With the way the luxury end of the hospitality industry performed during the recession, not even a session of "Laughter Yoga" could make a die-hard naysayer feel chipper.
Although it’s not exactly singing "Happy Days are Here Again" due to a still-challenging economy, a smile may soon be returning to the faces of those working—and meeting—in premier properties.
Case-in-point: recent statistics from leading hospitality industry consultancy Smith Travel Research, which found that in 2010 the growth in demand (12.2 percent increase) far exceeded the growth in supply (4.9 percent increase) in the luxury segment.
No matter which way the prevailing winds are blowing, though, something one can always count on is a consistently attentive standard of service by the ladies and gentlemen who work for Ritz-Carlton, which recently held the 2011 Luxury Meetings Forum at The Ritz-Carlton, Laguna Niguel.
On Location: Ritz-Carlton Luxury Meetings Forum
Indeed, "Laughter Yoga," held on a high bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean, was on the itinerary. If not familiar with the practice, it may seem strange to happen upon people waving their arms while laughing maniacally, but like weathering the recession, one tends to adapt to the unfamiliar no matter how odd it seems at first.
"At some point in your lifetime you go through the question of relevance," said Mark Miller, chief strategy officer of Team One-USA, who delivered a presentation titled Luxury has a Future. "Luxury is not dead, but somewhere along the way luxury brands started not acting in accordance of what luxury is."
The Ritz provided guests with experiential offerings throughout their stay, from immersive F&B and corporate social responsibility programs (Ritz-Carlton pioneered CSR programs and even emphasized it in its initial mission statement in the mid-1980s) to its Ambassadors of the Environment program, which includes a partnership with Jean-Michel Cousteau’s Ocean Futures Society.
Top meeting planners participated in panel discussions, also.
Patricia Kerr, CMP, director, distribution sales support for Waterloo, Ontario-based Manulife Financial, said that it’s up to meeting planners to take the lead.
"Ensure that everyone understands that behavior drives business results," she advised. "You need to know how to prove that experience relates back to business people. Behavior truly does drive business results. Give them those tangible experiences and you will find it drives business. In that perspective, the AIG Effect is gone."
