Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International (HSMAI)


ORGANIZATION
Hospitality NetHospitality Sales & Marketing Association International (HSMAI)
http://www.hsmai.org
1760 Old Meadow Road, Suite 500
USA - McLean, VA 22102
Phone: 703-506-3280
Fax: 703-506-3266
Email: info@hsmai.org


D Documents

B Publications

E Events

N News

W Related Websites


HSMAI is the leading organization of sales and marketing professionals representing all segments of the hospitality industry. With a strong focus on education, HSMAI has become the industry leader in identifying and communicating trends in the hospitality industry while operating as a leading voice for both hospitality and sales and marketing management disciplines. Members can access a wide variety of educational tools and enhance their skills and expertise to increase business and enrich their careers. Founded in 1927, HSMAI is an individual membership organization comprised of over 5,000 members representing 65 chapters in 35 countries worldwide.



ONLINE DOCUMENTS

25 Extraordinary Minds in Hospitality and travel Sales & Marketing | By Taryn Scheider
Praised for their ideas, innovation, leadership and enviable results, 25 individuals were named the “Most Extraordinary Minds in Hospitality and Travel Sales and Marketing” by HSMAI. For the fifth consecutive year, outstanding sales and marketing executives were chosen by their peers for how they impacted the industry and inspired their profession. To learn what makes this talent pool tick, they were asked for their thoughts about what matters most, from customer relationships to the online space, branding, and the power of partnerships. Here is what a dozen of those “extraordinary minds” had to say.

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10 Trends Shaping The Future Of Hospitality | By Marvin J. Cetron
For some 20 years, Forecasting International has tracked a list of major trends that are reshaping our world. The list changes as trends run their course or new trends are recognized and added to the collection. From time to time, we go over the entire list, analyzing each trend and bring our evidence up to date. We have just completed our most recent upgrade. For this edition of our periodic report on the trends, we have selected ten of the most important for the hospitality and travel industry. We offer them here, with a summary of each trend and the implications for five important industry segments: airlines, cruises, hotels, restaurants, and travel.

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A Careful Balancing Act | In softening economy, hotels must weight rate increases with consumer acceptance | By Lisa M. Allen
The gloomy outlook for the U.S. economy is leaving travelers financially stressed and hoteliers in a quandary: at what rate can they increase hotel prices to help manage rising costs while maintaining strong guest satisfaction and value levels? The latest research from HSMAI/DKSA TRAVELER ACCEPTANCE/ IndexSM (TAI) reveals that consumer acceptance levels with hotel stays has leveled off in line with the increasing hotel room rates and the softening economy. “It’s really a double whammy,” says DKSA President Doug Shifflet. “Economic downturns heighten people’s sensitivity to costs, so after years of hotel improvements and rate increases their hotel experience expectations are high. Any hard product or service failure is exaggerated in a soft economy, so hotels need to be hyper aware of the balance between raising roomrates and delivering good product value.”

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Executive Summary | The Travel Marketer’s Guide to Social Media and Social Networks
The report was researched and written by renowned industry author Cindy Estis Green, managing partner of The Estis Group, is published by the HSMAI Foundation and The Travel Industry Association. For the report, Estis interviewed travel executives, vendors, and experts from various social media sites. Additionally, executives from non-travel industries that have a strong background in the use of social media were interviewed. Case studies and results from travel executive polls are also featured.

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Going Green | Sustainable Practices Take Root in Hospitality
Good for the planet, good for people, good for profits— the trifecta of sustainability explains why boutique hotels to big guns are going green. And it’s not just green-washing. Forward-thinking hospitality executives are investing in maintenance makeovers, system overhauls and new green-from-the-ground-up construction. They’re choosing renewable materials and earth-friendly supplies, energy efficient technologies and management practices that reduce environmental impact. HSMAI Marketing Review | Summer 2007

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Scent Branding | The Sweet Smell of Success
Bringing scent into the marketing mix is a natural extension for hotels that have given careful consideration to appealing to our other senses. As they’ve fine-tuned their architecture and spiffed their interior design, upped their thread counts and padded their beds, retooled their menus, and remixed the music that accompanies these stage sets, they have discovered that scent also evokes a brand personality that is sure to be remembered. HSMAI Marketing Review | Summer 2007

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Promoting Cultural & Heritage Tourism | A Major Public and Private Sector Commitment
Departments and agencies of the federal government and a number of travel-related organizations in the private sector are working together and separately to persuade Americans and visitors from abroad to visit the nation’s cultural and historic treasures. There have been successes and disappointments along the way, but this ongoing effort has encouraged cultural and heritage initiatives across the country.

