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Elite Meetings: Matchmaker At The Top -- Rich Niche at the Right Time |
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 Kelly Foy, who once considered a career as a professional golfer, has laid out a course of his own design that fills what he believes was an unfilled demand for meeting professionals in search of high-end properties for their meetings and incentive tools.
In 2006 Foy established Elite Meetings International in Santa Barbara, and his first step was to create a high-powered Elite Meetings Advisory Board, a team of veteran meeting professionals and hoteliers. The board reviewed thousands of properties before endorsing a group that now numbers 850 - and includes a number of Four Seasons, Ritz-Carlton and St. Regis properties, as well as independents like The Broadmoor in Colorado. They are all listed on the site: www.elitemeetings.com
Foy also publishes a lavish magazine with information on more than 100 Elite Certified properties. And the third element in all this is a semiannual Elite Meetings Alliance, a three-day, invitation-only event that brings pre-qualified meeting planners together with hotel representatives.
Why has Foy managed to grow this business in the face of brutal economic circumstances? One big reason: the service is always free to meeting planners - and is free to the hotels as far as a listing on the Web site. Another reason: easy to navigate and extremely comprehensive information on the hotels - with planners able to use sophisticated filtering to find the right property.
The result: 16,000 unique visitors a month to the site. Among them: travel agents who can set themselves up as a third party and earn commissions.
How does Foy make money? He does it through "enhanced marketing" options that hotels may take advantage of - which include more prominent listings on the site and inclusion in the magazine.
Foy likens his revenue structure to Google's business model, where the resource is free to all business users. Like Google, Elite Meetings' revenues emanate from marketing partnerships and sponsorships from those who seek increased exposure.
Foy is relentlessly optimistic, saying, "Business will not go on without meetings."
By Harvey Chipkin
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