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Destination weddings are back and bigger than ever

Destination weddings are back and bigger than ever

You’ve long pictured the photos from your dream destination wedding: white shirts and khakis. A cotton dress. Bare feet in the sand. Eyes happily squinting in the sunlight.

But between now and putting together the photo album, there’s work to be done. First, you have to plan this event remotely, in a location you have limited knowledge of and won’t be able to visit before the big day.

But don’t write off the destination event just yet—organizing a wedding can actually be fun when you have the right resources to help.

Why have a destination wedding?

There are four big pluses to a nontraditional wedding:

  1. They tend to be less stressful. Many hotel venues offer wedding packages, with coordinators who handle local marriage license requirements, music, cake, the officiant, linens, seating, and everything in between.
  2. They’re surprisingly cost-effective. Before you dismiss destination weddings as an extravagant money-pit, you might be surprised by the numbers. And those numbers look even better if you honeymoon at the same location.
  3. You avoid family competition. Planning a wedding on neutral ground eliminates potential conflicts about hometown venues.
  4. You’re on vacation time. Spend leisure time with your nearest and dearest, or opt to party on throughout the week.

More couples are choosing destination weddings than they were pre-pandemic

One in four weddings is held in another country from the couple’s home base. Although we typically think of #islandlife when we hear “destination wedding,” insiders know this option is about more than sandy beaches.

When loved ones can’t travel, connect them with your event by going to them.

Or, plan a destination wedding with no passports needed, choosing a special location within your own country.

A note about COVID

Give your guests all the upfront information they need about health and safety. (Will you offer masks? Hand sanitizer? Hold all events outdoors to stay distanced? Require testing?)

Some couples might opt for special event insurance to cover themselves and the cost of the big day should there be an unforeseen risk. In that case, be sure to specifically ask providers if their policy covers COVID, as some may not offer protection for pandemic cancellations or amendments.

It’s old hat for professional destination wedding planners

While specifics may vary across properties and locations, the general process for working with a hotel wedding venue is the same. A seasoned wedding organizer can help smoothly navigate this unfamiliar territory for the couple.

For the Roberts wedding, a wedding coordinator assigned from their Chapel of the Flowers venue took care of all the heavy lifting — coordinating limo drivers, arranging a videographer and photographer, and even making arrangements for the marriage license.

“Paying for someone to help sort the paperwork for our marriage license and then drive us to collect it was one of the best decisions we could have made,” the bride said.

A suggestion from the experts: Do your research before relying on the resort’s onsite coordinator. A venue should be able to provide a clear point of contact and confirm the level of support they’ll provide before you begin.

But whether you’re working with a professional planner or organizing a destination wedding on your own, the biggest items on your to-do list will be the same.

Wedding planning pain points 

  • Sourcing and organization for booking venues and guest hotel rooms. Even for professional event planners, it takes an average of 75 days to find and book the right hotel for an event. Explore online solutions that can help save time researching and submitting RFPs to your preferred options.
  • Acting as a liaison, communicating with venues and vendors. It’s a lot of emails, phone calls, and waiting for approvals/decisions—a long and time-consuming process. Get help managing and comparing your RFPs to help deal with overwhelming details.
  • Have your own wedding website created to provide details to the wedding party and guests and manage reservations.

Brides and mothers-of-the-bride might take on more than they can handle

What brides and mothers-of-the-bride know going into planning a wedding is … not much. Unless they have a planner or have an interest in event planning themselves, couples generally know as much about wedding planning as their parents or friends can tell them.

This means they rely on anecdotes and individual, one-off experiences instead of, say, a decade of embedded industry know-how.

Tips for self-planners

  • Start planning early. Popular destination wedding spots book an average of 12-16 months in advance — and that’s only after you’ve decided which venue you like best. But picking a venue sight unseen doesn’t have to be a gamble; couples can use an online hotel marketplace to narrow their search and discover the best options in their destination.
  • Consider the needs of friends and family — starting from the time they arrive. Make a list of the amenities your guests and wedding party will need and use that as a guide for your hotel shopping process.
  • Finding the best deal means both the couple’s budget and the guests’ budget are taken into consideration. While it may not be possible to cater to everyone, being conscious of your guests’ limitations will help avoid complaints about expenses.
  • “Time-sensitive” freakout emails will happen, and they’ll feel urgent. If your chosen destination is on the other side of the world, expect to spend time biting your nails until you hear back. Factor in the wait time across different time zones to give yourself peace of mind.
  • If you’re new to the event planning game, you probably don’t have a great reference point for hotel room rates and event service costs — which means you’re probably easy to sell to. Knowing the estimated market rates for your destination can give you an edge when it comes time for negotiations.
groupsync-destination-tiles

The GroupSync Marketplace rates destinations based on your personal search criteria.

