Danielle Mercier
Sales Manager - Airtel Plaza
(818) 263-8302 phone (818) 780-2445 fax

How did you hear about HSMAI?
My GM used to be a Director of Sales & told me that it was a wonderful organization & I should check it out.

Why did you join HSMAI?
To network, to get familiarized with all the folks in the field.

Job duties:
I book Corporate Accounts and Corporate Groups. Also, many Fixed Base Operators or FBO’s. We get a lot since we’re near the Van Nuys Airport.

I plan and organize meetings for Corporate Groups as well.

Other organizations I’m involved in:
I’m a member of NBTA and MPI.

Hobbies and/or Special Interests:
Oh boy! Gosh, I’m into the beach, I do yoga, horseback riding, bowling and like working out.

Tell us about your immediate family:
My sister is moving out from Las Vegas to be close. We are very close.

Other comments:
I’ve had Catering experience before and I’m happy to be part of Sales.

We are remodeling all of our 266 rooms. And we have also installed a huge 747 model in our lobby.

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FEATURED ARTICLE

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Hospitality 2010: Four 'Mega-Trends' to Shape Future Financial Success, Says Report From Deloitte and NYU
NEW YORK, The hospitality industry will need to address four transformative issues over the next three to five years, including brand, emerging markets, human assets and technology. These factors are expected to be key drivers in determining winners and losers through 2010 and beyond, and are likely to impact shareholder value, according to a new report by Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu and its member firms and the Preston Robert Tisch Center for Hospitality, Tourism and Sports Management at New York University. The report, "Hospitality 2010," was recently released at the 28th Annual NYU International Hospitality Industry Investment Conference, in New York City.


ECONOMIC INSIGHTS

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Hotel Availability Begins To Supersede Price As Priority | btnonline.com
9 June 2006 | With hotel occupancy at its highest levels in some cities since the dot-com bubble burst in 2000, travel managers are finding availability for travelers in some cities as important as price, if not more critical. This quest is leading to an upswing in room allotments, in which buyers have a quota of rooms permanently assigned to them, but which can be released to the hotel either 24 or 48 hours in advance.

Prospectiv Survey Reveals Vacationers Will Travel Farther and Stay Longer this Summer
8 June 2006 | WOBURN, Mass | Summer may be too short, but consumers are doing their best to prolong the fun. A recent Prospectiv CPI poll found that when vacationers hit-the-road this summer, they'll be traveling farther from home and staying at their destination longer compared to Summer 2005.

U.S. Hotels: Revenues And Profits Rise, But So Do Expenses | PKF Reports
29 May 2006 | U.S. hotels were able to turn a healthy 8.8 percent rise in total revenue into an impressive 15.5 percent increase in profits according to the recently released 2006 edition of Trends in the Hotel Industry published by PKF Hospitality Research (PKF-HR), an affiliate of PKF Consulting. This marks the second consecutive year of double-digit profit growth for U.S. hotels.

Tourism On Upswing In Latin America, As Destinations Position For Growing Competition | WTO Reports
13 June 2006 | ROSARIO, Destinations from Canada to Argentina are pleased with their tourism growth but are also aware that they will need to fight to maintain it. The way forward should be focused on strengthening tourism and media relationships, capacity sharing and especially branding of destinations, as was underscored by the Regional Conference on Tourism Communications (TOURCOM) for the Americas, which concluded on Tuesday in Rosario, Argentina.



HOTEL HIGHLIGHTS & OPENINGS

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[CAPTURED] Details Revealed on Hyatt Summerfield Suites Upscale Extended Stay Concept
7 June 2006 | CHICAGO, IL; Global Hyatt Corporation has unveiled its new-build prototype hotel concept along with its new brand logo for its extended stay brand, Hyatt Summerfield Suites.

Microtel Inns & Suites Development Leader With 31 Executed Agreements in First Quarter 2006
9 June 2006 | ATLANTA, Microtel Inns & Suites -- the chain of all new-constructed, interior corridor budget/economy hotels -- continues to demonstrate its leadership position in the economy lodging segment with increased levels of development activity, ringing in 31 executed contracts during the first quarter of 2006 alone. Year to date, the brand has sold nearly 50 franchises.

Conrad® Hotels Greets Windy City With Grand Opening of the Conrad Chicago
8 June 2006 | CHICAGO, Conrad® Hotels announces the grand opening of the Conrad Chicago, one of the city's newest luxury properties. Formerly Le Meridien, the Conrad Chicago joined the Conrad portfolio in November 2005 and is undergoing a series of luxury enhancements that will provide guests with high levels of quality service set in luxury accommodations. The Conrad Chicago is one of four Conrad(R) properties in the U.S. and 20 worldwide.

