There’s more and more demand for group business at hotels. To capitalize on this huge opportunity, your hotel sales strategy may need an overhaul.
But if you want to develop a cohesive sales strategy for groups and meetings, you need to consider many complex factors. In this post, we’ll dive into the nuances of selling group space in your hotel. We’ll lay out five focus areas for hotels to grow group sales:
1. Understand hotel industry trends driving group business.
Meetings are getting bigger — 22.7% bigger, according to the AMEX Global Meetings Forecast. But the number of meetings isn’t growing as fast (only 5.4% over the same period).
And here’s the kicker: A tiny percentage of meetings that require 500+ rooms make up nearly 40% of all hotel group revenue.
The point? The number of opportunities is stagnant, and the big fish are the ones worth catching. That means there’s a more competitive climate to group sales.
Today, landing meetings requires a more innovative approach to hotel sales and marketing. Turning them into repeat business, however, is all about building mutually beneficial relationships with planners. A great sales strategy incorporates both.
Group acquisition costs are taking a toll on chains.
When you consider all the costs, large hotels shell out 15-25% of guest-paid revenue to acquire new group business. By 2022, this number could be 20-30%. This becomes an issue for larger chains, which usually offer ample meeting space and look to group business as a key revenue driver.
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