Originally published by Leisure Group Travel as part of their Titans of Tourism series.
Groups360’s chief customer officer, Tim Flors, shares his views on the group travel industry and how hotel booking for groups is evolving for meeting and event planners.
In the early stages of online travel platforms, hoteliers expressed reservations about showcasing their rooms online. They leaned toward traditional methods: potential guests calling to book accommodations or event space directly. Now, with the proliferation of digital convenience, the idea of calling a hotel for a single room booking seems antiquated.
Yet, a significant sector – group hotel reservations – lagged behind in this digital transformation. Given the intricacies of group bookings, hotels feared a loss of control. But change is in the air. Platforms like GroupSync™ are pioneering a centralized approach to group, meeting, and event bookings.
While large-scale events have specific, multifaceted requirements, there’s a noticeable rise among smaller corporate and leisure groups that favor streamlined processes. This trend is apparent within the SMERFE sector: Social, Military, Education, Religious, Fraternal, and Ethnic groups.
To them, swift and straightforward booking procedures are invaluable.
To illustrate the magnitude, consider the sports and team travel niche. According to Sports ETA, individual sports travelers’ overnight stays surged by 86.0% YoY in 2021, culminating in 66.5 million room nights. Impressively, this resilient segment persisted even amidst pandemic challenges.
TRAVELERS HAVE GROWN ACCUSTOMED TO CERTAIN CONVENIENCES
Such leisure group coordinators anticipate the convenience that individual travelers have grown accustomed to. With many of these bookings for personal events, 24/7 reservation capabilities are paramount, eliminating the constraints of standard office hours or prolonged proposal waits. Insights from GroupSync reveal:
- 37% of organizers prefer to book beyond typical business hours
- A significant 74% of all bookings encompass fewer than 25 peak rooms
- 89% of bookings peak with fewer than 50 rooms
On average, these planners are securing around 13 rooms. They desire immediate booking access, complemented by current hotel visuals and information.
Herein lies the crux: these coordinators are driven by convenience and the confidence that their hotel choice aligns with their group’s needs.
While these smaller groups are substantial in number, it’s worth noting the significance of larger group bookings. Hotels have historically pursued larger groups with zeal. Though they account for roughly 20% of transactions, they contribute a whopping 80% of the revenue. This disproportionate revenue share underscores the critical role these big groups play in the hotel industry’s profitability.
TRENDS IN ONLINE GROUP BOOKINGS
Other progressive trends in online group bookings encompass:
- Narrowed Booking Windows: Owing to factors like pandemic repercussions and economic shifts, planners are showing a propensity to finalize bookings closer to the event dates
- Compact, Regular Meetings: These often localized meetings underline the burgeoning appeal of airport hotels as prime venues. With the remote work paradigm, it’s feasible for teams to fly in, conduct their meeting, and depart, all with utmost efficiency
- AI Integration in Group Booking: Innovators like GroupSync are harnessing AI’s potential to refine the user journey, from personalized hotel suggestions to a more intuitive search and booking procedure
GroupSync’s Instant Booking feature has been instrumental in propelling these trends in the past year. With their expanding marketplace, the end of Q1 2024 anticipates GroupSync offering instant bookings in 30,000 hotels, in addition to the existing 200,000 accessible via RFP.
In summation, the group travel sector is undergoing a pivotal shift. With advancements like instant group bookings and the sustained allure of larger group revenues, both leisure group coordinators and hoteliers stand to benefit immensely from this digital revolution.
Click here for 5 examples when instant group booking makes perfect sense.
