The Events Industry Council defines a rooming list as the list, printed or electronic, by which an event organiser delivers multiple reservations to a hotel. Hotels also ask tour operators for one with group bookings, and event organisers use them for MICE events. It is trade usage, so what goes in it depends on each hotel’s group terms.

What it usually contains

Contents vary, but hotels’ group terms ask for items such as:

• the guests and their room requirements

• arrival and departure times

• special rooming requests and dietary requirements

• the tour leader’s name and contact number

• a preferred dining time, if dinner is included

Deadlines

Hotels set their own. Premier Inn’s group terms, which normally apply from ten rooms, ask for the rooming list 14 days before arrival. The Royal Hotel in Stornoway asks for a provisional list eight weeks before arrival, an update at six weeks and a final list at four weeks. It says missing these steps could lead it to cancel the group reservation. VisitBritain’s toolkit tells suppliers to state in their rate agreements how many days before arrival they need a group rooming list.

Worth knowing

A rooming list holds personal data. Under UK GDPR, information about a guest’s health or disability can be health data, one of the special categories of personal data, so check your own position against the ICO’s guidance.