Monday Buzz: Why Boston Doesn’t Have Cheap Rooms

When there aren’t enough hotels, travelers face a big headache.

Case in point: the current situation in the Boston metro area. The Boston Globe reports that most hotels in the region are commanding historically high rates, with rooms in even the lowest-end establishments, located far from the city center, going for more than $200 per night.

“Those are the going rates now in Boston,” Paul Sacco, executive director at the Massachusetts Lodging Association, told the newspaper  (opens in a new tab). “Gone are the days of $79 rooms that include breakfast.”

What’s causing the extreme price hikes? According to Greater Boston Convention & Visitors Bureau CEO Patrick B. Moscaritolo, the problem is twofold: There’s limited real estate, and the costs to build new hotels are sky high. (And, perhaps more obviously, Beantown is a popular destination.)

“Boston’s not Phoenix or Denver; we have water on a couple of sides and incredible barriers to entry,” Moscaritolo explained. “It’s a combination of high prices of land, availability of raw land, and how expensive it is to build anything.”

The bureau is advocating for the construction of a convention-size hotel to take some of the pressure off business travelers.

Thinking Niche

Have you considered joining a niche platform for your assoc.? https://t.co/siJRxlrLgD  (opens in a new tab) #assnchat  (opens in a new tab) #assnprof  (opens in a new tab) pic.twitter.com/Q4IGgB9GdW  (opens in a new tab)

— Aptify (@aptify) August 1, 2016  (opens in a new tab)

Is going broad not working out for your association’s social media strategy? Chandra Chakravarthi, Aptify’s coordinator of content, branding, and buzz, suggests narrowing in on smaller social platforms tailored to people with specific interests.

“There’s a niche social network for basically any group you can think of, and if you find your target audience in there—that’s a match made in heaven,” she asserts in a recent blog post  (opens in a new tab).

Of course, you will have to do lots of research on your member base to ensure that you select the right platforms. But to make the task easier, Chakravarthi has prepared a checklist of questions you should ask yourself before diving into niche networks.

Other Links of Note

Trying to get your party schedule in order for this year’s ASAE Annual Meeting & Exposition in Salt Lake City? Check out KiKi L’Italien’s list of shindigs  (opens in a new tab) occurring during the big event, which takes place August 13-16.

“Here’s a simple rule of thumb. Discussions in a community should focus on answers you can’t Google.” — Richard Millington, the founder of FeverBee, suggests that your community should focus on deeper aspects of a topic  (opens in a new tab).

Social trends at the conventions. At the Event Manager Blog  (opens in a new tab), Nick Borelli, president of Borelli Strategies, reveals why 2016 may be the year of the Snapchat president—along with a couple of other big trends that cropped up at the presidential nominating conventions.

(iStock/Thinkstock)