The HBAA welcomes its highest ever turnout of delegates at its powwow being held at the Holiday Inn Stratford-Upon-Avon.
Over 325 delegates made up of hoteliers, senior venue and agent managers are at the associations 12th Annual Forum. The 10% increase in delegate numbers reflects on the growing presence of the HBAA within the hotel booking and meetings industry sector.
The morning’s keynote session by Melvin Gold of Melvin Gold consulting, who provides a specialist service to those in the hotel industry, gave an informative insight into where the economy currently stands for the UK hospitality industry. Members and partners gave personal insights into how they think their businesses will perform in the next 18 months. Results showed that 62% of businesses thought they would grow by more than 5% within the next 18 months with only 8% thinking it would stay static.
Melvin emphasised the aggressive rate at which London accommodation is moving compared to the rest of the UK as well as the state of the hotel industry in terms of public sector business and the risks of their expenditure cuts. He went on to highlight the power of the internet and how it has transformed the industry with hotels putting distressed inventory online to sell. His comments were enforced by research from Travelclick showing 38% of all hotel bookings now being made online.
Stephen Usher, HBAA Chariman commented, “We are absolutely delighted with the largest ever turnout at our annual conference this year. This is testament to how we operate as an association and the high profile line up of speakers.”
