It can begin to get lonely when the growth stops and the future gets foggy…
Photo Credit: Neil Tackaberry | Flickr

At the depth of the global financial crisis in 2009, the Thanksgiving week Average Daily Rate (ADR) for US hotels bottomed out at $84.81. (Its lowest level since I began keeping track in January 2006.)

Last week, the figure was $107.66. That provides in a compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of about 3.5%. A solid figure I consider for the baseline growth during low demand periods.

On the other hand, the average CAGR for US hotels ADR during its typical peak week in late July, shows an increase from $98.13 in 2009 to $130.83 in 2016. That’s a CAGR of 4.2%.

Year to date, I see that US hotel ADR has increased Year over Year by 3.2% Year to Date (YTD). It should not go unnoticed that the figure is lower than the low demand growth trend of the last seven years. That looks a lot like a plateau.

Not convinced? Consider that the average occupancy percentage of US hotels showed no growth over last year.

Despite the traditional early forecasts of the major hotel performance tracking groups (yes, you know who you are) – that are always quite Pollyanna-ish before a series of downward revisions throughout the year – the US hotel industry should reasonably expect lower Revenue per Available Room (RevPAR) for the sector in 2017.

Or, contemplate the following points:

1. The 12-month moving average for hotel occupancy peaked in the 1st week of January, 2016. We have now seen 48 consecutive weeks of plateaued performance.
2. Hotel supply is expected to increase 50 basis points faster than demand in 2017 (and that figure excludes any incremental Airbnb impact…)
3. Online travel agencies (OTAs) tend to capture a greater share of business as markets soften – raising distribution and marketing costs for the hoteliers.Offering improved on-property guest experiences that exceed what can often be described as nicely furnished self-storage units available for daily rental…

It’s been a nice seven year run for the US hotel industry. Now is the time for hospitality industry leadership to finally get serious about:

• Repositioning a large contingent of irrelevant legacy brands,
• Providing better website experiences worthy of earning guest loyalty from the OTAs, and
• Offering improved on-property guest experiences that exceed what can often be described as nicely furnished self-storage units available for daily rental…

I won’t pile on by questioning the logic of major hotel chains deciding to train their most valuable, dedicated and price-insensitive community of frequent guests to adopt the undesirable behavior of seeking discounted rates at their preferred hotel brands, but that front of the Hotel-OTA war is not going well.

Too harsh? I think not. It’s tough love time for an industry that continues to consolidate, but remains too timid to prune the expansive array of poorly defined brands that confuse customers and commoditize lodging product through undifferentiated brand bloat.

If the hotel industry takes a “wait and see” attitude, they can expect further disruption, particularly when surprised by the next economic downturn. Success competing against rapidly growing, favorably perceived global organizations like Airbnb that structurally trade in unique, highly personalized experiences, does not result from inaction.

I often tell audiences that hoteliers typically deal with disruption using the same time-tested four-step process –

1. Ignore it.
2. Continue to ignore it, even after being told to pay attention to it.
3. Panic.
4. Begrudgedly bemoan the new reality, while wistfully reminiscing about the good old days when business was less challenging and so much more fun.

You have been warned. Again…

| The post Welcome To The US Hotel Plateau by Robert Cole appeared first on RockCheetah

Marriott International’s unexpected $12.2 billion acquisition of Starwood Hotel & Resorts Worldwide creates the world’s largest hotel group, representing over 30 individual hotel brands with over 1.1 million rooms. While industry insiders acknowlege the underlying objective for global hotel groups hotel is now to maximize room density in high demand destinstions, there is little doubt that some of the brands will not survive the integration process.

It’s likely that several Marriott or Starwood brands will see the same fate as neon hotel vacancy signs.
Photo Credit: Joseph Novak | Flickr

Given the asset-light strategies driving hotel group performance – much to the delight of Wall Street – brand differentiation is increasingly based on marketing-driven messaging and competitive positioning as opposed to tangible product attributes. As more properties become closely clusteed neighbors, clear lines of brand delineation can get hazy, with the hotel development teams not wanting to arbitrarily exclude a prime prospect as they assemble a jigsaw puzzle of properties and brands that changes every time a new brand is added to the portfolio.

