Hotel Contract Negotiating: What Are Today's Rules?

conventionally speaking

The recession was a challenging time for all of us in the meetings industry. Meetings were cancelled and those being held often had smaller attendance. At the same time, leisure travel was down. As a result, hotels were not hitting their occupancy or revenue rates. The silver lining during this period (for those of us on the planner side) was that sleeping room rates dropped and hotels were willing to negotiate more on both concessions and terms.

The good news is that the economy is improving. And that means hotel rates are going up. While it is good for the economy and for the hotel industry, for those of us who plan meetings, negotiating for your event just got a bit trickier. Are we in a buyers market or sellers market? Have the rules changed?

On June 10th I will be part of a panel addressing this very issue at the New England Society of Association Executives (NE/SAE) Annual Meeting in Newport, RI. What challenges have you have found when negotiation your hotel contracts? We'd like to hear from you and will address your concerns and issues during this session. I'll report back on what was covered in my next e-newsletter. So shoot me an email and let me know what your biggest challenge is.

Shelley E. Griffin, CMM, is the founder and president of Griffin Conference Group, which provides comprehensive meeting planning services. She is a respected industry leader who has over twenty years of experience. For more helpful tips see her web site at www.griffinconferencegroup.com