This isn’t to say it’s impossible to remotely plan a wedding without a professional by your side. But do keep these tips in mind as you embark on your (often-yearlong) endeavor.

What to know when planning a destination wedding

If you’re planning your own wedding:

  1. Ask questions. You don’t know the answer until you ask, so don’t be shy here: Learn what you don’t yet know. (This podcast has some points to consider when planning a destination wedding.)
  2. Use GroupSync to find exactly what you want from a hotel, down to specifically coveted amenities.
  3. Make it easy for guests to book a room. Some hotel booking solutions help event organizers create a personalized event website that keeps track of hotel room blocks, providing real-time data on which guests have booked their rooms already. If you really want to go the extra mile, you can even hire a travel agent to book flights for family and close friends.
  4. Create a wedding itinerary so your guests know what’s happening, and when. Options are plentiful for do-it-yourselfers, and pre-designed templates are available on Etsy.

GroupSync Housing makes it easy to manage guest room blocks.

If you’re a pro planner handling a client’s wedding:

  1. Invest in the right technology. Find the right venue, with the right amenities, within budget, in a remote location that you and your clients may only have a glimpse of before the big day. Easy, right? (Just in case, we’ve got a solution that simplifies the entire group booking search for you.)
  2. Streamline communication wherever you can. Use online room block and attendee management tools to make it easy for wedding guests to book their rooms and reduce the risk of attrition fees. Solutions like GroupSync Housing provide real-time reporting so that both planners and hoteliers can monitor pickup at a glance.

It all comes together in the end

You know that when you’re putting together your wedding album, all you’ll see are smiling faces, and any memories of stress or last-minute scramble will fade as the years pass. Until then, make your planning process as simple as possible with the right tools and support.

More in Wedding Planning:

Demo: GroupSync for Wedding Planners

GroupSync Solutions for Wedding Planners

In-person meetings and events are back—with some changes

In-person meetings and events are back—with some changes

While a semi-return to normal is welcome after more than two years of a worldwide pandemic, event planners remain divided about the best way to host. In-person? Virtual? A hybrid of the two?

Planners again have the opportunity for in-person business events, with flexibility due to the tech lessons learned along the way. The best course isn’t clear-cut and depends on an organization’s priorities; what’s more, attendees will have their own personal safety concerns.

Planners in the B2B space, specifically, know in-person events and trade shows drive the most conversions. While we’re all eager to see people in person again—without “Sorry, you cut out there for a minute” and “Is it my connection or yours?”—there are COVID safety guidelines to keep your IRL event safe and smooth.

 

Why you might want to meet in person again

First, and most notably, the severity of Omicron is diminishing. While it is still raging in hot spots, fewer cases are severe enough to result in ICU stays.

While there’s still a ways to go, the majority of Americans are vaccinated. As of April 20, 2022, 66% of the U.S. population is fully vaccinated, and 77.4% have received at least one dose.

And since it’s safer to meet in real life now, what’s most notable about considering a return to these events is this: the people want it. A whopping 96% of planners say they will opt for an in-person event in 2022, with only 4% waiting until next year, according to a March 2022 Northstar Meetings Group survey.

Planners’ enthusiasm and optimism is promising for businesses, which see stronger engagement with in-person events that get people out from behind their computers and again interacting with co-workers and associates.

Most companies have money to burn on meeting space and travel, too. American Express’s 2022 Global Meetings and Events Forecast survey found 64% of meeting professionals say their overall meeting budget is increasing this year.

 

How to make it work: in-person event considerations

You’ve got the desire and the cash, so … how do you make it happen? The landscape looks different now, so the event-planning playbook has been revised.

