Industry News ~ Snapshot

Online Hotel Bookings Expected To Surge
Jupiter Research predicts online hotel bookings will surge from $5 billion in 2001 to $14.8 billion in 2007. Jupiter analysts believe that consumers are often overwhelmed and confused by the rate differentials and choices that are available online, often preferring to call the hotels directly or rely on the expertise of a travel agent. A 2002 Jupiter study of 1,845 online travel buyers and browsers indicated that nearly half (48 percent) of those surveyed conducted research and purchased from a travel agency site, while 34 percent conducted research and purchased from a supplier site.
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And Here's What They Watch In Their Rooms
Some results were surprising, even counter-intuitive. On the technology side, a slight majority said they want to rent single DVDs for $5 for 24 hours at the front desk. Next most popular option: a VCR player in the room with the guest renting the videocassette. Nearly as popular: a $12 bundle of three movies for 24 hours. These results lead to two conclusions: DVDs, which have become a very mainstream technology in a very short time, are supplanting videocassettes on the road as well as in the home.
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Hotel Guests Want The Internet And Want It Free
When it comes to in-room Internet access, the great majority of the 5,000 respondents to a Lodging Hospitality magazine survey said they think it should be free. Many said they want it free and fast - or not at all. The next-largest number said they wouldn't use it at any cost. One person suggested a $4.95 change for 24 hours and a handful said they would pay $2-$3 per session. Very few said they were willing to pay $9.95 for 24 hour use, suggesting that pay model, predominant just two years ago, is dead in the water. In-room fax machines didn't seem that popular, either. The great majority said they don't consider them at all important or of little importance.
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Conflicts Grow About Flexible Cancellations
The business of meetings is a $102.3 billion industry and represents a significant portion of all business-related travel, including approximately 27% of all hotel bookings in the U.S. alone. But there are broad issues including conflicts about flexible cancellation and attrition clauses and increased use of technologies that could greatly impact an industry built on relationship-based buying and selling. The Future Watch 2003 survey reveals that nearly one-third of meeting planner respondents ranked relaxation of cancellation and attrition clauses as the most significant operational trend for 2003, while 15% of suppliers placed relatively low priority (fourth out of four options) on becoming less stringent with cancellation and attrition clauses, behind choosing more flexible pricing, additional incentives or personal service to better help planners in 2003. > Top

Groups Provide Hotels With 35% Of Profits
Last year groups accounted for 35% more of total profits for full-service hotels than they did in 2000, adding yet another reason why this year is stacking up as a buyer's market for meeting planners. "The group market is a more important segment to hotels than it has ever been," said Bjorn Hanson, head of PricewaterhouseCoopers' Hospitality practice. "I'm sure hotels understand this, but they may not share it with meeting planners." Hanson reported PwC's findings to some 2,500 people attending the annual convention of the Professional Convention Management Association. Group business represented 27% of full-service hotel profits in 2002 as compared with 20% in 2000, according to Hanson. Group demand increased nearly 18%, to 20% from 17%. Last year ended with group rates higher than transient rates in most major convention cities, including New Orleans, San Francisco, Chicago, Los Angeles, Boston and Atlanta. > Top

Pricewaterhouse Predicts Flat Room Rates Until 2004
Bjorn Hanson, head of PricewaterhouseCoopers projected essentially flat room rates and occupancy throughout the year, less than 1% for all hotel segments combined. Rates recoveries that exceed inflation will come in 2004, he said, about 3% for each of only two segments, upper upscale and upscale hotels. As expected, Hanson predicted a substantial drop in lodging demand - to third-quarter 2001 levels - if the United States goes to war against Iraq, along with a drop in room rates. Perhaps more troubling to the travel and hospitality industries, many business people have cut back on travel for the foreseeable future, even without a new Iraq war. "The decline in travel due to security concerns and inconvenience will remain up slightly," said Hanson. > Top

National Events & News

   • St. Louis - Sept. 9, 2003 ~ Millennium Hotel
   • Boston - Sept. 30, 2003 ~ Sheraton Boston
   • Atlanta - Oct. 7, 2003 ~ Hyatt Regency
   • Chicago - Oct. 30, 2003 ~ Holiday Inn O'Hare
   • Minneapolis - Oct. 23, 2003 ~ Millennium Hotel
   • Dallas - Nov. 6, 2003 ~ Hotel InterContinental
   • Washington, DC - Nov. 25, 2003 ~ Hilton Washington & Towers
   • Anaheim - Dec. 11, 2003 ~ Paradise Pier

Contact: HSMAI Meetings Quest
c/o JTDunn Enterprises, 513 Commerce Drive, Upper Marlboro, MD 20774
(301) 249-4600, Email: meetingsquest@jtdunninc.com; www.meetingsquest.com

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Selling Tips Send a Teaser Post Card by Kevin Nunley www.drnunley.com (888) 429-6203

Here is a clever strategy that gets results. Before you send your sales letter or demo package, send a teaser post card.

I got one a while back. The postcard had a picture of ants and the words "There are ants under your house." That was it. No explanation and only the barest of a return address.

I turned the card over once, twice, three times. Who sent this?

Two days later I got an envelope with the same picture of ants printed on it. A-ha! I opened the envelope and carefully read the letter to find out I had been post card teased by a local pest extermination company.

Think how you can use this highly effective (and not very expensive) post card tease to promote your business.

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