Share this on

Rates drop 20% for hotels booked via market Web site

By Larry Thomas -- Furniture Today, March 8, 2010

HIGH POINT —

Directors of the High Point Market Authority were told at a board meeting last week that hotel rates for next month's market have dropped more than 20% in the past year for attendees who book rooms through the Market Authority's Web site.

The average room rate is $134 per night at the 48 hotels listed on the site, compared with $175 per night for hotels that were listed for the April 2009 market, board members were told.

Hotels listed on the site must agree to eliminate minimum-stay requirements and allow cancellations without penalty if they're made at least 30 days prior to market. Hotels that don't agree with those provisions aren't listed on the site, said Market Authority President Brian Casey.

“We agree to promote them on our site, and in return, we are expecting them to give a better value to the marketgoers who are here,” Casey told board members. “Those who don't cooperate are not promoted.”

Shuttle buses will still pick up and drop off attendees at hotels that aren't on the site, however, and individual attendees and companies are free to make reservations directly with hotels.

“That's fantastic … that you have been able to get the rates down that much,” said board member Tom Mitchell, alluding to long-standing complaints from attendees about high room rates and onerous cancellation policies.

Casey said the Market Authority staff also is working with the International Home Furnishings Representatives Assn. to secure even lower rates for sales reps at selected hotels.

In other business, the board welcomed three new members. Attending their first meeting Tuesday were Doug Bassett, executive vice president of Vaughn Bassett Furniture; Brian Bunch, assistant general manager of Merchandise Mart Properties; and Dave Oddo, senior vice president of Showplace Properties.

Bassett is one of two American Home Furnishings Alliance representatives (board chairman Kevin O'Connor of Samson Marketing is the other), while Bunch and Oddo got their board seats because they oversee some of market's larger showroom complexes.

Share this on

Average High Point hotel rate cut to $134, board is told

Mar 3, 2010

Also by this author

Also by Larry Thomas

Featured Company

Surya

For more than 30 years, the name Surya has been synonymous with high quality, innovation and luxury. Our Fall 2009 collections are no exception. Our designers have masterfully created some of the most cutting edge and versatile pieces to date. Encompassing... more

Most Recent Resources

Atlanta International Gift & Home Furnishings Market

Here is a selection of products shown at this month's International Gift & Home Furnishings Market here.

Networking at the 13th annual F/T Leadership Conference

NAPLES, Fla. — Industry executives and guests took the opportunity to network and play golf during down time at Furniture/Today's 13th annual Leadership Conference here this month.