As seen in Pacific Coast Business Times
By Betsy Crowfoot
After a capricious
two years, conference and business meeting facilities are seeing an increase in
business. But don’t be misled: this industry has experienced a dramatic change.
Lead times are shorter, stays are briefer, and a general “belt-tightening” has
taken place.
“These trends are the most
noticeable things about 2003 that we did not see in prior years,” said Ed
Galsterer, Director of Marketing at the Four Seasons Resort (Biltmore) Santa
Barbara. “There is a general belt-tightening going on. There are fewer
attendees, the length of stay is reduced from five days to three, there are not
as many spouse programs.”
Galsterer attributed the
“weakened economy and the war” to soft sales until recently. “We came out of
the gate slower than anticipated in early 2003. But the third and fourth
quarter have been excellent.”
A new spa with pool and
fitness center helped the 213-room property’s leisure sales make up the
shortfall in group business, Galsterer said. “And all that pent-up business has
really came on strong in the months of September, October and November,”
drawing on 15,000 sq. feet of meeting space.
Still, Galsterer
indicated, “Lead time is very short. Which tells us it is still a wary
situation. So they’re not giving us the advance notice that was typical of the
whole resort industry. We have to react a lot quicker; it requires a lot of
quick work on behalf of our catering and banquet teams.”
Beth Olson,
Director of Sales and Marketing at Fess Parker Doubletree Resort in Santa
Barbara, agreed. “Meetings that used to book two years out, now book one month,
even one day. Lead time and planning has been shortened. People don’t decide
until their quarterly reports come out.”
“A lot of fluff has gone out,” Olson
continued. “There is still some fun, like beach parties. And the guests are
more sophisticated with their food; they want a restaurant quality event.”
Nearly 50-percent of Fess Parker’s business is in corporate group sales,
tapping 23,000 sq. ft. of meeting space, 360 guest rooms and three restaurants.
“But what used to
be a national meeting is now smaller more frequent regional meetings,” Olson
said. “And we’ve seen our customers raise the bar with regard to educational
content. Now, there has to be a return on investment.”
Sycamore Mineral
Spring Resort in San Luis Obispo saw a surge in travel shortly after the
terrorist attacks of 2001. “It mostly came from the fact that people didn’t
want to fly,” said Gabriel Rivas, Head of Group Sales for the century-old
resort, with meeting space for 100 and 74 guest rooms.
But by December
2001, “People who were able to alter their plans just stopped traveling. It has
been pretty slow,” said Rivas, “lower than we’ve seen in the years before
September 11.”
Rivas also
attributed the decline to the California budget crunch, noting, “A lot of
regional groups were tied in to the State budget, and that has been a big blow
to us.”
Partly as a result
of this, and new ownership, the Resort recently beefed up its’ health and
wellness facilities. “We have a new yoga dome and retreat center; we are
shifting the focus to pull in new people,” Rivas said.
Mandalay Beach
Resort has been able to weather peaks and valleys by building good will, while
banking on a prime location.
“Immediately after
September 11 our corporate office (Hilton) worked with customers to forego
penalties on the groups we did lose immediately, and encouraged them to come
back,” said Susan Koehler, Director of Sales and Marketing.
“They were
appreciative of the stance we took and all but one rebooked by the end of a
year.”
Koehler said
Mandalay Beach Resort also benefits from an “offshore experience without the
air travel.” The beachfront property has 248 two-room suites and continental
breakfast. “Many attendees bring their families. Tying together business and
pleasure is a growing trend, and as a result we have a high percentage of
materialization at conferences here.”
“There has been a little bit of change, there are
other modes of communication,” Koehler said. “But it’s still important to bring
people together to network and disseminate information successfully.”
Even the smaller
venues are gearing up for what they hope will be an upswing in business as they
enter the holiday season and fourth quarter. Sage and Onion recently added a
separate boardroom dining facility to their upscale Santa Barbara restaurant.
“I’ve increasingly
seen a demand for this from our area businesses,” said proprietor Steven Giles.
His “Table For Twelve” seats 12 to 20 in a subdued 360 sq. ft. private room,
suitable for breakfast meetings, sales presentations or client parties. “In
lieu of meeting out-of-town, they’ll have their meeting at their facility, but
top it off with a special dinner here.”
And the potential
rebound holds so much promise, the city of Grover Beach has reincarnated a task
force assigned to lure a major hotel or conference center to Pismo Beach.
The idea, originally
conceived in the early 1980s, had been, “a very agonizingly slow process,” said
Ronald Anderson, Grover Beach City Manager. But recently the City adopted 17
goals and at the top of the list was the conference center, Anderson said. “Our
goal is to facilitate it to the fullest extent of the city’s ability and
accomplish this as soon as possible.”
As a member of the
San Luis Obispo County Visitor and Conference Bureau, Anderson has been
monitoring travel industry trends. “When we analyzed the post-September 11
situation and looked at what happened to San Francisco and Los Angeles, who
rely on visitors flying in, we held our own.”
Adding a facility of 150 or
more guest rooms and roughly 80,000 sq. ft. of meeting and conference space,
would increase tourism, jobs and tax revenue, he said.
“There are a number of state-wide and regional
conferences that don’t even consider this part of the Central Coast, because
there is not sufficient meeting space. We could easily be in that rotation,”
said Anderson. “Where other areas may not be as attractive weather wise, we
have that and other attractions: Hearst Castle, the beach, Wine country. And we
could be very competitive.”
In fact, most
properties indicated their confidence in the Tri-Counties’ strong regional
market, rich in industry, that does not rely on customers who fly in.
“We really don’t
anticipate a dramatic decrease in occupancy,” said Four Seasons’ Galsterer,
“because we still have the country’s number two market base only 90 miles down
the road.”
