Our hidden $47 billion industry

During Global Meetings Industry Day (April 11, 2024) we were again reminded of the power of Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Events (MICE).

Destination Canada, the agency responsible for marketing Canada as both a vacation and business destination says in Canada MICE is a $47 billion sector! It represents 40% of all travel and tourism spending. Hoteliers I know say that MICE represents 40-45% of their business.

In the United States MICE is a $119 billion sector. What’s so powerful about this sector is how few decision makers are involved. One planner can buy out a hotel or city versus having to market to hundreds or thousands of individual travellers. I recently spoke with a planner for a library association. She had 7,500 delegates, 262 trade show vendors (approx. 600 more attendees) and 26 speakers. Her group hired a convention centre, 10 restaurants and 29 hotels!

To further illustrate how important MICE is to the hospitality sector consider that the Wynn Resort Las Vegas has 110,000 sq. ft. of casino space, but 560,000 sq. ft. of meeting space! That’s five times the amount of space for business events than gaming, which is what originally made Vegas famous and put it on the map. Markets evolve. 

For example, most North American ski resorts have evolved into business meeting destinations. Baby Boomers scaled up skiing and tennis. However, as the Boomer demographic ages out of these sports, younger generations aren’t embracing them in the same numbers, which is why ski hills have seen as much as a 25% drop in downhillers. As a result resorts like Vail, Aspen, Whistler, Banff and Lake Louise have repurposed their properties and supporting infrastructure for business events. Banff/Lake Louise, for example, host over 1,500 corporate events a year! That brings in over 100,000 guests to these communities.

While we have the technology to meet virtually, after two years of COVID-enforced house arrest people are anxious to meet face-to-face. Business event registrations are soaring. Demand for space and dates is so high that planners are having to expand their meeting year. At the start of 2023 the industry had moved from talking about “recovery” to “growth”.

So not only do we have higher attendee and corporate demand to meet, we have a generation of new buyers. At Global Meetings Industry Day and at Meeting Professional’s World Education Conference in Mexico in May we were reminded that post-pandemic two-thirds/66% of meeting planners are new to the industry. A third of travel agents are also new. 

This volume of new-to-market buyers means the bulk of decision-makers don’t know most destinations, hotels, convention centres or off-site venues. Long-standing relationships are broken, so it’s critical to have accurate and detailed information available to help planners and clients zero in on places and properties which can work for their event. There is a great need for education about your place, property and product. How well are you supplying that education?

As ever, too many hotel and supplier websites are failing to provide the information planners want and need. Platitudes are offered in lieu of detail. Or websites contradict themselves.

At Destination Doctor I audit websites to hone the messaging and details so that it works for the buyer who may be working on a proposal on the road, late at night or on a weekend. Turn around on web audits is fast, works within your existing format (no expensive redesign required) and affordable – no invoice has exceeded $250.

To inquire email nscelt@hotmail.com with web audit in subject line. Or text 902 476 7891.

The bulk of buyers are new – is your website ready?

At the World Education Conference in Tulum, Mexico MPI CEO Paul Van Deventer spoke about the industry shift caused by COVID. 

He told delegates that 60% of planners are new to the industry and only 25% of planners are back to their pre-pandemic positions. That means there is a flood of fresh minds, angles and perspectives in planning and event organization. It also means that the bulk of buyers are new and have no first-hand knowledge of a property or venue, of a destination’s attributes or a supplier’s performance and creativity. It also means a lot of relationships have to be re-established.

Cleo Battle, chair MPI International Board of Directors, made the point “We’re not in recovery, we are in growth mode!” MPI’s numbers show that some of the greatest sector growth is happening outside the continental United States.

Hannah Smith, senior consultant with STR Inc. presented planners with a picture of the hotel sector, derived by data from 77,000 hotels with 10 million rooms in 190 countries. 

