The Sequoia Presidential Suite at Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center .
Gaylord Rockies Resort & Convention Center , in Aurora , Colo ., features an outdoor water park with a winding lazy river .
compared to the first quarter of 2019 .
In the quarter , more than 348,000 gross group room nights were booked . “ We continue to prioritize ADR in our sales production to capitalize on the favorable supply-demand backdrop in our space ,” Fioravanti said . First-quarter ADR across all new group bookings was an all-time high of $ 252 and up 9 % to the first quarter of 2022 and 23 % to the first quarter of 2019 .
The future looks sunny , according to executives . “ If you look at our mix for the remainder of this year , it ' s pretty similar to what we saw in 2022 , a little bit heavier mix of corporate versus association . If you look at what ' s on the books for 2024 , there is a pretty material increase in the amount of corporate on the books , which
we see as a very good sign , because of the opportunities that creates for us on the banquet side of the house ,” said Patrick Chaffin , EVP and COO of Ryman Hospitality Properties .
And it literally takes a village to make these substantial boxes run . Gaylord employees , known internally as “ stars ,” number 9,000 across the five properties . Adams calls them “ difference makers .”
In January 2021 , when occupancy was at a low , instead of cutting stars , Gaylord started hiring . “ We went on the offense and started rebuilding our teams because we knew that when things came back , especially groups , we had to have people there to rebook meetings and plan them ,” Adams said . “ Just because you ' re in a pandemic , it doesn ' t mean you ' re not planning .”
ONE-STOP SOLUTION FOR YOUR KITCHEN
SMART WASHING CLEVER COOKING
Jul / Aug 2023 hotelsmag . com 35