Buyers' Club To Pool Volume At Upscale Resorts

ORLANDO, FL- A new meeting planner "buyers' club" has been formed with the aim of pooling its clients' purchasing power to leverage lower room rates for conferences at high-end resorts in the U.S. and Caribbean.

The Resort Meetings Consortium, created here recently by two former hotel sales and convention services executives, is offering a range of planning and management services as part of a comprehensive client benefits package.

While large site-selection and contract-negotiation firms like Conferon and McGettigan also offer clients the benefits of buying power, the consortium's founders said they believe those giants focus more on convention-sized properties, leaving open the four- and five-star resort market as a unique, under-exploited niche.

"The big firms do have a lot of influence at major convention destinations," said Jerry Janove, a former Hyatt official who is the consortium's Vice President of Sales. "But we're concentrating our buying power on top-end incentive programs and other resort meetings at the top-rated properties of the world- the types of business that the established firms don't focus on exclusively."

The other founder is Debra Jacobs, Vice President of Operations, also a former Hyatt official but most recently with the Grand Wailea Resort & Spa in Hawaii.

By negotiating as a large group, corporate and association clients can expect to receive volume discounts, while suppliers gain a guarantee of a greater number of room nights and a long-term relationship with a favorable, multiple meetings client, said Janove.

Clients are guaranteed, in a letter of agreement with the hotel, that the rate they receive is the lowest one available for that time of year, said Janove. Additionally, a revenue-sharing plan allows clients to receive at least one-fifth of the 10 percent marketing fee the consortium gets from the hotel.

There are no registration fees! RMC client benefits include assistance with site selection, resort contract negotiation, negotiations with offsite suppliers, general program guidance, a newsletter, and access to a library of brochures and other property information. On-site management is available and destination management services are provided as part of the comprehensive client benefits package.

The consortium already counts several Fortune 500 companies among its present clients, said Janove.

Early clients were enthusiastic. "With what will be an approximately $2,500 rebate to us on the commission fee, we'll actually get payed for our participation just with our first meeting," said Linda Reynolds, assistant vice president/manager of event services for Wells Fargo Bank in San Francisco.

Agreed Len Feltoon, president of Country Wide Pre-Paid Legal Services, in Orlando. "They meet all our planning needs, while guaranteeing us the lowest price and letting us earn cash back."