Conference hotel venues see 6.5% occupancy rise, according to new report
The International Association of Conference Centres (IACC) has released its 2015 edition of Trends in the Conference Center Industry.
According to IACC CEO Mark Cooper, “For the third year running, this comprehensive trends report, the only one which focuses on small meetings-focused venues industrywide, indicates that IACC members have improved occupancy and rates are stronger than the previous year, significantly so for IACC’s corporate meeting venue operators.”
“Corporate meeting venues lead the recovery with the highest Average Daily Rate (ADR) and Revenue per Occupied Room (RevPOR). Given the package plan represents 90% of this group of IACC-members’ business, it can be assumed that corporate customers are investing significantly in training and meetings and in their use of member venues.”
The full report can be found here.
Last year, IACC members predicted a bumpy ride, business wise, and this proved to be the case with the economy experiencing some setbacks and earlier improved earnings faltering later in the year. This year, all venue types have predicted positive occupancy growth, with corporate venues forecasting the greatest improvements by year-end. Conference Centres with over 200 guest rooms are projecting +6.5% in annual occupancy over last year.
Cooper highlights developments to this year’s trends report, with the addition of a 9-year trends analysis for key metrics, including ADR, occupancy and net operating incomes (NOI).
The trends research showed that resort meeting venues achieved the greatest increase in Complete Meeting Package (CMP) rates, showing a 2.6% increase over the previous year. Executive conference venues had forecasted a 5.9% increase in conference package rates in 2015 and resort venues a 3.4% in CMP rates.
Day meeting venues reported a 12% increase in package rates, which include room hire, technology and food and beverage. IACC conference hotel venues with 200 or more guestrooms have reported, so far this year, a 6.5% increase in occupancy, outperforming their comparable resort member properties.
In this survey IACC members reported that digital marketing accounted for the same number of qualified sales leads as for personal sales calls.
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