Smith said by the end of April 2023 North American occupancy was only down 4 percent from 2019. The Caribbean and Centra America are back to 2019 occupancies, and South America (excluding Venezuela) is up 1 percent. Europe is down 5 percent, Northern and Southern Africa are down 7 and 5 percent respectively. The Middle East is level with 2019. Australia and Oceania are down 9 percent. Asia is 15 to 17 percent down. 

While occupancies are down, rates aren’t. U.S. and Canadian luxury accommodation are up 21 percent over 2019. The Upper Upscale category in both countries is up 15 percent. Mexico’s luxury accommodation are up 35 percent, and Upper Upscale has risen 28 percent. The Caribbean has a 43 percent rise in luxury rates and 15 percent for Upper Upscale.

In terms of group demand, the US and Caribbean are currently off only 1 percent from 2019, while Canada is down 3 percent and Mexico 4 percent down. Major markets like Las Vegas, Orlando, Dallas, Nashville, DR and Mexican Caribbean are significantly ahead of 2019. However, New York, Boston, San Diego, Phoenix, New Orleans, Washington DC, Atlanta, Chicago, Toronto and San Francisco have ground to make up. 

With so much change, with so much renewed and new competition, and with so many new buyers it’s critical for hoteliers and venues to consider if their websites sufficiently inform these decision makers. Independent or chain, most buyers have no knowledge of your property, attributes, amenities and if you are a great fit for their event. Regardless of your history and past success you’re new and unknown to the bulk of buyers.

So what story is your website telling them? Are you answering their questions and concerns? Or are you sending them to the competition? 

Destination Doctor does web audits based on 30 years covering the world’s meetings, events and incentive sector. We have audited rural resorts, city-based properties, independents, an Autograph member, as well as other branded flags, ranging from 200 to 500 keys. We have also audited the website of a destination management organization. Audits do not involve a redevelopment of a website, just ensuring the proper message is delivered to best effect as well as correcting errors or confusion. We have helped a southern convention centre and a northern resort uncover how they shorted themselves on available, marketable space. Typically, our audits are completed in a day and don’t exceed $250 per property. It’s a modest investment for a sector which represents 40 percent of a hotel’s business.

Contact: nscelt@hotmail.com – we respond within 24 hours.

Marketing, not medicine, for places and properties

An element of an incentive program for Canadian planners. (Lynch Photo)

The only prescription Destination Doctor writes is for better messaging to a highly targeted market.

Since 1990 I have covered the world’s meetings and incentive sector for the leading trade titles. Assignments have had me criss-cross Canada, the UK and Europe as well as taken me to the Caribbean, South Africa, India, Hong Kong and China. I’ve travelled by rock-star bus, helicopter, ocean liner, tall ship, private train and elephant. I know what planners and incentive house reps seek, and where properties, places and venues fall short. 

I have worked with independent properties, chains, convention centres, off-site venues, destination marketing organizations and suppliers. I have travelled with and interviewed planners and incentive house reps. This helped understand how they see and judge a room, facility, activity and city as well as their issues trying to pull together a client proposal.

Shenzhen Convention & Exhibition Centre, Northern Territories, Hong Kong. (Lynch Photo)

The idea for Destination Doctor arose from a project which required research on websites of 128 hotels, convention centres and off-site venues. Only 11 had information I could trust; 117 were out-of-date, inaccurate and/or contained conflicting information. The bulk of sites lacked basic information about their property and information important to planners. 

My services include web audits, content adjudication and creation, and, where necessary, message refreshing. We also adjudicate sales messages, pitches and site inspections. 

Our work is done within a client’s existing infrastructure to make your message and presence more on-target for these professional buyers.

Most web audits have only required one-to-two days to execute. The results have been to correct, refresh, refocus content within the client’s existing design without the need to build a new website.

The fee schedule: 

$50/hour for audits, site inspection, and content correction.

$15/hour for travel to your location (if necessary), plus agreed to expenses.

