Booking Startup Stayker Makes Room Blocks Less Risky for Planners
Skift Take
Event planners are putting their money on the line when signing a room block contract, and often the gamble is just not worth it. If Stayker catches on, the group booking rate may start to pick up again.
Booking room blocks carries a high risk for event planners, leaving them liable for the cost of the rooms if they are not ultimately filled.
It has gotten so bad that group booking overall is on the decline, and has been for nearly a year. Planners, reluctant to face an ever-growing risk and slashed commision payments, are looking at other options to house attendees, but often the solutions are not adequate, especially for larger events. Stayker, a hotel booking platform launched Thursday, aims to reduce this risk for planners, matching attendees up with available hotels and circumventing much of the back-and-forth required in booking and negotiating rooms.
“I’ve done a lot of hotel contracting in the past and the biggest pain point is attrition and honestly the commission cuts — that’s the big elephant in the room nobody’s talking about,” said Talley Richey, vice president and co-founder at Stayker. Attri
