KISSIMMEE, FL— Despite difficult economic times and a decrease in business travel, the new 1,406-room Gaylord Palms Resort here managed to pre-sell more than one million room nights spanning the next ten years, marking an industry first, according to Mike Mason, vp/sales and marketing for Gaylord. Since breaking ground on the resort about two and a half years ago, the property’s sales staff has been working overtime to meet its goal of one million pre-sold rooms, and on Dec. 31 the hotel met its mark. “We had a strong commitment from the company. They gave us the tools and information so we could sell this hotel as if it were open. Two years ago we had room renderings,” said Mason. “These sales people know forwards and backwards what this hotel is about.” And what it’s about is group meetings. With more than 400,000 square feet of convention space with a 178,000 square-foot exhibition hall, the hotel is targeting large meetings and large meetings only. “The sales team understands that everything we do, we do for groups. We’ve got days where we sold all of our rooms to one group,” he stated. Currently the hotel has bookings through 2012, with 2002 already booked at 60% occupancy, which breaks the industry record, according to an unofficial poll conducted by Gaylord. Mason noted that after achieving the one million mark, the hotel’s sales staff called around to several of the nation’s largest hotels, including the Las Vegas mega-resorts, and surveyed the number of nights they pre-sold before opening. “We’ve done as much research as we could, and the most we’ve heard was 600,000 to 800,000 [pre-sold] rooms,” he remarked. So, how did the Gaylord Palms do it? Well, the sales staff created a ‘Top 300’ list of large conventions, and “as opposed to accounts, we went after meetings. We knew which meetings we wanted and we went after them,” said Mason. Building from the company’s successful reputation in Nashville, the hotel targeted groups that previously stayed at the Tennessee Opryland hotel but recently started looking for a change in scenery. However, despite that added edge, only about 15% of the groups booked at the Florida property have met before at the company’s Nashville hotel. Even though the team was thrown a curve ball this fall, given the events of Sept. 11 and the fall out in travel, Mason noted that the property was affected, but not significantly. “Where most hotels took a hit was on the leisure side. Groups are still meeting,” he said, noting that the company’s other hotel has had nights peaking at 90% occupancy. “I think [reaching one million pre-sold rooms]is very significant for Gaylord, because it speaks to the product we’re building, the formula we’ve built for high-end resorts, and the group customer,” Mason stated. The $450 million, 2.1-million-square-foot resort is currently undergoing a soft opening, with a grand opening scheduled Feb. 2, 2002 at 2:02 p.m. The property features a unique Florida-themed atmosphere, which Mason feels combats some of the popular themed resorts in Las Vegas. Featuring a 4.5-acre atrium, the hotel offers a three-dimensional Florida experience, with areas dedicated to Key West, St. Augustine, and the Everglades. In the Key West section, the hotel features a raw bar located on a sailboat surrounded by water and a wave machine creating an ocean feel. The hotel also offers a replica of Mallory Square and features Key West’s famed Sunset Celebration equipped with colorful street performers. The St. Augustine area offers a food and beverage outlet located on a replica of the city’s Castillo de San Marcos, and features shops located along a remake of St. George Street. A marshy, boggy experience can be felt in the Everglades section, which offers everything from a smoke machine to fire flies.
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