IH&RA 41st Annual Congress | Travel Trends: Getting the Picture
Presentation by Douglas Shifflet, President & CEO, DKS&A
What is the state of the travel & tourism industry today? What are the key economic, social and geo-political drivers of change? What are the current trends in business and leisure travel across the world? How is this affecting hotels and restaurants? Mr. Shifflet is a Marketing Psychologist with over 30 years' experience as a counselor in marketing and planning, with specialization in applied market research.
Prior to establishing his own company, his professional career covered new product market research for The Pillsbury Company and five years as one of the three group directors of market research and planning for General Mills, Inc.
In 1977, the Marriott Corporation asked Mr. Shifflet to start the marketing consulting and research group, where he served as Corporate Vice President of Marketing Services. His department provided marketing research and consultation to all divisions, as well as to corporate staff. Having provided the consumer insight for business and product development and quality assurance, he set the informational groundwork for Marriott's major expansion in the late 70's and early 80's. This effort includes the internationally acclaimed, award winning research that led to the successful "Courtyard by Marriott" hotel chain.
D.K. Shifflet & Associates Ltd. is a Maryland Corporation founded in 1982. The Company specializes in syndicated and proprietary travel research and planning. Under Mr. Shifflet’s guidance the company has grown to support over 200 clients and brands and has several proprietary products and trademarks. The company is now the travel industry leader in the USA and has expanded internationally. DKS&A has developed the syndicated DIRECTIONS® Travel Intelligence SystemSM encompassing several monthly studies which provide large scale integrated, continuous tracking and forecasting information for destinations, hotels, airlines, credit cards, rental cars, over twenty activity sectors and more. DIRECTIONS® is the largest, most accurate and comprehensive, monthly, syndicated consumer database in the travel industry.
Mr. Shifflet has held national office, participated in several corporate and association task forces, and is active in National and International management, marketing and marketing research organizations. He is currently a member of the Travel Business Roundtable, serves on the PATA Research Advisory Board in the Pacific Rim, works in Europe with OECD and Eurostat and consults with several hotel chains and destination marketing groups, both domestically and internationally. Mr. Shifflet is a frequent keynote speaker at national and international conferences and is regularly interviewed by the major media and quoted in the trade press.
Mr. Shifflet has built an effective “self starting” team, and is a consultant, author and lecturer on product positioning, marketing, strategic planning, trends in the travel industry, and the practical application of market research for quality assurance, product positioning, CRM and business development.