While a slower economy and post 9/11 reality continue to impact the hotel and corporate meeting business in Fairfield County, hoteliers and event planners have counteracted the fall out in business in this sector with new creative approaches.
Many hotels, including the Hyatt Regency in Greenwich,
focused on beefing up their marketing to nonprofit groups, weddings and bar mitzvah parties. As a result, Anne Farb, director of sales and marketing of Hyatt, said the hotel's bookings for meeting rooms are running ahead of last year and that it even expects a stronger July than the previous year.
"We've built up our wedding, nonprofit fund-raisers and social-season special event business so much that our only slow time now is traditionally the last two weeks in August, when most of the world is on vacation. And, I just booked the fourth bar mitzvah for the same family," Farb said.
The Hyatt is one of the few places in the county with the ability to hold large events of up to 1000 people in its 10,000-square-foot ballroom. It also has the capacity to hold smaller meetings with an additional 30,000 square feet of small meeting room space. The upscale property is poised to begin a major addition to its hotel, which will become another selling point, she added.
At the Stamford Marriott, Peter Griffith, director of marketing, said that while the corporate meeting business has remained pretty flat and almost unchanged in the past year, his hotel has done much more business with family reunions, along with a strong wedding and bar mitzvah-party clientele.
"We will try to build upon the family reunion type of business," Griffith said.
The Stamford Marriott, which offers two ballrooms, the largest 9,000-square-foot room, can accommodate up to 1,000 people. Every spring, the national crossword puzzle championship is held here. The Marriott has just finished renovating the smaller junior ballroom on the lower level for smaller parties, used for 150 to 500 people. It also has several smaller rooms for meetings of 25 to 75 people.
"One big difference in the past two years is the demand for wireless high-speed Internet access in the lobby, hallrooms, restaurants and bar. We have included this," Griffith said.
Other creative additions to the Stamford Marriott include an indoor golf range with instruction by Jon Cote, an in-house PGA golf professional. Cote offers guests golf swing and stance instruction on a small indoor course, along with a DVD on-screen analysis during six days a week. In addition, by mid-to-late summer, the Marriott plans to unveil a new full-service spa.
"We hope the spa will have a major impact on increasing our leisure business," Griffith said.
When the corporate event business experienced a sharp downturn after 9/11 and with the slower economy, Hilary Shapiro, owner of Scenario, a special-event planning service in Stamford, started concentrating on a different client: the nonprofit organization. The strategic move paid off.
"While business fell off from the corporate sector, I experienced much more business from the nonprofit sector. Nonprofit organizations can't rely so much on corporate donations anymore, so they have decided to spend more their fundraising dollars on events," Shapiro said.
The typical corporate meeting season follows a school-year calendar from roughly September to June, with time out for the holiday period in December. However, Shapiro said that now many companies and nonprofits are sponsoring special events.
Shapiro's company, Scenario, has always prided itself on a customized approach nothing is packaged, everything is customized to fit the individual customer's needs.
Another trend in the special-events field is the varied venues for the events. Susan Enrique, director of sales and marketing for the Coastal Fairfield County Tourism District, said she has been promoting Fairfield County as a destination with unique meeting venues to out-of state event planners.
"Every major city around the country may have several hotels with meeting facilities, but we try to market Connecticut and the county as a unique destination with its New England charm and special attractions as an alternative to event planners," Enrique said.
For example, in Fairfield Country, a company, non-profit or private Party can hold a meeting in Bridgeport's Arena or Harbor Yard, at the Maritime Aquarium, at Beardsley Zoo, one of its many museums, or even on a cruise to Sheffield Island with its lighthouse and have a picnic or typical New England clambake or lobster bake, Enrique said.
For example, special-event business at the Maritime Aquarium in Norwalk has almost doubled in the past six years, said Ali Bernardi, director of marketing for CulinArt, the independent contractor which runs the special-event parties at the popular aquarium, which averages annually more than 500,000 visitors to its aquarium and Imax theaters. The aquarium can hold a sit-down dinner event for up to 300 people, or a cocktail party for up to 500 people, Bernardi said.
"Our busiest time for corporate parties is usually around the holidays from November to January and then special parties, weddings and bar mitzvahs all year round. It's a unique location - people love it," Bernardi said.
One new trend in event planning is that advance planning time between the start of the idea to the actual event has become quite short. Companies are demanding special events with planning time in as little as six weeks, Enrique said.
"Short lead times have become the norm," agreed Farb of the Greenwich Hyatt. "Of course, if they are booking the large ballroom, they have to plan way ahead, as much as a year ahead, as that is typically where our repeat annual business is."
"The window for planning the event, getting the space blocked on the calendar continues to shrink," agreed Griffith of the Stamford Marriott.
And, all of the companies and even the nonprofit organizations are asking for events that don't appear extravagant, even though they may have spent more dollars on the event than in the past, the hotel managers and event planners agreed.
"There is a greater sensitivity to not look extravagant," Shapiro said.
The Coastal Fairfield County Tourism District has just released a new revised meeting and event planning guide. The 44-page booklet provides crucial information for any company or organization that is planning to hold a meeting in Fairfield County.
"This time, we explained the meeting facilities in far more detail, providing not only information on lodging and location, but also detailed charts on the dimensions of the meeting rooms, their seating grids and capabilities, so they can get a better sense of what each property offers," Enrique said.
Finally, as hotels and unique attractions offer themselves as venues for special events and corporate meetings, all of them in Fairfield County have one advantage. "Being in the back yard of New York City, we have less expensive hotel prices, and we are the gateway to New England attractions," Enrique said.