The hotel groups occasionally make it even more difficult for their guests to understand the brand portfolio. Note the order in which each brand is listed in the deadpool form. This is the exact order used on the Marriott and Starwood websites, respectively. In Marriott’s case, they list the properties in descending order of hotel classiication (e.g. quality.) Starwood’s order is quazi-random – leading with Four Points, followed by Sheraton and Aloft. It’s clearly not alphabetical, or by size, founding date or quality level. While most corporate websites are heavily scrutinized in every detail, Starwood’s brand overview page failed to communicate how the collection of brands created a sum greater than their individual parts.

That may be part of the reason Starwood was put up for sale in the first place.

In many instances, the brand descriptions border on the nonsensical – especially for new lifestyle brands. Plied with industry buzzwords that fail to describe the types of customers that would be attracted to a property possessing any particular brand defining features. Some examples shall spread the pain by picking on everyone a bit…

What exactly should someone expect from Mariott’s Renaissance brand? “Travel should be inspiring, and inspiration is exactly what you’ll find at Renaissance Hotels worldwide.” In Schaumberg, Illinois, perhaps it’s inspiring that someone had the guts to build a suburban property with 474 rooms and nearly 150,000 square feet of meeting space. Aside from that, it’s a nice convention property that could just as easily fly a Marriott, Westin, Sheraton, Hilton or Hyatt flag.

Guests must enjoy staying in inspiring hotels, because Starwood also uses the ter to describe Westins. “Inspiring yet never overwhelming, Westin Hotels & Resorts are designed to engage the senses in a soothing atmosphere.” Soothing inspiration? I’m not certain I have ever heard anyone describe The Westin Bonaventure, Los Angeles’ largest hotel at 1,354 rooms, as soothing. John Portman’s five tower reflective-glass “city within a city” may indeed be inspiring (especially to mid-1970’s architecture aficionados) but not in any particularly soothing manner.

Hilton is just as guilty, as are all the others. (See Hotel Brand Explosion Difficult to Describe to get really depressed about the state of hotel brand positioning.) DoubleTree is described as “a place that’s a world apart from everything, yet with a feeling of the comforts of home. Full-service and full of warmth…” What the hell does that mean? The full description lets one know they are full service properties serving chocolate chip cookies. That may be enough for some people, but surely not many.

At this point, one can imagine TripAdvisor CEO Steve Kaufer silently thanking all the hotel groups for driving massive traffic to his websites, with many prospective guests leaving the hotel brand website, desperately trying to figure out exactly what the hotel is like before booking.

So, below is a listing of the 30 brands impacted by Marriott’s acquisition of Starwood. Now, it’s time to predict the brand deadpool.

Five options exist for each brand:

• Keep It
• Merge It (Survivor)
• Merge It (Casualty)
• Kill It
• Sell It

Selling a brand eliminates it from the hotel group portfolio, meaning it would fare better on its own or with a competitor. Killing a brand eliminates it entirely, and reallocates its member hotels across multiple brands within the portfolio. Keeping a brand does not change it, although properties from killed brands could be added. Merged Survivor brands are merged brands that retain their name and identity. Merged Casualties are the merged brands that lose their brand identities.

Have fun playing Marriott senior strategy executive – If you need a refresher on each brand, a complete list with full brand descriptions and number of properties follows the deadpool form.

Feel free to add comments and your name/email if you ultimately want me to vouch for your future boasts that you had it completely figured out from the beginning.

Unable to see the full Marriott-Starwood Hotel Brand Deadpool Form? This often applies to mobile devices – first, you miight want to try turning your handset to landscape orientation.) Still no luck? Please click this link: Play The Marriott-Starwood Hotel Brand Deadpool Game!

That probably wasn’t as easy as you thought, was it? So give Marriott some consideration when wondering why the brand integration process is taking so long.

In their Own Words

Below is a compilation of the descriptions for each brand from the hotel groups themselves – occasional grammatical and punctuation errors included.