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SMERF | A Multi-Billion Dollar Market Worth Pursuing
For some people the odd-sounding word “SMERF” conjures up images of blue-skinned gnomelike cartoon characters, but hotel marketers know that the word is really an acronym for a desirable yet hard to measure market. SMERF encompasses the social, military, education, religious, and fraternal group travel market, and because many of these organizations are run by volunteers, it can be daunting to find and market to those decision makers.

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Fitting Greening Efforts In Your Hotel Operations & Marketing Strategies | HSMAI Marketing Review | Winter 06/07
According to a recent Travel Industry Association study, more than three-quarters of American travelers feel it is important that their visits do no damage to the environment. With travel spending averaging $530 billion a year in the United States alone, the lodging sector is poised to play a pivotal role in greening travel and protecting the environment. Those not thinking about greener travel and lodgings right now may be left in the wake.

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It Pays to Welcome Travelers with Pets | By Jon Boroshok
If you ask guests at your property to name their family members, don’t be surprised to find their pets mentioned on that list. For many, leaving a pet at home or in a kennel when they travel is akin to leaving a child behind. Now ask yourself if your property also treats pets like welcome guests. The answer could impact the bottom line. According to a recent Travel Industry Association of America study, 29.1 million of all U.S. adults (14 percent) reported traveling with a pet on a trip of 50 miles or more, one-way, in the past three years. Seventy-eight percent of those pets were dogs, while 15 percent were cats. On the other end of the leash or cage is often someone aged 40-60.

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Technologies & Trends That Are Transforming Digital Marketing | HSMAI Marketing Review
The digital marketing environment of the Internet continues to evolve, offering marketers additional new ways of reaching out to consumers. However, it is not only technology that is transforming online marketing; it is also the ways in which those technologies are used by travelers that is helping to change the nature of the Web as a marketing medium. This continuing evolution means that marketers must continuously adapt their approaches within the evolving digital travel marketplace.

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The Activities, Training, And Reporting Relationships Of Today’s Revenue Managers
The use of revenue management, combined with channel management, has dictated the need for trained individuals who can assist in contributing to the bottom line profits of the hotel and the value of the asset. Just as revenue management software has become more specialized, so is the need for managers to undertake the activities and understand the strategies and tactics required to enhance hotel revenue performance given a dynamic and complex marketplace. A profile of who these revenue managers are and where they fit in the organizational hierarchy of a hotel organization was the driving question for this research study. Our objectives in conducting this study were to: identify the demographic profile of revenue managers (organizational level, demographics, career path, job responsibilities), identify important activities and training needs (resulting in distinguishing tangible and intangible skills), and describe the level of satisfaction and accomplishment revenue managers possess in their current positions.

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Driving Tourism Through Local Sporting Events | By Donna Quadri-Felitti
What makes a destination a popular tourist destination for sport enthusiasts? It takes four stakeholders—sports event owners and operators, the destination’s tourism organization leaders, local hoteliers, and other area attraction managers —working together to create partnerships, set achievable goals, employ proven strategies, and build meaningful ways to measure the outcomes of their regional and local sporting events. Here’s what hoteliers can do to significantly help this effort.

