The fourth quarter of 2023 demonstrated that 10 of the top U.S. markets have recovered 110 percent of group business compared to the same time in 2019.
This is according to the Hospitality Group and Business Performance Index, provided by Knowland, a provider of insights on meetings and events for hospitality, and Amadeus, a hospitality technology company.
The Index combines event data from Knowland with hotel booking data from Amadeus’ Demand360+ to provide individual and aggregate views of the key driver of hotel performance and is updated quarterly. The data shows that the top 20 markets have reached 100 percent of global business levels in 2019 and 10 of those have reached 110 percent or greater, including, Tampa Bay (#4) at 121.3 percent, Austin (#6) at 116.6 percent, Miami at (#7) at 115.4 percent, and San Antonio (#8) at 112 percent.
Other key insights include that the meetings and event businesses recovered to 91.9 percent in Q4 as compared with 2019, with end-of-year recovery at 91.2 percent. Today, 70 percent of events have 200 attendees or less, and notably, smaller meetings of less than 25 attendees have experienced the most growth, with a 19 percent increase since 2019.
The larger percentage of events in the corporate segment bodes well for business travel in 2023, as corporate segment events made up a larger share than in prior years. In Q4 2023, 64 percent of event days were corporate. For the full year of 2023, it was 58.4 percent compared to 2019 at 57.3 percent.
The Hospitality Group & Business Performance Index uses a multi-factor weighting system that balances metrics such as group, corporate transient, and GDS (global delivery system) room nights with average daily rate (ADR) performance. Growth or declines in ADR can offset room night performance. Each factor is averaged to provide a final index score, ensuring a more accurate overall performance assessment.
