TYSONS CORNER, VA—Cvent released its first quarterly “Group Business Outlook,” a 24-month forward-looking report highlighting group booking activity through the Cvent Supplier Network.
“Event planners source more than $16-billion in business through Cvent’s online platforms each year, making us the largest platform for sourcing meetings and events in the world. With this kind of booking volume, we have incredible amounts of data, giving us deep insights into group booking activity and trends,” said Brian Berry, SVP of sales and data analytics at Cvent. “Group business is a critical component for hoteliers when setting their segment mix and for maximizing RevPAR. By launching a quarterly view on the group leads being sent to the U.S. market, we’re sharing our unique data with the industry to help hoteliers better shape their group strategy and stay ahead of market trends.”
Key highlights from the Q4 “Group Business Outlook” include the following:
- The third quarter of 2018 saw meeting planners award an unusually high number of RFPs for all future dates compared to a particularly weak third quarter of 2017. The growth rate in awarded RFPs to U.S. hotels over the past 12 months average 11.4%, based on data from the Cvent Supplier Network. The third quarter grew 14.7%.
- Following a consistent decline in the average size of group blocks over the past year, the number of room nights included in RFPs stabilized during the third quarter, both in terms of total rooms and peak rooms. The booking window continues to shorten and stands at about six months.
- Group booking pace for 2020 is trending in the negative with three of four quarters showing a year-over-year decline in group occupancy. Fortunately, there is ample time for hotel sales and marketing teams to respond and make up ground in response to this trend.
