Meetings Are Back Live! | Interview with Maggie Ivy, CEO Visit Santa Cruz County

Below is our interview with Maggie Ivy, CEO of Visit Santa Cruz County.

1.     What events and city-wides are on the horizon for your area?

We are beginning to see an encouraging uptick in leads for group events, but not a lot of confirmed bookings.  However, over the last few months wedding bookings have picked up exponentially.  There was a lot of pent-up demand for weddings and post-wedding celebrations. Our full-service hotels were able to book traditional meeting space for weddings, as well as offer the flexibility for outdoor ceremonies and reception sites.

2.     What challenges is your destination still facing, especially with the rise of Delta and other variants; and the general uncertainty around how things will unfold?

Although RFP’s and leads are steadily increasing there seems to continue to be hesitancy on behalf of meeting planners to sign contracts and confirm meeting dates. The sense of optimism felt during summer was that the meetings business would return, but the delta variant caused another pause for many planners. Related mask mandates also impacted the feasibility of some events. It has become more important than ever for meeting venues to be in close communication with meeting planners and to provide the support needed to work through the myriad of issues related to COVID that still need to be addressed. 

3.     What responses from your Conference Planners & Attendees are you seeing with the recent requirements (i.e., masks, vaccination proofs, negative COVID tests)? Has it been more positive/negative?

Different organizations and meetings planners each have their own priorities and preferences, but what seems consistent is that they would like the flexibility to be able to establish their own practices and protocols. Now that the mask mandate has been lifted in Santa Cruz County, our hotels are generally looking to the meeting planners to specify their needs regarding potential hybrid and in-person meeting formats and how they want to address proof of vaccines, testing, etc.  Over the last five months or so, Santa Cruz County’s coastal location and temperate climate has allowed for a lot of creativity and flexibility in terms of how meetings are hosted and what they look like. 

4.     What changes have your destination and/or Hotels made that you’ll continue to implement beyond the restrictions? 

There has been a lot of pivoting on the food and beverage side of meetings including streamlining meals with “grab and go” box lunches that make good use of time and networking.  Buffet service that relies on staff serving guests from behind a plexiglass shield is another option.  A large percentage of our lodging properties have acquired “Safe and Clean” certification with the California Hotel and Lodging Association, and we anticipate that many of these practices will continue to be best practices moving forward, including brand approaches such as Marriott’s “Commitment to Clean” standards.

5.     What is your outlook for 2022 and beyond? How do you think our business has changed given all we’ve learned over the last year and a half?

Santa Cruz County’s strength is in supporting smaller, self-contained meetings, which seems to be the trend and likely to continue into 2022.  We anticipate a competitive advantage in serving this sector of the meetings industry as well as the opportunity to host hybrid meetings with some remote attendance.  Our local sales teams are finding a reluctancy for planners to commit more than 30-60 days out and feedback is indicating it may be Q3 or Q4 of 2022 before bookings really begin to rebound. In terms of permanent changes, we want to be realistic about the potential indefinite loss of some meetings and business travel and the need to seek input and feedback from clients. Hosting meetings is a team effort and addressing the changing customer needs moving forward is imperative including readiness to accommodate hybrid and virtual meeting needs. Mastering the technology in this new meeting environment will be paramount.