Group vs. transient | Is group demand really that bad?

Throughout 2009, one of the hotel industry’s “givens” is that group business is down as much as 20 percent nationally while transient demand (which in STR’s data set is a combination of business and leisure transient travelers) is only slightly below last year’s levels. While there can be no doubt there has been an especially dramatic drop in the number of conferences and the attendance at those that actually take place, one begins to wonder...