To say that 2017 was a strong year for hotels and resorts is an understatement. Fueled by year-over-year growth across all revenue departments, total profit figures at full-service U.S. hotels peaked in the fourth quarter of 2017 at about $120 per available room, according to a poll by industry research firm HotStats. That represents a profit increase of nine percent versus Q4 of 2016.
Read MoreWell, it surely arrived quickly, but holiday season is upon us. As everyone is rushing around to find the perfect items to present to their loved ones, it reminds me of an important aspect of the meetings and incentive programs we see at our AIC Hotel Group properties. Which aspect is that? Attendee gifting.
Read MoreWe hotel and resort folks are always looking to better understand our meeting and incentive clients so that we can provide them with experiences that strongly impact their people and their organizations.
Read MoreIn North America, the golf season has just about come to an end. Even the professional golf tours are wrapping up their seasons: The senior professional tour held its championship event in Phoenix in early November, while the PGA Tour held one of its final events of 2017 last week in Riviera Maya, Mexico.
In fact, that event was held just a few miles from the Hard Rock Hotel Riviera Maya’s highly regarded course, built by famed architect Robert von Hagge in the scenic Quintana Roo area. Our course is quiet, heavily wooded and teeming with exotic birds, yet close enough to central Cancun to allow guests of Hard Rock Hotel Cancun to enjoy a day of golf too.
Each year, American Express’ Global Business Travel division puts out a comprehensive Global Meetings & Events Forecast for the following year so that planners and hoteliers alike can benchmark their own business activity against the industry averages and trends. The 2018 report was released by American Express in late October, and there is some really positive industry data in it. In fact, the word “thriving” is used in the very first sentence of the report to describe the state of the meetings and event market.
Read MoreWell, after spending three full days in Las Vegas with more than 3,000 meeting, convention and incentive buyers during mid-October’s IMEX America event, I was ready for a day of rest. Fortunately, I was able to sleep a bit late on the weekend following the show. Now that I’m fully rested, I’m ready to tell you the same great news that I told the countless meeting and incentive planners I mingled with at IMEX: Nobu Hotel Los Cabos, the seventh property that’s part of our collection, is well on its way to completion and a mid-2018 grand opening.
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