LEISURE guests will become increasingly important for hotels in the post-recession years, according to a recent high-level think tank.
World Travel Market (WTM) invited hotel suppliers and operators from its Meridian Club to the event. They represented all aspects and geographies of the hotel sector.
In a wide-ranging discussion one recurring observation was that hotels are looking more closely at leisure business in response to changes in the corporate travel environment.
Travel budgets for blue-chips and SMEs were slashed during the global slowdown and the concern for hoteliers is that, even if the world economy picks up, budgets will remain tight.
One luxury hotelier said many companies are mandating that travellers cannot stay in five-star hotels, while a tour operator with a global reach said his business is using video conferencing as a matter of course and this has become ‘learned behaviour’.
A mid-market operator said some of its properties in France were no longer taking Mice bookings due to demand from US-based leisure travellers, while another said it is benefiting from business travellers downgrading.
The travel budget is increasingly the responsibility of the procurement department, which appears to be leading to tougher negotiations. “Corporations now want Wi-Fi access as part of the deal and they are looking for free transfers, free phone calls and discounts on food and beverage which clearly affects our margins” said one hotelier. “It is possible that leisure travellers might now be more profitable than corporate guests.”
However, leisure guests are also demanding better value for money. A UK-based short-break specialist said customers are willing to pay a good price but want more for their money.
Other panellists pointed out that luxury hotels are now expected to offer all-inclusive rates to tour operators as bigger-spending leisure clients are recognising the appeal.
Themes such as emerging markets, foreign exchange rates and distribution were also covered.