Flying Under the Radar
Renaissance Orlando Hotel at SeaWorld
Everyone is concerned about how the public perceives their meeting plans. So much so, that hotels such as the Renaissance Orlando Hotel at SeaWorld have dropped the word “resort” from their names.
The former Renaissance Orlando Hotel Resort at SeaWorld changed its name for “perception’ sake” according to the director of sales and marketing but also because it does not fit the image generally associated with a resort.
The Ritz-Carleton Hotels recently introduced a new package they hope will attract new meetings in 2010. Aptly named Meetings Within Reach, the package reminds the business community “It’s not extravagant if it produces results.”
Privacy has never been more important to meeting planners’ clientele. Properties, which have a proven record of accomplishment of protecting guests’ privacy, are in high demand. Limo services and lavish meals are the exception now rather than the rule. Do not attract attention to yourself seems to be the order of the day.
Is it necessary to use a company pseudonym when booking a hotel? Will you request that the hotel switchboard block media calls to the company’s VIPs? Will virtual meetings become the rule of the future? No doubt, there will be some permanent changes in meeting planning, but face to face meetings will not fall by the wayside, just the perception that meeting planning is party planning.
