A future booking might be affected by the results of the present year’s convention. The pre-convention contact could bring such changes to the sales manager’s attention early enough to avoid a hotel being empty. More than one seemingly sure booking has been lost through complacency of the sales staff.
A letter to the hotel hosting the present year’s convention, asking for information that might enable the hotel to better serve the group, is also a useful tool. Sometimes such information is not available, or the hotel may not cooperate. In these cases, data can be obtained from the Convention and Visitors Bureau of the host city, which is typically sponsored by dollars, generated from hotel room taxes and is created to promote the city or locale for group business.