Hotel Corporations: Chains Compete, Shows Win?

By Rachelle Crum -- Tradeshow Week, 4/10/2006

From the "Feel the Hyatt Touch" slogan to Westin's Heavenly Bed, hotel chains are increasingly competitive, often by distinguishing their offerings to avoid the "average hotel" characterization.

And of these chains, those that offer adequate exhibit and meeting space are doing the same specifically for the tradeshow industry, touting their uniqueness from typical convention centers and, of course, other hotels.

Hilton Hotels, Peabody Hotel Group, Gaylord Hotels and Harrah's Entertainment are just a sampling of hotel chains that in recent months have upped the ante for one another.

Hilton, for one, in the last few months has made several advances that will impact the tradeshow industry.

The hotel group last year announced it would manage its first convention center (in Branson, Mo.); in January took over the Dallas Anatole from Wyndham and reflagged it; and last month announced it would manage and have a minority ownership interest in the Hilton Orlando Convention Center, a 1,400-room property to be connected to the Orange County Convention Center.

Gaylord Hotels, which is constructing a new convention center resort outside Washington, D.C., and is in talks to develop one in the San Diego area, continues to promote itself as the ultimate conventioneer-focused resort.

Peabody, with the Peabody Orlando, Peabody Memphis (Tenn.) and Peabody Little Rock (Ark.), recently opened three national sales offices, in Atlanta, Northern New Jersey and Washington, D.C.

And Harrah's, which in 2005 acquired Caesars Entertainment (including Caesars Palace and Bally's Las Vegas), restructured its Las Vegas convention sales and operations staff soon thereafter. One consolidated team now sells and services all seven Harrah's properties in Las Vegas.

Bob Dirks, senior vice president of sales strategy and development for Hilton, said that the company's new properties were creating "more opportunities and more options" for show managers to hold events at a Hilton.

And with 39 sales offices around the world, its recent acquisition of Hilton Intl., and its other convention center hotels in the works in Baltimore and San Diego, Dirks said his competitors are chasing Hilton.

Aside from Gaylord Hotels, he added, "I don't see, quite frankly, our competitors making similar announcements."

Speaking of Gaylord, Mike Mason, its senior vice president of sales, insisted the group's convention center resorts in Nashville, Tenn., Kissimmee, Fla., and Grapevine, Texas, had a leg up on typical hotel chains because, unlike the others, Gaylord doesn't have to set aside a portion of rooms for leisure travelers.

"We're 100-percent group and convention focus," Mason said. "(Other hotel groups) have to divide up their rooms to three or four different customers," including leisure groups. "Because of the way that we run our business, we can do things that others can't."

For example, he said, at most other hotels, "you can't hang a banner at the front desk" because the hotel often doesn't want to impinge on leisure travelers.

"We'll never sacrifice the integrity of a meeting or convention to appease leisure travelers," Mason said. Of course, he added, "we'll make sure (leisure travelers) are taken care of when they're here, but they'll see banners, logos, etc."

Gaylord is expected to open the Gaylord Natl. Resort & Convention Center outside Washington, D.C., in the first quarter of 2008, Mason said.

The company is also negotiating to build a resort in the San Diego area.

Peabody's new sales offices allow the group to more effectively compete with larger hotel chains, said Barry Anderson, executive vice president of sales and marketing.

"This way, our three national sales directors can respond instantly to an RFP from customers in their areas, while adopting a team approach, aligning their specific markets with the on-property sales manager based at each of our three Peabody properties," Anderson said. "This provides us a fast, seamless and total response to customers' questions and requests, and allows us to have valuable, personal interactions in each of the (national sales offices') marketplaces."

Harrah's newly integrated sales force gives show organizers, with one phone call, access to each of the company's facilities in Las Vegas, noted Michael Massari, Harrah's vice president of meeting sales and operations.

The system also allows organizers to more easily spread out events across properties, he said.

Although Harrah's, Gaylord and Peabody representatives were eager to speak of their competitive strategies, Dirks was more reticent about Hilton's.

"I'm not going to tell you," he said. "Then everyone will know."