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Reaching Out To Business Travellers | By Eleanor M. Wilson
Pricewaterhouse Coopers analyst Bjorn Hanson reports that hotels spent more than $4.8 billion last year on capital improvements, and the trend continues. Better beds, high-speed wireless Internet, flatscreen TVs, 24-hour business centers, and free breakfast buffets are just some of the perks dangled in front of ‘road warriors’ to make sure they have the best in technology, sleep, fitness, and service. What do business travelers look for in a hotel? Brad Wilson, COO for The James Hotels, says quick and easy access to the Internet, fast and efficient service, a smooth operation with no challenges, quick breakfast opportunities…and any other perks that keep them on schedule. Tom Santora, senior vice president sales and marketing for the Kor Hotel Group, sees many similarities in service for business and leisure travelers.

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Trends in Incentive Travel Awards Programs | By Michael Snyder
Incentive travel awards have long served as a way to motivate employees to achieve higher sales and productivity levels. But in recent years, incentive programs have evolved. They now take into account the societal changes that affect the way that people in today’s workforce live and make travel decisions. A fter more than two decades of corporate restructuring, a shift in demographics, and changing cultural and economic factors, incentive travel programs have evolved. As a result, meeting planners now have a number of societal changes to consider when planning incentive travel awards programs. For example, the time factor has become increasingly important in the travel equation. People are working longer days and workweeks, and with less staff to help them. In addition, their schedules are less flexible than in the past.

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Executive Summary | Groups and Meetings: Market Opportunity Redefined
The HSMAI Foundation and PhoCusWright Inc.'s first-ever in-depth study that tracks and reports online behavior, trends and opportunities in the burgeoning groups and meetings marketplace. The comprehensive study is an invaluable report for hoteliers, meeting planners, travel agents, travel technology firms, and anyone interested in the groups and meetings industry.

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The activities, training, and reporting relationships of today’s Revenue Managers | HSMAI Marketing Review | Fall 2006
One hundred and ninety three managers in the revenue management discipline were surveyed during the first two weeks of May 2006 using an online format. The main section of the survey was developed by interviewing leaders in hotel revenue management positions to identify activities deemed important for success as a revenue manager. Demographic profile questions were adapted from a Convention General Managers Instrument developed by Kline, Breiter and Gregory (2006). Questions related to how managers spend their time on activities were adapted from research conducted by Beck and Knutson on sales managers’ activities in lodging properties (2006).

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Voice of the Hotel Customer | A Quarterly Report | Third Quarter, 2006
Report Focus: Business Travelers in Midscale Hotels | Produced by HSMAI and iPerceptions | An impressive 44% of business travelers visiting hotel brand websites are “bookers” and actually make or change a reservation, according to a new joint study from the HSMAI Foundation and iPerceptions that measured business travelers in the mid-scale hotel segment. Furthermore, 4 in 10 of website visitors are first timers, and only 22.1% mid-scale business travelers abandon their plan to make an online transaction versus 31% for leisure travelers.

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How to Protect Your Hotel in an Era of Terrorism | By Marvin Cetron PHD
Published in HSMAI's Sales & Marketing Review | Summer 06 | Today, doing everything possible to protect the safety of your guests is an absolute necessity. And while you may think that your property is an unlikely terrorist target, attacks on hotels and restaurants around the world prove that no hospitality provider can become complacent. This article offers sound advice about security measures that hotels can take to reassure guests, and also looks at what’s behind terrorism’s increasing focus on the hospitality industry. Run a Google search on the words “hotel” and “bomb” and the Internet index site turns up some 11.8 million Web pages in which the two appear together. Searching for “restaurant” and “bomb” yielded nearly 6.6 million “hits.” In the first search, the number of hits had nearly doubled in less than a year; in the second, it had more than tripled. These are disturbing statistics, but not surprising. The hospitality industry has long been a favorite target of terrorists around the world, and the dangers it faces are growing with each passing year.

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Chinese Tour Groups Out To See The World | A Vast New Market Emerges
Despite restrictions placing some travel limitations on Chinese citizens, a report published by the investment and brokerage firm, CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets, characterized Chinese tourism as “a phenomenon in its infancy.” The study projects 115 million Chinese will travel abroad each year. At that rate, by 2020 China will become the world’s biggest source of outbound tourism. But while 81 nations have already acquired China’s Approved Destination Status, a designation that allows countries to welcome Chinese tour groups, the United States has not yet acquired or applied for ADA status.

