According to Michael George, president and CEO of Crescent Hotels & Resorts, properly setting beer and food prices, along with other services offered by hotels, can help drive room sales.  This seems to be especially true of full-service hotels that have an attractive staff and nice atmosphere.

Also being noted is that banquets and meetings are more frequently being booked as day meetings instead of overnight meetings.  The Hilton brand Embassy Suites has been less affected by this trend because if offers value and extra services.  For example, some incentives include a manager’s cocktail hour and free breakfast.  It seems that adding value helps book rooms as well.

Style and design is another issue that is being looked into, according to Fredrik Korallus, executive VP and COO Radisson Hotels and Resorts.  Although people are looking to save money in a recession, they still notice properties that are attractive when it comes to style and design.  According to Korallus, ugly costs just as much as attractive.

The consensus seems to be that by adding value, lowering food and bar prices, and offering attractive properties with a good atmosphere, this may be the “new normal” when it comes to generating better revenues in the hotel industry.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 9th, 2009 at 3:06 pm and is filed under Attracting Guests, Economy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.