M-W ValueReport on Hotel Market Leaders 2003: Hotels Risk Losing Brand Strength by Discounting Rooms
SAN DIEGO--Economic and political uncertainty over the past few years has forced many hoteliers to lower rates as business travel slumped and online brokers lured leisure travelers with bargain rates. What impact has discounting had on the hotels? Which of them are best positioned to capture more market share? Who is most likely to meet their financial forecasts?
According to interviews with more than 650 active hotel customers, the M-W ValueReport(TM) on Hotel Market Leaders 2003 shows that over 80% of customers are willing to pay more for the hotel that meets their expectations. What influences them most is the hotel's approach to selling and service. The research shows that customers feel the hotel's image in these areas is about 50% more critical than execution. Thus, selling rooms at a deep discount impacts the hotels brand greatly.
The research further shows that 40% of a consumer's decision about which hoteliers to frequent lies in a single Value Driver called Pricing and Control. Hoteliers who give this power to online brokers that discount their rooms risk damaging the value of their hotel. Also identified are the various price ranges across five different segments of customers based on value.
Value Leaders include Embassy Suites Hotels®, Fairfield Inn, Hampton Inn®, Holiday Inn, Residence Inn, Ritz-Carlton, Super 8®, Westin and Wyndham. While these companies differ in their price points, each one aligns their customer's expectations to their rates, allowing them to deliver superior value. To view a chart showing how well all 20 market leaders are delivering value, visit:
Hotel Market Leaders 2003 is unbiased, un-sponsored research that analyzes how well 20 hotel market leaders are delivering value to their customers. Based on interviews with more than 650 active consumers during March 2003, the research answers critical questions such as:
- What are the key value drivers that influence hotel consumers' decisions? How well does each major hotel perform on them?
- How can hotels increase demand and maintain control over sales in regard to the online travel agencies that offer steep discounts?
- Which hotel programs are delivering the most value to consumers? Why?
- How do consumers segment based on value-price? Which attributes are consumers willing to pay a premium for? Which attributes don't matter?
- Which hotels "own" a particular value-price segment? What are their vulnerabilities?
- How well does each major hotel perform in terms of Products? Leadership? Sales? Marketing? Service?
- Which hotels are rated as OutPerform, In-Line and UnderPerform? (for brokers/analysts)
- Plus many more charts and analysis (95 pages total)
To order the full 95-page M-W ValueReport(TM) ($99 US), visit Miller-Williams Inc. at:
The research covers 20 hotel market leaders including Bellagio
Full Disclosure
Miller-Williams Inc. asserts that no companies sponsored this research and no founders or executives of M-W directly hold stock in any of the companies measured, nor have they traded any of their stocks in the last year.