Here’s everything you need to know so your group can meet in person again:

  1. Update your meeting policy: Be specific about your company’s requirements for in-person attendance, health screenings, and safety measures so everyone’s prepared and knows what to expect.
  2. Find a large enough space to accommodate social distancing: Within that updated meeting policy, if 6 feet of social distancing is a priority, remember you’ll need a bigger room that allows for this. Plan your seating arrangement in advance.
  3. Review the fine print of venue contract changes: Some venues have changed their capacity restrictions specifically to accommodate social distancing.
  4. Inspect travel guidelines: Will any event attendees fly in from out of the country? The government has mandated travel restrictions that require anyone traveling into the United States to show COVID-related documentation and contact tracing information, or proof of vaccination. This might also mean a temperature check upon landing. Airlines have policies that require some travelers to show their negative COVID test or even quarantine.
  5. Allow for individualized attendance opt-outs: Some attendees will know early on that an in-person meeting won’t work for them, while others will waver until the last minute. Using a room block management solution like GroupSync Housing makes it easier to manage attendee rooms and preferences.
  6. Follow local governments’ masking restrictions, as well as venue requirements like temperature checks and symptom screening: The rules differ from town to town, so don’t assume the law at home is the same as your destination. And if your event location isn’t set in stone, you might plan it based on the local travel and health restrictions.
  7. Define your emergency course of action: Fingers crossed, you won’t need this —- but decide exactly what will happen if someone develops symptoms or tests positive for COVID at the event. Who does that individual need to contact first, and what steps will you follow to keep everyone safe?

 

The cons of virtual events

As you see, there are new considerations for planning an in-person event in 2022. Don’t let these changes force you into continuing to host virtual events, though.

Sure, there are pros to hosting online events: they’re environmentally friendly, and your group has likely grown comfortable with the technology. Yet the cons do include two big hurdles that in-person events can clear:

Engagement

Digital fatigue = all-around fatigue. People have grown tired of attending meeting after meeting from behind a screen. Sometimes, admittedly, their attention moves to something else in another browser window.

To combat this, organizations are incorporating wellness activities, meal delivery, entertainment, games, and more special offerings to keep attendees interested — all of which add more to the overall budget.

Cost

There’s a slight difference in cost for in-person vs. virtual or hybrid events, but there’s a difference nonetheless. Depending on your event’s size, it adds up.

According to American Express’s 2022 Global Meetings and Events Forecast: “The cost per attendee per day for in-person meetings ranges from a low of $484 for small and simple meetings to a high of $851 for incentives and special events (in U.S. dollars). For virtual and hybrid meetings, the cost per attendee per day ranges from $501 for small and simple meetings to $776 for incentives and special events.”

 

So, is virtual event planning a thing of the past?

In a word, no. Worldwide, the virtual events market is forecast to reach $504.76 billion by 2028 according to a 2021 Research and Markets report, so virtual and hybrid events are firmly here to stay.

For one, they’re more inclusive for people of different capabilities or family roles, for whom travel can be challenging.

Second, and perhaps most obviously, tech makes it possible. What started as a pandemic stop-gap has turned into a bonafide win for companies wanting to collaborate on big ideas in a shared space.

 

Next steps

These new considerations for in-person event planning will become old hat in no time, so if you’ve missed gladhanding, you can definitely make it happen.

Plus, GroupSync makes planning today’s live events easy, even with COVID safety guidelines. Source available meeting spaces based on size, get faster hotel RFP proposal responses, and even book your event — all in one place.

How Omni’s instant group booking announcement is breaking new ground in hospitality

How Omni’s instant group booking announcement is breaking new ground in hospitality

There’s a rule of thumb in event planning that says the best time to source is when hotels want to sell.

While this may sound obvious, most group travel planners find this advice far from easy to follow. A lack of easily accessible property information pertaining to groups, including rates and availability, makes it challenging for planners to determine where they should focus their sourcing time and effort – and even then, legacy RFP processes create literally months of work for both group travel planners and hoteliers who simply need to identify the perfect hotel to work with.

These and many other pain points are the reason why we do what we do. At its core, our mission is to make booking groups less complicated – and Instant Booking is just one piece of that strategy. Group travel planners can now book guest room blocks or meeting space in one instant, online transaction on GroupSync. The capability is available at nearly 7,000 properties worldwide, with an additional 20,000 properties expected to begin offering Instant Booking within the next year.

And our expansion doesn’t stop there. Today, Omni Hotels & Resorts became the first brand ever to offer GroupSync Instant Booking for both group rooms and meeting space. The move breaks new ground in the business of group travel, and Omni’s rollout serves as a roadmap for more hoteliers to drive innovation

Breaking new ground in group booking

Starting with the Omni Frisco Hotel in Frisco, Texas, the capability to book rooms and space instantly is an industry first that will become available at more than 50 Omni properties in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. Searching, sourcing and booking groups at Omni properties will be as simple as any other online shopping you do today.

