We’ve all heard from a variety of sources, surveys, and industry experts that travel and meetings will be increasing in 2011. The amount of an increase is yet to be determined, as is the distance to which rates may be pushed. With that in mind, let’s take a closer look at available groups/meetings concessions, incentives and value-adds that are available to attract new meetings business.

I’m always asked, “What works best?” and “What do meeting planners want?” The answer is that there is no simple answer. Sorry! But, what I can tell you is that the more unique and different the incentive is, the more it will be considered. Meeting planners are looking for different ways to enhance the attendees’ experience, save the company money, and make me (the planner) look good. So you have to ask yourself if your incentive includes these overall objectives.

There will always be the standard, run-of-the-mill meeting incentives. Those are fine. But, we live in the age of innovation, creativity and ingenuity, so let’s put it to use!

Based on our planners feedback, here are some group booking incentives/concessions that I would highly recommend you tweak. The standard concept is fine, but make it better and different. Make your property stand out. Some ideas might include:

  1. Rebate to the master. Instead of giving a 3%, 5%, 10%, etc. to the master, why not give the percentage to charity? Ask your planners which association/foundation/charity is important to the organization, and make a donation in their honor. In addition, it’s a tax write-off; your controller will love you! This also makes the planner look good to his/her organization and will assist with the corporate social responsibility component many planners are being asked to achieve.
  2. Standard 1 or 2 hour opening reception. Opening receptions are one of the lowest attended events, so help your meeting planner drive attendance to it. If you already have the bartender, waiter/waitresses, and banquet staff on the clock for the reception, do something with them besides have them serve fruit punch and cookies. Offer an opening reception bartender challenge (where you have a “who makes the best margarita” contest) and have a few random attendees be the judge. Then, have the bartenders make it that way for the group (oh, by the way, the hotel is not footing the bill on the additional drinks, the group is, or maybe you split the revenue, etc.). How about “learning stations” set up – maybe one with sushi, wine pairing, or a pastry chef display? Obviously, depending on who and what your group is, different “receptions” will be, well, different. The gist is don’t just settle for a simple reception. In fact, you can probably get more revenue out of the group if you are providing them with something unique!
  3. Complete Meeting Packages. These were more appealing when the economy was in a better position. Planners were looking for an all-inclusive package that included room rate, continental breakfast, breaks, meeting room rental, etc. As hoteliers, we loved this because we could allocate the funds to the appropriate line items in our P & L’s, especially to help out in the areas that may have needed it. However, we are still rebounding from our economic woes, and it is not appealing for a planner to see a $250.00 (or whatever) rate. The planner doesn’t take the time to realize that it is not just the room rate; they see that rate and move on to the next lower one. If you absolutely have to go with the “CMP Package”, make sure you indicate exactly what in includes and what the cost savings is on all of your advertising collateral. Just be cautious. You don’t want the rate to cause the meeting planner to look elsewhere.
  4. “COMPlete 1/25 Package instead of comp 1/50. Take up the 1/25 sleeping room incentive a notch and turn it into a “COMPlete 1/25 package” It could include Comp 1/25 Sleeping Room, Comp 1/25 F&B at all meal functions, 1/25 spa services (or golf, etc) & Comp 1/25 Suite Upgrades. You get the idea.
  5. Complimentary wi-fi access. There have been several reports out lately that all travelers from leisure to business travelers to meeting attendees are expecting complimentary wi-fi. This may be something you want to look at adding as a standard amenity as opposed to a group concession. I don’t know that you will get much mileage out of just complimentary wi-fi as a stand-alone concession.
  6. Signing “Bonus”. Almost 40% of planners surveyed said that they cannot accept a “signing bonus” for signing a contract. By signing bonus, I mostly mean points. It is fine if you want to offer points as a concession, but make sure that you have an alternate “bonus” or alternate option for the planner if he/she is not eligible for this. You can always recommend to the planner that the points can be transferable, so for example, they could raffle off the 100,000 points at the holiday party, give them to charity, etc.

The above examples are just some ways that you can get more mileage out of the standard incentives. I recommend that in addition to above, you create something unique and different that really sets you apart from your competition. Here are some great ones that I have seen – some are small, but still are different, and some are just out there! It obviously depends on your financial and partnership resources on what you can offer, but no matter how small, different is better! Also, keep in mind that we are still in a very short-term booking era, so what you offer has to be something that you can pull off relatively quickly!

