Alison Guillot
Traditionally, function space is sold by a venue’s sales team. With an influx of inquiries and Request for Proposals (RFPs), the venue’s sales team will often prioritize larger, more profitable opportunities ahead of smaller opportunities. Additionally, many hotel sales teams do not have the staff level to address every opportunity in a timely manner and this results in responses for smaller meetings and events getting delayed or ignored altogether!
[bctt tweet=”Small Group RFPs had only an average 68 day lead time in 2016 #eventprofs” username=”AmadeusHosp”]
Compounding these problems is the volume of small group meetings overwhelming sales teams and is only getting worse. Small group RFPs (25 people or less) have shrinking lead times (from 78 days in 2015 to 68 days in 2016) while the volume is increasing (in 2015, they represented 17% of all meetings volume with an increase to 20% in 2016).[1]
This is where an instant online booking capability of meetings and events can address this challenge and benefit hospitality organizations. DirectBook from Amadeus enables planners to book entire small group meetings and events online. The planner can book a complete meeting and specify options such as location, setup style, event type, menus and items, and guest rooms. Based on the type of event selected by the planner, customized packages can be offered to help upsell additional services to create the best possible attendee experience and maximize revenue for the venue. By recognizing the importance of small meetings and events, hospitality organizations can be more effective at keeping function space filled and take advantage of every opportunity to maximize revenue.
[1] From MeetingBroker data
