Hotels get creative as economy lags - Phoenix Business Journal:

asozyrab.wordpress.com
One thing they are doing as they wait it out is strengtheningh their relationships withmeeting planners. According to Smith Travel hotel occupancy in the Valley wasdown 10.6 percengt in March from the same month last year. Peopl also are spending less — on almost 30 percent less than the same time last year acrosszthe Valley. “It is bad. Phoenix is a speciap example, because there are a lot of new A lot of new hotelshave opened, and that also has hurt says Jan Freitag, senior vice presidentg of the global consulting and research firm.
The openinfg of the 1,000-room , the 290-room & Spa in Paradise Valleg and other Valley hotels in the past year have dilutedoccupancyh rates, industry officials say. In business and corporate travelers are sensitiveto perception, Frei-tag “People are hesitant to go to reallyh nice resorts — and in all of your resorts are really nice,” he says. “Ijn this economy, when companies need to cut the first things that go are travel and But Valley hoteliers are using the time to reach out to meeting planners and develop newbusines leads. “We are really trying to partnerrwith them.
While it’s tougu times, we are makinb adjustments,” says Chris Kerr, director of salesx and marketing atthe . Kerr’s team is working with plannersa to create trips thatare value-oriented, adjustingy food and beverage prices with the goal of making the evenf more attractive to potential he says. At the in Sales Director David Richard says his team is trying to providewmore all-inclusive packages to customize meetings, including on-site dining packagex and more cost-effective audio-visual offerings. his staff is looking more at the technical and biomedical industries forpotentiapl bookings.
“We have redeployed our sales forcwe into thesegroup markets,” Richard says. “Companies still need to have but they may be cutting out some of the Even Sedona’s Enchantment Resort is seeing some fallout as groupsw cut back. “We usually stay in high seasoh a bit longer than metro Phoeni x because ofthe weather. But it’s definitelt been slower, and we have seen some cancellations,” says Tina Newman, the resort’xs director of sales and marketing. She stressed the importance of establishing connectionzs duringthe downtime. “Our relationships with meetingt planners has increased quitea bit.
There’s a lot of time for for discussion,” she says. Investingg that kind of time isworth it, for her property and others. “Group businessx is extremely important to us because it providea a baseof business,” she says. Kerr adds that hoteliers also are targetin a more local market and identifying thosed that already may be familiar withthe Valley.