  1. If you are competing against a different city, make sure that you offer a value-add that is native to your city and creates a unique experience that is geographic. For example, if your city is Memphis or Kansas City, give an incentive based around a BBQ. Obviously, Hawaii, a luau/Polynesian, etc. If you are competing against a hotel across the street, again, make sure you offer something that is unique to your property. Highlight your strengths of your brand, your sister properties, your great customer service, etc.
  2. Night Golf for Attendees – I saw this for a golf destination and the ROI was amazing! The attendees were at this great property, but stuck in meetings all day. The resort offered to host night golf for the meeting attendees so that they could enjoy the courses. The resort was able to maintain rate integrity, in fact push the rate, but still offer something unique. This was their best “booked” promotion in their history.
  3. Customize your own offer promotion – How do you know exactly what ever planner deems most important to him/her? Just ask them what they want and create an incentive based upon that. You can have complete control of what you can/can’t give and at the same time, create a valuable partnership with your planner to satisfy her/his meeting needs and objectives.
  4. Book 2 nights for your group and get the 3rd night at 50% off. This really helps shoulder days between groups (and/or weekend business).
  5. Spouse Incentive - Coupon or voucher to local shopping mall (WITH transportation).
  6. Give the meeting planners an app for their meeting. You will have the opportunity to push in-house outlets and monetize it while also giving the meeting planner the opportunity to monetize it through sponsorship, exhibitors, etc all while achieving the goal of corporate social responsibility because of its “green” component.
  7. If a CVB, provide a credit to a non-hotel partner, such as a DMC, for the planner to have additional options. This also helps your members because you are ensuring that the planner uses one of your members.
  8. Group Movie Incentive – allow a credit for a pay-per-view movie to each room, complete with a bucket of popcorn and candy in each room (Guess what – you will most likely be getting honor bar revenue for a beverage).
  9. “Our Prices Stay Flat Because We Want You Back” promotion. Have a planner sign a multi-year deal, all pricing (including F &B, resort fee, room rate, etc) stay flat. Not ideal for growing the rate, but ideal if you are needing to get rooms on the books – especially if you can only give them need time dates to come back to.
  10. Submit a RFP and receive a _____. This promotion always does really well to generate leads. Granted, not all of them may be qualified leads, but there are always some good ones in there. You can always specify the terms & conditions of a qualified lead. When giving something away, make sure that it makes sense to either your property or your geographic location. For example, a property in New York City sent out an authentic New York Cheesecake for every qualified leads. Their results were astonishing!
  11. Don’t forget to include your partners in your promotions. Whereas a meeting planner may not want a complete meeting package for just the property, maybe a complete travel package may be of interest. Talk to your airline, rental car, rail, A/V, local attractions partners, etc. You know, you always see them at industry events but don’t converse with them because “they’re not planners”. Develop a partnership, I promise; it is easier to go at it together than separately. Plus, you can co-op your advertising dollars and get more bang for your buck!

I look forward to seeing unique and awesome new meeting planner incentives come across in 2011! The meetings are back, so grab the majority of them by offering the planners something that no one else is offering!

About the Author: Chaunsea Keller is Vice President, Business Development for E-proDirect, MeetingMart, and E-proMeetingApps. She has over 15 years experience in the hospitality sales and marketing field. In Her role with E-proDirect, it allows her to see daily interaction between suppliers and planners; therefore, is a good gauge on the meetings industry as a whole. She resides in Lawrence, KS with her husband and two children.

E-proDirect is a consulting firm for the hospitality and events industry. They provide a variety of products including Email marketing which allows the industry suppliers to reach a database of over 80,000 Meeting Planners; MeetingMart which allows the industry suppliers to market their services and products and allows Meeting Planners to research needed suppliers and destinations for their next event; and EproMeetingApps which is a mobile app that can be customized for any meeting or event (and can be purchased by a hotel and “cloned” per meeting) to enhance the attendees experience while allowing organizations to generate additional revenue.

Chaunsea Keller
Vice President, Business Development
405-233-1034
E-proDirect LLC