PRESS RELEASE

Contact: Glenn Jones

Dir. of Public & Stakeholder Relations

gjones@bermudatourism.com | 441.279.5588
BTA Online Newsroom

Spike in Individual Traveller Bookings; Group Travel Segment Sags

Hamilton, Bermuda (May 17, 2015) A new report from the Bermuda Tourism
Authority shows a bookings spike for individual travellers to the island is making up
for a slump in the group travel segment. According to a monthly hotel room nights
analysis, individual hotel room bookings is up 9.8 percent while group travel
bookings is down 13.8 percent over the next 12 months.
This is why youve heard us use phrases like on the right track, said BTAs
Director of Public and Stakeholder relations, and author of the report, Glenn Jones.
Individual travellers is one number the BTA can impact materially in the short term
and it is clearly impacting that number in a positive way.
As our new report explains, when group business like corporate meetings is
secured, it takes 12 to 36 months before that group flies to the island. So the
lacklustre group performance we see in 2015 is as a result of sales contracts
secured, or not secured, up to three years ago.
Group travel is defined as a minimum of ten rooms per night.
The report, titled Group Travel: Where We Are and Where Were Going, was
distributed electronically to hundreds of tourism industry stakeholders in a monthly
bulletin. It provides an education on the group travel sales process and explains the
strategies the Tourism Authority has implemented to improve the market segments
performance going forward. Some of those strategies are:

A new sales partnership with Associated Luxury Hotels International

Realignment of business development managers in North America
Refocus of sales strategies from travel agents in geographic regions (like U.S.
southeast) to vertical group business categories (like corporate, social and
specialty association)

The reorganised sales team is structured specifically to develop new business

opportunities, uncover new leads and convert new bookings for Bermuda, said
Chief Sales and Marketing Officer Victoria Isley. By focusing on respective
categories that align with Bermudas product, the BTA will be able to truly meet the
needs of group customers whether theyre looking at a destination wedding, a
corporate leadership summit or a sports training retreat.

Bermuda Tourism Authority

22 Church Street
Hamilton HM 11, Bermuda

T 441 296 9200 F 441 296 9220

GoToBermuda.com

While statistics show the BTAs sales and marketing strategies have helped to
generate more individual hotel room nights for the island, it must generate more
growth in the second half of 2015 in order to fill the hole left on the group side of
business.
If we could get group business for 2015 that would solve everything because it
means thousands of air visitors and hotel room nights, Mr Jones said. But its too
late to grow the group number materially in 2015.
The main aim now is to win more individual vacationers to fill the gap. These
travellers, on average, book 45 to 60 days out and are the target of new marketing
efforts which began in November. The fact that individual bookings is up 10 percent
over the next year suggests the new marketing is working.
For 2015, individual leisure and business air visitors are forecast to represent 82
percent of all hotel room nights sold, while group travel is expected to represent 18
percent. For 2016, the goal will be to balance those numbers better. In 2007, for
example, a year of high air arrivals, the split was 71 percent individual and 29
percent group.
The BTAs report maintains that a strong performance in group business leads to a
successful year for the entire industry, not just the host hotels. Area attractions,
transportation providers, event planners, restaurants and others in the tourism
value chain benefit when there is a thriving group segment.
The full report on group travel is available on the BTAs website.
Note to Editors
The hotel room nights analysis cited in this press release and in Group Travel:
Where We Are and Where Were Going is contained within BTA Measures &
Projections, published monthly on the BTAs website by the Research & Business
Intelligence team. The report is a snapshot of hotel room nights on the books over
the next 12 months, allowing the BTA to measure the pace of performance yearover-year. This pacing report is also an indicator of future air arrivals because
almost 100 percent of hotel guests are travellers who arrive in Bermuda by air.
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Bermuda Tourism Authority

22 Church Street
Hamilton HM 11, Bermuda

T 441 296 9200 F 441 296 9220

GoToBermuda.com