Association Meetings

Resort Meetings Consortium Gets Planners Price Breaks

I was kind of disturbed when I got back rate quotes," says Jack Mackin, Executive Vice President, Associated Building Materials Distributors of America, Inc., Scottsdale, AZ, recalling his venue search for the Association's Convention in Tampa. "They were higher than I thought they should be." So, he decided to try something new. He called the Resort Meetings Consortium (RMC).

The Orlando, FL-based company guarantees planners the lowest group rates available during their meeting dates. And according to Mackin, the Consortium follows through on its promises. When he talked to Debra Jacobs, RMC Vice President of Operations, she asked him what his first- and second choice properties were, then negotiated between them. "Frankly," says Mackin, "she came up with a lot better rate than I did, plus perks I hadn't thought about."

RMC offers a range of services, including site selection and program guidance. Staff members will negotiate resort contracts and handle negotiations with other suppliers. A newsletter keeps clients updated on resort renovations and value dates, and clients also have access to a library of resort brochures and videos.

Planners can even earn revenues through RMC's Revenue-Sharing Program. Here's how it works: The consortium earns a ten percent marketing fee from the resort (based on total room revenue), and then passes on ten to twenty-five percent of that fee to the group, depending on how many meetings the group books through the Consortium. RMC will also provide on-site program management and currently provides destination management services as part of the RMC client benefits package.

Janove co-founded RMC because "there are Consortiums in every other industry but the meetings industry," he says. "It makes sense because the dollar volume of meetings is just as high as other industries." With the seller's market driving the industry, Janove adds, "People need to band together to show their strength."

That combined strength is one obvious benefit for planners. While an individual association may bring a resort a $50,000 meeting, "imagine the power of $5 million worth of business in your pocket when you go to specific resorts," Janove points out.

All RMC staff members come from resort or hotel backgrounds and can capitalize on their long-term industry relationships, benefiting both planners and suppliers, says John Washko, Director of Sales, Atlantis Paradise Island, in the Bahamas. Janove for example is an 11-year veteran of the hotel sales and marketing field, most recently serving as Vice President of the Grand Wailea Resort, Hotel & Spa in Hawaii. "With his extensive resort and hotel experience, Janove is like an extension of our sales force," Washko says.

Because RMC staff members know the inner workings of resorts, they appreciate the importance of seasonality of demand, arrival/departure patterns, and optimal use of function space, says Washko. That knowledge helps planners save time as well as money. "A planner may want to do site inspections at three resorts, but with Janove's vast knowledge of different properties, he might be able to say, 'These two aren't going to work. Here are the reasons why," says Washko. "He is able to find the right fit."

Washko sees the trend as less a result of the seller's market and more an outcome of planners' increased responsibilities and shrinking staffs. Even so, planners are sometimes nervous about approaching RMC, says Janove. "They think we're going to try to take away their role."

"I wish he would," chuckles Mackin in response. "After battling this thing myself for ten years, I was real pleased," declares Mackin.