Meetings + Events Post COVID (Hotelier Viewpoint)

As an industry, we have been eager to “return to 2019 Pre-Covid business levels” and now that we are seeing business return, it hasn’t come without its challenges.

Over the past two years we’ve had to pivot from normal business practices to keep up with the every changing environment we’ve been living in. Now, as business returns, we have to pivot once again. Today we are seeing a higher focus on lead response times and short term bookings. Gone are the days where hotel sales managers could take 24-48 hours to respond to an RFP, now business is being booked within hours and sometimes minutes. We’re even seeing RFP’s come out with same day response deadlines. Short-term bookings, sometimes even within the same week, are very customary right now as there is still a bit of anxiety with the idea of meeting in-person.

The biggest challenge hotels are facing right now is staffing levels. The “Great Resignation” in December 2021 took a lot of hospitality employees to other industries. Finding qualified, experienced candidates to fill virtually any open position has been next to impossible, forcing us to hire qualified candidates but without prior hotel experience. With this comes ramp up time for new hires and a significant increase in training time.

Conversely we’re noticing people who are booking meetings and events may be new to the industry as well. This has led to a lengthier process in negotiating and contracting given the client’s potential lack of expertise in sourcing and detailing such events.

Regardless of the challenges we are all facing currently, I know we can all agree on one thing: everyone is expected to do more with less. It is important to understand the challenges one another faces and support each other the best we can, as we march on towards successful and profitable roads ahead!