Best practices to attract and retain this market segment for year-long profitability
By Donna Oglesby
There may be no crying in baseball, but hoteliers who are not building relationships with travel sports teams may find themselves shedding a few tears once they realize how much money is being left on the table by not catering to the lucrative sports tourism segment. As a mother of two, I know firsthand how much parents pay annually to support the travel-team circuit and I’ve experienced the pain points when dealing with hotels. That’s why, as director of sales and marketing for two Hospitality America hotels, I began researching how to better serve this group segment and developing best practices to drive occupancy, generate additional revenue, enhance reputations, support local economies, foster community ties, and establish each property as the preferred accommodations for teams and individual travelers alike.
Hosting sports travel teams is BIG business. According to the Sports Events and Tourism Assn., total direct spending associated with the sports travel sector was $52.2B, and Americans took a record 204.9 million sports event-related trips last year. Building long-term relationships with league booking agents and third-party tournament housing operators will provide stable and consistent hotel occupancy year round while reducing the uncertainty that can accompany fluctuating tourist seasons. Unlike individual travelers whose stays might be shorter and less predictable, youth and collegiate sports teams especially require lodging for a weekend or for as long as a week. In addition to driving standard room revenues, this group segment drives ancillary revenues and marketplace visibility in many ways.
What Teams Want
First, meeting rooms are often rented to enable teams and their families to bring food in from local restaurants to help them keep costs down. Faced with thousands of dollars of surmounting costs annually — including league fees, tournament registration fees, equipment and gear, uniforms and team apparel, private lessons, clinics and camps, and even sports insurance — families are hoping that the booking agents chosen by the league are selecting hotels willing to accommodate their specialized requirements.
Most teams mandate complimentary breakfast, double-bedded rooms, a communal outdoor space with grills, a pool, guest laundry, and free WiFi. While travel teams are budget conscious, hotels are being forced to offer a rebate and/or commission to tournament producers for each room booked in order to be promoted as a preferred hotel. This is very commonplace for what is called “Stay to Play” tournaments. Upselling late check out and ensuring that cancellation terms are adhered to help capture potentially lost revenues when teams check out early due to elimination.
Next, hotels that cater to travel teams boost visibility within the community and beyond. Positive experiences shared by team members translates into valuable word-of-mouth recommendations, improving the brand image and attracting future bookings from similar groups or individual travelers. And much like national sports teams, youth and collegiate travel teams also have followers, including families and supporters who come along to cheer them on, increasing the hotel’s potential customer base.
Finally, during off-peak seasons or weekdays when business travel might be slower, catering to travel sports teams helps hotels maintain consistent occupancy levels year-round, smoothing out revenue fluctuations and optimizing resource utilization. This business set also contributes positively to the local economy. Teams often spend money on dining, shopping, and recreational activities during their stay, benefiting local businesses. This economic ripple effect extends beyond the hotel industry, bolstering the community’s overall financial health.
Flexibility is Key
While there are significant benefits to hosting travel teams, it does not come without challenges. Depending on the size of the tournament, some schedules come out a week prior to arrival, but most game times are not released until a few days prior to check in. Therefore, sports groups require flexibility. If the group is booking directly with the hotel during a slower weekend, hotels seem to be likely to allow for the change, however, during peak season, arrival dates are not negotiable.
With larger tournaments that are Stay to Play, there are certain requirements, such as two- or three-night minimums, and some third-party companies also request that no changes be allowed once you get to the 30-day cut off. If a guest does make a change, there are penalties, such as first night charges. While that may sound simple enough and a good revenue strategy for the hotel, these concessions can cause major headaches for operators and staff. Dissatisfied guests equate to bad reviews, and bad reviews lead to lost future business. Because of this, there are times that hotels may choose NOT to participate in these Stay to Play tournaments.
The best course of action to avoid conflict is for hotels to be transparent and inquisitive with third-party operators. If booking directly with the travel team, make sure they understand your requirements.
Here are five best practices for a smooth travel team stay:
- Always negotiate terms with the team or third-party operators from the beginning; do not let them say it’s their way “or else.” If you want to drive repeat business and ensure happy guests, flexibility and communication of expectations is key.
- Establish a realistic minimum night stay. If a tournament is five days, requiring a three night minimum should satisfy operators and guests. Teams are typically guaranteed a minimum number of games, so matching their game schedule to your minimum-night stay requirement is a common practice.
- Be more flexible depending on your occupancy: set a one-night or two-night minimum.
- Explain to team parents that they must book the group rate. Booking with points or other discount methods does not count towards your contracted block.
- Discuss check-out times with your guests. If they have an 8:00 a.m. game, and they lose, they can check out prior to the check-out time. If a team has a later game, and they will not be back before check-out time, they can pay a late check-out fee. Remember, one option is to schedule housekeeping late to handle late check-outs for the group.
Sports tourism is growing at an astonishing pace, and sports complexes are bringing life to many struggling cities. As a best practice, hoteliers should learn to love sports. Embracing this market segment not only boosts short-term profitability but it also lays the foundation for sustained growth and success in the competitive hospitality industry.
