Walnut Creek, CA.  December 19, 2006.  St. Louis hotels found their November 2006 meetings business drop 4.6% over the previous November, according to Hospitality Information Services (HIS), which tracks the meetings industry in 44 markets in the U.S. and Canada. 

In November 2006, the number of individual organizations meeting in the 32 surveyed St. Louis hotels totaled 1,045, compared with 1,096 for November 2005, a 4.6 % decline, according to HIS records.  The November 2006 HIS Monthly Market Summary for St. Louis showed that the �Ten Most Active Properties� recorded 553 unique organizations meeting in those hotels, compared to 656 unique organizations in November 2005, a decrease of 15.7%.

Leading the Ten Most Active hotels for the second consecutive November was the St. Louis Airport Marriott, with 16.5% of the Meetings Market share in 2006, down from 16.9% in November 2005.  The second leading hotel in the Ten Most Active was the St. Louis Marriott West, with 13.0% of the Meetings Market share in 2006, up from 12.0% the previous November.

In third place among the Ten Most Active Properties was the Renaissance Grand Hotel, which recorded an 11.4% market share in November 2006, up from 10.2% in November 2005, according to the HIS Monthly Market Summaries for those periods.

However, of the Ten Most Active Properties, the Renaissance Grand Hotel outpaced all others in the total number of �Event Days� recorded in both Novembers, 406 and 353, respectively, for 2006 and 2005.  �Event Days� is the total of individual meetings or events held by the organizations using the hotel. 

Event Days are the bread-and-butter of hotel sales and catering managers.

His Monthly Market Summaries for St. Louis show that the companies accounting for the most event days in Novembers 2006 and 2005 were, respectively, Monsanto Company and Edward Jones.  Monsanto racked up 30 event days in November 2006 and 13 in November 2005; Edward Jones scored 26 event days in November 2006 and 15 in November 2005.

Other MidAmerica market results

HIS Monthly Market Summaries in other Midwest markets show similar results for November 2006.  Cincinnati showed an 8.3% decline in meetings business from the previous November.  Indianapolis recorded a 19.4% decline, and Memphis a 7.7% drop over the same months.

This is the sort of market intelligence General Managers and Directors of Sales & Marketing are always looking for. 

For over 17 years, Hospitality Information Services, Inc., based in Walnut Creek, CA, has been providing the hotel industry with competitive market information just like this -  revealing which companies and organizations are meeting� where� and for how long.  In addition, HIS also provides event contact information for the corporate or association people in charge of the events.

Since 1989, HIS has been the leader in the �Reader Board� business.  In fact, they invented the business, which was the brainchild of Stephen Reiser, who was working in the hotel industry in San Francisco at the time. 

Reiser�s business model is seemingly very straightforward � HIS associates visit specific hotels in a given market and capture the information on the hotels� reader board, that signboard or video screen in the lobby that announces who has booked the meeting rooms that day. 

�Over the years, Reiser says, �we�ve fine-tuned our system to provide exactly what our clients tell us they need - well-organized, meaningful, and fact-checked reports, including contact information.�

HIS analyzes, processes, and verifies the data for accuracy before it packages the information as a weekly, monthly, or quarterly report and sends it on to HIS subscribers, usually hotel GMs and sales directors.

HIS provides hotels with the intelligence they need to compete and increase market share in two important segments of their business � the group and catering market segments.  Currently, HIS gathers data from over 1,200 properties in more than 44 markets in the U.S. and Canada.

The Battle for Market Share � Yes it IS a War

�Hotel GMs and Directors of Sales know they can increase revenue and market share by moving meetings and catering business out of their competitors� properties and into their own.  They use HIS market intelligence to increase their top-line revenues,� says Reiser.

Hotel Executives constantly search for the weapons they need to increase market share:

�We measure the success of our Directors of Sales largely based upon their ability to consistently outperform their competitive set.  If our Directors of Sales focus on moving business out of their competitors and into their hotel, they can make incremental gains in market share achievement.  HIS provides the tools to achieve this objective,� says Rob Scypinski, Regional Vice President, Sales � Western Region, Hilton Hotels Corporation.

For more information on Hospitality Information Services and the data it provides, visit the web site at www.hisnet.com, or contact Joe Krings, HIS Director of Sales, (831)620-1361.