Demand from television crews and sports teams was driving group business, according to a study from IHG.
The group said that sport had seen month-to-month improvement since May and, through August, accounted for more than a third of all booked group business.
Derek DeCross, SVP global sales, IHG Hotels & Resorts said: “Film and television productions are looking for responsible ways to keep their projects on track and produce content for 2021 and beyond. Many productions are utilising our hotels in cities such as Atlanta, Chicago, San Diego and Manchester, England to create ‘bubbles’ for crews to sequester while filming. Bookings for Q3 alone have more than doubled year-over-year in this vertical. This boost in business allowed at least two IHG Hotels & Resorts properties to reopen sooner than anticipated. It is a testament to the committed efforts of hotels to integrate IHG’s signature, enhanced IHG Way of Clean standard into virtual site inspections.”
The group said that strength in youth sports bookings (primarily baseball and hockey) have been driven by brands such as Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express and, while college and university sports bookings wre down this year, the company anticipated a return once tournaments and events resume.
In addition to sports and entertainment, IHG Hotels & Resorts has also seen optimism in other sectors. There was a notable gain in medical and pharma-related bookings in August and the company also saw the biggest increase in bookings from the automotive industry since January.