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How to Win the Meeting and Travel Business of the Federal Government | By Kathleen Tindell
If your property is already qualified to conduct meeting and travel business with the federal government, you know that it involves traversing a dense thicket of rules, regulations, per diems, legalese, and acronyms. Have you read your JFTR (Joint Federal Travel Regulations) today? If you’re not doing business with the federal government, you may think it’s not worth the effort. But wait a minute before you dismiss it. We are talking about a $28 billion government travel market and 60 million room nights. By Kathleen Tindell

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Baby Boomers | Redefining What It Means to Grow Old | By Laila Rach, Ed. D.
Too often hospitality industry professionals forget or ignore the fact that the basics count when trying to win or maintain the loyalty of customers. In an effort to capture market share, managers and executives demand innovation, expansion, or upgrades, while dismissing the details in a grail-like search for products and service that “wow”or can be marketed as new and unique. Too often a marketing campaign features “improved” programs and promises when the original elements were never delivered. Moreover, such efforts usually ignore the service commandment, “know your customer.”

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The 2005 Adrian Awards | Competition Case Studies
The following pages unmask great talent and creative excellence. They are case studies that celebrate the best of the best in the Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International’s (HSMAI) Adrian Awards Competition – the largest travel-related contest of its kind in the world. Originality, creativity, and simply great results are what persuaded a panel of industry experts to deem these award-winning in the categories of advertising, public relations and web marketing. They are the coveted Platinum Winners, recognized as the most outstanding entries from categories within the travel industry, and judged to be the most extraordinary from all of the prestigious gold winners. And out of those awarded Platinum, one in each category of the advertising, public relations and web marketing competition received the ultimate honor and highest distinction of Best of Show.

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Broadening The Customer Base | By Harvey Chipkin | HSMAI Marketing Review
Many hospitality marketers are ignoring millions of customers—writing them off because they are not considered part of the market segments that they already are targeting. Savvy marketers, however, know that a huge potential customer pool is available outside existing markets and they are making every effort to reach out and literally “create” new customers. Article written by By Harvey Chipkin for HSMAI.

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Hospitality In The Age Of terror | By Marvin J. Cetron, Ph.D. | HSMAI Marketing Review
Here is a comprehensive look at the impact of terrorism on the hospitality industry now and in the future by one of the world’s foremost forecasters. A sobering account, it is critically important reading for everyone associated with possible terrorists’ targets: hotels, resorts, convention centers, restaurants, night clubs, bars, entertainment centers, and transportation. The risks for the hospitality industry are great, the stakes are high, and the trends indicate that extremists are growing in number and gaining in power.

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Taking Control | Now is the time to drive traffic to your web site | HSMAI Marketing Review
As the economy begins to come around and the travel industry continues its recovery, it’s time for hotels - and some hotel companies - to break the grip that third-party Web sites have on their inventory. Article by Felix B. Laboy, President, CEO and Co-founder of E-site Marketing, L.L.C.

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Differentiating your resort with creating package rates | By Bob Gilbert | CEO HSMAI
Session Was moderated by Robert A. Gilbert, president and CEO, Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International, three panelists provided insight on packaging: Creative packaging is the integrated packaging, or booking engine, of multiple travel distribution businesses. It is a consumer driver defined by what is available. It provides consumers and travel agents access to multiple, dynamic and “value driven” travel packages. All-inclusive packaging is a successful tool to market your resort as it shields consumers from the actual rate, which will make competitive Internet shopping more difficult. To get started, understand your package metrics. Know what your operational costs are, become familiar with your non-property complimentary providers and set reasonable objectives...

