Most venues know their competitors by instinct: the hotel across the park or a boutique property that suddenly appears in every planner’s shortlist. But instinct only goes so far. What shapes a planner’s decision is rarely a single rate or one amenity. It is the totality of what your venue represents in the market.
This is why understanding your comp set is so important. It gives a strategic lens into how buyers interpret your venue’s value proposition and how your team can position that value with clarity and confidence.
What is a comp set?
A competitive set, or comp set, is the group of venues that planners are most likely to compare your property against when sourcing an event. These are not always venues that look identical on paper. A comp set is shaped by how planners discover venues, narrow their options, compare capabilities, and decide which spaces feel viable, based on factors like location, capacity, format flexibility, service expectations, and the types of events a venue is known for hosting.
Understanding your comp set means understanding the context in which buyers evaluate your venue: what alternatives they consider credible, what trade-offs they expect to make and how your offering is perceived relative to those options.
How comp set analysis helps you position your property's value
When multiple venues appear viable, decisions are shaped by subtle differences. Comp set analysis provides the context behind those decisions. It explains why similar venues win different types of business and how value is formed in comparison, not in isolation.
1. Understand why planners choose differently
Planner expectations have changed. Across industry research, there is a consistent emerging trend: price is one part of the evaluation, but not the determining factor it once was. People sourcing venues look at how well a property will support their event objectives, how responsive the teams are, whether technology is reliable, whether it follows sustainable practices and if the venue offers a frictionless experience from contracting to execution.
This shift means that two venues offering similar square footage may not compete on price at all. They compete on perceived value, which is shaped by the context of alternatives a planner sees. That is why understanding your competitive landscape is essential. Without that context, it is difficult to articulate what makes your venue worth choosing beyond the rate you charge.
2. Uncover your venue’s market position
A comp set shows you patterns: how competitors present their space, what they highlight, how they structure packages, what buyers frequently question during site visits, and how those behaviours influence expectations.
A revenue team may use it to track pricing or pickup, and a sales manager could use it to understand who is winning the type of business they want. But from a positioning standpoint, comp set analysis does something even more powerful. It gives your team a clearer view of your place in the market narrative.
If three venues in your area emphasise sustainability, the absence of similar messaging from your property could deter planners. If others invest heavily in AV and hybrid readiness, and you focus more on service-led delivery, that contrast shapes their interpretation of your strengths.
3. See your competitive advantage more clearly
Many venue teams struggle to articulate their competitive advantage because it feels too close to their day-to-day reality. What feels routine internally can be a differentiator externally, but only when viewed in contrast.
Comp set analysis brings that contrast into focus. It can highlight reliable event flow, experienced on-site teams, clear contracting processes or fewer handoffs during event delivery, which often matter more to planners than headline features. When competitors struggle to deliver consistency, your ability to do so becomes a tangible advantage.
4. Align your value proposition with how planners evaluate risk
When a planner books your venue, a lot is on the line. Their reputation, budgets, timelines and ROI are tied to how well a venue can serve and help them run smooth events.
A strong venue value proposition reflects this reality. Comp set insight helps you understand where planners perceive risk in your market, including technical complexity, staffing variability, accessibility and last-minute changes, and how different venues address it.
When your positioning acknowledges and reduces those risks explicitly, it connect more deeply than generic messaging about quality or experience. It shows that you understand the pressures planners face and how your venue helps mitigate them.
5. Reframe pricing conversations using competitive context
Price pressure often increases when value is unclear. Without a shared understanding of how your venue compares to alternatives, internal teams may default to discounting as the safest response.
Competitive context changes that dynamic. When pricing discussions are grounded in how the venue actually operates and what it consistently delivers, conversations become more confident and consistent. Teams can explain differences without sounding defensive or evasive. This does not eliminate negotiation, but it prevents pricing from becoming the only story you tell.
6. Improve RFP and site visit performance
RFPs and site visits are moments where positioning is tested. Planners are actively comparing experiences, often without stating those comparisons directly.
When your team understands the comp set, they can shape these moments with more intent. In RFP responses, this shows up in how trade-offs are framed. Instead of describing features in isolation, responses can speak to outcomes planners are likely weighing elsewhere without ever referencing another venue by name. The comparison is implied through relevance, not called out.
Similarly, during site tours, rather than walking planners through every space, you can focus attention on areas where contrast is important, such as how rooms connect or how equipment is integrated.
These are not always the most visually impressive or obvious elements, but they are often the ones planners are quietly comparing across venues.
7. Create a sustainable positioning strategy
Competitive landscapes evolve, and so should your comp set. Treating it as an ongoing strategic input, rather than a one-time exercise, provides critical information, including where to invest and how to evolve messaging without chasing every market change. Over time, this creates positioning that is stable, credible, and resistant to price erosion.
Final thoughts
Comp sets help reveal your venue’s strengths and make it easier for your team to hold a steady value narrative even in competitive or price-sensitive markets.
A venue that knows its comp set does not need to chase price. It positions its worth clearly, supports its message with evidence, and competes through value that resonates with the planners it wants to attract.
To go deeper into how to define your competitive set and how to use it to strengthen your venue’s positioning, download the What’s My Hotel’s Comp Set ebook.
About the author
Sohini Das is a senior product analyst for Cvent and Venue Directory. Her responsibilities are focused on bringing customer value by actively listening to venues and translating their needs into roadmap priorities. She is part of the product development team that delivered Competitive Sets, using data and KPIs that drive ROI for our supplier partners.
