Creative Promotions To Attract Corporate Travel

A positive outcome from the financial challenges being faced by the hospitality industry is that hotels are coming up with ever-creative promotions to lure business and convention travel.

Last month Destination Hotels and Resorts announced their Meeting Stimulus Packages created to lower corporate meeting costs. One of the more intriguing propositions comes from the Hamilton Park Hotel in Florham Park, New Jersey, with their offer to discount meeting costs by 20 percent if the stock market closes below 9,000 points, and by 30 percent should it drop below 8,000. Given that the hotel and conference center is surrounded by Fortune 500 companies, this is a great example of a campaign that speaks directly to their target market.

Taking another tactic is the promotion being touted by the Broadmoor Hotel in Colorado Springs, Colorado: five-star luxury or it’s free. After a 20% drop in event bookings in 2009, the hotel is offering a money-back guarantee to corporate groups if their experience is not exceptional. (As a past visitor I can assure you it is!) Yes, there’s a hitch – votes are cast by those attending the meetings, and the offer is valid only for reservations of 50 or more rooms for a minimum of two nights. Nonetheless it’s a pretty radical promise, one they are hoping will generate much needed “buzz” to increase occupancy.

What is your hotel doing to attract the increasingly elusive business traveler segment? Could some unusual thinking help keep your property in the eye of corporate meeting planners?