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The New Normal for Distribution Channel Management | By Bob Gilbert | CEO HSMAI
Session Title: The New Normal for Distribution and Channel Management - Session addressed the complexities of channel management and provided strategies to help resort operators maintain control over their own inventory. Panelists included: Carrie Campbell, director of Lodging, D.K. Shifflet & Associates, Ltd.; Richard Chambers, president, TravelCLICKinteractive; Bill Peters, vice president of Reservations, Outrigger Hotels & Resorts; Jim Young, senior vice president, InterContinental Hotels Group; Moderator: Robert A. Gilbert, president and CEO, HSMAI

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HITEC 2004 - Web Optimization
Jens Thraenhart is director of internet strategy at Fairmont Hotels and Resorts Brand Marketing and Communications. Michael Wylie is vice president of eCommerce at Wyndham International. James Zito is manager of interactive marketing development at Affinia Hospitality. This panel discussion will explore methods and concepts to get the most out of your sales and marketing efforts on the Internet. Topics to be covered include: marketing your website, web optimization using natural search & pay-per-click & direct feeds.This session is produced in conjunction with Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International

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HITEC 2004 - Sales & Marketing Executive Briefing and Optimizing Sales Automation and Revenue Management
John Bradway is director of strategic marketing at The Breakers. John Eslick, Jr., CHTP, is director of IT at Gaylord Entertainment PMO and a member of the 2003-2004 HFTP International Board of Directors. Ernst Wolfinger is principal at Opus Communications. Sales & Marketing Executive Briefing: The Sales and Marketing Executive Briefing will provide executives involved in sales and marketing capacities an overview of some key areas of automation. Panelists will cover four main topics: Internet marketing, optimizing sales and marketing systems, with an emphasis on sales automation and revenue management, distribution (Internet and GDS), and customer relationship management. Sales and marketing executives will learn what is being developed in these areas so they are aware of industry trends and the direction technology is taking. They will gain an understanding of how marketing and sales planning can be done better through the use of these technologies. While this session is not highly technical in nature, the participants will gain a more practical knowledge of how users can get the most out of the investment they have made (or plan to make) in these technology-based systems.Optimizing Sales Automation and Revenue Management Revenue management and sales automation have been around in the hospitality industry for 10-15 years. How can you be sure it's being used most effectively in your organization? What questions should you be asking? How can you be sure you are optimizing the technology you have in place? These technologies are more mature than what is usually utilized - what indication would you have that you are using the functionality properly? What kind of measurement can be applied to verify the system's effectiveness and assure maximum return on the investment? Are you investing sufficient time and resources for effective training? Are you maintaining the database to stay current and accurate? Are there best practices that can be shared? And, what does the future hold in this integrated environment? Find out the answers to these questions and more at this informative session!This session is produced in conjunction with Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International

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Training: The Key to Success in the Private Special Events Market - HSMAI Marketing Review
People who book your property for a wedding, a family reunion, an anniversary, or other private special event expect a truly memorable experience. To ensure that they will be delighted by all that you provide, offer special events training to every member of your staff. Then wait for the accolades from your clients and the referrals that are sure to follow.

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Putting Out the Welcome Mat For Pet Lovers - HSMAI Marketing Review - By Cathleen McCarthy
Most Americans grew up in a world where pets were left with friends, relatives or a kennel when they took a vacation. Few people thought of taking Fido along on an overnight trip, unless it involved camping or the family beach house. But the role pets play—and the money Americans spend on them—has risen considerably in recent years, causing many hotels to rethink their pet policies. Americans spent an estimated $29 billion on their pets last year, up from $17 billion in 1994, according to surveys by the American Animal Hospital Association. In 2001, nearly 65 percent of Americans reported traveling with their pets, a 7 percent increase since 1995.

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Balancing High-Tech And High-Touch In Hospitality - HSMAI Marketing Review
By Frederick J. Demicco, Ph.D., Professor and ARAMARK Chair, The University of Delaware, CIHAN COBANOGLU, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Hospitality Information Technology, The University of Delaware and Marvin Cetron, Ph.D., President, Forecasting International. Technology applications used by management and guests in the hospitality industry are changing rapidly. This article takes a futuristic approach in explaining the impact of these applications on business, customer satisfaction and safety, based on business travelers' technology preferences in selecting a hotel.

