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Jo-Ann Maude knew the world had changed when she suddenly found herself the object of a bidding war between two Manhattan luxury hotels.
In the past, Ms. Maude, a planner with Navigant Meeting Services in Stamford, Conn., could barely get a salesperson to return her phone calls. Now, with a client seeking to move a 125-person meeting from Florida to New York, two of Manhattan's prime properties were offering breaks of as much as 20% a night, as well as deep discounts on food and beverages.
One hotel even offered a dramatic reduction in the customary fee to "hold" a ballroom for 24 hours to let the client set up its event.
"In the old days, we'd be charged $25,000 for a 24-hour hold," Ms. Maude says. "Now, I've seen it lowered to $7,000."
In the driver's seat
Ms. Maude is not the only meeting planner who has seen her world turned upside down. With hotels scrambling to fill their rooms, event coordinators everywhere suddenly find themselves in the driver's seat, able to...