Many hotels, including the Hyatt Regency in Greenwich,
focused on beefing up their marketing to nonprofit groups, weddings and bar mitzvah parties. As a result, Anne Farb, director of sales and marketing of Hyatt, said the hotel's bookings for meeting rooms are running ahead of last year and that it even expects a stronger July than the previous year.
"We've built up our wedding, nonprofit fund-raisers and social-season special event business so much that our only slow time now is traditionally the last two weeks in August, when most of the world is on vacation. And, I just booked the fourth bar mitzvah for the same family," Farb said.
The Hyatt is one of the few places in the county with the ability to hold large events of up to 1000 people in its 10,000-square-foot ballroom. It also has the capacity to hold smaller meetings with an additional 30,000 square feet of small meeting room space. The upscale property is poised to begin a major addition to its hotel, which will become another selling point, she added.
At the Stamford Marriott, Peter Griffith, director of marketing, said that while the corporate meeting business has remained pretty flat and almost unchanged in the past year, his hotel has done much more business with family reunions, along with a strong wedding and bar mitzvah-party clientele.
"We will try to build upon the family reunion type of business," Griffith said.
The Stamford Marriott, which offers two ballrooms, the largest 9,000-square-foot room, can accommodate up to 1,000 people. Every spring, the national crossword puzzle championship is held here. The Marriott has just finished renovating the smaller junior ballroom on the lower level for smaller parties, used for 150 to 500 people. It also has several smaller rooms for meetings of 25 to 75 people.
"One big difference in the past two years is the demand for wireless high-speed Internet access in the lobby, hallrooms, restaurants and bar. We have included this," Griffith said.
Other creative additions to the Stamford Marriott include an indoor golf range with instruction by Jon Cote, an in-house PGA golf professional. Cote offers guests golf swing and stance instruction on a small indoor course, along with a DVD on-screen analysis during six days a week. In addition, by mid-to-late summer, the Marriott plans to unveil a new full-service spa.
"We hope the spa will have a major impact on increasing our leisure business," Griffith said.
When the corporate event business experienced a sharp downturn after 9/11 and with the slower economy, Hilary Shapiro, owner of Scenario, a special-event planning service in Stamford, started concentrating on a different client: the nonprofit organization. The strategic move paid off.
"While business fell off from the corporate sector, I experienced much more business from the nonprofit sector. Nonprofit organizations can't rely so much on corporate donations anymore, so they have decided to spend more their fundraising dollars on events," Shapiro said.
The typical corporate meeting season follows a school-year calendar from roughly September to June, with time out for the holiday period in December. However, Shapiro said that now many companies and nonprofits are sponsoring special events.
Shapiro's company, Scenario, has always prided itself on a customized approach nothing is packaged, everything is customized to fit the individual customer's needs.
Another trend in the special-events field is the varied venues for the events. Susan Enrique, director of sales and marketing for the Coastal Fairfield County Tourism District, said she has been promoting Fairfield County as a destination with unique meeting venues to out-of state event planners.
"Every major city around the country may have several hotels with meeting facilities, but we try to market Connecticut and the county as a unique destination with its New England charm and special attractions as an alternative to event planners," Enrique said.
For example, in Fairfield Country, a company, non-profit or private Party can hold a meeting in Bridgeport's Arena or Harbor Yard, at the Maritime Aquarium, at Beardsley Zoo, one of its many museums, or even on a cruise to Sheffield Island with its lighthouse and have a picnic or typical New England clambake or lobster bake, Enrique said.
For example, special-event business at the Maritime Aquarium in Norwalk has almost doubled in the past six years, said Ali Bernardi, director of marketing for CulinArt, the independent contractor which runs the special-event parties at the popular aquarium, which averages annually more than 500,000 visitors to its aquarium and Imax theaters. The aquarium can hold a sit-down dinner event for up to 300 people, or a cocktail party for up to 500 people, Bernardi said.
"Our busiest time for corporate parties is usually around the holidays from November to January and then special parties, weddings and bar mitzvahs all year round. It's a unique location - people love it," Bernardi said.
One new trend in event planning is that advance planning time between the start of the idea to the actual event has become quite short. Companies are demanding special events with planning time in as little as six weeks, Enrique said.
"Short lead times have become the norm," agreed Farb of the Greenwich Hyatt. "Of course, if they are booking the large ballroom, they have to plan way ahead, as much as a year ahead, as that is typically where our repeat annual business is."
"The window for planning the event, getting the space blocked on the calendar continues to shrink," agreed Griffith of the Stamford Marriott.
And, all of the companies and even the nonprofit organizations are asking for events that don't appear extravagant, even though they may have spent more dollars on the event than in the past, the hotel managers and event planners agreed.
"There is a greater sensitivity to not look extravagant," Shapiro said.
The Coastal Fairfield County Tourism District has just released a new revised meeting and event planning guide. The 44-page booklet provides crucial information for any company or organization that is planning to hold a meeting in Fairfield County.
"This time, we explained the meeting facilities in far more detail, providing not only information on lodging and location, but also detailed charts on the dimensions of the meeting rooms, their seating grids and capabilities, so they can get a better sense of what each property offers," Enrique said.
Finally, as hotels and unique attractions offer themselves as venues for special events and corporate meetings, all of them in Fairfield County have one advantage. "Being in the back yard of New York City, we have less expensive hotel prices, and we are the gateway to New England attractions," Enrique said.
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