“This technology provides an on-demand booking option for planners who seek to book a small room block and meeting space with ease and confidence,” said Peter Palli, chief commercial officer for Omni Hotels & Resorts. “We take great pride in being leaders and innovators in the meetings and events industry, so we were eager to explore the opportunity to adopt paradigm-shifting technology destined to change the way hotels have been booking groups.”

One of the unfortunate realities of event planning has always been that sourcing venues for a small group usually takes just as long as it would for a large event. Seasoned group travel organizers know that if a hotel is stuck using the traditional RFP process, it won’t matter if they’re planning a 15-person corporate offsite or coordinating a group of 500 that needs a hotel banquet room – legacy RFP processing means sourcing takes time, a long time. (An average of 75 days from start to RFP award date.)

It’s also true that hotel sales managers, who are motivated by quarterly closings and sales goals, are more driven to close with planners who can sign within a short timeline in order to meet those goals. GroupSync Instant Booking provides a win-win for both parties: planners drastically reduce the time they spend sourcing – often by 60 days or more – and hoteliers can easily fill booking windows without the sales effort by selling them online, 24/7 via Instant Booking.

“Omni’s innovation will significantly benefit its staff and their customers by automating group bookings, allowing more time to focus on those things that create a great experience,” said Kemp Gallineau, CEO of Groups360.

Learn more about GroupSync Instant Booking and its role in transforming group travel:

The time is now for direct, instant booking for groups

Over a Million Guest Rooms available for Instant Group Booking on GroupSync

Learn more about GroupSync Instant Booking

Groups360 raises $35M in funding to support rapid growth

Groups360 raises $35M in funding to support rapid growth

Groups360’s $35 million investment from Zigg Capital, Blackstone Innovations Investments and Fir Tree Partners will accelerate the adoption of GroupSync technology for hoteliers and planners worldwide.

We’re excited to announce that Zigg Capital, Blackstone Innovations Investments and Fir Tree Partners have invested a combined $35 million in Groups360 to enhance our GroupSync platform. The funding will help speed up the development of products that create greater efficiency in group booking, accelerate the launch of housing solutions for better room block management, and expand our operations to bring GroupSync’s cutting edge technology to hoteliers in Europe and Asia Pacific.

“Meeting planners increasingly expect their entire hotel purchase experience to be seamless, instantaneous, and online,” said Dave Eisenberg, founding partner at Zigg Capital. “Groups360 has built an integrated, intuitive platform that benefits hoteliers and event organizers anywhere in the world.”

Creating ease, efficiency and transparency

GroupSync has changed what it means to source and book hotels for groups. Hotels on our marketplace are positioned to drive more valuable group revenue, experience more efficient RFP and room block management, and receive more qualified leads. Our suite of products is designed to help hoteliers create more value in less time, with fewer resources.

As the no. 1 hotel marketplace for booking groups, GroupSync’s enhanced electronic RFP capability empowers planners to more efficiently search, source and book groups at over 200,000 properties worldwide. This single web-based solution provides greater access to hotel group inventory and rates for faster, smoother booking.

As a result of this rapid adoption of GroupSync technology, we anticipate that an additional 20,000 leading hotel properties will begin offering instant group booking in the months ahead. Already available at nearly 7,000 properties globally, instant booking gives planners the option to skip the RFP process for smaller group reservations, taking hotel sourcing time from months to minutes.

“Groups360 offers a solution that is truly differentiated in the marketplace,” said John Stecher, Chief Technology Officer at Blackstone. “The Blackstone Innovations Investments team is focused on identifying, investing in, and partnering with pioneering companies like Groups360 to help take their businesses to the next stage of growth. We believe that Groups360’s inventory distribution model and instant booking capability will help drive industry-wide transformation and can create value for Blackstone’s real estate portfolio.”

We’re on a mission to make group travel better for all – from hoteliers to event planners to attendees. This investment will play an important role in accelerating our efforts to improve group booking across the hospitality industry.

“Groups360 is reshaping the hospitality industry in a manner that makes booking groups simple, transparent, and efficient for both hotels and event organizers,” said Kemp Gallineau, CEO, Groups360. “Now, with support from our new partners, Groups360 is positioned to more quickly seize the opportunities which lie ahead for improving group travel.”

 

More about this announcement:

 

Read the press release on PR Newswire

GroupSync for Organizers and Planners

GroupSync for Travel Partners and Hoteliers

3 trends that signal we’re entering a new era of group travel

3 trends that signal we’re entering a new era of group travel

Following group travel trends over the past couple of years has been a rollercoaster. Between fluctuating national priorities and the uncertainty posed by an ongoing global pandemic, the business of organizing and hosting events is a new ballgame with entirely new rules.