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HOTEL SAFETY: Consumer Demand Presents a Marketing Opportunity - HSMAI Marketing Review - By John C. Fannin, III
There is no doubt that the aftershocks of September 11, 2001, still echo through the corridors of every lodging facility in the industry. For the first six months of 2002, the average domestic full-service hotel suffered a 21.3 percent decline in profits compared with the first half of 2001, according to analysis conducted by the Hospitality Research Group of PKF Consulting. As unsettling as those numbers might be, they may not indicate the bottoming of a trend. With military tensions running high and the Office of Homeland Security continually issuing alerts, the average American traveler doesn't seem eager to embrace the idea of venturing far from home.

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Displaying ART To Attract - By JoAnn Greco - HSMAI Marketing Review
When people delight in works of art displayed in a hotel, the property gains marketing value by providing them with a memorable experience they are certain to mention to others. In New Orleans, an $8 million assemblage of British art and antiques draws visitors from around the world; in Singapore, a collection of 4,200 pieces of pop-art and color-field painting is considered one of the finest in Southeast Asia; and in Phoenix, a comprehensive grouping of textiles, pottery, and baskets joins works on paper and canvas to present a comprehensive look at the culture of the Pima and Maricopa Native American tribes.

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HITEC 2003 - Sales & Marketing Executive Briefing - by Cindy Estis Green
Cindy Estis Green is a consultant and chairman of the HSMAI Foundation. The Sales & Marketing Executive Briefing is geared to sales, marketing and technology professionals in hospitality organizations and the travel industry. The briefing informed participants of the latest in technology developments and industry trends that will effect their jobs in the next year. Discussion topics included: Internet Marketing, Sales/Marketing Automation, Customer Relationship Management, Database Marketing and Revenue Management.

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Strategically Integrating The Pieces: Using Research to Drive Hotel Growth - HSMAI Marketing Review
By Rick Garlick, Ph.D.- Companies that research the hospitality industry are facing a significant evolutionary process. Most of the prominent hotel chains employ market research companies to conduct large customer satisfaction studies. For the most part, these research companies have offered efficient collection of data, as well as timely and accurate reporting as their primary value propositions. However, operational excellence is now considered to be a basic expectation, rather than a value proposition...

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PARTNERING To Make Your Locale a Tourist Destination - By Eleanor M. Wilson - HSMAI Marketing Review
When you can't do it alone, ask for help. Amidst the turmoil in the hospitality world, this sound advice has been resurrected and applied to some very creative marketing plans. Progressive companies are exploring the cooperative theme in earnest, using a safety in numbers approach to generate significant returns for the most efficient cash outlay. It stands to reason that several entities working together will carry more clout in the marketplace at considerably less cost.

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Monitoring The Pulse Of Business - By Jeanine Restivo - HSMAI Marketing Review
During the best of times or the worst of times your contact center representative is the pulse of your business, the link between you and your customers. In a strong economy, it's not always easy to tell if your business is firing on all cylinders. Sure, profits are up and the stock is going through the roof, but sometimes the good times can mask problems.

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Technical Training Boosts Your Bottom Line - becomes a vital guest service strategy (HSMAI Marketing Review)
New technology products and product updates are a fact of life in business today. Add to this, the turnover of employees in the hospitality industry, and technical training becomes a vital guest service strategy. Executives need to anticipate what kind of experience the guest will have making reservations and/or checking in. They need to understand what the difference is between dealing with someone who is trained and someone who isn't. Why? Because these interactions can dramatically affect the bottom line. The hospitality industry is built on service. When Joe Prospect calls in, the initial image he forms is of paramount importance. If the prospective guest receives slow or inefficient service, he's likely to spend his travel dollars elsewhere.

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Turn Customers Into Advocates and Reap Prized Referrals - By Judy Melanson - HSMAI Marketing Review
There is hard evidence that when people talk about their travel experiences, others listen intently. If your customers hear glowing reports about what you have to offer from friends, colleagues, or family members, they are very likely to want to do business with you as well. Most hospitality marketers recognize the importance of advocacy —word of mouth referrals-in fueling demand for their travel and tourism products. Referrals are the highest-ranked source of information consumers use to select travel services, according to a 1998 report by the Travel Industry Association of America. Even academic studies have confirmed the important role of word of mouth.

