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The Group Travel Leader Going on Faith Select Traveler

Facts and Fictions of the Religious Meetings Market

“Religious groups never have alcohol at their meal functions.”

That is often true but with some exceptions.

General assembly religious meetings or conferences do sometimes include alcohol in their meals, but usually only wine and rarely, or never, hard liquor.

“Generally, you don’t see a whole lot of cash bars,” Wallace said. “It’s far more common that they don’t [serve alcohol].”

Whether a religious event features wine depends entirely on the denomination. Some churches don’t frown on modest alcohol consumption; others’ members are teetotalers. Some groups won’t include it in the meal itself but will still make it available at the event, LeClair said.

Obviously, church youth groups aren’t going to have alcohol at their events, and adults that are supervising religious youth or student groups aren’t going to partake because they’re in charge of the kids, Robertson said. However, for example, Gatlinburg recently hosted a retreat for pastors and their wives that included some wine with meals, she said.

However, there’s a running joke among hoteliers that while religious groups may not partake during an event, hotel staff find plenty of empty little bottles on the trays outside the hotel room doors in the morning, James said with a laugh.

 

“Religious meeting attendees are usually senior citizens.”

Maybe there was an element of truth to that stereotype years ago, and maybe that’s where it comes from; but today is a different story, Robertson said.

The youth and young adult market has “blown up” over the past 10 to 15 years, she said, but even general assemblies and conferences now attract a wide range of ages: teenagers and 20-somethings, young families with young children, older adults and retirees.

Part of the reason is “the individuals who are planning these meetings are trying to create an atmosphere where the entire family can participate,” Robertson said.

LeClair agreed that religious organizations are making more of an effort to involve younger generations, and “they’re encouraging younger members to attend.”

Although general assembly events may skew slightly to older attendees, James said, “It’s still a good mix — probably a better mix than most associations.

“There’s a youth component, then a young adult component; then you have people in their 30s, 40s, young families and seniors,” he said.

There is also a wider variety of religious conferences today than there used to be. In the past, perhaps only the elders and deacons attended church business events. Today, “they come from all age groups and demographics,” Wallace said, and you have more music ministry conferences, educational events and youth missionary meetings, all of which tend to have younger participants, Wallace said.