Marriott International

The Ritz-Carlton – 100 properties
“An enduring symbol of sophistication, style and legendary service, The Ritz-Carlton creates exceptional luxury experiences at more than 80 hotel and resort locations around the globe. The memories created by the ladies and gentlemen of The Ritz-Carlton stay with you long after you leave.”

BVLGARI Hotel & Resorts – 3 properties
“This is the leading luxury hospitality collection in the world. It is comprised of a few select properties in major cosmopolitan cities and luxury resort destinations. Each location makes a strong reference to the local culture while retaining a distinctly Italian contemporary luxury feel.”

EDITION – 4 properties
“Ian Schrager’s refreshing collection of one-of-a-kind modern luxury hotels, created in collaboration with Marriott, is an evolutionary response to the desire for a sophisticated experience from the guest with a contemporary lifestyle. The Istanbul EDITION is the brand’s debut property, followed by the recent premiere of The London EDITION. Planned openings are also scheduled in gateway cities such as Miami Beach, New York, Abu Dhabi and several other cities.”

JW Marriott – 76 properties
“We can’t stop time. We can just make it seem like you have more of it. It’s not a trick, but rather, the result of our unique philosophy. We believe the best setting is the one that allows the extraordinary to emerge. Whether in a slowly swaying hammock or in rooms swathed in silk with gorgeous views of the Andaman Sea, we’ll ensure nothing comes between you and what you seek—whether clarity, inspiration or wellness.”

Autograph Collection Hotels – 93 properties
“You are not just a person. And we are not just hotels. We are a 15-room boutique fishing lodge in Colorado. And a 3,000-room luxury high-rise on the Vegas Strip. We’re not bound by similarities. We’re bound by distinction. We may share an Autograph. But everything else is different.”

Renaissance Hotels – 158 properties
“Travel should be inspiring, and inspiration is exactly what you’ll find at Renaissance Hotels worldwide. Select from historic hotels, chic boutiques or luxurious resorts. Discover the local scene with the help of on-site Navigators. Plus, enjoy active lobby lounges, bars and restaurants with RLife LIVE events.”

Marriott Hotels – 598 properties
“Today, Marriott Hotels celebrate the travelers of the world. Our mission is to host you brilliantly… to make your every event and stay with us unforgettable and effortless. From next gen meeting spaces to tech-enhanced guest service and beyond, we offer 500 locations worldwide to help you connect, relax and recharge — wherever it is your travels take you.”

Delta Hotels and Resorts – 37 properties
“One of North America’s leading four-star brands, Delta Hotels and Resorts offers precisely what you need in places you want to go, from gateway cities to spectacular resort destinations. Whether you’re traveling for business or play, comfortably familiar rooms, free Wi-Fi and convenient dining are always included.”

Marriott Executive Apartments – properties
“For global travelers on stays of weeks, months or more. Located in cosmopolitan city centers, Marriott Executive Apartments surround you with familiar comforts even when you’re far away. Studio to three-bedroom floor plans with luxury amenities like gourmet kitchens, dedicated work and living areas and trust in the Marriott name when you are far from home.”

Marriott Vacation Club – properties
“Family-friendly resorts designed specifically for unforgettable vacations. Spacious, condominium-style villas offer fully equipped kitchens, living/dining areas, separate bedrooms and all the comforts of home. Available for rental or as part of a vacation ownership program that provides deeded real estate ownership with flexible access to thousands of exciting vacation options including resorts, hotels, cruises, guided tours, experience packages and more.”

Gaylord Hotels – 5 properties
“Offering ‘everything in one place,’ each resort blends grand settings, luxurious rooms and world-class entertainment to delight you with a truly enchanting getaway. Gaylord Hotels can be found on the scenic banks of the Potomac in Washington, D.C.; in the lively Music City of Nashville; deep in the heart of Texas and in the family vacation oasis of Kissimmee, Florida.”

AC Hotels by Marriott – 82 properties
“This is an upper-moderate tier lifestyle hotel brand for the design conscious traveler. Each offers a convenient city location and a stylish, cosmopolitan feel. Urban in the best sense of the word, these hotels are ideal for both business and leisure travelers who want to really experience all the options of a city.”

