Resorts
Delivering The ‘Good Life’ Meetings Experience
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Outdoor event space at Abec Resorts’ The Palms of Destin, located in Northwest Florida along the Gulf of Mexico, includes a palm tree-canopied lagoon pool, pictured here, that is accented by islands and waterfalls. |
Deluxe-sized and styled guest rooms with balconies perched over lush landscapes of pools and golf courses—the luxurious, relaxing and abundantly entertaining amenities of the South’s resort properties are tantalizing. But more than just a perk, meetings industry professionals say resorts feed attendees’ growing appetite for luxury.
The growing demand for resort properties continues, with hospitality consulting firms like Ernst and Young (E&Y) reporting that hotel guests today—whether traveling for pleasure or for business—not only want but also expect luxury. In fact, E&Y placed luxury lodging second in an annual top 10 list of leading hospitality trends in 2007. The hospitality consulting firm cited data revealing that the luxury hotel segment—currently the smallest lodging segment—is rapidly expanding and leads all hotel segments in terms of growth.
“From consumers’ perspectives, luxury hotels bode well with the trend toward the sale of lifestyle hotel experiences—creating unique guest experiences that are reflective of their way of life, self-image and interests,” the E&Y report said.
When it comes to providing this lifestyle hotel experience, groups have to look no further than Southern resorts, according to hospitality industry professionals like Andrew Finn, senior vice president of sales for North Carolina’s Pinehurst Resort, who said, “Southern resorts offer a more tranquil, beautiful setting that gets the group away from it all. It’s about a sense of place, with the ability to use outdoor venues to create a unique experience, sweeping views, and tying in the property’s charm and character—elements that city hotels cannot match.”
Feeding this demand for resort-styled luxury are two emerging trends: the sense of entitlement to luxury and the desire for healthy, pampered living. Experts say Americans today want “the good life experience,” and resorts are answering the call.
A Sanctuary For ‘Entitled’ Generations
Nationally recognized marketing guru Pam Danziger, president of Unity Marketing, analyzes consumer-spending habits. She said, “If the Baby Boomers were the ‘Me Generation,’ then the GenXers and the Millennials are the ‘Want-It-All Generation.’ They have an appetite for luxury that far exceeds that of the older cohort.”
Danziger, whose clients include companies such as The Ritz-Carlton brand, said the generation of consumers 40 years old and younger is coming into affluence sooner and has an even stronger drive to experience “the good life” than Baby Boomers, a generation long noted for their affluence. Research conducted by Danziger found that in 2006, young, affluent Americans spent 32 percent more on luxury items than those with similar incomes in the 40-plus age group.
Danziger emphasized that while the Baby Boomer generation has felt entitled to indulge their consumer passion for luxuries, the Gen-Xers and Millennials are “taking over as the core target market for luxury suppliers.”
Resorts play a key role in this affluent lifestyle trend, according to Richard Miseyko, CMP, CMM, president of Florida-based meetings firm Site Search Inc. “Meeting the ‘entitled lifestyle desires’ of attendees today is certainly an underlying motive for using a resort. As an example, for an incentive, you want that sense of entitlement as a reward for peak performers. Or, for a national sales meeting, you want to ‘jazz’ the attendees so they leave motivated. A resort can help you achieve that.”
As director of group sales and marketing for Abec Resorts’ The Palms of Destin (Fla.) Resort and Conference Center, a 416-unit property with 7,000 square feet of meeting space, Jeff Davis said the condo/hotel is designed to fulfill the desires of today’s business and leisure group-based traveler. “Right now, we are the newest resort destination on the panhandle and offer services that our competitors only wish they could. From having a 100,000-square-foot courtyard with an 11,000-square-foot lagoon pool and Mai Tai Bar with suites that overlook the bay and gulf in addition to all the dining options we have available, we are truly in a league of our own.” Additional on-site amenities include a Ruth’s Chris Steak House and a full-service fitness center and spa.
Wellness Amenities Speak To The Health-conscious
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The Ritz-Carlton Spa, Amelia Island, Fla., offers suite-like treatment rooms with private bathtubs and seating areas. |
Another notable trend among American consumers is the increasing need to participate in activities that promote wellness while on the road. And resorts are also fulfilling this expectation, according to experts like International SPA Association (ISPA) President Lynne Walker McNees. “Similar to restaurants, hotels and fitness centers, spas play a significant role in today’s culture,” McNees said. “As more people embrace the spa experience, the concept is increasingly being linked to lifestyle decisions based on health and wellness. The most common reasons for visiting spas include relieving/ reducing stress, soothing sore joints/muscles, feeling better about oneself and boosting mental/ emotional health.”
A 2007 trends report by ISPA found that spa treatments are no longer used just for the purpose of occasional pampering. Many people feel they owe it to themselves to indulge themselves in spa treatments. “This is particularly true among Baby Boomers who feel entitled to spa experiences rather than viewing them as a treat or only reserved for special occasions,” McNees said.
At Florida’s The Ritz-Carlton, Amelia Island, attendees will find not only a 26,000-square-foot spa and fitness center but also an 18-hole PGA Championship golf course and nine tennis courts, said Gino Marasco, director of sales. Marasco said the resort itself is growing into an even more popular meeting destination for groups not just because of its spa and recreational opportunities but also because of its “seaside setting on a peaceful barrier island, Five-Diamond dining and service with genuine Southern hospitality.”
The relaxing setting of resorts is also promoted by hospitality industry professionals like Jessica Knox, corporate sales manager for the Highland Lake Inn in Flat Rock, N.C., who said, “The inn is located 25 minutes from Asheville, N.C, on 26 wooded acres in the Blue Ridge Mountains, so you are also secluded from the hassles and stress of everyday life and can enjoy a unique country environment.
But, although the inn provides a relaxed retreat from the outside world, you won’t have to sacrifice high-end amenities or technology such as wireless and high-speed Internet.”