Destination Doctor offers pragmatically creative solutions which are fast, accurate, easily implemented and never over budget.

To protect our main work email, reply via: nscelt@hotmail.com

We respond within 24 hours.

Post pandemic planning

Remember when we used to travel? When we filled airports, anxiously exploring the world for new business and opportunities? When we could wow customers with buffets on the beach, before our meeting rooms had to go dark? Life and business may be on hold, but it’s not over.

Seaside service.

While the world is in lock down due to the COVID-19 pandemic, if you are a hotel, convention centre, off-site venue, DMO or other supplier it’s worth investing in post-pandemic business rebuilding now.

Potential clients have time on their hands. They are working remotely, and they’re also looking to restore lost or postponed business, and/or salvage or shift still-planned events because of the optics and challenges this health crises has created for clients, destinations, sponsors and attendees.

Two immediate actions are to imagine what business will look like once the all-clear is given. Then to prep your website and messaging to tie in to those new travel trends. Guerilla marketing works when you have a plan.

If you were one of the 15,000 travel professionals who attended Meeting Professional International’s 12-hour webinar on Global Meetings Day, you know how industry leaders see the recovery happening.

Twelve hours is a long day, but MPI provided such quality content and great ideas that the time flew by. And armed with what came out of that event, members, suppliers and partners should be adjusting their websites now. 2020 will be a lean year, but some preparation may make your year less lean.

The unfortunate reality is that a lot of websites – even the professionally created ones – are not specific and targeted very well to the needs of planners and incentive houses. These are sophisticated volume buyers, with very specific needs and interests. The problem suppliers create for themselves is a reliance on what amounts to generic websites built by web generalists who don’t understand this part of the business. Since the group market can be 40 percent of a property’s business it’s not the place to pinch pennies. On the upside, it’s not very expensive to correct these shortages. Our invoices rarely exceed $300.

While you ponder your post-pandemic business here are some digital status to consider:

• As of January 5, 2020 there were 4,437,215,927 internet users in the world. That’s an increase of 1.1 billion users in four years. Interestingly, only 8.2 percent of those users are in North America, behind Latin America and the Caribbean (10.4%), Africa (11%), Europe (16.8%), and Asia (49%).
• In January 2020 there were 1.74 billion websites on the web, BUT 1.2 billion are inactive. People and companies launch sites with great expectations of being found, being meaningful and generating income. But to rate, you have to update. Once is not enough when putting content on-line.
• This volume of inactive websites makes it more difficult for potential clients to find your business if you happen to be one which doesn’t update information.
• That said, there’s a hell of a lot of new content going on-line each day. Over 27 million new pieces are added to the internet each day. How will yours stand out and is it even your goal to gain that many eyeballs? What you really want is not a random volume of clicks but to inspire actual customers to act.
• Don’t be afraid of content. Research shows longer posts of 1,100 to 1,250 words generates 9 times the leads of shorter items.

 

A web audit is a modest investment in your post-pandemic future.

For a first contact write Web Doctor in the subject line to: nscelt@hotmail.com

Supplier websites present a digital dilemma

 

There is a digital dilemma in the meetings sector. It’s not about event apps or better presentation technology, it’s more basic. It’s the failure of supplier websites to provide useful – and accurate – information.

Recently, Marriott and Radisson announced plans for new websites geared for meetings, but will those sites provide the detail planners and incentive houses need or will they, like so many other property, off-site and convention center websites, miss the mark?

Meetings account for 30 to 40 percent of a hotel’s business, yet the information planners and incentive houses need is dismissively handled on websites. And collateral print and digital materials don’t compliment websites.

Supplier websites are inaccurate, lack essential information (like number of bedrooms), are hard to navigate (meeting space is hidden under weddings) and overlook local benefits which could help spur interest in a particular property.

These oversights and errors may be becoming codified by the consolidation in property ownership, which spreads a mistake made at one property across the brand and to all flags within the chain.