Courtyard by Marriott – 1,020 properties
“Courtyard delivers options that are designed around the way you travel. Options that can help you have a successful trip at over 900 hotels worldwide. Like dining choices that meet your needs. Completely connected environments featuring free Wi-Fi (North and Central America only.) And local information on our GoBoard.”

Residence Inn by Marriott – 689 properties
“Designed to provide everything you need to thrive on long stays, the all-suite Residence Inn features upscale, spacious suites with full kitchens and room to eat, work and dream. Plus you can enjoy a complimentary hot breakfast, Wi-Fi, evening socials and grocery delivery service.”

SpringHill Suites by Marriott – 333 properties
“Discover an all-suite hotel offering stylish space and inspiring design, all at an affordable price. Connect, work or relax with free Wi-Fi and refreshing spaces that are open and bright. Meet and mingle in inviting lobbies and jump-start your day with a complimentary hot and healthy breakfast. Enjoy over 300 locations across North America. Style and space. Beautifully priced.”

Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott – 753 properties
“Over 700 locations across the US, Canada and Mexico offer everything you need for a comfortable and productive stay at a great value. Modern rooms and suites, ample workspaces, and friendly and responsive staff. LET’S GET IT DONE.”

TownePlace Suites by Marriott – 264 properties
“These suites are built for the extended stay traveler who appreciates independence and the space for a relaxed and productive stay. Guests have come to know us by our modern spacious suites with full kitchens, free Wi-Fi, free breakfast and friendly staff who deliver a warm “hello” when you walk through the door.”

Protea Hotels – 102 properties
“Protea Hotels spans the sub-Saharan with its collection of seaside resorts, city center hotels, private game lodges and mountain retreats. Whether in Cape Town or Johannesburg, each property offers a unique local experience, a welcoming room and expected amenities.”

Moxy Hotels – 1 properties
“Moxy is all the style and soul you’ll find at a boutique hotel, but way more affordable. Because if you have the guts to go out and explore the world – and we know you do – at least look good doing it. It’s just like home, but with a bartender.”

Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide

Four Points by Sheraton – 204 properties
“Four Points by Sheraton Get everything you’re looking for with style and service you want, all at a great price. We have what matters most to you like stylish rooms, comfortable beds, delicious breakfast and fresh coffee. Plus you’ll find free Internet and free bottled water in your room, great local beer with Best Brews and other extras that you’ll love. Everything you need to travel the way you like.”

Sheraton Hotels & Resorts – 441 properties
“Sheraton welcomes guests across the globe. From city center locations to relaxing resorts, Sheraton Hotels & Resorts are the perfect platform from which to explore, create and experience the possibilities of travel.”

Aloft – 100 properties
“A new destination sensation. A world that’s lively, not lonely. Aloft delivers a fresh, fun and fulfilling reinvention of the travel experience.”

W Hotels – 46 properties
“Well, hello there. Experience the perfect balance of both style and soul with W Hotels. While you’re with us you’ll delight in signature restaurants, iconic design, select spa treatment with Bliss , our exclusive Whatever/Whenever service and more. W Hotels is the place to eat, drink, flirt and play all within one prime location.”

Le Méridien – 102 properties
“Embark on a voyage of discovery and enrichment with Le Méridien. Authentic locations and inspiring cultures create the backdrop to an exclusive selection of hotels and resorts across the globe.”

The Luxury Collection – 100 properties
“All hotels within The Luxury Collection®, some centuries old, are recognized as being among the world’s finest. In renowned cities and resort destinations, The Luxury Collection provides an exceptional experience.”

element – 19 properties
“A renewing haven for the road-weary traveler, element transforms the extended stay experience by providing guests with a space to live their lives as they wish, at their own pace.”

Westin Hotels & Resorts – 204 properties
“Inspiring yet never overwhelming, Westin Hotels & Resorts are designed to engage the senses in a soothing atmosphere. Recharge in energizing cities and refresh at resorts worldwide.”

