‘A Return to Different’

An industry united in purpose is stronger and defines the true spirit of hospitality.

» THE COVID-19 pandemic brought myriad meetings and events that were months in the making to a grinding halt. Days turned into weeks, and the weeks turned into years. Many hospitality providers were forced to modify their operations. Some closed shop. For those of us still here, the landscape has changed dramatically. Without minimizing the pandemic’s heartbreaking personal toll, I feel immense gratitude for the opportunities we now have to redefine ourselves as an industry and as humans showing up for each other. My friend and industry colleague, Rachel Benedick, executive vice president of sales and services at Visit Denver, calls it a “return to different.”

One silver lining is that organizations have a new level of empathy for the human experience. We saw that as companies considered their return-to-the-office strategies. By having to step back from the busyness of pre-pandemic work routines, we can now be more prescriptive about how we want to work, lead, and live.

One of the areas where I see this newfound empathy is in how we work together as hospitality providers. Before the pandemic, we were all fighting for what each of our individual stakeholders needed. We have now spent nearly three years learning to fight for our industry, and we have seen the development of new associations such as the Live Events Coalition, which represents over 12 million hospitality professionals.

The timing of this new level of cooperation couldn’t be better given the dramatic shift in industry dynamics. Look at the two biggest cost components of live destination events: hotels and transportation. Today, it’s a hoteliers’ market, and the same is true for the airlines where every flight is filled. These shifts are forcing our industry—and our clients— to completely rethink how we plan and manage live events.

Here’s the current reality: We are in an incredibly competitive market where transient travel is filling the hotels, not groups. People are willing and able to pay a tremendous amount of money to be there, so how will the group travel business provide value? While corporate business is typically more lucrative in terms of food and beverage revenue, supply chain and labor challenges might limit that opportunity for negotiating leverage.

One of our best opportunities for success is to gain a better understanding of the breadth and economic drivers of our industry, including global trends for oil and gas, supply chain, and labor. How can we better demonstrate the value of group events to our hotel partners? What can we learn about airline financial practices so we can budget travel costs more accurately in this time of highly volatile fuel prices? We owe it to our clients to develop this understanding. Only then can we adequately plan and negotiate on their behalf.

IN PRACTICAL TERMS, THIS MEANS WE NEED TO:

» Continue to bring about a new level of awareness and partnership across the industry

» Double down on education and collaboration

» Work to u nderstand our vendors and partners, including their business objectives

» Be more flexible and creative in our planning

» Measure and articulate the value we bring to our partners

The good news is our industry is discussing these topics with a new level of transparency and openness. We are setting egos aside and seizing opportunities to shape our future together in our return to different. The results, I believe, will change meetings, incentives, events, and travel for the better and help us all come back stronger in the true spirit of hospitality. bespokeconnects.com

Opulence In Beverly Hills

» HIDDEN AMONG 80-year-old palm and banana trees is The Beverly Hills Hotel, a timeless and iconic property on the streetscape of the namesake city. Known for hosting Hollywood royalty, the property is a favored Los Angeles County hideaway—and, originally built by Margaret Anderson in 1912, the hotel celebrated its 110th birthday last year.

“The Beverly Hills Hotel has really come to signify much more than a luxury five-star hotel—it is more an institution that has become part of the fabric of the community,” says Steven Boggs, director of guest relations for the hotel. “The city was actually named after The Beverly Hills Hotel in 1914, two years after we opened our doors.”

The 210-room hotel offers a warm and secluded atmosphere with over 25,000 square feet of meeting and event space: The Crystal Ballroom boasts 7,577 square feet for up to 850 guests theater-style, and the intimate Polo Private Salon has 228 square feet for up to 80 guests theater-style.

“[With] history, celebrity, and excitement, your guests feel like movie stars as they glide into the lobby,” Boggs says.

–Amanda Christensen

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