Is the Meetings Booking Pace Off for 2021?
June 24, 2019One of the buzzier bits shared at the NYU International Hospitality Industry Investment Conference this month was that the booking pace for group business for 2021 is down. During the Knowing the Customer and the Supremacy of Data session, all four panelists expressed concern about future group business, particularly from 2021 onward. “We’re hearing from our destination [management] clients that their 2019 and 2020 is looking good,” said STR SVP of global business development and marketing Vail Ross. “It’s 2021 and 2023 that there are really struggles of getting group business.”
In April, Cvent forecast that group business would be down 1 percent to 2 percent for the next eight quarters. “But 2021 looks the worst, to echo Vail’s points,” said Cvent senior director of analytics Jeffrey Emenecker, who confirmed that the downward trend looks as though it will get progressively more pronounced into the next 24 months. “Hotel owners are really anxious to get as much group business on the books for 2021 now as they can. [They] need to go deep on the data and do that now to try to find those groups because that is what all the big players are doing.”
While two years out might seem like a long time for booking a meeting, it’s usual for large events like conventions that have fewer destination and venue options.