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How To Use Customer Complaints toYour Advantage - By Andrew D. Schmidt - HSMAI Marketing Review
Customer complaints are the most underutilized resource in the hospitality industry today. Every day in hotels, restaurants, and other hospitality venues, valid customer complaints are conveyed through a variety of methods to front line employees and management only to be ignored or dismissed. Each time customers take the time to complain, they are trying to provide that business with an opportunity to keep them as customers. The complaint is a plea from the customer to the business to correct a situation that has gone poorly. In the end, if the situation is not rectified, consumers are forced to take their business somewhere else.

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Interview with Juergen Bartels - By Harvey Chipkin - HSMAI Marketing Review
The closest thing to a one-man brand in the hotel industry, Juergen Bartels has spent 40 dynamic years in the business. Here he talks about his marketing philosophy and how it is being applied to his new international venture, Le Meridien Hotels and Resorts. Through a succession of high-level hotel jobs he has attained a colorful reputation in an industry run by more subdued personalities. His media lunches are legend for his self-deprecating humor, numerous slides of hotels, and distribution of roses to women in the audience.

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Turning Turnover Around - A new HSMAI Foundation survey looks at the causes, costs and cures of turnover among hospitality sales and marketing professionals (HSMAI Marketing Review)
The Foundation of the Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International, through its corporate membership program, retained The Ron Volper Group — Building Better Sales Teams — to determine the extent of turnover1 among sales and marketing staff in the hospitality industry, to analyze the cost of turnover, and to identify its causes and cures. This article is based on our study, “Turnover of Hospitality Sales and Marketing Professionals,” which we completed in 2001.

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Finding The Middle Market - by Harvey Chipkin (HSMAI Marketing Review)
Imagine a market that encompasses 80 or 90 percent of all travelers who seek out “value” rather than bargains; and that takes in every imaginable demographic of age, ethnicity, geography, and special interest. That market exists. But it seems to have been neglected in the rush to reach the 5 percent of consumers at the top and the bargain hunters, who will spend hours online to save a few dollars. This marvelous, mystery market is called the middle market. Yes, you've heard of it but it's not a frequently used phrase these days as travel companies reach out to every conceivable niche, while perhaps ignoring a huge population that takes in so many niches. There is good reason why the middle market has been overlooked. For one thing, it is not as easy to reach as in the past—mainly because those consumers have changed. Where there might have been a definable mass middle market years ago, it seems no longer to exist in the way it once did.

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Digital Marketing In The Luxury Sector - Aquiring And Retaining Affluent Customers - By Tim Stock And Marie Lena Tupot (HSMAI Marketing Review)
If you're a luxury travel marketer, acquisition is about being able to plug potential customers into the heart and soul of your brand quickly and effectively. To retain their business, you must be able to demonstrate that you know your customers and understand their unique and changing needs. Thanks to bargainhunting travelers and the growing use of the Internet for more than just airplane tickets, the online travel business is strengthening. Better still, the online outlook is brighter than that of the industry as a whole. In fact, Jupiter Media Metrix reports that travel advertising online has returned to 94 percent of its pre-September 11 levels.

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Revenue Management - Presentation by Robert Gilbert, CHME, CHA, President & CEO, HSMAI - HITEC 2002
Robert A. Gilbert- As President and Chief Executive Officer of the Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International, Robert A. Gilbert, CHME, CHA has been guiding HSMAI through an exciting period of change in order to re-establish the 5,000-plus member organization as the definitive hospitality and travel marketing association in the world.

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Smooth Sailing: Cunard's Deborah Natansohn Talks About Marketing an Upscale Cruise Line | HSMAI Marketing Review
Cunard’s Deborah Natansohn Talks About Marketing an Upscale Cruise Line. Cruising has always attracted affluent travelers, but now there are more luxury lines than ever before competing for their business. The senior vice president of worldwide sales and marketing for some of the most luxurious ships afloat explains how she is meeting this challenge.

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