Associations & Meeting Planners
“Around the Block” booking impacts association revenue both directly, through attrition fees charged to associations for unused pre-contracted rooms, and indirectly through the loss of negotiating leverage. Guaranteeing room blocks give associations the opportunity to negotiate concessions, such as better room rates, less expensive food and beverage, VIP airport pickups, free Internet, rebates off the master bill, having a pre-set shuttle service, etc. Housing is a key component in how this leverage is measured and ‘around the block’ booking decreases the association’s negotiating power- ultimately making the meeting more expensive and more complicated. Higher attendance costs also translate into fewer attendees for the meetings, which in turn mean loss of revenue not only for the Association, but also for the hotels, restaurants, transportation companies and the venue city.
Davide Veglia, President of ABTS Convention Services, estimates that of the 20 Associations ABTS currently services, international ‘around the block’ booking alone account for approximately 50 million dollars revenue loss per year for Associations, without taking into consideration an additional loss of at least 12 million dollars to the venue city associated with lost revenue from international attendees who cannot attend the meetings due to higher costs. These numbers do not even begin to approach the staggering loss in revenue for the domestic market and for the industry as a whole.
Unsolicited or unofficial housing claims often confuse and disappoint members, registrants, and exhibitors and can lead to hidden penalties for them. When attendees stay outside the official housing hotels, they miss out on a big part of the annual meeting experience. These attendees often end up paying more in and disappointed overall with the experience. When these attendees don’t return next year, there is an overall decrease of attendance, a decrease of face-to-face meetings and networking and a decrease in the exchange of information on a global level.
Associations & Meeting Planners
- Promote distinct event “official housing” logo or other supplier designation. Be protective of official branding against fraudulent housing parties.
- Carefully screen anyone who is requesting your list of attendees and be careful of what you post online without security measures.
- If you find out a company is misrepresenting itself as official housing, take swift and aggressive legal action.
- Effectively communicate to your members who the official housing agents are and how to contact them. Communicate this loudly and often.
- Communicate the benefits of staying within the official housing block- free shuttles, internet, networking, etc. Consider registration/special incentives.
- Charge ‘around the block’ fees for attendees who book unofficial housing.
- Always include a contractual clause ensuring lowest room rate offered over meeting dates.
- Negotiate a price-protection clause into the hotel contract that protects associations against being undercut on the room rate. These may require hotels to cross-reference rooms booked at the group rate to ensure there is a corresponding conference registration. Otherwise, the individual must pay the hotel's undiscounted rate.
- Raise awareness. The more people know, the more strength they have. It’s important to remember that attendees just want to get their room booked at a reasonable rate and may not be aware of industry problems with ‘around the block’ booking.
Agents & International Meeting Planners
With rampant ‘around the block’ bookings, Associations find themselves booking smaller room blocks to minimize hotel attrition fees. With a smaller guaranteed room block, associations loose leverage when negotiating concessions such as better room rates, less expensive food and beverage, VIP airport pickups, free Internet, rebates off the master bill, having a pre-set shuttle service, etc. Housing is a key component in how this leverage is measured and ‘around the block’ booking ultimately makes the meeting more expensive per person.
Especially in medical meetings, attendees are often sponsored by pharmaceutical groups who have a set budget. When meetings become more expensive per person, less people are able to participate. Higher attendance costs translate into fewer attendees for the meetings, which in turn mean loss of revenue for the agents and international meeting planners as well as the hotels, restaurants, transportation companies and the venue city.
Smaller room blocks also mean that attendees who are looking to book official housing at specific hotels may be out of luck when the hotel runs out of rooms early in the process. For many attendees, this is a deal breaker- losing revenue for everyone.
Unsolicited or unofficial housing claims often confuse and disappoint attendees. It is not unheard of attendees arriving at hotels to find their rooms don’t exist or have been canceled. When attendees stay outside the official housing hotels, they do not have access to room drops, announcements, free shuttles, free or reduced meals, networking events and other happenings that are a big part of the annual meeting experience. These attendees often end up paying more in fees and transportation and disappointed overall with the experience.
Download Official Housing App:
Agents & International Meeting Planners
- Download the App. Designed to give easy on-the-go access to hundreds of official hotel properties selected by and for U.S. Association Annual Meetings, it is a MUST HAVE tool for International Meeting Planners. Access entire hotel inventories, guarantee pre-contracted rates and blocks, enjoy onsite support and protect yourself and the Association against unofficial pirate housing claims and hidden penalties from your smart phone or tablet.
- Be cautious of unsolicited and unofficial communications offering lower hotel rates than official group rates. Look for distinct event “official housing” logo or other supplier designation.
- Book the lowest pre-contracted room rates available exclusively for planners through verified official housing.
- Communicate the benefits of staying within the official housing block- free shuttles, internet, networking, etc.
- Avoid additional registration or ‘around the block’ fees.
- Raise awareness. The more people know, the more strength they have. It’s important to remember that attendees just want to get their room booked at a reasonable rate and may not be aware of industry problems with ‘around the block’ booking. SHARE THIS PAGE
Download Official Housing App:
Official Housing & Hotels
With rampant ‘around the block’ bookings, Associations find themselves booking smaller room blocks to minimize hotel attrition fees. When the association runs out of rooms in their block, attendees may be forced to either find alternate housing outside of official hotels and at a higher price than expected.
Higher attendance costs translate into fewer attendees for the meetings, which in turn mean loss of revenue for the hotels as well as for the association, the meeting planners, restaurants, transportation companies and the venue city. This is especially true in medical meetings where attendees are often sponsored by pharmaceutical groups who have a set budget. When meetings become more expensive per person, less people are able to participate.
Unsolicited or unofficial housing claims often confuse and disappoint attendees. It is not unheard of attendees arriving at hotels to find their rooms don’t exist or have been canceled. This looks bad both for the association and for the hotel.
Official Housing & Hotels
- Protect the associations against being undercut on the room rate. Do not offer rooms at a lower price during meeting dates.
- Offer additional benefits to guests within the official room block- internet, VIP concierge, etc. and make sure guests are aware of these as part of the official room block package.
- Cross-reference rooms booked at the group rate to ensure there is a corresponding conference registration. Otherwise, guests must pay the hotel's undiscounted rate.
- Make sure any meeting attendees, whether they book through the association's official booking agent or not, are counted towards attrition quotas.
- If you see or hear anything that might indicate pirate booking activities, make sure to contact the association.
- Raise awareness. The more people know, the more strength they have. It’s important to remember that attendees just want to get their room booked at a reasonable rate and may not be aware of industry problems with ‘around the block’ booking.