We're rounding up the biggest venue news of the month—in one convenient place. Got a tip? Get in touch!
In Case You Missed It
On BizBash recently, we've been highlighting the buzziest new venue openings across the United States and Canada. Check out our roundups from Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Chicago, Dallas/Fort Worth, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami/South Florida, Montreal, Nashville, New York, Philadelphia, San Diego, San Francisco, Toronto and Washington, D.C.—with even more to come!
We also explored how hotel brands are embracing experiential marketing right now and checked out 15 new rooftop venues around the country that are perfect for hosting outdoor events this fall.
Here are seven more things you should know this month...
1. Hilton has released its 2022 trends report.
And it's chock-full of interesting insights for the event and hospitality industry. The 53-page Hilton report dives into how the pandemic has changed the hospitality industry, with travelers focusing more on fitness, wellness and sustainability, along with increased interest in pet-friendly hotels (because who didn’t get a pandemic puppy?) and D.I.Y.-inspired and plant-focused design. In terms of meetings and group travel, Hilton found that travelers will continue to gravitate towards convenient and contactless experiences, and that there’s pent-up demand for small, intimate gatherings.
Another interesting finding? Travelers want to continue cultivating their newfound passions and pandemic hobbies, driving demand for unique new culinary options and travel experiences; guests are also increasingly looking to align with brands whose values and community efforts align with their own. Check out the full report here.
2. Wyndham debuted a new hotel collection specifically geared towards meetings.
Wyndham Hotels & Resorts has announced The Meetings Collection, a new element of the brand’s Wyndham Business program. Initially launching with eight hotels and resorts located across the U.S., the collection was created specifically with the needs of meeting organizers in mind. The eight properties—located in Florida, Puerto Rico, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, California and Colorado—offer a combined 900,000 collective square feet of flexible meeting space and over 4,400 total guest rooms.
One of the goals is to offer planners a simple, streamlined way to book multiyear meetings at different hotels across the collection, with discounts for contracting multiple meetings or events at participating hotels, plus flexibility, a streamlined contracting process and a dedicated sales team.
3. Meeting rooms inside igloos (yes, you read that right) might be a hot new winter trend.
Looking for a unique, winter-appropriate breakout option for your next meeting? How about hosting it inside an igloo? Small groups can gather inside igloos at various venues around the country—including The Drake Oak Brook outside Chicago, which offers a creative new Igloo Think Tank Team Building program. Each igloo has a vintage ambiance and is decorated with handcrafted furniture, and it can hold six people; the entire “igloo gardens” can accommodate as many as 36. Flip charts, drinks and snacks can be provided.
Another property offering meeting igloos is Arizona’s Hilton Sedona Resort at Bell Rock. The winter wonderland-inspired “igloo village” accommodates as many as 42 people, with four igloos that each seat four to eight guests, plus a large holiday chalet that seats 10.
After the meetings wrap, Hilton Sedona Resort at Bell Rock can organize evening events with smoked winter cocktails.Photo: Courtesy of Hilton Sedona
4. Sustainability continues to be a priority for venues.
Any fears that COVID-19 drew attention away from the hospitality industry's focus on sustainability seem to be unfounded. Last month, hotel management company Highgate announced that it will move to 100% renewable energy for the majority of its portfolio starting on Jan. 1, 2022, through an initiative certified by Green-e Energy. This includes hotels like the Hotel Figueroa in Los Angeles, NoMo SoHo in New York, Renaissance Las Vegas and other properties across San Francisco, Boston, New Orleans and more.
“According to the Sustainable Hospitality Alliance, the hotel industry needs to reduce its carbon emissions per room by 90 percent by 2050 in order to keep the industry within UN goals for reduced emissions,” explained Marianne Balfe, Highgate’s vice president of sustainability. “The utilization of renewable energy is a simple and impactful step that the entire industry can and should be taking to reduce our collection effect on the planet."
Another hotel chain taking sustainability-focused steps is Iberostar Hotels & Resorts, which is establishing a sustainable MICE experience to offer eco-friendly meetings, incentive travel, convention or event experiences. Some components include a ban on single-use plastics, on-site composting programs, digital programs and signage, and team-building experiences centered around the brand’s Wave of Change movement for responsible tourism.
5. Venues are thinking outside of the box for their holiday experiences this year.
Sure, twinkle lights and visits from Santa will always be a staple of holiday experiences at event venues. But a number of spots are getting a bit more creative this year. Atlanta’s Hotel Colee, for example, has debuted its “On Dancer” Package, an exclusive holiday suite with a funky disco theme. The Canopy by Hilton Bethesda North, meanwhile, offers fun options like the “Not Your Traditional Holiday” package, which includes a movie voucher and a gift card for Chinese takeout, and the “Calm in the Family” package, designed to offer a stress-free setting about a holiday visit with the in-laws—complete with a stress-relieving roller ball, CBD-infused teas, a guide to meditation and more.
New York City bar The Skinny, meanwhile, is hosting what it bills as an “anti-holiday pop-up” called Naughty or Nice from Nov. 22 through the end of January. The bar will be decked with over-the-top and intentionally gaudy Christmas decor and include interactive games, burlesque performances, holiday-inspired food and cocktails, and even a “Naughty Santa” character.
And if you're looking for a unique group getaway during the holiday season, alpine-themed family adventure park SkyPark Camp + RV Resort, located in the San Bernardino Mountains in Southern California, has opened its newest guest experience: The SkyStream Resort. The year-round campground allows guests to rent a vintage Airstream trailer for the night, each of which offers a DreamCloud mattress, an electric fireplace, a private patio with a picnic table and fire pit, and more. The trailers are located adjacent to the adventure park, which transforms into Santa’s Christmas Village during the holidays—complete with cookie decorating, carol singing, character meet-and-greets and a tree-lighting ceremony.
Some of the Airstream trailers at SkyStream Resort are decked out in holiday decor.Photo: Courtesy of SkyPark Camp + RV Resort
6. New technology can help assist with group travel.
Technology has become a major part of any event professional’s life—and new options continue to pop up in the venue space, too. Group booking software Groups360, for instance, recently announced that its GroupSync Marketplace now gives event organizers access to over 1 million group guest rooms across 6,500 hotel properties worldwide. This means that through the service, planners can evaluate real-time inventory for guest rooms and event spaces prior to booking room blocks or sending an RFP.
Another technology hoping to simplify the process is Vindow, a cloud-based, SaaS platform that offers centralized, full lifecycle management of the procurement process—from RFP generation through contract management—powered by AI-based market analytics. Vindow’s platform uses machine learning to analyze pricing patterns and predict hotel rates trends and track occupancy rates to forecast the best, most affordable travel windows. The hotel database can also be filtered based on a group’s needs, like safety, LGBT-friendly areas and more.
7. Venues continue providing COVID-19 testing solutions.
This month, the U.S. officially opened its borders to vaccinated foreign travelers who can provide proof of a COVID-19 negative test. And some venues—particularly in nearby regions like Canada and the Caribbean—are opening their own on-site testing facilities to make it easy on travelers. In July, The Crane Resort in Barbados opened the Caribbean’s first on-site hotel COVID testing lab, which processes PCR tests within a matter of hours.
A newer example opened in Canada this month: The Fairmont Vancouver Airport hotel now offers on-site, rapid COVID-19 testing in partnership with Bon Voyage Medical. A variety of testing options are available, ranging from rapid viral antigen to RT-PCR and other NAAT tests.