I first noticed it several years ago doing a nation-wide project. Research requires we directly contact properties and destinations. Sometimes to qualify a property, I, like planners, go on-line to tire kick to see if they meet the standards of our readers. For that national project I clicked through 128 websites. Only 11 had information I could trust.

There’s a staggering amount of inconsistency in destination and property facts. For example, on a September site inspection the sales director told me they had 725,000 sq. ft. of meeting and event space. However, the press kit fact sheet said they have “600,000 sq. ft. of flexible meeting convention, exhibit and pre-function space”. The property’s website listed 757,478 sq. ft., while their destination marketing organization’s site showed “more than 700,000 square feet”. CVent listed their total meeting space as “>100,000 sq. ft.”

As for F&B outlets, the property fact sheet listed 17 restaurants and lounges on-site, while a glossy resort guide listed 13 on one page, and 19 on another. The website said 15. So many numbers, so much inconsistency.

I wonder if sales directors ever read their websites. Researching a mountain meetings piece I found the website for a large (470+ room), well-known ski resort which listed “in-room bathrooms” under room amenities. Was this a joke or content provided by wildly inexperienced staff? Three years later “in-room bathrooms” are still listed as an amenity!

Many companies, events and destinations throw a site on the web and think they’re done. At least that’s how they act. Websites have to be dynamic to get attention.

According to Tekeye.uk there are 1.8 billion websites in existence. That’s one site for every four people on earth. And new sites are added, on average, of one every two seconds. That’s almost the birth rate. Of all these websites, less than one million sites account for 50 percent of all web traffic.

Website owners should consider how often their site is updated or refreshed.

In an interview with travel aggregator TravelMole, Alex Painter, president of a website speed and performance testing company, Eggplant, said it’s important for businesses to identify and remove “single points of failure” (SPOFs) from websites.

Painter advised getting “rid of non-essential content. If there is anything on your site that is redundant, get rid of it. It’s the excess baggage to your customers’ serene and speedy journey. Newer features are added more often than older features are removed.” That can contribute to the space and amenity confusion. For example, a hotel re-invents their dining room: new menu, new name, new décor. That gets added to the website, but the former name isn’t deleted and potential clients are confused about what is available.

With websites I have audited it seems busy sales directors and GMs have thrust scribbled notes at a webmaster with the instruction to make a site. Webmasters have a talent for technology, but they don’t necessarily know the meetings industry and don’t always appreciate what is important to a customer.

As a consequence much of the property and venue messaging has become mind-numbingly generic because one tech team copies what another team has put on the sites they built. As a consequence of this repetition, messages gets weaker and weaker and less relevant to planners.

In a LinkedIn discussion on the unreliability of hotel capacity charts, the VP of a Texas-based management services company said he cuts capacity by 25 percent. “For some reason most hotels are completely incapable of measuring the dimensions of their rooms accurately.”

A hotelier responded, “capacity charts are not intended to be a stand alone tool. These charts are used as a point of reference, but more importantly to have people engage in a conversation about the event.”

The idea of capacity charts – or a lack of other property details – being a place from which to start a conversation is a passé concept illustrating the disconnect between seller and buyer. Planners today are too time-pressed. They’re often pulling together a client proposal from the road, in the evening or on a weekend. They don’t have time or the inclination to call a property. They specifically don’t want to engage in any conversation with anyone they can’t first qualify.

We have the technology to communicate well, but we don’t seem to be doing so.

 

 

 

 

Is your message what customers want to hear?

Beach, ballroom or barn – whatever space you’re selling, is your message what the potential client wants – and needs – to hear?

Is your website working for or against you?

A website is a living ad for your business. It needs to show the benefit to the customer AND it must be accurate.

Too many hotel, off-site venues and convention centre websites are failing their employer by failing the customer. They’re inaccurate, generic and deliver a corporate sales message built on what a sales team wants to say without thought to what the reader wants to know. And, often without thought to how to make it easy for the planner customer to find that information.