Living and working during the pandemic has made digital meeting and event tech solutions a necessity, and the hospitality industry continues to make changes that create better ways to conduct events, and business. And along the way come trends in travel, born from lifestyle changes and destined to become part of our norms. Read along as we uncover three group travel behaviors that will change the way hoteliers and organizers will work in 2022.

 

Trend #1: Virtual event aversion – signaling the return of live events

After nearly two years of forced virtual conferences, meetings and get-togethers, people are eager to meet in person as they did pre-pandemic. In Knowland’s 2021 report, “The State of the Meetings Industry,” more than 450 meeting planners specified that for 2022, they expect nearly 80 percent of meetings to take place in-person – with only 8 percent expected to be virtual and 11 percent hybrid.

“We’re seeing that, naturally, planners are much more focused on live events than they were at the beginning of the pandemic, when the live events industry virtually crashed,” said Dan Humby, Groups360’s vice president of sales for the European region. At last month’s 2022 International Confex in the UK, Dan spoke to a group of Europe-based event organizers and meeting planners who confirmed that the desire for more live events is indeed a global phenomenon.

“When the pandemic struck, the sharp increase in demand for quarantine-safe events meant that hundreds of new virtual meeting platforms entered the marketplace,” Dan said. “But now that travel and meeting restrictions are easing up across the globe, organizers are searching for ways to get people back together in person again. It’s hard to mimic the effects of in-person events via their virtual counterparts.”

The hospitality industry’s digital transformation has enabled a faster rebound in revenue for hoteliers, and certainly offers better ways to maximize resources and meet the elevated expectations of modern group travel organizers. But alongside video conference fatigue and the failure to recreate the benefits of live events, the aversion to the virtual event as we have come to know it is undisputed.

 

Trend #2: ‘Revenge’ travel (not as scary as it sounds)

Much like the world’s aversion to virtual events, revenge travel is the result of groups feeling tired of being cooped up at home. Travelers are getting their “revenge,” so to speak, against COVID-19 by taking any chance they can get to leave home and meet in person.

“There’s a rush among consumers to get out and book travel while they can,” said Ryan Morris, Groups360’s vice president of sales for the Americas. “The pandemic’s peaks and valleys have been unpredictable, and people want to spend time together when they can. People are hoping to make up for lost travel time.”

Destination weddings, non-essential business offsites and incentive trips are all back on the books. As groups make a return to in-person meetings (and begin to prioritize travel again), planners will benefit from an online booking platform that makes it easier to source the right hotels for their event.

“People have felt deprived of the world as they know it for over two years. Not only is there a pent-up appetite for travel, but also experiences,” said Dan Humby. “Wise hoteliers can invest in their property’s longevity by devising a plan to invite people back out of their homes and into hotels.”

 

Trend #3: ‘Bleisure’ turns work trips into a mini vacation

Hoteliers have seen a steady increase in the number of event attendees that want to book additional shoulder nights when traveling for business meetings or events. Instead of choosing between work time and vacation time, employees are asking themselves, why not just do both – from a great hotel destination?

Until recently, companies largely restricted employees from the freedom to choose where they work best. But modern workplaces are open to remote work and flexible work from home policies, which benefits hoteliers as they aim to get back to pre-pandemic business.

“If people can work from home, they can work from a hotel,” said Dan Humby. “This means that hoteliers can benefit from highlighting loyalty programs that incentivize event attendees to book additional room nights and specialty experiences.”

This all translates into a greater demand for digital nomads to enhance their hotel stay. Solutions like GroupSync Housing allow hoteliers to avoid the numerous issues caused by book-arounds, which occurs when event attendees source from their own online travel agency (OTA) instead of booking shoulder nights through the hotel’s own platform. Book-arounds mean that guests are inconvenienced from the get-go and may even book at an entirely different hotel altogether. Investing in the right attendee management solution creates ease and better business for both travel organizers and hoteliers.

 

How to navigate industry changes like a pro

Hoteliers and group travel planners can make changes today to better position their business for the new frontier of group travel and events.

Hoteliers:

  • Invest in digital platforms that make it easy for group organizers and attendees to work with you. Help group travel organizers make better informed decisions and include transparent pricing information and availability in your listings so you can attract the right business.
  • It’s time to give the antiquated spreadsheet an upgrade. With better room block management, you can get to know your guests before they arrive and spend less time managing room blocks.