[CAPTURED] Starwood Hotels Unveils Plans for New Extended Stay Brand
1 June 2006 | WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. | A year after shaking up the select service segment of the hotel industry with the launch of its stylish aloft Hotels brand, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE:HOT) today unveils plans for a new upper upscale extended stay brand inspired by Westin Hotels.

Hotel Indigo™ Drives Momentum Through Strategy and Growth
6 June 2006 | ATLANTA, InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) [(NYSE:IHG) (ADRs)], the world's largest and most global hotel company announced that Hotel Indigo™ continues to grow its distribution in the U.S. at an accelerated pace and by the end of 2006 the brand will open six hotels bringing the brand's portfolio to nine open hotels.

One Year After Launch, Starwood's aloft Hotel Brand Proves to Be a Developer Favorite; Over 100 aloft Deals in the Works and Starwood's Newest Brand
6 June 2006 | NEW YORK | One year after debuting its stylish aloft Hotels, a W Hotels-inspired product designed as a refreshing oasis in the stodgy select service segment, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE:HOT) revealed today that the company has more than 100 deals in the works.




BUSINESS/MEETINGS

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Football World Cup in Germany Generates 800 Million Euros Direct Revenue for the Hotel Industry | MKG Reports
12 June 2006 | The 18th Football World Cup kicked off in Munich on 9 June 2006, prompting six weeks of media frenzy (a total audience of 28 billion people followed the previous Cup in Korea), heightened by the 15,000 journalists in attendance.

Doug Kennedy Launches Kennedy Training Network
2 June 2006 | HOLLYWOOD, FL | Doug Kennedy announced today the launch of the lodging industry’s newest training company, the Kennedy Training Network, which joins an exclusive and well-entrenched group of companies dedicated to hotel sales, reservations, and hospitality/service training.



INTERNATIONAL

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First-ever Lodging Development Pipeline for Asia Reveals China as Having the World’s Largest Development Activity Outside the U.S.
9 June 2006 | PORTSMOUTH, NH – Lodging Econometrics (LE), the Industry Authority for Hotel Real Estate announced the completion and publication of the first-ever comprehensive Lodging Development Pipeline for all countries in the Asia-Pacific region.

Marriott International To Open Its Fifth Hotel In Indonesia In 2008
13 June 2006 | Marriott International, Inc. (NYSE:MAR) will add a fifth hotel to its lodging portfolio in Indonesia in 2008 under a management agreement with PT Kurnia Tetap Mulia. The 268-room Marriott hotel will be located in Medan, Indonesia’s third largest city, and will be the first internationally-branded, five-star property in the city.

[CAPTURED] Marco Polo Continues China Expansion | Opening hotels in Wuhan and Chengdu
12 June 2006 | Marco Polo Hotels today announces the management of two new properties in China – the Marco Polo Wuhan in Hubei and the Marco Polo Chengdu in Sichuan.

French Polynesia, investors’ paradise ? | By Sophie Cottom
8 June 2006 | French Polynesia has developed into the ultimate South Pacific destination, perceived as a ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ journey only affordable by a privileged few. Over recent years, inbound arrivals have stabilised around 210,000 visitors. Despite a lack of growth in visitation, the opening of seven resorts between 1999 and 2005 are proof that French Polynesia remains an attractive destination for developers.



TRAVEL INTERNET MARKETING FOCUS

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OpenTravel™ Alliance Publishes Specification Version 2006A
8 June 2006 | The OpenTravel™ Alliance (OTA), the travel industry’s leading specification development organization, has published its 2006A specifications. Included in these specifications are XML-based messages for airlines, hotels, car rental companies, cruise lines and travel integrators critical to both efficient operations and enhanced travelers’ experiences.

Online Travel Companies Win Significant Court Victories in Occupancy Tax Cases in Philadelphia and Chicago
8 June 2006 | WASHINGTON | A Philadelphia court has dismissed the City of Philadelphia's entire lawsuit against online travel companies including Travelocity, Priceline, Orbitz and Expedia, according to the Interactive Travel Services Association (ITSA). In throwing out the suit, the Court ruled that the case did not belong before the Court.

ComScore Study Finds 35-Percent Increase in Number of Consumers Visiting Travel Sites
7 June 2006 | RESTON, Va., comScore Networks, the leader in the measurement and analysis of consumer behavior and attitudes, today released an analysis of the online travel market in the U.S. comScore found that nearly 150 million consumers visited a travel Web site in 2005, a 35-percent increase over the previous year.

Cornell Report Shows How Hotel Operators Can Profit from Customer Data
6 June 2006 | Ithaca, NY, The internet has brought hotel operators almost too much of a good thing, as guests offer a blizzard of information about themselves when they make inquiries and reservations. Sorting out which pieces of information are useful is the key to improving a hotel’s profits. To that end, a new report from Cornell University provides a specific mechanism for winnowing the data.

