Fourth-quarter U.S. group demand metrics based on requests-for-proposals characteristics were down across the board year over year, according to Cvent's quarterly Group Business Outlook. Cvent in the report projects a softening U.S. group business market in 2020, but notes that data "suggests that the market will trend upwards in 2021."
In the fourth quarter of 2019, the average U.S. group room block size decreased by 2.4 percent year over year to 219.4 rooms. The average peak room nights dipped 1.8 percent to 73.7 rooms. The average event duration remained relatively flat, down 0.4 percent to 3.3 days. And the average booking window shrunk by 3.1 days, or 1.7 percent, to 183.8 days.
The Outlook projects that in the eight quarters reported through the first quarter of 2022, only two show year-over-year declines in the number of group room nights awarded to U.S. hotels: a 1.1 percent decline in the third quarter of 2020 and a 0.9 percent drop in the first quarter of 2021. However, the basis-point change in the year-over-year variance from one quarter ago show flat or declining changes in six of the next eight quarters.
The number of RFPs awarded during the fourth quarter of 2019 was up 8.9 percent compared with 2018, representing 97.5 percent of the 12-month moving average. In the fourth quarter of 2018, such activity was up 16.8 percent, likely due to managers and planners securing business ahead of 2019 hotel company commission cuts.
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