Force Majeure in Hotel RFPs (Plain English Definition + Examples)

Definition

Force majeure is a contract clause that suspends or excuses performance obligations for both parties when an extraordinary, unforeseeable event — pandemic, natural disaster, war, civil unrest, government order — makes the event impossible, illegal, or commercially impracticable to hold.

In day-to-day European event sourcing, force majeure sits inside a broader workflow that includes the brief, the longlist, the shortlist, the contract negotiation, and the post-event reconciliation. Understanding it in isolation is not enough — what matters is how it interacts with the other levers a planner can pull. The definition above is the textbook version; the sections below explain how it actually behaves in real RFPs.

Why Force Majeure matters

Pre-2020, force majeure was treated as boilerplate. After COVID, it became the single most-litigated clause in event contracts. Modern best practice: define triggering events specifically (don't rely on vague 'acts of God' language), specify what happens to deposits (refund vs credit), and set notice deadlines.

The practical takeaway: planners and procurement teams who get force majeure right typically see measurable improvements in either cost, risk exposure, or cycle time — sometimes all three. Teams who default to the supplier's standard language usually leave 5-15% of total event value on the table, often without realizing it. The skill is recognizing force majeure when it appears, knowing the market-standard range, and treating any deviation from that range as a negotiation point — not a take-it-or-leave-it.

Example

A pharma conference in Singapore is cancelled 6 weeks out because the host country imposes an entry ban for unvaccinated travellers (a common 2021-2022 scenario). A modern force majeure clause would specify: government travel restriction = trigger, full deposit refund within 30 days, no rebooking penalty if rescheduled within 18 months.

This example is representative of mid-to-large European corporate MICE — pharma, finance, tech, professional services. Smaller events (under 50 attendees) and very large events (1,000+) often follow different conventions, but the underlying logic of force majeure stays the same. The numbers move, the principle doesn't.

Where Force Majeure appears in contracts

Force majeure interacts with the cancellation clause (it can void the penalty schedule), the deposit/payment schedule (it can trigger refunds), and rebooking provisions. Modern clauses often include a 'commercial impracticability' carve-out covering attendance drops below a defined threshold.

When reviewing a hotel proposal or contract draft, scan for force majeure early — it's often easier to negotiate before the supplier has anchored on their preferred position. Easy RFP surfaces these terms in every comparison view so planners can spot deviations from market-standard ranges at a glance, rather than reading 14-page proposals line by line.

Related terms

Deeper reading