One-Screen vs. Multi-Step Booking Engine for Your Hotel Website | By Max Starkov and Jason Price
9 June 2006 | Over the past several years a number of online booking engine vendors have launched different versions of a one-screen booking engine (as opposed to the traditional multi-step booking engine –see Marriott.com, Expedia.com, etc). The one screen booking engine is often presented as the latest cutting edge technology that immensely increases the conversion rates on a property website.



FEATURED DOCUMENT DOWNLOAD

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Sustainable Hotel Business Practices: A Surface Examination | By Elana Bader
As global tourist arrivals continue increasing, demand and supply trends in regards to sustainable business practices are shifting. Individual travellers, organizations and banking consortiums are changing perceptions about requirements for the future and reponsibilities that hotels carry concerning the future. Hotel owners and operators must adapt to these changes in order to satisfy demand and remain attractive to investors as well as operationally feasible and profitable. This paper is a surface examination of the benefits, especially economic, of sustainable business practices and sustainability trends in demand and supply.

Adobe PDF Document (Download Acrobat Reader) | File Size: 278 Kb

REVENUE MANAGEMENT FOCUS

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HSMAI Releases ‘Defining Revenue Management’ Research Publication At Strategy Conference Held Today
20 June 2006 | The Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International (HSMAI) Revenue Management Special Interest Group released today (June 19, 2006) at its Strategy Conference in Minneapolis the first-ever comprehensive report on revenue management: “Defining Revenue Management: Top Line to Bottom Line.”

Feeding the Revenue Elephant Hotel Revenue Management Summer 2006 | By Carol Verret
13 June 2006 | Hotel Revenues this summer are anticipated to be gargantuan high demand and high rates. What more could an hotelier ask? A lot! Hoteliers who blindly accept the demand that comes their way at the rate they ask will never know how good it could have been had they fed the elephant of hotel revenue with guests that were not measure solely by rate but by value.

Online Travel Executives See Plenty Of Room To Grow In Europe | marketwatch.com
11 May 2006 | There is plenty of room to grow in the European online travel business, two executives in the industry said Tuesday. Speaking at a roundtable discussion during the CIBC World Markets Media, Internet and Telecom Conference in Boston, which was webcast, Priceline.com Inc. (PCLN) President and Chief Executive Jeffery Boyd said the European travel market is quite different from the U.S.



RESORT MARKETING FOCUS

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Steve Case's Luxury Travel Club Growing | usatoday.com
13 June 2006 | One might not necessarily imagine that multimillionaires confront limited options in planning their vacations. But a company chaired by former America Online co-founder Steve Case is growing rapidly by offering a menu of luxury vacation options as part of a club that requires members to pony up $200,000 or more to access its $750 million portfolio of vacation properties throughout North America, the Caribbean and Europe.

Prospectiv Survey Reveals Vacationers Will Travel Farther and Stay Longer this Summer
8 June 2006 | WOBURN, Mass | Summer may be too short, but consumers are doing their best to prolong the fun. A recent Prospectiv CPI poll found that when vacationers hit-the-road this summer, they'll be traveling farther from home and staying at their destination longer compared to Summer 2005.

Steiner Leisure Limited Announces New Agreement to Operate Spas at Atlantis and One&Only Ocean Club Resorts
7 June 2006 | NASSAU, The Bahamas | Steiner Leisure Limited (Nasdaq:STNR) announced today that its premier luxury spa division, Mandara Spa, has entered into a new agreement with Kerzner International Bahamas Limited to continue to operate the luxury spas at Atlantis and One&Only Ocean Club resorts, both on Paradise Island in the Bahamas.



HOTEL DIRECTOR OF SALES & MARKETING

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"A Bakers Dozen” of Strategies for Hotel Sales & Marketing Professionals | By Dr. John Hogan, CHA MHS CHE
9 June 2006 | Learn everything about the services and product you will be promoting. This first step is perhaps the most obvious requirement for any successful sales professional, yet one that is often overlooked especially by those individuals who may have additional responsibilities at their hotel.

Say That Again? | Ateps To Better Workplace Communications | By Dr. Marc Clark
12 June 2006 | “Well, let's see, we have on the bags, Who's on first, What's on second, I Don't Know is on third.” Have you ever heard this entire comedy exchange between comedians Bud Abbott and Lou Costello in their classic skit for radio entitled, Who’s on First? If not, shame on you. It will have you in stitches. Costello plays a peanut-vendor by the name of Sabastion Dinwiddle and Abbott plays the manager of the mythical St.



