Gone are the days when airport accommodations mainly consisted of limited service properties beginning with the word “motel” and ending in a numeral.
In today’s dramatically changed landscape, hotels near airports are
not only sporting an increasing spectrum of recognized brands, but they often have the amenities, including meeting space, that compare favorably with their downtown counterparts.
“I used to not consider them [airport properties] meetings-wise,” says Corri Marschall, meeting coordinator for the Wausau, Wis.-based American Society for Laser Medicine and Surgery, who brought her group to the Gaylord Texan Resort and Convention Center in Grapevine, Texas, a community located near Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW), in April. “But now there are more properties offering meeting package deals and adding meeting space. I think they are marketing to that end more so than in the past. I’ve noticed it in the past couple of years.”
Growth Spurt
Not only are airport-centric properties targeting meetings more aggressively these days, their numbers are growing dramatically, especially in recent months.
Jan Freitag, vice president of Smith Travel Research in Hendersonville, Tenn., says the number of new hotels near airports stayed consistent in 2005 and 2006, but the first half of 2007 has shown a strong increase in property construction.
“We have seen 26 [airport] hotels open this year so far,” he says. “There are more new hotels in airport locations than in any other type of location that we tracked. Airport locations have the highest growth rate of new hotel rooms.”
Among the reasons for the growth is the increased stress associated with flying these days, he notes.
“With the increase load factors on planes, the chances of being bumped are quite high these days,” Freitag says. “There is an increased demand.”
He also notes that airports are trying to appeal to a broader audience.
“[Airport areas] are adding additional office space and industrial space so that people don’t have to drive to see manufacturing facilities and obviously you need places to stay,” he says. “I think airports and areas around airports are also trying to establish themselves as good places to meet and work.”
Paul Breslin, managing partner at Panther Hospitality, an Atlanta-based hotel development company, says airport hotels are finding a receptive audience.
“Because the market is looking for more places to meet and for good quality and convenient locations, they are looking at alternatives at major airports.”
Fly and Meet
If airport properties are courting groups with updated and impressive products, are they becoming serious alternatives to downtown hotels for meetings?
“Absolutely,” Breslin says, adding that a bevy of major metropolitan airports such as Dallas, Orlando, Tampa, and Detroit have high-end hotels located inside their terminals, making it easier than ever before to meet on the go.
“When you look at an airport like Dallas Fort Worth, there are two hotel choices right in the terminal,” he says. “They can not only handle a large number of guests, but they are probably out-performing their competitors because they are seen as first-class meeting hotels, not just properties for distressed passengers.”
Breslin believes that, in general, the quality of airport hotels is just as high as those in downtown locations.
“These hotels are built with the brand standards of today. They have great meeting space, great views, great entertainment, and great food. They are not just trying to accommodate, they are really trying to provide an experience for their guests,” he says. “They are meeting the demands of what is expected in destinations and in downtown. They want to compete with the meetings market at large and not feel that they are a second choice, but that they are a viable alternative.”
If there is a drawback to airport hotels, it is that they tend to not have as much meeting space as their downtown counterparts, according to Marschall.
“Chances are they are not going to have it like a downtown hotel would,” she says, adding that airport hotels compete best with downtown hotels for meetings that are short in length.
Short and Sweet
The fact that airport hotels tend to attract shorter meetings may work in their favor as, according to many industry observers, meetings in general are not as long as they used to be.
“I think that people are giving airport destinations a stronger look because of the shorter meeting situation. They are more focused on getting the meeting done,” says Bruce Dalton, director of sales for the Grapevine CVB.
The ‘situation’ Dalton refers to is the idea that meetings are becoming shorter and shorter, thanks to slashed budgets, headaches associated with travel and the general unwillingness of many people to leave their home or office for long periods of time.
“A lot of people don’t want to be away from work for a whole week,” Marschall says. “They want a meeting shortened and I think a lot of groups are considering that. If they can consolidate the meeting to three days, it makes more sense to stay at an airport property. A lot more meetings—unless it is an incentive—are going to be shorter than in the past.”
Stephen Krogulski, CEO of Tarsus North America, a business media firm based in Brookfield, Wis., regularly brings his company’s events to Rosemont, Ill., a community adjacent to Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport. He likes the fact that an airport location means that many attendees can travel to and from the meeting in one day, eliminating the need to stay overnight.
“A lot of it comes down to cost, and to some people, the cost would be the value of their time,” he says. “Everyone is so busy these days.”
Adding Value
Beyond their ability to attract short meetings, many say airport properties bring with them a slew of group-friendly advantages that add a good deal of value to a meeting.
“The number one advantage is the convenience of the location. The time efficiency in today’s world is a big advantage just because of the distance,” Breslin says, adding that meeting at a property—especially one inside a terminal—can also alleviate the stress of changing weather conditions.
In addition, many properties not already located within a terminal offer free shuttle transportation.
“There is no transportation required. Time-wise that is a big savings and price-wise too,” says Marschall, adding that her attendees liked the proximity of the Gaylord Texan to DFW. “They liked the fact that they were close to the airport and they didn’t have to deal with traffic.”
In some airport locations, downtown attractions are often only a few minutes away, Breslin adds.
“If you are doing business in the Midwest and need a central location where everyone can come in, you can walk right out of your hotel, board the train, see a show, come back to your hotel, and in the morning get to the airport without fighting rush hour,” he says. “You don’t need to rent a car.”
William Anderson, general manager of the Rosemont Convention and Tourism Bureau, says his community’s location makes it an efficient choice for planners.
“You are five minutes from the airport, therefore, you can start your meetings immediately,” he says. “You can get your job done and get right back on the plane. For planners, it’s a benefit of easiness—easy in and easy out.”
Working with Airport Properties
In some cases, airport hotels are an affordable alternative to downtown properties and they also may be more flexible when short lead times are concerned.
“If you look at two comprable hotels—one at an airport and one downtown—the one at the airport is going to be cheaper,” says John Keeling, Houston-based senior vice president for PKF Consulting, a company that tracks hotel trends.
While Marschall agrees that airport hotels in general offer lower rates, she adds that because airports are increasingly attracting well-appointed hotels with international brands, costs may still be steep.
“You can be paying as much at an airport as at a downtown property,” she says.
Although prices for airport properties may fluctuate, Smith Travel Research’s Freitag says their occupancy levels are high, achieving 71 percent occupancy this year through June, compared with a 63.2 percent national average for all types of hotels.
Even with their high occupancies, however, airport hotels are known for their ability to accommodate short-term bookings, something that can be an advantage for meetings.
“Airport hotels seem to be a whole lot more flexible [than downtown properties]. You don’t need as much lead time in the airport properties,” Marschall says, while also cautioning that the increasing popularity of airport hotels may make them less accommodating in the future.
Hotel industry analyst Patrick Ford, president of Portsmouth, N.H.-based Lodging Econometrics, agrees that airport properties are a good bet for finding short-term availability.