For hotels, the meetings and incentive sector can account for 40 percent of revenue. For convention centres the sector is your sole reason to be. And for off-site venues meetings and incentive are the golden goose which subsidizes your other activities and work.

Are you 100% confident that your website is working for you? Have you wondered why a piece of business didn’t come your way? It could be as simple as your web content. For $300 Destination Doctor can do a web audit of your digital presence to ensure it really is a working asset and not a drag on your business. We have three decades of experience working with the meetings industry. We know the client complaints and we know what your competition is doing.

Our audits focus on content and accuracy. They are not a re-design. It’s a nimble, affordable process.

If you are a web designer or webmaster, we can work with you to hone your client content.

Can you afford the status quo?

To book your audit, email: scribble@ns.sympatico.ca

 

Does your website drive away business?

How much business is your website costing you?

Seriously, from a meetings perspective industry websites are a mess.

* They are inaccurate.

* They lack essential information.

* They are hard to navigate.

* They lack prominence.

* They overlook benefits which could help spur interest in the property or place.

Meetings account for 30 to 40 percent of a hotel’s business, yet the information planners and incentive houses need is dismissively handled on websites. It is little more than an afterthought. Convention centers and off-site venues are equally bad. Collateral print and digital materials don’t compliment websites.

I have recently researched back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back destination pieces for meeting magazines and the shoddy detail, missing detail and lack of direction is almost an industry standard. The oversights and errors may be becoming codified by the consolidation in property ownership, which spreads a mistake made at one property across the brand and to all flags within the chain. Today a VP destination sales told me that in his nine years on the job I was the first person to point out the glaring error in their website. It’s bad enough that the organization didn’t realize this, but how many planners have been misinformed and moved on to a competitor destination which they thought better fit their needs?

Instead of being the property or venue’s 24/7 workhorse, websites are frustrating and turning off potential clients. The attitude towards the information is about 15 years behind customer needs and work habits.

The fix isn’t expensive. It’s about knowing what planners and incentive houses require and look for, and understanding their frustrations at what essential information consistently ignored by increasingly generic websites. So far web audits take less than a day to complete, and probably less than an hour for the client’s webmaster to implement.

I could be more detailed in what needs to be done, but web audits are a service I sell. My audits are based on 27 years covering the meetings and incentive sector for magazines in Canada and the United States. It’s an inexpensive way to be relevant to key buyers.

You invest in a website because you believe it’s important for your business, so why wouldn’t you audit it to ensure it accurately represents your property and service?

I audit your websites

 

A number of people at the PCMA Canadian Innovation Conference in Victoria asked what Destination Doctor does. Quite simply I help hotels, off-site venues, convention centres and destinations hone their messaging to the meetings and incentive sector.

Often sales messages or how places position themselves don’t change over the decades. Sales reps are restricted to repeating certain selling points because these are considered standards. But these ideas can become stale, static or generic without a new twist or update to make them relevant to a new planner and younger attendee.

It’s worth revisiting the messaging because if a group previously passed on doing business with you, there’s no reason for them to reconsider you.

A second part of the messaging is accuracy in details. There’s a staggering amount of inconsistency in destination and property facts.

For example, in October I did a site inspection at a major meetings resort. The sales director told me they had 725,000 sq. ft. of meeting and event space. However, the press kit fact sheet says they have “600,000 sq. ft. of flexible meeting convention, exhibit and pre-function space”. The property fact sheets adds there is “263,772 sq. ft. of contiguous exhibition space”. That same fact sheet lists 17 restaurants and lounges on-site.

A glossy resort guide in the press kit lists 13 restaurants and lounges on one page, and 19 restaurants and lounges on another page. Another listing suggests the resort has 15 F&B outlets.

