RevPAR – What is it and how it affects the Meeting Planner

by Carolyn Davis, CMP

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Revenue per available room, or RevPAR for short, is a ratio commonly used to measure financial performance in the hospitality industry. The metric, which is a function of both room rates and occupancy, is one of the most important gauges of health among hotel operators.
As a meeting planner, you should understand and talk knowledgeably about the importance of your group’s business. With this information, you can then assess how it plays into and benefits the Rev PAR of the hotels you are considering.
The more it benefits the hotel’s RevPAR, the more it will benefit your group’s rates and concessions. The good news is that it’s not us against them. It is us working with them for a win-win.  How can we do this?
 
Know the factors that affect RevPAR:

• Booking patterns
  • Start your program on a Sunday, Monday or Friday to allow the hotel to fit in other groups
• Food & beverage spend
  • It is a revenue source for the hotel
• Length of stay
  • More days more money for the hotel
• Holidays, City-wide conferences, High/ low/ shoulder seasons

 
Ask your Salesperson:

• What’s the hotel’s RevPAR “secret sauce”?
• What can you do to support their rooms to space ratio?
  • Do you have a space hog with few sleeping rooms? Try booking it over the top of a city-wide conference that is a sleeping room hog utilizing little to no meeting space.

• What concessions can the hotel offer?
• Ask them about their loyalty program?

 
Once you understand how RevPAR works, you’ll have a powerful tool that will help you negotiate your next meeting.
 
Carolyn Davis, CMP, owner of Strategic Meeting Partners is a past Meeting Planner of The Year for MPI San Diego. She is an WOSB and IATAN certified meeting and event planner. She has been responsible over the past 20 years for producing DMC programs, special events and meetings for corporate and association clients ranging in size from 100 to over several thousand people including John Deere, Oracle, RealPage, CSC, InTouch Health, and US4Warriors.  Davis is a noted expert and speaks globally.

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