Attrition, what does it mean and how to contract it.
First, what does attrition mean in terms of hotel contracting? For this article we will focus purely on Rooms Attrition and not Food and Beverage Attrition. Usually F&B attrition will be in line with the rooms attrition. You can find an example at the bottom of this post.
The easiest way to understand attrition is that hotels have the right to charge a penalty if the actual event uses less rooms than originally booked in the hotel contract. The hotel contract will include an attrition clause which tells you the number of rooms you can release without penalty. Two things to pay attention to: the % or actual number of rooms you can release and the deadline or specific dates that those releases need to happen by.
With attrition, it is imperative to make sure the contract includes a clause stating that if the hotel is sold out then attrition is null and void and no penalties are to be paid. Also you may want to ask for the daily pickup report from the hotel to confirm how many rooms were in inventory that could be sold (they should not include rooms that are under construction or unable to be used), and how many were occupied.
