273 | Digital Divides: Technology builds a hybrid of meetings and events in age of COVID-19

Summary: The U.S. hospitality industry is slowly getting back to business.<br> Leisure travelers are responsible for occupancy boosts in late May, especially Memorial Day weekend, STR reports.<br> Leisure travelers will continue to drive demand as the coronavirus crisis begins to ease, experts say.<br> Meanwhile, Oxford Tourism Economics reports that business transient and group bookings are not expected to return to pre-COVID-19 levels until 2023.<br> What meetings will look like in the near term is anyone’s guess in the age of social distancing. Will groups be smaller? Will they include overnight stays? Will they be a mix of remote and in-person attendees and presenters?<br> In this episode of Lodging Leaders, we talk with Jeff Loether of Electro-Media Design about the audiovisual tools hotels will have to consider using if they want to attract meeting and event business. We also hear from Kristi White of Knowland, which helps hotels find meeting and group business.<br> Resources and Links<br> <br> * <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristilwhite/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Kristi White</a> of <a href="https://www.knowland.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Knowland</a><br> * <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeff-loether-ishc-a62142/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Jeff Loether</a> of <a href="https://www.electro-media.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Electro-Media Design</a><br> * <a href="https://youtu.be/UfybVPT37Go" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Next Generation in Lodging webinar</a><br> <br>