The meetings and events industry often mirrors workplace trends. According to a recent report by Andrea Doyle at Skift, a leading travel news outlet, companies adopting remote work policies impact meeting and event organizers.
“Mondays and Fridays have become mainstay work-from-home days, with Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday witnessing the greatest in-office traffic. This trend has carried over and is having a significant impact on how planners think about meetings and events,” says Phoenix Porcelli, head of sales at Convene, a company that designs and operates premium meeting, event, and flexible office spaces.
Meetings and events held Tuesday through Thursday represent nearly 80% of Convene revenue. In addition, demand for meetings and events on Mondays, Fridays, or over the weekend is down 24% compared to 2019 at Convene properties. Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays bring in 300% more meeting and event business per day for Convene than Mondays, Fridays and weekends.
Traditional event venues are struggling to meet the demand for meeting space in this new compressed environment, which is creating opportunities for non-traditional venues, like smaller resorts with mid-week availability, to capture a larger share of the corporate meetings market, says Henry Elmhirst, Director of Finance and Sales for Elmhirst’s Resort in Keene, Ontario, and a Board Member for Resorts of Ontario.
“Tuesday through Thursday in the non-summer or holiday periods are typically when resorts like Elmhirst’s have the highest availability,” says Elmhirst. “There’s a real opportunity for resorts in this new corporate meeting and events environment.”
Date Compression Impacting Budget-Conscious Groups
“Date compression is a big issue,” says Ryan Simonetti, CEO and co-founder of Convene. “We have 220 saleable dates, 15 to 20 percent less than in the past. This is impacting groups on a tight budget. “Clients who are more budget-conscious can’t compete for peak days.”
Given that smaller resorts have lower occupancy rates mid-week and, in the off-season, when most corporate events are scheduled, they can be flexible with meeting and event package pricing, says Elmhirst. “We can be competitive for the budget-conscious segment of the corporate market that is getting squeezed out of traditional meeting spaces.”
Lack of Meeting Space
A lack of new meeting space is impacting the industry. The majority of new builds are limited-service properties without meeting space. “Meetings have roared back, but there isn’t the space,” says Michael Dominguez, President and CEO of Associated Luxury Hotels International.
While Elmhirst’s Resort has existing meeting spaces on the property, Elmhirst says there’s now a focus on investing in the spaces to position the resort for the corporate market. This includes cosmetic renovations, addressing accessibility issues and investing in technology.
According to global outplacement and business and executive coaching firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, the rapid rate of CEO turnovers is also impacting meetings. New CEOs often want to bring their teams together to align with the company’s purpose and goals, which increases meeting volume.
Not only are new companies and CEOs driving meeting demand but so is the desire to gather everyone together. “Some companies haven’t met in a couple of years. There was a time when meetings were an optional expense. Not anymore. They are now non-negotiable and necessary in many cases,” says Dominguez.
“We’ve also built up our sales team and marketing efforts to focus on this sector,” says Elmhirst. “We’re under two hours from Toronto and can offer so much more than meeting space. Our setting sets the right tone for focus and engagement, and our cottage-based accommodation adds to an environment of team building. We are seeing more and more corporate clients looking for this style of venue and seeing the returns continue to grow. The feedback from our clients and the repeat bookings tells us we are on the right track.”
By: Alison de Groot, Senior Event Lead Elmhirst’s Resort
July 23, 2024
