News for the Hospitality Executive |
McLean, VA, 06/7/10 – The Knowland
Group, the world’s
largest data firm
in the global meetings and conventions industry, today
released their
third round of survey findings on the effects of the Gulf
oil spill on
the region’s hospitality industry. Knowland surveyed 50
hotels across
the Gulf Coast that host meetings and events and found
60% of hotels
experiencing group booking cancellations, up 18
percentage points from
the survey conducted two weeks prior, and up 25
percentage points from
the group’s initial survey.
Hotels are also seeing increased difficulty in booking future events, with 28 percent of those surveyed stating significant difficulty in booking future events; double the amount from the previous survey. Additionally, 28 percent of those surveyed described the effect of future bookings as moderate, a 20 percentage point increase. The spill seemed to have mixed effects on the recent Memorial Day weekend, one which typically sees bookings by families enjoying the first official holiday of the summer. 39 percent of hotels surveyed stated that they had cancellations over the weekend directly related to the spill while 26 percent had an overall decrease in business from the previous year. Some of those surveyed hotels stated that while families were less numerous than years before, clean up workers and other responders to the spill were making up for lost room revenue. However, this does not necessarily mean increased revenues for those hotels. One hotel manager on the Louisiana coast noted that “the difference is the pricing”, while she is booking two occupants in an overnight room she is “losing 50 people using the meeting space at the same time, which affects overall revenue in the long run”. This survey was conducted over a two day period from June 2-3, 2010.The full survey results can be found below. 1.
Have you had group booking cancellations that you attribute to the oil
spill?
Yes – 60% No – 40% 2. Is the oil spill having a negative impact in your ability to book future events? Yes – 62% No – 38% If yes, would you characterize the impact as: a. Significant – 28% b. Moderate – 28% c. Minimal – 44% 3. What time frame for future events is being most adversely affected? a. Right now – 34% b. 3-6 Months – 45% c. 6-12 Months – 13% d. Over 1 year – 8% 4. Was the oil spill cited as a reason for cancellations over Memorial Day weekend? Yes – 39% No – 61% 5. Did your hotel experience a decrease in bookings compared to previous years as a result? Yes – 26% No – 74% 6. Did your hotel offer any deals or incentives to bring in business over Memorial Day weekend? Yes – 28% No – 72%
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Contact:
Tom Crosson, Communications Manager
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