Chain Still Pushes Luxury Mtgs.
Robert Boulogne, COO of Dallas-based Rosewood Hotels & Resorts, spoke recently to Business Travel News hotel editor Michael B. Baker about the outlook for luxury meetings, hotel development plans and the negotiating strategies that meeting buyers are employing.
Business Travel News: Have you seen signs of recovery in your group business?
Robert Boulogne: In the past month or month and a half, the pace has picked up for our phones relative to the meetings business. We've turned a corner, and there are people willing to commit now to the meetings. There are still organizations saying that they shouldn't be seen this year having a meeting in a luxury hotel. We are still wrestling with this on occasion, in that our rates might be the same as a lesser brand, but companies have to be concerned about perception. It's calmed down, but that element still exists. Our meetings business is only about 8 percent of our total revenue, but it's a very important 8 percent.
BTN: What's your strategy been to attract meetings?
Boulogne: We've gone with the value-added approach. We have Rosewood Connections, our design to offer meeting and event planners the best offers available. The package right now includes a 3 percent credit to your master bill for guest room revenue, 10 percent off for food and beverage, a 20 percent credit on in-house A/V use, a 20 percent credit on all spa services, complimentary guest-room Internet service, complimentary general session Internet service and one VIP suite upgrade.
BTN: What are meeting planners looking for in negotiations?
Boulogne: They are a bit more insistent on getting better value or a discount or a deal just because they believe that's the lay of the land. We very much want to be a part of that and not rest on our laurels. For the right set of dates and the right piece of business, we're going to be in the game.
BTN: Do you have much transient business travel?
Boulogne: We do quite a lot of transient in Dallas and Atlanta, Sand Hill, Tokyo and, of course, in Riyadh.
BTN: Are companies trying to leverage meetings and transient travel to a single sales contact?
Boulogne: We call that total account management. For the most part, however, we have people who call on group and people who call on transient. We've maintained that position.
BTN: How has the economy affected your business?
Boulogne: Where it's going is still unclear. We had a very strong 2008. The fourth quarter of 2008 was when we began to see a bit of a downturn. The first and second quarters of this year were off from last year quite significantly. We really look at the revenue per available room component, and we take our competition set in each city and determine how we're doing. That's the only measurement that is relevant to us.
BTN: Do you have any predictions on a turnaround?
Boulogne: I'm very optimistic about the future. There's a lot of pent-up demand out there. Maybe toward the last quarter of this year or the first quarter of next year, we'll start seeing the benefits of that. We are trying to be very thoughtful in how to manage this downturn without interfering with our service levels. We've been able to cut back in areas that do not impact the guest experience.