I've been betting for years that wellness programming would flow into corporate off-sites and group travel.

Not just leisure spa weekends. Actual corporate groups and nonprofits choosing properties because the environment supports their mission.

I'm finally seeing it happen at Onera Wimberley, but it took way longer than I expected.

Turns out, group sales and transient sales are completely different businesses.

It took us some time to connect the dots, which is why we only had $18,000 in group revenue the first half of 2025.

But the revenue isn't the interesting part.

It's who's booking and why.

THE WRONG WAY

The mistake I made was assuming group revenue would ramp the same way transient does.

It doesn't. Not even close.

Transient bookings are driven by:

• Content
• Emotion
• Storytelling

Someone sees a reel of your property, feels something, and books. That flywheel was spinning at Onera Wimberley within months.

Turns out, groups are a completely different business that require:

• Longer sales cycles
• Different decision-makers
• Relationships you have to build from scratch

Yes, content and storytelling get you on their radar.

But closing a group booking takes more than just content.

You have to build a real relationship with the buyer. Understand what they're trying to accomplish. And show them how your property makes that possible.

The groups choosing us aren't coming for the amenities or the rooms. Those matter, but they're table stakes. These buyers are choosing us because the property enables their mission.

THE PLAY

In the first week of December, Onera Wimberley had its first full property buyout.

Give2Give runs healing retreats for veterans dealing with PTSD, and they booked us out Monday through Friday. They could have picked any Hilton conference center or traditional resort with meeting rooms and AV equipment (both would’ve been cheaper and easier).

But they picked elevated treehouses surrounded by 35 acres of Texas Hill Country forest.

Why?

The environment isn't a decoration for their programming. It's essential to what they're trying to accomplish.

Veterans arrive carrying trauma. The last thing they need is fluorescent lighting and windowless conference rooms. They need space. Quiet. Trees. The ability to step outside at sunrise and just breathe.

That's when I realized my bet was paying off, and that we just had to articulate it to the right buyers.

Here's what we did differently:

1. Led with what the property does, not what it has. Instead of leading with rooms and amenities, we led with the forest, the quiet, the disconnection. For groups like Give2Give, the setting is the program.
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2. Went after the right decision-makers. Corporate wellness leads, nonprofit retreat coordinators, HR directors planning off-sites. These are people who measure success by what happens to their people, not by how many rooms they fill.
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3. Held rate instead of discounting. Traditional group pricing drops as headcount climbs. But when the environment is the product, you price the buyout as a buyout. The experience doesn't get cheaper because more people show up.

We're now planning 3-6 events per year with Give2Give and building similar relationships with other nonprofits and corporate groups.

That's stabilized mid-week business on the books before the calendar even opens.

THE PROOF

First half of 2025: $18,000 in group revenue.

Second half: $108,000.

6x in six months.

For 2026, we're forecasting over $300,000 in group revenue, compared to $125K total in 2025. That's 2.4x year over year.

To make that happen, all we did was adopt the 3 lessons above.

In case you’re skeptical or think we’re an outlier:

The market data seems to agree.

The global corporate wellness market hit $64 billion in 2023 and is projected to nearly double by 2032.

That’s a huge opportunity for us modern hospitality operators.

THE TAKEAWAY

Ben Wolff

Founder, Oasi & Modern Hospitality Accelerator