DEVELOPMENT
Banyan Tree Samui in Koh Samui , Thailand
The Delta Atrium at Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center in Nashville .
properties will be the amount of activated outdoor space to take advantage of the pleasant weather and water views .
FUNDAMENTALLY SOUND That ’ ll be six Gaylord properties once Pacific is complete , totaling more than 11,000 guestrooms . The bulk of those rooms are typically occupied by convention-goers or groups , two traveling cohorts that were down and out during the onset of the pandemic but are now making their way back . The business , Adams said , is coming back , but it has a different look . “ Short-term demand is a real change in the industry as companies come back and begin to plan meetings ,” he said , “ and we ' ve had to respond to that .”
Consider the usual time frame for a large meeting or conference . A group might plan the details of the program six months or a year out — all movements , content , menus and more . Now , that timeframe is compressed . “ We have to address that with our team and shift our processes ,” Adams said .
To help deal with the change , Gaylord has done things like adding more sales resources .
During Ryman ’ s first-quarter earnings call , the company laid out numbers that spoke to both the fragile operating environment , but also the strong comeback and bright future , especially on the group business side .
For the quarter , Ryman ’ s hospitality portfolio , which beyond the Gaylord properties includes the AC Hotel National Harbor and a small overflow hotel in Nashville called the Inn at Opryland , achieved 72.3 % occupancy and first-quarter records for group transient and total ADR , as well . ADR and RevPAR posted over 18 % growth compared to the first quarter of 2019 and total RevPAR grew 24.5 %. By segment , group ADR was up 12.7 % and transient
ADR was up 39.3 %, both compared to the first quarter of 2019 . These were new all-time first-quarter records for ADR .
Ancillary revenue helped boost the bottom line , as “ group outside-the-room spend truly shined ,” said Mark Fioravanti , president , CEO and director of Ryman Hospitality Properties . In total , food and beverage revenue grew over $ 44 million or 26 %
THE PANDEMIC PRESENTED AN OPPORTUNITY FOR US AS MUCH AS IT WAS A TREMENDOUS CHALLENGE
– JOHN ADAMS , VP AND MANAGING DIRECTOR , GAYLORD HOTELS
34 hotelsmag . com Jul / Aug 2023