The 80% Problem in Hotel Meetings and Events

Why Technology Isn’t the Bottleneck. Conversion Is.

Meetings and events technology for hotels is often discussed in terms of tools. New platforms, new capabilities, new layers of automation. Yet in practice, the conversation is rarely about what technology exists. It is about what happens once demand actually reaches the hotel.

In a recent discussion, I spoke with Judith Huisman, Founder and Chief Product Officer at Meetingselect, to explore where that gap sits today, and why it persists despite years of investment in digital systems.

What emerged very quickly is that hotels are not struggling to generate interest in meetings and events. They are struggling to convert it.

If you’re converting 20% of meeting requests, you’re already performing at a high level. But it also means 80% of potential revenue is being left on the table.

Judith Huisman

It is a simple observation, but it shifts the focus entirely. What is often considered strong performance begins to look like a structural limitation—one rooted less in demand and more in how that demand is handled.

Takeaways

Meetings and events technology for hotels is constrained more by conversion than demand

A 20% conversion rate highlights a significant structural revenue gap

Integration between systems is more impactful than adding new tools

Automation improves both speed and allocation of human effort

Data and pricing will define the next phase of M&E performance

The conversion gap defining meetings and events technology for hotels

At first glance, the meetings and events segment appears complex because of its variability. Hotels manage everything from small boardroom bookings to large-scale conferences, often alongside leisure-driven requests.

However, as Judith’s framing makes clear, complexity is not the core issue. The real challenge lies in how these requests are handled once they enter the system.

Most hotels still rely on manual workflows to process incoming inquiries. Each request must be reviewed, priced, and responded to individually. While manageable in isolation, this approach creates friction at scale.

The consequences are not always visible internally. Requests are received, responses are sent, and operations continue. Yet from the customer’s perspective, the experience is slower, less transparent, and often inconsistent. Many inquiries simply disappear before reaching a decision.

This is where hotel meetings and events technology begins to shift from a supporting function to a commercial necessity.

When expectations moved faster than systems

Meeting planners no longer approach bookings with the patience that once defined the process. Their expectations have been shaped elsewhere, most notably by the way hotel rooms are booked today.

Instant pricing. Immediate availability. Clear options.

That standard now extends into meetings and events, regardless of whether systems have caught up. Planners may still want to negotiate, particularly for larger events, but they expect to begin with information already in front of them.

Without that visibility, the process becomes reactive. Hotels are forced to respond to each request individually, often investing time in inquiries that will never convert.

In more advanced markets, this gap is already narrowing. Event-related products, from seasonal packages to vouchers and group experiences, are increasingly automated. These are no longer treated as exceptions. They are integrated into the broader commercial strategy, where speed and clarity are essential.

Why adding more tools creates less clarity

It would be easy to assume that the solution lies in introducing additional systems. In practice, that approach often deepens the problem.

Across many properties, meetings and events workflows are supported by multiple tools that rarely operate in sync. Availability may sit in one system, pricing logic in another, and proposal generation somewhere else entirely. Each tool performs its function, but the overall process remains fragmented.

The shift now is toward alignment rather than expansion.

Through the collaboration between Shiji Group and Meetingselect, the focus is on connecting these elements through API-driven architecture. When availability, pricing, and booking functionality operate within a unified flow, the nature of the workflow changes.

Instead of reacting to requests, hotels can present structured options immediately. This reduces manual intervention while improving both speed and consistency.

Automation as a redistribution of effort

Automation, in this context, is often misunderstood. It is not about removing human interaction, but about redefining where it creates value.

If you automate incoming meeting requests and serve customers faster, you immediately unlock more revenue, while freeing your teams to focus on the events that actually need human interaction.

Judith Huisman

As Judith describes it, the outcome is not a reduction in service, but a reallocation of effort.

Routine inquiries, particularly those involving smaller or more standardized bookings, can be handled efficiently through technology. Response times improve, and conversion increases as a result. At the same time, more complex events remain firmly within the domain of human expertise.

This creates a more balanced operational model, where scale and service are no longer in tension.

The missing layer: pricing and data

A less visible but equally significant challenge lies in pricing. Unlike room revenue management, which is highly structured and data-driven, meetings and events pricing often relies on manual judgment.

This limits responsiveness, particularly during periods of high demand. It also introduces inconsistency, as pricing decisions vary depending on who is managing the request.

When availability, pricing, and demand signals are combined within a single system, this limitation begins to disappear. Hotels can respond more accurately and more quickly, presenting offers that reflect real-time conditions.

At the same time, data becomes operational. It is no longer confined to reporting, but begins to influence decisions as they are made. This shift, from insight to action, is where meaningful performance gains emerge.

What comes next for meetings and events technology for hotels

The direction of travel is becoming clearer. Meetings and events technology for hotels will continue to evolve toward deeper data utilization, stronger internal capabilities, and increased reliance on intelligent systems.

Hotels will need to move beyond collecting data and begin using it actively within their operations. This requires a stronger understanding of how systems connect and how value is created through those connections.

Artificial intelligence will accelerate this shift, particularly in areas such as request qualification, pricing optimization, and personalized proposals. At the same time, broader themes such as sustainability will become embedded within the commercial process, appearing directly in how meetings and events are presented and sold.

What ties these developments together is not the technology itself, but how effectively it is integrated.

Conclusion: Rethinking performance in meetings and events technology for hotels

What begins as a discussion about tools ultimately becomes something more fundamental.

Meetings and events technology for hotels is not simply about digitizing an existing process. It is about rethinking how that process operates under current expectations.

The demand is already there. The opportunity is already visible. What remains is the ability to respond to it effectively.

The 20% benchmark is difficult to ignore because it challenges the industry’s baseline assumptions. If strong performance still leaves most of the revenue unrealized, the issue is not marginal; it is systemic.

Solving it does not require more effort. It requires better alignment between systems, faster access to information, and a clearer understanding of where human interaction adds the most value.

In that sense, the 80% problem is not just a statistic. It is a signal of where the next phase of growth will come from.

Watch the full podcast here.