Imagine that you have been asked to plan your next company board meeting. While at first you may feel honored at planning such an event, later you feel anxiety and panic as you begin the process and find that there are menus to plan, meeting rooms to book, hotel reservations to make, and a budget to which you must adhere. Given the amount of detail and time involved in arranging this meeting, it would be nice if, somehow, someone could wrap all the essentials of the meeting into one simple package. The conference center industry, since its inception, has promoted packages as providing a one-stop shopping approach to the numerous details that can make or break an event.
Packages provide many benefits to both the consumer and the hotel.
From a group meeting standpoint, meeting planners find packages advantageous, as they get the benefit of one price per person for a variety of services. The use of packages also makes developing or adhering to a budget simple. The total cost of a meeting can easily be calculated by taking the package price times the number of attendees. The planner knows that there will be no exorbitant hidden charges, excessive variances, or a lengthy reconciliation upon checkout. From the hotel side, if properly handled, packages are profitable and can actually improve operating ratios.