Instant Booking for Simple Meetings Goes Mainstream

As instant booking grows in the meetings and events space, winners and losers are quietly emerging.

New data from Meetingsbooker.com show hotels may be losing share to alternative venues and co-working spaces. More bookings, as well, are taking place to secure a venue for a matter of hours. It makes sense; most meetings are short and sweet.

Yet as more hotels make their event space bookable online, instant booking will move more firmly into the mainstream.

Check out the full story below.

We’ve also got a variety of hospitality stories for you this week. Wellness certification is coming to hotels soon, but could add extra confusion to the mix in the process with competing standards.

Hilton, meanwhile, launched a new brand last week with a suitably generic name in an attempt to push further into the lifestyle hotel space.

Finally, a lawsuit in Asia shows the challenges faced by luxury hoteliers when their brand would (allegedly) promote rival properties over their own.

If you have any feedback about the newsletter or news tips, feel free to reach out via email at [email protected] or tweet @sheivach.

— Andrew Sheivachman, Senior Enterprise Editor

The Future of Events and Meetings

Are Hotels Missing Out as Instant Booking for Meetings Grows? As instant booking grows slowly among hotel chains, more boutique venues and co-working spaces are finding traction on digital sourcing platforms.

Are Hotels Ready for Wellness Certification? As the new decade begins, it’s becoming more apparent to the travel industry that the well-being of the individual is intrinsically tied to the well-being of the environment. That’s why we are starting to see hospitality companies looking into getting certified for wellness.

Hilton Launches New Brand Tempo Into a Crowded Lifestyle Space: Hilton has introduced its 18th brand. Tempo by Hilton is meant to be an affordable lifestyle brand for the modern traveler. But with so many lifestyle brands already out there, how will Tempo be able to stand out?

What This Minor Vs. Marriott Lawsuit Reveals About the Hotel Biz: Minor is a step closer to getting its case against Marriott heard in a Thai court, probably a nightmarish scenario for hotel management companies if only because it bares open fault lines.

The Future of Mobility in Corp Travel Brings a Messy Chase for Scale: Ground transportation in corporate travel has evolved into a complicated and costly mess. There is some hope that new platforms will solve these issues, but that point isn’t coming any time soon.

Around the Industry

The 2020 Innovators in Travel and Hospitality: Winter Edition: Twice a year, this column looks at who is doing it right. Here are some of the most inspiring innovations in design, service, and guest experience in hospitality and travel. Let the debates begin.

Ace Hotel Boutique Chain Consolidates Ownership After Years of Turmoil: Ace Hotel has finalized the consolidation of its ownership after years of disputes with the estate of late co-founder Alex Calderwood. Now that that’s been settled, what will the boutique hotel chain concentrate on next?

Australia Pours $52 Million Into Tackling Tourism’s ‘Biggest Challenge in Living Memory’: A look at where the money will be spent shows Australia is putting it in all the right places with just one thing in mind: getting tourists back. This is what’s needed as figures are showing massive losses.

The Best Of EventMB

The Best of EventMB is our newest section, giving you a look into key content from EventMB, whether it be reports, articles, or resources for planners. EventMB joined the Skift family in September and is the largest online media resource for trends, technology, innovation, and education in the events industry.

Sustainability in Events: Is This a State of Emergency? With a strong scientific consensus that we are in a full-blown climate crisis, sustainability is a pressing concern.

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Senior Enterprise Editor Andrew Sheivachman [[email protected]] curates the Skift Meetings Innovation Report. Skift emails the newsletter every Wednesday.

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