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Industry
News ~
Snapshot
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ECONOMIC INSIGHTS ---
NEW PWC
LODGING FORECAST SEES REVENUE PER ROOM BOOST
PricewaterhouseCoopers
(PwC) unveiled a revised U.S. lodging forecast that
shows revenue per available room (RevPAR) is set to
grow 6.3 percent this year, the largest increase since
1984. The 3.7 percent forecast increase in average daily
rate in 2004 will contribute almost 60 percent of the
total forecast RevPAR gain for the year. Many factors
support the favorable outlook for ADR including upward
revisions to inflation forecasts; acceleration of business
travel and the consequent increase in higher-rate lodging
demand; consolidation of ownership, and therefore, more
properties under pricing discipline; dramatic increase
in control being exercised by hotel companies and owners
over rate integrity and inventory, leading to less discounting
on third-party distribution channels; and aftermath
of hurricanes in Florida, generating room demand from
people involved in damage assessment, insurance, and
reconstruction in otherwise low-occupancy months.
FOURTH
QUARTER 2004 SHOULD EXCEED BUDGET EXPECTATIONS
Compared with just three months ago, many
hotels have boosted their 4th Quarter 2004 expectations
as short-term bookings are coming in better than expected.
Not only are groups booking further out, but our contacts
have a more favorable outlook on transient demand. We
expect most of the public companies to increase their
fourth quarter expectations when they report third quarter
results. We believe that after several years of very
poor performance and a very short-term booking window,
many hoteliers are cautious about projecting demand
beyond what may already be booked. We believe this is
why many public lodging companies provided modest fourth
quarter earnings expectations when they reported second
quarter results in July. After speaking with our hotel
contacts, we believe that most of our covered lodging
companies will report solid third quarter results with
the potential for upside surprises. We also believe
that many will increase their fourth quarter earnings
expectation. -- Bloomberg
News
TIA TRAVELER
SENTIMENT INDEX UP WITH CONSUMER CONFIDENCE
The Travel Industry Association of America's
(TIA) quarterly Traveler Sentiment Index showed a slight
increase of 1.6 percent in the third quarter versus
second quarter 2004. The overall index now stands at
99.0, up from 97.4. The primary reasons behind the increase
are twofold-more consumers than last quarter are confident
about having enough money to take leisure trips and
more consumers are interested in taking pleasure trips.
-- Hotels Online
«
More info »
--- HOTEL
HIGHLIGHTS ---
RADISSON
LAUNCHES HOTEL INDUSTRY'S FIRST ONLINE CHECK-IN
Guests at Austin's 413-room Radisson Hotel and Suites
on Town Lake, in the heart of Downtown Austin, can now
check-in in advance of arrival using a new online check-in
process -- a first in the hotel industry. Radisson Hotels
& Resorts(R) announces the launch of "Express
Yourself(sm)," the hotel industry's first, new
generation online check-in process that is now available
at all its hotels and resorts in the Americas. At the
core of this new expedited hotel check-in process, is
the ability for guests to check in via the Web at their
convenience and provide preferences in advance of their
arrival, eliminating the check-in process and providing
more control over their hotel experience.
«
More info »
MORE HOTEL
GUESTS USE REWARD POINTS, BUT NOT FOR AIR
Not long ago, hotel loyalty club members used most of
their credits for free air travel, not free lodging.
No longer. Travelers are converting about 30% of points
earned from hotel stays into airline trips this year,
vs. 70% in 2001, says loyalty club expert Randy Petersen,
publisher of InsideFlyer.com. The trend, experts say,
is fueled by increasingly attractive hotel programs
and diminishing incentives to use loyalty credits for
airline tickets. Martin White, a marketing executive
at United Airlines, says he's seen the trend with the
carrier's three biggest hotel partners - Marriott, Hilton
and Starwood. "Experts say other developments are
contributing: Cheap airfares. Lower fares mean less
incentive for travelers to use credits of any kind,
including hotel loyalty credits. Fewer seats. It became
more difficult to redeem miles when airlines reduced
capacity in the post-Sept. 11 attacks downturn, Petersen
says. --
E-hotelier
---
INTERNATIONAL INFO ---
MORE EUROPEAN
ROOM NIGHTS BOOKED ELECTRONICALLY
TravelCLICK reported that European hotel room nights
booked electronically in the second quarter of 2004
were up by 16.9% in comparison to the room nights booked
in the same period last year. The average daily rate
(ADR) for European hotels for second quarter was $178.68,
showing an 8.9% improvement compared to the same quarter
last year. The report is based on rooms booked electronically
through the Global Distribution Systems (GDS) and key
Internet travel sites.
«
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TOURISM
IN CHINA PROJECTED TO REACH $40 BILLION BY 2010
ResearchandMarkets.com
predicts that China's tourism sector will earn US$14
billion of foreign exchange in 2010 while domestic tourism
revenue is projected to reach US$31 billion. By then,
tourism revenue will account for 5% of China's GDP.
