This is the week for trend spotting, pontificating, and crystal-ball gazing. Here's Yesawich, Pepperdine, Brown & Russell's top hospitality trends. Among the things that meeting planners could take heed of:
Leisure travelers becoming more prevalent than business travelers (this has to impact room rates, especially for short-term meetings)
People want stress-reducing activities more than ever—bring on the spas!
Meetings and conventions will continue to spur more business travel needs than individual trips will.
High-speed Internet will continue to grow in importance for hotels, airports, and probably the zoo (no, they don't actually say that).
Air travel will continue to be on the cheap side, while hotel rates will continue to rise (especially, they say, at high-end properties).
Nothing too surprising, but always good to hear the experts weigh in.