SALES & MARKETING FACULTY

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E-Learning for Hospitality, Food Service | Cornell's Experience | portalsmag.com
6 June 2006 | Cornell University has had the highest-ranked hotel school in the U.S. for several years. In fact, visitors to Cornell's Ithaca, NY campus often stay in the 150-room Statler Hotel, an elegant establishment that gives hotel students the chance to put their academic training into daily practice.

The Lynn Ovations in Hospitality Distinguished Leader Lecture Series Hosts Five Distinguished Speakers
8 June 2006 | (BOCA RATON, Fla.) The Lynn Ovations in Hospitality Distinguished Leader Lecture Series brought five speakers to the Lynn University campus this year. Each presentation informed students with inspirational, real-world advice. Created by Dr. Michael Hampton, Dean of the College of Hospitality Management, speakers in the series included Gary Williams, Alan Schuman, David Samson, Mitch Holthus and George Donovan.

Cornell Report Shows How Hotel Operators Can Profit from Customer Data
6 June 2006 | Ithaca, NY, The internet has brought hotel operators almost too much of a good thing, as guests offer a blizzard of information about themselves when they make inquiries and reservations. Sorting out which pieces of information are useful is the key to improving a hotel’s profits. To that end, a new report from Cornell University provides a specific mechanism for winnowing the data.



COLUMNS

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[CAPTURED] Lap of Luxury - The InterContinental Hong Kong claims its new Presidential Suite is the best of any city in Asia | By Steve Shellum
13 June 2006 | When Jean-Jacques Reibel was appointed MD of the InterContinental Hong Kong a couple of years ago, he knew he was taking over one of the world's most celebrated hotels. But the former GM of Washington's venerable Willard Hotel - home-from-home for generations of presidents, royalty and diplomats - quickly realised there was something sadly lacking in his new property.

Empowerment or Pseudo-Empowerment…Your Associates Know the Difference | By Lizz Chambers, CHA, CHE
8 June 2006 | I know what you are thinking: Empowerment has been done to death. It is so ‘last century’ (it became the corporate buzzword in late 1980’s). The problem is that there has been much dialogue and much written about empowerment, but how many times have you actually worked in an ‘Empowered Workplace’ supported 100% by management?

More Web Site Hints, Tips, and Tricks - Unwrapped | By Neil Salerno
8 June 2006 | When it comes to boosting web site sales, search engine optimization (SEO) has become the first and last choice by many web marketing companies. It seems that SEO has become the current Rx prescription for non-producing web sites. In itself, SEO can be very beneficial, but it is certainly not the cure-all that some web marketers claim.

Hotel Reservation And The Web-Savvy Caller | By Doug Kennedy
6 June 2006 | As a hotel sales training consultant, I have had the opportunity to sit alongside numerous reservations agents as they have fielded live inquires at hotels and call centers representing all segments of the lodging industry.

Get Them At Hello: Establishing Personal Relationships With Our Hotel Guests | By Mark Hamister
26 May 2006 | Do you remember the final scene in the film Jerry Maguire, where Jerry (Tom Cruise) desperately implores his wife Dorothy (Renee Zellweger) to give their relationship another chance? He goes on and on for about five minutes, until she finally tells him to shut up, because he had her “at hello.” In order to attain high guest satisfaction scores and customer loyalty, we have to have our guests “at hello.”

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HSMAI Releases ‘Defining Revenue Management’ Research Publication At Strategy Conference Held Today
20 June 2006 | The Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International (HSMAI) Revenue Management Special Interest Group released today (June 19, 2006) at its Strategy Conference in Minneapolis the first-ever comprehensive report on revenue management: “Defining Revenue Management: Top Line to Bottom Line.”

HSMAI's Affordable Meetings® West Survey Reveals Planners Will Arrange More Meetings In 2006 & Beyond
19 May 2006 | MCLEAN, VA | According to a survey of pre-registrants attending the 10th annual Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International’s (HSMAI) Affordable Meetings® West show June 14-15, 2006 at the Long Beach Convention Center in Long Beach, CA, most respondents (97.1 percent) will be attending to make new contacts and obtain increased resources at the show.



FEATURED EVENTS

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Revenue Management Special Interest Group (SIG) Strategy Conference ASIA 27 June 2006
Hong Kong, China

The Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International’s (HSMAI) successful series of Revenue Management Strategy Conferences in the Americas will be presented for the first time in Asia Pacific on 27 June 2006 at the InterContinental Grand Stanford Hong Kong.

HSMAI’s Affordable Meetings® National 2006 6 - 7 September 2006
Washington, DC

HSMAI's Affordable Meetings® is a unique, FREE trade show and conference for cost-conscious meeting planners, which takes place annually in three locations across the country.


All HSMAI Events

All Upcoming Industry Events



FEATURED HSMAI UNIVERSITY PROGRAMS

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