Welcome to 2016. In many ways, it looks and feels like last year, but as in all things new, this year will bring fresh challenges and change. Here are a few trends meeting planners are likely to experience this year and some strategies for dealing with each.
The force probably won’t be with you.
Hotel occupancy hit record highs last year, and if forecasters are correct, there will be more of the same this year, which means hotels will not lack for business and might even turn business away if it doesn’t fit their needs. In the coming year, sales teams will be the Rocky Balboas of the world thanks to robust occupancy.
Strategy: Hone your negotiating skills by reading one of these books recommended by Fast Company: “The Confidence Code: The Science and Art of Self-Assurance — What Women Should Know” by Katty Kay and Claire Shipman; “Getting to Yes” by William Ury, a best seller, first published 30 years ago, with pertinent updates; and “Negotiating at Work: Turn Small Wins Into Big Gains” by Deborah M. Kolb with Jessica L. Porter.
More demand and less supply equals higher rates.
A report by Bjorn Hanson, a professor at New York University’s Tisch Center for Hospitality and Tourism, shows that hotel rates are increasing at about three times the rate of inflation. Predictions for increases in 2016 range from about 4 percent to almost 8 percent. On a $150 room, that’s $6 to $12 a night. And big cities will still be most in demand for meetings. Orlando, Florida; Chicago; Las Vegas; San Diego; and Atlanta will be the top five meeting destinations for 2016, according to American Express Meetings and Events’ annual forecast for 2016.
Strategy: Be an outlier, literally, and opt for a suburb on the edge of a bigger metro: Kissimmee instead of Orlando, Henderson instead of Las Vegas, Carlsbad instead of San Diego. For meetings that are small and regional, look at second-tier cities, where availability will be better and rates will be lower than top tiers. Choose destinations that most attendees can reach by car, and you’ll also save money on transportation, especially with lower gas prices.
Meetings mean mobility.
Everyone, not just all the millennials now attending meetings, has a mobile device in hand. Wise planners will figure out the best ways to make use of that mobility, whether they are to survey audiences or alert them to changes in agendas.
Strategy: Check out the website of meeting tech guru Corbin Ball — www.corbinball.com — and Meetings Tech Expo — www.meetingstechexpo.com. If you’re involved in your area’s meeting planner association, suggest a monthly meeting that allows you and your peers to share ideas in an orchestrated way. The Chicago Area MPI chapter just did so with a meeting that challenged attendees to share 60 ideas in 60 minutes. Your group could do the same, with a focus on mobile apps. Or line up a speaker to talk about mobile apps at a monthly meeting.