp.
Enter Passkey. The online housing company has built its
reputation by helping planners streamline their housing management
for citywides. Beginning last year, the Boston-based firm started
making available its service to planners with groups in just one
hotel of a chain. Omni Hotels was the first major brand to sign on,
followed by Marriott and then Hyatt Hotels.
Passkey’s move beyond citywides was a logical step, says the
company’s president and CEO, Greg Pesik. “Around 80 percent of all
events take place in a single property, so it was a very natural
decision for us to see how we could capture that market,” he
notes.
In using the system, planners link their registration sites to
Passkey’s housing module for free; the hotels pick up the tab for
the program. As clients have discovered, simply offering this
technology can be a big help in keeping attendees within the
block.
“People like to book electronically,” according to Shea. “Prior
studies have shown that when customers have the ability to register
for a meeting online, a higher percentage of rooms are booked
through the convention hotels.”
The key is offering registration and housing information
together, says Pesik, who notes attendees are more likely to book
within the block if they are making housing arrangements at the
same time they register for a meeting.
Planners who have used Passkey for single-hotel events find the
program greatly facilitates the housing process. In the past,
manual room block management was chronically prone to human error
and also increased the risk of overselling a property in between
booking updates, says Lynne Schwartz, executive director of
Chicago-based Common, a technology users’ association. Now, she
encourages her meeting attendees to make their room reservations
online, and her efforts are paying off.
“More people today are comfortable with doing their housing
online, so usage of the technology has mushroomed,” says Schwartz.
“Of course, the fact that Common is a technology group is an even
greater incentive to use Passkey. It’s consistent with the culture
of our group.”
“I think it’s natural for Passkey to expand its market this
way,” says industry technology consultant Corbin Ball, president of
Bellingham, Wash.-based Corbin Ball Associates. He finds the
company’s contracts with numerous convention and visitor bureaus
around the country have enabled many planners to become familiar
with the product.
Looking ahead, Passkey plans to extend its reach beyond the
United States. To that end, the company recently joined forces with
Majorca, Spain-based Sol Meliá Hotels & Resorts to start
offering the housing service at two of the hotel chain’s properties
beginning this quarter.
Having to cross language and currency barriers will make this a
gradual expansion, says Sol Meliá’s Ron Roy, vice president of
business travel and distribution, but he nonetheless expects about
five dozen Sol Meliá hotels to offer Passkey in the future.
Meanwhile, Hilton Hotels is tackling the issue of housing in its
own high-tech way. In late 2003, the chain rolled out auditing
software at its largest convention properties. The program
cross-checks planners’ attendee lists against the hotels’ rooming
data in only minutes, compared with the hours a manual comparison
takes, and it can be done anytime during the planning process as
well as after the event.
Rewards for Good Behavior
While some associations have had luck getting participants to book within the block by hiking registration fees for scofflaws, a large chorus of voices argues that offering a carrot is more effective than wielding a stick.
“Packaging other destination amenities with the guest rooms is a good incentive to help drive attendees into the block,” says David Radcliffe, Phoenix-based hospitality consultant and former leader of the Convention Industry Council’s Project Attrition.
Enter iSeatz.com, a New-Orleans-based firm that offers a bevy of value-added perks. Although not a housing management system in the traditional sense, iSeatz gives planners a way to sweeten the pot for attendees. Those who book within the block are entitled to discounts of up to 20 percent on eateries, tours and other attractions in nearly three dozen destinations. President and CEO Kenneth Purcell says the company’s relationships with vendors lets them offer the discounts at no cost to the event planner.
Another source of so-called “dynamic packaging” which offers value-added inducements is the convention and visitors bureau. Most CVBs have long-term relationships with local suppliers and want to help planners keep their attendees in the block. n M.C.
Other options
The Chicago-based Travel Technology Group offers an “if
you can’t beat ’em, join ’em” approach. TTG’s EnCompass product,
which was rolled out in November 2003, gives planners the option of
putting nonblock hotels on the list along with real-time rates
culled from Sabre and Hotels.com, so attendees’ presence will be
captured even if they eschew the official hotels.
EnCompass gives planners the option of making all inventory
available or choosing only selected hotels, explains Jackie
Groszek, senior vice president of operations. For example, an event
manager can choose to make just room block hotels available before
cutoff and then open the field to other properties after the cutoff
date has passed.
“The biggest reason people want those other hotels included is
so they know where their people are going,” Groszek says. Some
planners have reviewed the EnCompass data after their event and
subsequently added other properties to the official list, because
so many attendees wound up booking those hotels.
Even if planners don’t get credit for an attendee, the data is
valuable. TTG performs audits with block hotels, going over the
registration lists so those booking outside the block and not using
EnCompass still will be accounted for.
TTG also is working with online services Travelocity and
Expedia, with the goal of adding both sites’ inventory in the
future, says David Grissom, TTG’s vice president of information
technology and finance.
The relatively new EnCompass system already resembles the online
booking engines with which travelers have long been familiar. In
the month that housing has been open for Reed Exhibitions’ National
Hardware Show, several hundred people so far have booked through
EnCompass, says Tabor Ames, Norwalk, Conn.-based marketing director
for the event. “We are so early in the show cycle, I’m pleased,” he
says. “The system certainly is user friendly. It has the qualities
and features of travel sites attendees are used to.”
In Orlando, the convention and visitors bureau began
experimenting with a similar in-house solution last fall. The CVB
already had a robust booking engine available for leisure travelers
that tapped into major consumer travel sites right from its home
page; the bureau developed a new version of this program and
attached it to its Passkey-powered convention booking tool. Now,
attendees can book at official hotels for Orlando citywides, or
they can click on a separate button to be taken to a list of other
properties, with rates culled from mainstream travel websites.
Although attendees obviously won’t show up in the headquarters
hotel room block if they are booked down the street at a
limited-service property, they still will count when the planner
needs to draw on an attendance figure to use in future
negotiations.
Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based provider eMeetingsOnline.com also
hopped on the cut-rate bandwagon in December, offering real-time
discounted rates from Travelweb, the 12,000-hotel portal jointly
owned by Hilton, Hyatt, InterContinental, Marriott and
Starwood.
Such products incorporate housing management into a broader
meeting planning tool, notes Corbin Ball, one that will provide a
hotel-generated confirmation number at the time of booking,
immediately putting attendees in the hotel’s system.
Ball predicts more all-in-one products will emerge in the
future. “I think you’re going to see this get more and more
seamless,” he says.