Resorts In Sunshine State Show Better Rate Flexibility
<B>Resorts In Sunshine State Show Better Rate Flexibility</B>
By Chris Davis
With an ever-increasing supply of rooms and uncertain level of future demand, Florida resorts are in the unusual position of being a destination where corporate meeting buyers can find flexibility on rates and ancillary charges. Though group business at Florida's resorts has become increasingly short term, there are still deals available.
"In southern Florida, there's more availability and more flexibility on the resorts' part," said Jerry Janove, vice president of sales and marketing for the Resort Meetings Consortium in Cherry Hill, N.J. "Of course, it depends on the program and its scale, as well as the time of year, but the resorts are being flexible on rate. Before, they were far more aggressive, but they've taken a step back."
Florida's resorts, popular with corporations for product launches, national sales meetings and board meetings because of their easy access to major airports, Janove said, also are offering flexibility on such ancillary charges as meeting room rentals and food and beverage costs.
"Certainly more than before," he said, "ancillary charges are just as flexible. The economy is not as stable as it has been, and that has an effect."
At the northern end of the state, new supply has increased the inventory of available resort space, and buyers can find availability at rates similar to those charged during the past year.
"Availability is pretty good right now in this area, although it's tough to place short-term meetings in the resorts during our peak February through May months, and buyers usually pay higher rates to do so," said Kitty Ratcliffe, president of the Jacksonville and the Beaches Convention and Visitors Bureau.
Ratcliffe said she hasn't seen significant cutbacks or cancellations from corporate meetings buyers in her area resorts and, consequently, resorts have been able to maintain their rates. But there have been changes in downtown Jacksonville, due to a $129 million Adam's Mark hotel that opened last month. The effect on the overall area negotiating landscape has given buyers entrée to certain resort amenities at a lower overall meeting cost.
"The new Adam's Mark has had a major impact downtown, and buyers can get a very good deal at hotels there," Ratcliffe said. "Though the resorts are holding their own, they are easily accessible from downtown. As such, some buyers have been able to involve golf at the resorts, while paying lower rates downtown." Ratcliffe added that tee times for certain golf courses can be booked through the CVB's Web site (www.jaxcvb.com).
Janove believes additional flexibility eventually will mark central Florida as well, as a few new hotels and resorts, including one from meetings industry giant Opryland, are under construction.
"Orlando has a different negotiating climate now, but when there is more supply and their area is built up, we will see the same flexibility," Janove said. "But now, Orlando is as hot as ever, right behind Las Vegas as a destination."
Orlando's resorts and theme park attractions dominate the central Florida resort landscape, so demand from all travel industry sectors, including corporate meetings and incentives, is high year-round.
"We're knocking on wood, but there have been no changes that are anything to panic about," said Kathy Cattoor, director of sales at the Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress Resort in Orlando. "We attract a lot of pharmaceutical companies, and all the mergers and acquisitions there have sent a lot of meetings down here. Things have been about the same, and we're lucky to be in Orlando, which fills a lot of needs for the incentive and corporate group markets as well."
Cattoor said that while she's monitoring current economic trends, her resort has not felt it necessary to cut rates nor plan for a time in the near future where such a maneuver might be necessary.
"Our rates are absolutely the same," Cattoor said. "There has not been a scenario where we have had to sit down and decide what we need to do to attract more group business. We command a high rate and we are focused not on cutting it, but offering more amenities and services for those rates."
While buyers looking for meeting space at Floridian resorts are as beset by the lack of lead time that marks a great deal of corporate meetings industrywide (see story, page 25), some resort salespeople don't think the leverage lies with the supplier when contracting short-term meetings. If the resort has available space and wants to sell it quickly, there is little opportunity to negotiate better terms.
"Buyers are continuing to book shorter and shorter, and by the time they call us, they're in a mad rush to book space," said Mark Schurtz, director of sales and marketing at the Radisson Resort Coral Springs in Coral Springs, Fla. "This accelerates the cycle and it doesn't give us leverage in negotiations. There's no opportunity for us to go back and forth with the client, and the pressure is on to qualify the business immediately, without a second chance. It significantly condenses the decision-making process.