--- BIZ/LEISURE TRAVEL
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GSA: ELECTRONIC
SELF-BOOKING URGED FOR GOVERNMENT TRAVEL
By 2006, the General Services Administration
(GSA) said it expects to have an end-to-end, electronic
self-booking system for civilian government travelers
that promises to bring new levels of efficiency and
structure to the way government travel is booked. Most
government agencies already are in the midst of evaluating
the pros and cons of the systems relative to their travel
needs. But although electronic booking likely will usher
in a brave new world for government travel, speakers
at the recent Society of Government Travel Professionals
education conference stressed that the eTravel service,
referred to as ETS, won't necessarily replace travel
agents who have long served this highly specialized
market. --Travel
Weekly
PICTURES,
FINGERPRINTS NOW NEEDED BY EUROPEANS VISITING USA
Europeans who are allowed to travel to the
United States without a visa now have to give fingerprints
and have a photo taken when they arrive at U.S. airports
and ports. Up to now citizens of 27 countries - including
15 of the European Union countries, Australia, New Zealand
and Japan - were exempt from similar security controls
imposed on other visitors since the start of the year.
-- Marketing and Tourism Trends newsletter
NEW RESOURCE
CATERS TO BUDGET-CONSCIOUS MEETING PLANNERS
In an effort to better assist meeting planners
tasked with creating dynamic meetings on limited budgets,
The Speakers Group has launched a new online resource:
BudgetFriendlySpeakers.com. Featuring a roster of speakers
with fees of $3,500 or less, BudgetFriendlySpeakers.com
caters to planners who find an otherwise limited array
of supplier options.
«
More info »
--- CRUISE NEWS ---
TRAVEL
AGENTS APPROVE ROYAL CARIBBEAN ANTI-REBATING PLAN
Slightly more than half of travel agents polled
by TravelWeekly.com
said they approve of Royal Caribbean Cruises' new rebating
policies -- i.e. that agents caught rebating will lose
commission and co-op dollars. But 27% also said they
still can't compete on price against larger agencies,
and 20% said they thought the guidelines are "too
broad and too difficult to police." Sixteen percent
said they should be able to rebate if they choose. Some
567 agents responded to the poll, which was conducted
about a month after RCCL's policy went into effect.
--- ONLINE ISSUES
---
Click
Here to go to eConnect,
log in, and connect today. The first-ever, all-encompassing,
online source for information, research, contacts and
best practices, eConnect
is an HSMAI Foundation program hosted by the University
of Houston's Conrad N. Hilton College.
New in
eConnect, information on research from:
» Market Research - Marketing
contact list: Marketing Leads and Contacts - Nationwide
» Hoover's - Budget
& Economy Motels: Financial Analysis Profiles
» Pricewaterhouse Coopers - Economic
Impact of the U.S. Timeshare Industry 2004
» Government Per Diem Rates - 2005
Rates
And new supplier links to:
» Real Magnet -
Email Marketing
CENDANT
ACQUIRES ORBITZ, COULD CHANGE BALANCE OF POWER
Cendant has acquired Orbitz which will now
become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Cendant. Cendant's
$1.25 billion acquisition of Orbitz, if approved, could
change the online agency balance of power and deal another
blow to Worldspan's e-commerce clout. Cendant's Web
businesses, including CheapTickets and Lodging.com,
would edge out Travelocity in online market share, 22%
to 20%, according to Legg Mason, enabling the Cendant
sites to take the No. 2 position behind IAC/InterActiveCorp.
For now, Cendant plans to maintain the Orbitz, CheapTickets
and Lodging.com brands and to consolidate their operations
-- and platforms -- in Chicago.
EXPEDIA,
INTERCONTINENTAL SPLIT SPURS CONTROVERSY
The president of Expedia.com, the online travel
agency, says consumers don't need a one-stop shop for
travel. What consumers want in a travel website, said
Steven McArthur, is a large selection of air and hotel
offerings at competitive prices. "No retailer is
a one-stop shop," he said. "It isn't necessary
for us to have 100 percent of the brands available in
a given market." This statement comes on the heals
of Expedia and its sister company, Hotels.com, loss
of access to InterContinental Hotels Group, one of the
largest hotel companies in the world, operating chains
under the Holiday Inn, Crowne Plaza, and InterContinental
names with 3,500 hotels. InterContinental is pulling
off the two Web sites because the sites refuse to comply
with business guidelines issued last spring. The split
is scheduled to take place Nov. 15. -- Boston Globe
HILTON
GETS TOUGH ON 3RD PARTY DISTRIBUTORS
Hilton International has said it is determined
to tackle practices that create customer confusion and
limit choice when booking Hilton hotel rooms - David
Michels, CEO of the Hilton Group stated that the company
will cut ties with distributors who persist in operating
misleading pricing practices and demand inequitable
conditions. Hilton also announced the signing of a new
deal with lastminute.com, giving the online distributor
full access to Hilton's inventory, stating it was one
of the first moves towards more customer friendly practices.
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