 Planners:

  • Consider using sourcing platforms that value transparency over paid placements. Sourcing is a process that can quickly become overwhelming and takes months when approached with traditional methods. If you’re still searching for destinations on Google, or spamming numerous hotels with your RFP, it’s time to consider an upgrade.
  • Ditch the rooming list once and for all. GroupSync Housing provides travel planners with a real-time view of their reservations and attendee progress, offering a much more streamlined process.

Planner Pain Points: How to save time on group hotel sourcing

Planner Pain Points: How to save time on group hotel sourcing

Are you still searching for destinations and hotels on Google? How many times have you had to send out RFPs just to get an idea of hotel rates? The usual ways of sourcing venues simply cost too much time.

We interviewed meeting planners from corporations and associations across the US to better understand their hotel sourcing journeys and create meaningful solutions for our GroupSync platform.

We built GroupSync with group travel organizers and event planners in mind, giving you transparency and control over your shopping and booking experience. Below we’ll examine two of the most common event planner pain points voiced by your industry peers and the ways GroupSync solves these issues.

Pain Point #1
The inability to easily find suitable destinations and hotels.

“I go to the internet and start searching, looking at different cities and going through their websites, finding out which hotels or conference centers are in that area, researching and going through those websites. I tend to do a lot of my own research.”

– Trade association planner

Solution: Old-school approaches to searching can take up an enormous amount of time that could be better spent on the details of your event, such as crafting intriguing content and unforgettable experiences. Google and other search engines lack the complex data required to effectively book groups for meetings and events.

GroupSync is a completely unbiased platform that aggregates a world of data to show you hotel properties, amenities, estimated future hotel rates, anticipated occupancy levels, available and relevant incentives, local weather, and other market insights you can’t easily access anywhere else.

search-shop-book-marketplace

Search, shop and book on GroupSync Marketplace.

search-shop-book-marketplace

Search, shop and book on GroupSync Marketplace.

GroupSync’s inventory includes more than 200,000 properties across 225 countries and territories around the globe. While our database offers maximum choice, our proprietary algorithms streamline the search to the destinations and hotels that best fit your needs according to your event dates, budget and weighted preferences.

As a result, when you source through GroupSync, you receive targeted destination and hotel results. Group travel organizers and event planners who use GroupSync reduce their sourcing time from an average of 75 days between RFP and award date to 12 days. That’s more than 60 days returned to your calendar to spend on more creative tasks—and with Instant Booking, it’s even faster.

Pain Point #2
You’re required to send an RFP just to learn more about pricing.

“The most important piece of [an RFP] is usually our hotel room rate. I tell brands to not even send proposals if their rate isn’t within $20 of our budget. We can’t negotiate that down. But some still come back $50 to $100 over our room rate—and those we send to the automatic ‘No’ pile.”

– Corporate event planner

“You have to contact the hotel to get pricing information. [Legacy sourcing systems] don’t even give enough pricing info to make a good comparison. Each hotel sets its own pricing, but knowing any kind of price range ahead of time would help.”

– Corporate event planner

Solution: GroupSync helps you find destinations and hotels within your budget before you ever send out a single RFP. One of GroupSync’s defining features is the price predictor tool, powered by an exclusive partnership with STR, the hotel industry’s most trusted data repository.

rates-and-occupancy-graph

GroupSync market estimate.

GroupSync market estimate.

When you evaluate a destination, the GroupSync market estimate displays a range of estimated future hotel rates based on your event dates and hotel star rating — as far as 10 years into the future. This graph helps you visualize the daily price fluctuations so you can see dates near your preferred set, which may be more cost efficient.

GS-occupancy-trends

Historical occupancy trends on GroupSync’s market estimate.

GS-occupancy-trends

Historical occupancy trends on GroupSync’s market estimate.

Beneath the market estimate are historical occupancy trends for transient and group travelers. High group or transient occupancy in a given market during your desired dates means less flexibility in hotel rates. Groups360 gives organizers and event planners insider data earlier in the process to provide unprecedented transparency and clarity for making better, quicker decisions in the sourcing process.

Managing traditional planner headaches becomes easier with access to the right technology and resources. Read more in our Planner Pain Points series to find out how you can simplify your workflow and get back your most valuable asset — time.

Read more in the Planner Pain Points series:

Ditch Low-Tech Tools and Legacy Sourcing Systems

How to Manage Sourcing Overwhelm

How to Manage Meeting Logistics

How to Ensure Clear Communication