THREE HOTEL SALES LEADERS TALKED TO HOTELS ABOUT STRATEGIES EMPLOYED TO MANAGE GROUP BUSINESS THROUGH THE PANDEMIC , AS WELL AS THEIR NEAR-TERM OUTLOOK .
HOTELS gathered three industry sales leaders for a webinar on April 20 to talk about how they ’ re managing group business through the pandemic and tactics they are employing to generate revenue today and going forward .
Sponsored by Oracle Hospitality , more than 500 readers of HOTELS and hotelsmag . com signed up for the virtual event entitled , “ Driving revenue in the crucial meetings and event space .”
Moderated by HOTELS Editor in Chief Jeff Weinstein , panelists included
Kelly Knowlen , executive director of sales engagement and special events at Hilton ; Brandi Ronk , director , Sales , Groups & Meetings at Sol Group Corp ., which represents the global portfolio of Melia Hotels International ; and Dan Surette , chief sales officer at Omni Hotels & Resorts .
Here are the highlights from the hourlong conversation :
HOTELS : Describe the current state of group business .
Brandi Ronk : Around this time last year , we saw lead production drop to 90 % below 2019 levels . Today , our clients are starting to feel more comfortable planning future events , and as of last week , I ’ m happy to report that we saw lead production in line with April 2019 .
Kelly Knowlen : One trend that we ’ re going to continue to see is a need for hybrid events . Our planners are telling us that even when they get back to in person events , they ’ re still going to have this need for a digital component …
We ’ ve offered a suite of solutions – everything from a playbook with resources to help them execute a hybrid event , to multi-site agreements , and identifying our hybrid-ready hotels to help them check that box . We have more than 2,700 hotels that have been identified as hybrid ready .
Dan Surette : Initially , we were really talking about force majeure and cancellation clauses . We weren ’ t selling and talking about our products as we were in a spin that really put us in a tough spot ... Our resort portfolio and our getaway destinations really helped us . Leisure really carried us through . And what also carried us through , which was a little bit of a surprise in the beginning , were all the youth sports and sports in general .
We ’ ve seen regional corporate , drive market meetings . But the large convention
May / June 2021 hotelsmag . com 91