Conference center chain Benchmark Hospitality International is broadening its traditional base of offerings not only by adding resort-like amenities, including spas, to properties but also by continuing to incorporate pricing options other than standard complete meeting packages, according to the chain's new vice president of sales and marketing.
The addition of amenities to the new conference centers is a reflection of the needs of the new brand of corporate business traveler, said The Woodlands, Texas-based Benchmark's Eric Terry, former owner of his own marketing agency and a former theme park and hotel executive with Marriott Hotels and Resorts, Bristol Hotels and an independent hotel management company.
"Meeting planners are looking for additional amenities, like spas and golf courses," he said. "Golf courses have always kind of been a part of the conference center experience, but spas certainly have not been. Spas are now becoming probably one of the fastest-growing leisure activities at a conference resort, and are really becoming very important to the planning process and site selection."
One conference center standard that will continue to be upheld throughout the new additions will be Benchmark Conference Plans, the company's per-attendee, per-night style of complete meeting package pricing. However, as the industry continues to demonstrate flexibility with regard to other forms of pricing
(Meetings Today, July 18, 2005), Benchmark will not limit pricing options to the complete meeting package.
"It's a cornerstone of what Benchmark does, and it's proven to be very popular with meeting planners, but as we get projects that are different in their scope and design, we'll adapt to what suits the individual property and the market itself," according to Terry. "We'll be offering those conferencing plans in all of them, but there will also be opportunities for transient visitors and individual business travelers who want to stay at the properties as well."
While there is an increased focus on mixed-use developments that include condominiums, which can be seen in the newest properties in development from what predominantly has been a conference center company, the focus will still stay on what put Benchmark on the map in the first place, Terry said.
"One of the biggest strategies we have is to be prepared for that growth and make sure that we don't lose sight of what's made Benchmark successful, which is delivering a really great conference center experience. It has developed a very strong reputation within the industry for that. We will continue to deliver what meeting planners are expecting of us in that area as we grow some projects that may not be as conference-center-focused," he said.
Benchmark this year in New Brunswick, N.J., opened The Heldrich, a 248-room conference center with 21 meeting rooms and 25,000 square feet of total meeting space, along with 48 condominiums.
Properties set to open in the near future include the West Baden Resort in French Lick, Ind., and the Bedford Springs Resort in Bedford, Pa. Additionally, Benchmark last month announced construction plans for an 18-story mixed-use conference center and condominium complex in Flower Mound, Texas, scheduled to open in the fall of 2008.
"A lot of our projects are really reaching beyond just the conference center experience. Bedford Springs, for example, is 216 rooms and a state-of-the-art conference center, but it's also got a 30,000-sq.-ft. destination spa, 18-hole golf course, pool, afterpool, mineral springs, trout fishing, hiking, biking, you name it. It's got a lot more than just your standard conference center environment," Terry said.
Terry cited increasingly intermingled professional and personal time as the impetus for the evolution from business-oriented conference centers to family-friendly resort destinations.
"The lines are getting blurred between conference center and leisure, and people are using some of those opportunities to involve families and other reasons to be there," he said. "The concept of a conference center is that it's a work environment. This is a much more leisure-driven type of environment these days. Business travelers are looking for some more of those amenities. They haven't been as much of a priority in the past, but are becoming more of a priority in the future."