Survey Shows 50% of Attendees Book Outside Room Block
04/12/2019
Encouraging conference attendees to book inside the group’s room block helps meet financial demands on both sides of the equation. However, new research from Kalibri Labs, Prism Advisory Group, PCMA Foundation, Hilton and NYC & Company shows that just under half of conference guests regularly book a room from an event’s hotel block.
The Room Block of The Future report found that those who don’t book inside a room block are generally less informed about the savings and perks of doing so, while also skewing younger. The report polled 750 U.S. business travelers on their behavior when traveling to a business convention, finding that 45 percent use a conference’s website to help plan their trip, while 24 percent use Google searches and 27 percent get recommendations on where to stay from colleagues and friends.
Overall, about half of conference attendees booked in the appropriate room block through an event organizer’s preferred booking tool, while 25 percent booked in the block but direct with the hotel or through an intermediary. The remaining 25 percent stayed at a hotel outside the block or used services like Airbnb for their lodging.
Two-thirds of those who booked outside the block, though, ended up paying more for their lodging than they would have if they booked through the event-approved booking service. These travelers believed booking in the room block would be more expensive, however, and that they wouldn’t be able to earn loyalty points if they booked in the block.
