Remember when those AIG execs wound up in the bunker for their pricey golf retreat in Las Vegas? (Apparently, what happens in Vegas doesn”™t really stay in Vegas.)
The days (and nights) of the elaborate corporate outings may be over for now. But that doesn”™t mean the hotel industry is suffering in our area. Indeed, business is picking up at local hotels and conference centers, which have retooled their offerings to meet the needs of a leaner, meaner economy.
“The effects from the recession have dissipated and business is up (in the fourth quarter),” says Christine Imbrogno, director of sales and marketing at Dolce Norwalk, Conn., hotel, who”™s so busy that she only has time for a quick e-mail response to this reporter”™s querry.
“In Dutchess County, the occupancy and average daily room rates are up slightly, and we”™re looking forward to a good fall,” says Mary Kay Vrba, director of Dutchess County Tourism, adding that she”™s hearing similar reports from her counterparts in neighboring counties.
At Tarrytown House Estate & Conference Center, first- and second-quarter bookings were double over the same time last year.
“Other (Westchester County) hotels have also experienced an uptick in the first and second quarters of 2010 in comparison to the same time last year,” says Joseph Santore, general manager of the Tarrytown House and president of the 31-member Westchester Hotel Association. “Everyone is feeling much better than they did last year at this time when they were still pensive and concerned about business”¦.”
But this doesn”™t mean it”™s business as usual. At neighboring DoubleTree Hotel Tarrytown, director of sales and marketing Ana Barreto has seen what she calls a cyclical industry cycle back to more advance bookings and all-day meeting packages. So much so that DoubleTree took in an additional $61,000 in incremental revenue in September, thanks to upgrades to packages.
Still, she says, both businesses and individual travelers nowadays “are a little more cautious. But instead of not spending at all, they”™re spending some.”
Illustrative of this, Barreto adds, is the corporate holiday party, which is making a comeback not as a dinner but as a less expensive luncheon.
Tarrytown House”™s Santore, too, has seen a change in the way companies conduct their business at hotels and thus, how hotels do theirs.
“The purpose of training (seminars) now is how to sell and organize oneself, retooling the companies”™ message,” he says.
Conference spaces accordingly have to have the latest technology. Food, while well-prepared, has to be quick, fluid and varied, reflecting an emphasis on work and frugality as well as the differing needs of global attendees. At Tarrytown House, the most popular dinner for business meetings, Santore says, is the pass-the-platter option, which keeps the ideas and camaraderie flowing.
In lieu of gift baskets, companies are choosing to make donations to local charities, he adds. And where once participants opted for the now-infamous golf outing, a trip to Habitat for Humanity or the Food Bank for Westchester is now in order.
“There”™s a heightened sense of corporate responsibility,” Santore says.
Hotels are meeting that with a seriousness of purpose. Tarrytown House, which has had a long relationship with Columbia University, has a new program that facilitates Columbia speakers for corporate seminars.
But will the new seriousness bring the hotel industry back to 2007 heights?
Santore doesn”™t expect that until 2015. In the meantime, Dutchess County Tourism”™s Vrba intends to enjoy the view:
“People still need to get away. They need time to relax.”
