First-of-its-kind market monitor combines hotel and corporate booking data with meeting and events insights to deliver new benchmark of industry performance in the United States
[Arlington, VA] [Portsmouth, NH] June 27, 2023 – Group business is critical to hotel recovery and for Destination Management Organizations (DMOs) and Convention & Visitor Bureaus (CVBs) looking to attract visitors. This is why Amadeus, a global leader in hospitality technology, and Knowland, a global provider of data-as-a-service insights on meetings and events for hospitality, are expanding their partnership to deliver new data insights that will allow the industry to understand key trends, measure performance, and plan for the future.
It is the first time that event data such as attendee numbers and the volume of space being booked from Knowland have been combined with group, negotiated, and GDS hotel booking data from Amadeus to give both individual and aggregate views of the key drivers of hotel performance. The combined insights delivered by the Hospitality Group & Business Performance Index presents a unique overview of group travel activity in the United States.
Key insights from the Q1 2023 Index are as follows:
• The new Index finds that the overall ‘health’ of the industry has reached 90% in comparison to the same period in 2019
• Corporations significantly lead the way ahead of leisure events or weddings, accounting for over 66% of events held in Q1 2023. The top sectors hosting events were ranked as education, national associations, technology, and healthcare sectors, which together accounted for 54% of events
• The average group size booked in Q1 2023 was 119 attendees
• 70% of events that have taken place were for 200 attendees or less
• The average space booked in Q1 2023 was 3,093 square feet
• 91% of events have returned in comparison to the same period in 2019
The Index compares figures on a quarterly basis to same-time performance before the pandemic in 2019, rolling up the data to score the overall ‘health’ of the industry. The Index also includes filters to view top event market segments and industries booking group events, allowing hoteliers and DMO/CVBs to closely track trends and adapt their business strategies accordingly.
Jeff Bzdawka, CEO, Knowland, says: “As a sales intelligence company, our strength is in our ability to leverage trend data to help hospitality organizations better understand the shifts in today’s market to improve performance. Amadeus and Knowland have come together to build a new, first-of-its-kind Index to enable users to understand the relative position of key business drivers so they can make the best decisions to grow revenue and asset value.”
Katie Moro, Vice President, Data Partnerships, Hospitality, Amadeus, adds: “This partnership with Knowland demonstrates how our industry-leading business intelligence data can support hospitality growth and recovery. The insights provide a clear snapshot of hotel occupancy and booking trends, along with information on which sectors are meeting, group size, and the size of their meeting space. We felt it was important to go one step further with the Index by aggregating the most sophisticated and in-depth data available on the market today and combining it in a way that gives the industry a meaningful benchmark on where recovery has reached. Our ultimate goal is to give hoteliers and DMO/CVBs all the tools they need to develop strong marketing and revenue strategies to increase their market share.”
Access the complimentary Hospitality Group & Business Performance Index here to learn more.
