In this blog
- To start, how has banquet hospitality progressed in recent years? Can you give an overview of the current market landscape?
- What factors determine banquet profitability in hotels and event venues? How important is smart space utilisation?
- What KPIs should properties track for banquet performance?
- What are the key challenges banquet and event operators are facing?
- How does digitisation and centralised management optimises banquet operations and yield?
- What features should a modern banquet management ERP have?
- Why choose a cloud-based banquet management system?
Listen to the interview
Banquets and events continue to grow as a key hospitality segment and revenue driver. With increased demand and competition, top operators are focusing on strategic event space management, prioritising smart banquet management and a tech-forward, holistic approach.
In this interview, Nandika Udupihilla, IDS Next’s Vice President and Country Head, Indian Ocean Region, discusses the current market landscape alongside the main challenges and growth opportunities. He explains the role of smart event technology, such as banquet management ERP, for efficient operations and revenue optimisation.
Q: To start, how has banquet hospitality progressed in recent years? Can you give an overview of the current market landscape?
A: The global hospitality and hotel events market is experiencing a massive post-pandemic resurgence, with the wider hotel market estimated at $2,197.80 billion. Banquet and event operations (weddings and MICE—Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, Exhibitions) have returned as a primary driver of hotel profitability, typically contributing 25% to 35% of total revenue for full-service and luxury properties. The global event management market is projected to grow from USD 1,336.7 billion in 2026 to USD 2,089.6 billion by 2033 (a CAGR of 6.7% from 2025 to 2033).
There’s a rising demand for digital transformation and experiential events driving this expansion. Event trends are evolving alongside the rise of younger demographics and digitally savvy guests, from tech-enabled or themed immersive events to multi-day/multi-venue extravaganzas. Hotels and banquet venues must modernise operations to meet the growing demand and complexity of events.
Q: What factors determine banquet profitability in hotels and event venues? How important is smart space utilisation?
A: Banquet profitability depends on several interconnected factors, including labour control, smart space usage, ancillary spending, dynamic pricing, and tight cost management.
Smart space utilisation is one of the most critical elements. An empty hall or under-used room is revenue lost forever. It’s important to maximise yield across every square metre, from subdividing larger halls to offering flexible time slots to bundling audio-visual/ catering packages.
Q: What KPIs should properties track for banquet performance?
A: To measure true success, properties must look beyond total top-line revenue, tracking the right key performance indicators for clear visibility into operational efficiency and profitability:
- Revenue per available square foot (RevPASF): How effectively revenue is generated from available event space.
- Banquet occupancy rate: Space usage frequency across different times of the day and week.
- Average spend per attendee: Evaluates catering, beverage, and ancillary spend per guest.
- BEO accuracy rate: Assesses operational execution and reduces costly order amendments.
- Labour cost percentage: Staffing costs against total event revenue to safeguard margins.
- Lead conversion rate: Percentage of banquet inquiries/proposals that turn into bookings
Q:What are the key challenges banquet and event operators are facing?
A: Operating banquets today isn't easy. Event teams face mounting operational pressure, especially when managing multi-day experiences, multiple function rooms at once, or hyper-immersive events with several moving parts. High guest counts and complex dietary requirements demand tight coordination between sales, kitchen, and service teams. Economic factors and labour shortages add even more pressure; recent data say 77% of surveyed hotel operators face ongoing staff shortages.
Q: How does digitisation and centralised management optimises banquet operations and yield?
A: Smart event management helps overcome the above mentioned challenges with a tech-driven, 360-degree approach enabled by modern banquet technology.
Digitised operations, as facilitated by a banquet management system, centralise every operational workflow onto a single, well-integrated ecosystem. It connects and powers the smooth management of all aspects in real-time, such as booking schedules, catering orders, billing, and inventory tracking. By taking repetitive, administrative tasks off their workload, these ERP systems also allow event teams to focus much-needed energy on high-value, human-centric service. In these ways, digital management enables faster and smoother operations, boosts guest satisfaction, and helps teams maximise event yield consistently.
Q: What features should a modern banquet management ERP have?
A: An effective banquet ERP will deliver complete operational control from initial inquiry to post-event settlement. Core capabilities should include:
- Centralised booking and reservations
- Real-time venue availability
- Interactive, visual calendar view
- Customisable Banquet Event Orders (BEOs)
- Inventory management
- Flexible, secure billing and settlements
- Guest and corporate profiling
- Smooth integration with PMS and POS systems
- AI adoption for fast decision-making in banquet operations
Q: Why choose a cloud-native banquet management system?
A: Traditional, legacy banquet systems can be costly to maintain, keep data trapped in departmental silos, and are too rigid for complex and high-demand events requiring greater speed and agility.
A cloud-native banquet ERP breaks down those barriers, enabling real-time access to data and operational management, which eliminates delays and keeps all departments synchronised. If a client requests a last-minute change, updates sync instantly across sales, kitchen, and floor staff, preventing costly errors, reducing food wastage, and ensuring precise execution. Real-time insights support banquet revenue optimisation through dynamic pricing and tailored offers as well.
In addition, cloud-native banquet systems like FX Sales and Catering by IDS Next also scale effortlessly with your business, whether you run a single boutique property with one event room or a large resort with extensive convention facilities. These systems enable remote teams to collaborate seamlessly and give management complete oversight across multiple properties from a single dashboard while guaranteeing enterprise-grade data security without heavy hardware investments.
Author
Nandika Udupihilla
Vice President & Country Head, Indian Ocean – Sales
Nandika is responsible for the Sales and Operations of the Indian Ocean Region, looking after Sri Lanka, Maldives, Seychelles and Mauritius. His years of expertise in IT and strategic management have helped contribute to streamlining the technological needs of IDS Next's global clients.
