‘New Research Index Reveals Hotel Quality, Rate Impact On Hotel Acceptance’ In Winter Issue Of HSMAI Marketing Review
E-dition of HSMAI Marketing Review Now Available as Added Member Benefit
The just-released winter 2008 issue of HSMAI Marketing Review features a new customer report presented by the Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International (HSMAI – www.hsmai.org) Hotel Director of Sales and Marketing Special Interest Group (HDOSM-SIG) and the HSMAI Foundation. This article is the first in a series of articles highlighting the HSMAI/D.K.
MCLEAN, VA | The just-released winter 2008 issue of HSMAI Marketing Review features a new customer report presented by the Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International (HSMAI –
With this issue of the magazine, HSMAI is also introducing a new member benefit: the HSMAI Marketing Review e-dition, an electronic edition of the HSMAI Marketing Review, produced in conjunction with Nxtbook Media. The HSMAI Marketing Review e-dition will be available to all members in addition to the regular print version. For a limited time, all members of the industry may access this e-dition as a sample of this new benefit of being a member of HSMAI. Industry professionals can access the issue at http://hsmai.org/marketingreview/.
Through this first initiative, DKSA asked its monthly consumer panel of over 50,000 U.S. households to rate their most recent hotel stays. The HSMAI/DKSA TRAVELER ACCEPTANCE/Index is tied to a year 2000 base year as a means of describing changes over time.
The upward Acceptance/Index trend by business travelers has since reached a plateau and declined somewhat. After reaching the peak in 2004, the business segment of the Traveler Acceptance/Index has declined. “All of the property improvements have created a paradigm shift among both business and leisure travelers: they have come to expect much more from their experience at hotel brands,” says Shifflet.
On the leisure side, the picture has been brighter. “Leisure hotel guests are decidedly happier in overall satisfaction and value than their business counterparts,” says Shifflet. Leisure travelers recorded the largest jump in acceptance in 2001 and the Index has since climbed to 282.
Room Rates Drive Trends in Trade Ups, Trade Downs
Overall, the Index shows strong industry acceptance among both business and leisure hotel travelers. The continuing notable increases in room rates, however, are causing the picture to change.
“Both business and leisure travelers have developed higher expectations in quality and service,” says Shifflet. “However, room costs and perceived value are also major factors for all travelers, especially as other financial stresses increase. If business profits are down, companies take their people off the road or expect them to stay in less expensive hotels. Likewise, high room rates lead leisure travelers to find other outlets for their discretionary spending.”
The jump in the Traveler Acceptance/Index for business travelers between 2000 and 2004 came during a time when hotel rates showed little change. “Prices rose slowly during a peak improvement period from 2000 to 2004, so leisure and business travelers gave high approval ratings because they were paying essentially the same low rates, but were able to trade up to better properties,” says Shifflet. “Guests could buy a better room – for essentially the same money.”
“It’s clear we’re at a critical point in the hotel experience of guests and the resulting acceptance levels,” says Shifflet. “Hotels must match product improvement, including service with rate increases, or they will lose brand acceptors as quickly as they earned them.”
The next issue of HSMAI Marketing Review will highlight the Index by hotel segment, and future issues will look more closely at destination, airline, and rental car acceptance indices.
Other articles and topics featured in the winter issue of HSMAI Marketing Review include:
- The Online Marketer – Globalizing for Success: Ten Steps for Taking Your Website International (written by: Donald E. Bender)
- Success Stories – The Meeting Game, Doing Indy, Second Life Design Ideas, Cool Capitals, Fun Hotel Jobs For Kids, Chili Rules, Marketing a Prestigious Award Internally (written by: Harvey Chipkin)
- Forecasting Trends – A Delicate Balancing Act: Keeping Out Terrorists While Welcoming Foreign Tourists (written by: Marvin J. Cetron, Ph.D.)
- Guest Column – U.S. Lodging Industry Forecast 2008 (written by: Robert Mandelbaum)
- Fine Art And High Fashion; Find A Home In Hotels – Artful Relationships: Hotels and Art Institutions Join Forces. Savvy hoteliers who display fine art in their lobbies and guest rooms are creating a win-win situation for the artists and for their properties as guests and art lovers alike applaud the idea. (written by: Cathleen Mccarthy)
- Fashioning a New Image: Top Designers Brand Hotels in Their Own Image – Several of the world’s best-known fashion designers are extending the influence of their brands by either opening their own hotels or partnering with established properties. The result is the creation of ultra-luxury hotels, particularly in Europe, frequented by the very rich and those who aspire to wealth. (written by: Joann Greco)
- Brand Proliferation: Hotels Respond to Consumers’ Demand for the New and Different –With the recent explosion of hotel brands, making a new brand stand out from the 350 brands already in place is a challenge for even the most creative of hospitality marketers. (written by: Harvey Chipkin)
- Executive Summary of The Travel Marketer’s Guide to Social Media and Social Networks: Sales and Marketing in a Web 2.0 World – This special report, published by the HSMAI Foundation and the Travel Industry Association, is a definitive study of how hospitality industry sales and marketing professionals can make the most of listening to, and participating in, consumer conversations conducted on the Internet. (written by: Cindy Estis Green)
- From the Affluent to the Super-Rich, Luxury is in the Eye of the Beholder – The word ‘luxury’ has many meanings in today’s hospitality market and not every one is able to afford the very best. This provides endless possibilities for those who wish to attract the moneyed traveler. (written by: Eleanor M. Wilson)
- Tea Is Hot – Hotels offering high tea and other tea services to guests are not only seeing a significant increase in F&B profits, they also are developing a loyal following among a growing number of tea drinkers. (written by: Ruth Hill)
- Teaching and Sales: Sympatico – A thought-provoking comparison between the demands of selling a concept to clients and presenting new ideas to students is the first entry in “The Way I See It” series. (written by: Donna Quadri Felitti)
From content-rich feature articles to case studies, trend reports, how-to editorials filled with tips and step-by-step instructions, as well as executive summaries, HSMAI Marketing Review is an information-packed resource guide for hospitality and travel sales and marketing professionals published quarterly by the Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International (HSMAI).