Meyer Jabara Hotels sets out its fall group-sales strategy for university markets
Meyer Jabara Hotels has published its approach to fall group business in university markets. Alan Swerdloff, area director of sales for the company’s Providence, Rhode Island market, wrote the column. It appeared on 30 September 2026. Its argument is that a university market holds relationships that renew across the academic year, and that the durable business sits beyond the weekends when the city’s hotels are full.
Fall brings predictable business. Students return to campus. Parents arrive for move-in and Family Weekend. Alumni return for Homecoming. Football weekends fill the city. Fall foliage draws leisure travelers to the Northeast. Meyer Jabara Hotels argues the opportunity is larger than those weekends.
In Rhode Island, the fall season runs into late October
The company reports the shape of its own Rhode Island market. A fall season once viewed as short now stretches into late October, and the sources of demand have broadened. Universities host seminars and guest speakers. Regional associations look for accessible destinations for smaller meetings. Companies plan retreats within driving distance. Amateur sports generate weekend room nights, and fall foliage draws leisure and tour business.
A university is a community of accounts
Education is one of the company’s most reliable sources of fall business. Universities work to academic calendars and to fiscal-year budgets that often run from July through June, which produces recurring business that leans less on discretionary travel.
Meyer Jabara Hotels then makes the distinction its method depends on. A university holds many individual business generators. Athletic departments bring in teams, coaches and officials. Academic departments host speakers, seminars and conferences. Admissions offices bring prospective students and families to campus. Alumni and development offices plan events and reunions. Individual schools recruit faculty and hold meetings, and trustees, vendors and recruiters add demand of their own. The person booking athletic travel may share no connection with the person arranging rooms for an academic conference.
Sales teams should treat each department as an individual business generator. The column’s own line: “If your hotel has one university contact, you probably do not have enough.”
The booking windows the company works to
Timing is handled by segment. Large associations can book a year or two in advance, while regional associations may work within a three- to six-month window. For education, Meyer Jabara Hotels finds that approximately six months can be particularly productive, and the company says its goal is increasingly to work a year ahead. Corporate and government business is more fluid and can appear anywhere from a few months to a few weeks before arrival.
Layer the business, then price the whole account
The strategy is to layer business. The company secures annual groups and recurring events first, then prospects around them by segment, booking window and need dates, and evaluates opportunities on total account value, counting guestrooms, meeting space, food and beverage, repeat stays and future business. As fall approaches, the remaining gaps are worked with smaller midweek groups. Its stated position on the calendar is that hoteliers should already be looking at September and October 2027, and should seek higher-value and recurring accounts to strengthen overall performance.
Sports, reunions and the drive market
The company extends fall selling past education. On sports, it advises identifying the organizations that run tournaments, talking to coaches and local schools, asking employees about the leagues their families play in, and asking existing customers for introductions. Military reunions are attractive because they often meet midweek and typically have an established organizer, and regional associations and corporate retreats respond to a destination that feels like a getaway within a short trip.
For Rhode Island, the company points to the drive-market advantage. Providence offers a distinct experience and strong value against nearby Boston, and attendees reach it without a flight. It also advises against prospecting in isolation: convention and visitors bureaus, chambers of commerce, local companies and attractions can all surface demand, and its own example is working closely with the CVB on smaller meetings that combine midweek sleeping rooms with meeting space.
The portfolio as a sales tool
Being part of a larger management company gives the group a lever the column returns to. When an account needs accommodation in another market, Meyer Jabara Hotels can connect the customer with a sales colleague at another property. The company advises a phone call, an explanation of the account and what is known about the customer, and a personal introduction.
The same personal method applies to new enquiries. Groups often contact several hotels, particularly when booking windows are short, so speed to market is decisive. The company treats digital marketing and social media as a complement to relationship selling.
After an event, the guidance is to follow up, ask what worked and what could be improved, and start on next year’s dates while the experience is fresh. The stated goal for an annual event is to become the group’s expected hotel partner. The column closes on that note: “The leaves may be seasonal. Relationships should not be.”