Area hotels report business improving

The business of meetings and conventions appears to be slowly improving at local hotels, coinciding with the area's improving economy.

Although several area hotels saw a slight decrease in meeting room bookings in January and February compared to the same time last year, things were on the upswing

"January and February were not good at all," said Diana DiMarco, catering and sales manager at the Ramada Inn in Armonk, N.Y. But March bookings have been better, and April "looks wonderful and is almost full, she said.

Across the state line at Danbury's Ramada Inn, great enthusiasm comes from Gloria Nickole Cernaglia, director of sales. "At this point, we're doing okay. We're not having any problems at all," she said.

In fact, Ramada has been busy for the past few weeks. "Theres going to be more good times ahead. We're thinking very positively," Cernaglia, said.

Looking good

The Crowne Plaza in White Plains, N.Y., experienced a slightly lower demand the first two months of the year, but in general has done well with corporate meetings and conventions, said Tonya Inman, director of sales and marketing.

"Our books are looking good for April," she said.

At Danbury's Hilton Garden Inn, January and February meeting room bookings were down, but not more than 8 or 10 percent, said Jennifer Birmele, sales manager. She added that hotels are just coming out of the off-peak season, and her hotel already has some April reservations for its two meeting rooms that hold about 50 people each.

The Mount Kisco, N.Y., Holiday Inn, with four meeting rooms, has had similar experiences. January and February business was slightly down compared to last year, but March meeting bookings improved.

"Our hotel is always pretty busy as far as meetings go," said Mary Kate Keegan, director of sales.

More face time

Another hotel not doing as well this year as the same time last year is the Marriott in Trumbull. "We're hanging in there," said Scott Perry director of rooms However they're starting to see improvement, and Perry forecasts that the month of May could be back to "normal" business levels.

"The economy picking up is a huge benefit to us," Perry said. "Were seeing more corporations book meeting rooms."

Drawing businesses to hold meetings and conventions at their hotel instead of a competitor takes work DiMarco said she keeps in contact with repeat customers, and that meeting people "face to face" seems to be very effective. Likewise for Cerniglia, who said, "We're out there hitting the pavement, visiting the clients" to drum up bookings for the Danbury Ramada's six meeting rooms.

Cerniglia credits much of the Ramada Inn's success to its employees. "We have an awesome team here," she said, describing employees as "personally and "very upbeat."

The Trumbull Marriott's Perry said they're trying new avenues to increase business. No marketing ideas are turned away without being completely scrutinized first. "Creativity is the name of the game now," he said.

Birmele said taking good care of the Hilton Garden Inn's repeat customers is important, which can lead to positive word-of-mouth advertising. There's also a brand loyalty associated with the Hilton, she said. "It's nice because they know what they're getting," she said, adding that 70 percent of their customers are repeat customers.

Economy to blame

Although hotel business seems to be getting better at the end of the first quarter in 2002, that wasn't the case during the last quarter of 2001.

PricewaterhouseCoopers reported that lodging demand decreased by 6.5 percent at that time. According to the company's analysis, 83 percent of that downturn was caused by the economy, not concerns about travel following Sept. 11.

Most managers in area hotels seemed to agree the economy was mostly to blame for the downturn which the terrorist attacks further aggravated. Businesses didn't have the budget for it they didn't have the extra money to hold meetings at hotels" so many conducted meetings at their company instead, said DiMarco.

Inman said the lull followed a predictable trend. "Whenever the country goes into a recession, our Manhattan properties are hit first," which is what happened earlier in 2001, she said. Then, about nine to 12 months after, the chains Westchester county hotels feel the economic downturn.