When I check the resort’s website it shows 19 restaurants and lounges. However, the website says they have 757,478 sq. ft. of meeting space vs the 600,000 on the printed fact sheet. Clicking another link on the site visitors are told “our hotel features more than 700,000 square feet of flexible meeting space”. It then says the exhibit hall offers over 260,000 sq. ft. of space. The mention of “over 260,000 sq. ft.” of space is confusing. Is it part of the 757,478 sq. ft. of meeting and event space or is it in addition to that figure? Could they have over a million sq. ft. of space?

CVent’s cover page says the resort’s largest meeting room is 150,746 sq. ft., but the meeting space totals “>100,000 sq. ft.” Clicking on the CVent resort link takes us to a page which says the property has 10,219 sq. m. which translates to 109,996 sq. ft.

So many numbers, so much inconsistency.

This confuses and frustrates planners. After my appearance on a Hot Topics panel at PCMA a planner told me she can’t consider a property that doesn’t have 200,000 sq. ft. of meeting space and she doesn’t have time to call every property to see if they qualify.

This inconsistency costs properties, venues and destinations money. Destination Doctor reviews your collateral material, websites and presentations to get you back on track so that you show your relevancy and potential to the industry.

 

See you at PCMA Victoria

On November 19th I am participating in a panel at the PCMA Canadian Innovation Conference at the Fairmont Empress Hotel in Victoria. Our topic is Hot, Hot, Hot Meeting Trends.

My planner friends tell me PCMA hosts the most useful, dynamic education sessions of any professional events organization. I’m pleased to be part of it.

To find out more about the event, go here:

https://www.pcma.org/event/canadian-innovation-conference-2018/

 

 

Does your website work?

Everyone, every business and every place needs a website.

Whatever your digital marketing strategy, a website is the foundation for it. It’s the destination your messaging drives the public to and the place for web tire kickers to check you out.

It’s unfortunate that the majority of website owners are so bad at their messaging and content management. An extraordinary number companies, events and destinations throw a site on the web and think they’re done. At least that’s how they act.

According to Tekeye.uk there are 1.8 billion websites in existence. That’s one site for every four people on earth. And new sites are added, on average, of one every two seconds. That’s almost the birth rate.

Of all the websites in the world, only 172 million are considered active. Meaning they have regular updates and additions to content. This is down from 177 million active sites in 2015. So less than 10 percent of websites are active and have fresh content. And even then, less than one million sites account for 50 percent of all web traffic.

Interestingly,  among the top websites are The New York Times(29^thplace), BBC (42^nd), The Guardian(48^th), CNN (50^th), Huffington Post(51^st), Forbes(65^th), Washington Post(89^th), The Telegraph(87^th), Daily Mail(94^th) and Reuters (95^th). The leaders in on-line information and visitors are legacy media. These people have shown their ability to drive eyes to their information pool. Not only have they a large pool of information, what they post is accurate. Can that be said for your website?

Accuracy is not a universal trait in websites. The bulk of websites get no traffic beyond their owner clicking in, and even then, a lot of web owners don’t seem to check the value or accuracy of their content. For example, three years ago research lead me to the website for a large (470+ room), well-known ski resort. Among room amenities it lists in-room bathrooms! Is this a joke by the webmaster which was never caught or content provided by wildly inexperienced staff? However it made it to the website, in-room bathrooms is still listed as a guestroom amenity! How has no one in management caught this? Obviously, the property doesn’t/hasn’t read their site. So as a potential guest or corporate client, would anyone trust the information on the rest of the site?

Another issue for hotels and resorts is the inability to book accommodation. Again, a well-known U.S. ski resort’s website has the ability to book ski passes, but not a room. That property is building their competitors’ businesses.

These examples should lead website owners to a simple question: Is your site working for or against you? Is it accurate, does it tell your story and is it useful to existing and potential clients?

How many website owners have conducted an independent audit of their sites as part of a plan to maximize their investment in digital marketing? Destination Doctor performs such audits for independent hotels, chain properties and destination marketing organizations.