Major sporting events like the Rugby World Cup can have a mixed impact on hotel occupancy rates - but conference furniture can help those with function rooms to make sure they are on the winning side.
Figures from HotStats show how Cardiff hotels were affected by the Rugby World Cup staged there in October, and unsurprisingly there was a large increase in revenue per room, as well as in earnings through food and drink sales.
Total food revenue was up by a seventh year-on-year, while beverage revenues grew by nearly a third, both of which suggest that having some spare restaurant furniture or bar furniture on hand for such occasions may be beneficial.
However, it is in the corporate segment where fortunes were more mixed, and therefore perhaps require even more careful management in order to maximise incomes during future sporting events in the city.
"Demand from the corporate segment wisely avoided the Welsh capital in October, resulting in a year-on-year reduction in demand for this sector," HotStats reported, "but this was more than adequately replaced in terms of volume and price by Rugby World Cup related business."
Brighter performance in the corporate segment was, however, driven by those venues capable of hosting corporate hospitality packages - which led to an 88.9% rate increase in conference earnings.
It was not just Cardiff that benefited from the Rugby World Cup, which was held at venues nationwide, including several in London.
This led to a predictable boost in takings for hotels in the capital and in the south-east, but also a 6.3% increase in the West Midlands, 9.6% in the East Midlands, and an impressive 28.5% boost in the north-east.
The Rugby World Cup is just one of the many sporting events that take place on a regular basis, bringing a boost for hotel operators each time.
But the observations about corporate bookings make for particularly interesting reading for hotels keen to maximise their income from such events.
Whereas it might not always be possible to entice individual business customers into making a booking in the middle of ongoing sporting events, conference furniture can provide the opportunity to accommodate larger groups - increasing the potential size of the booking as a direct result too.