Offering a one-stop connection for planners seeking information or to book meetings at airport hotels, several airport areas now have hotel marketing organizations representing local properties. Among them are the Midway Hotel Center in Chicago and the Atlanta Airport Hotel Coalition in Atlanta.
Midway Hotel Center
- With seven hotel properties and 20 function areas near Chicago Midway Airport and about eight miles from downtown Chicago, Midway Hotel Center (MHC) represents hotels with a combined total of 1,300 guest rooms. The hotels offer a combined total of 15,000 square feet of meeting space that ranges from a 3,000-square-foot ballroom to a 2,450-square-foot outdoor terrace and rooms for smaller gatherings.
The newest hotels in the group are Holiday Inn Chicago Midway and Residence Inn Chicago Midway.
According to Jeffrey S. Hess, area director of sales and marketing for MHC, Midway airport has a different customer base than Chicago O’Hare International.
“Southwest and Air Tran are our largest carriers, and we are five miles closer than O’Hare is to downtown Chicago,” he says. “We feel we are in a good competitive place in the current market, because we are a great value for smaller meetings by groups who want the convenience.”
The Marriott Chicago Midway Airport is the largest MHC group property, with 200 guest rooms and 5,700 square feet of meeting space. That hotel is offering incentives for bookings made by the end of 2008 for meetings that will occur by the end of next March.
“For three-day meetings with 50 rooms or more, coffee breaks, Internet access for all guest rooms and complimentary meeting space are among the perks available,” Hess says.
Atlanta Airport Hotel Coalition
- The Atlanta Airport Hotel Coalition (AAHC) is composed of 25 properties that combine their resources to market the airport area.
The hotel brands include Marriott, Clarion, Comfort Inn & Suites, Crowne Plaza, DoubleTree, Embassy Suites, Hampton Inn & Suites, Hilton, Holiday Inn, Hyatt, La Quinta Inn & Suites, Renaissance, Sheraton and Westin.
The Georgia International Convention Center, with 200,000 square feet of function space, is the centerpiece of the area.
“When the economy slides, planners look for ways to cut costs,” says John Weit, president of AAHC, “ and airport hotels actually become more popular. They eliminate transportation costs, and planners can accomplish objectives in less time because of airport proximity.”
Weit adds that Atlanta airport properties are equipped to handle any type of meeting, from sales to product introductions and training. Most groups who book into the area are serious about business, he says, and they want all the business amenities the hotels offer in the way of contemporary technologies and comfort.
