Attrition: No longer what it used to be

As a meeting planner, one of the most challenging aspects to securing a location has always been the fine balance of booking enough hotel rooms to benefit from a great rate while mitigating the risk of attrition (performance) penalties. And it has been an anxiety-filled waiting game until that committed room block was met. Until now.

This year, the rapid outbreak and spread of COVID-19 had many meeting planners and hotel representatives scrambling to find viable solutions for booked conferences, meetings and events that needed to be canceled or postponed. The same viable solutions need to be properly addressed for new bookings as well.

Just as COVID-19 is changing the way the general business world operates, it too is forever changing how the hospitality industry is managing conferences, meetings and events going forward. Contract policies surrounding attrition and cancellation no longer hold the same weight in many cases due to COVID-related government restrictions and WHO/CDC safety guidelines taking precedence.

Today’s meeting planners want more flexibility and less risk in hotel contracts in order to successfully host safe events in an environment that is highly unpredictable and continually evolving. Hospitality brands, with their low occupancies and revenues, are very willing to address what planners need now and in the future.

Although many standard agreements now include language to address issues like what we have faced this year, it’s more critical than ever before to ensure that said language is mutually-beneficial. Meeting planners need great deals to keep event costs down and hospitality brands need to make money.

The fine balance is where Meeting Your Needs comes in. With our extensive experience in both hospitality and meeting planning, we can ensure that event contracts protect meeting planners and deliver on what events need, while ensuring that hoteliers can continue to do what they do best. Who wouldn’t want a solid win-win-win?