St. Regis Hotels & Resorts – 35 properties
“An impeccable staff, offering flawless and discreet service, ensures an extraordinary stay at St. Regis Hotels & Resorts. From New York to Beijing, each St. Regis captures the distinctive personality of its location.”

Tribute Portfolio – 2 properties
“There’s a power in independence. Tribute Portfolio gives you access to exceptional independent hotels around the world with all of the rewards of Starwood Preferred Guest. From boutique resorts to exciting hotels in choice urban locations, each Tribute Portfolio hotel offers inspired style and superior service. It’s our celebration of individuality.”

Design Hotels – 5 of 287 total properties
“Design Hotels enables you to discover thought-provoking design, cultural authenticity and a community of likeminded travelers who embrace creativity and genuine hospitality around the globe.”

It should be noted that Design Hotels is a marketing relationship, with only few properties currently participating in SPG. Prior to the merger announcement, it was projectd that 40 Design Hotels would be working with SPG in 2016.

Starwood has a similar relationship with sixteen Caesar’s Entertainment casinos is Las Vegas, Lake Tahoe, Reno, New Orleans and Atlantic City. Given that Marriott has The Cosmopolitan, Las Vegas as a member of its Autograph Collection, there may be some announcements forthcoming.

Rewarding Loyalty or Math Skills?

Perhaps most importantly, the merger will enable Marriott to strategize how the next generation of the Marriott Rewards program should perform from both a hotelier and consumer perspective. With competitors baiting both SPG and Rewards members with offers recognizing their current program tiers, Marriott does not want to do anything to jeopardize the patronage of the 54 million Rewards and 21 million SPG members. Although those figures include duplicated and inactive accounts, there certainly tens of millions of high value hotel guest relationships at stake.

One issue that most hoteliers fail to acknowledge is that the point/reward programs have very little to do with true loyalty – these are largely transactional relationships. True loyalty is best expressed by consumers willing to spend more than necessary because of a strong emotional connection with the brand. Think Apple, Disney, Starbucks, Whole Foods. For most hotel groups, that unique dynamic is missing.

The vast majority of frequent guest points are accumulated from stays that are paid by a third party – normally an employer. Frequent guests, especially the serious road warriors, make a conscious strategic decision to prioritize stays with programs that offer the greatest personal benefit. Many frequent guests consider themselves locked into favored programs, but changes create opportunities for disruption. Those changes spawn a comparison of program benefits – not generally considered a good thing for the incumbent program.

Hotel loyalty program comparisons are much more nuanced than airline program evaluations. The jury is decidedly out on which group offers the best program. Point accrual and redemption rates vary wildly, as well as the composition of the brand portfolios.

J.D. Power’s 2015 Hotel Loyalty/Rewards Program Satisfaction Report rates Marriott Rewards 717 score slightly above average and Starwood Preferred Guest’s 661, near the bottom of its industry comparison. Both were ranked behind Hilton HHonors’ 727 score, tied with Delta (now a Marriott brand) as the top ranked programs in the report.

Ideaworks evaluated the programs using a sampling methodology to calculate the relative values of points and their redeemed values. The resulting payback analysis concluded Marriott produced 9.4% in value for every $100 spent, as opposed to Starwood’s 6.1%. Hilton HHonors came in at 8.9%.

A third group, Wanderbat, uses an expanded multivariate approach, including hotel ratings and lifetime membership to user ratings and point values, to arrive at it’s Smart Rating. SPG ranks first, with a Smart Rating of 100, largely due to the comparative superiority of its average product rating (as Starwood lacks lower tier brands.) Marriott Rewards tied with Hilton HHonors with a score of 88.

According to Wanderbat, Marriott Rewards members need to spend an average $2,167 to earn a free night, as opposed to $6,972 for a SPG member. However, if that higher spend allows for a booking at a W compared to a Fairfield Inn, one sees why an empirical comparison becomes so difficult.

A Simple Merger? Never.

That is only on the demand side – which might wind up being easier to manage than the issues facing the supply side of the programs. In major destinations like New York City, where Marriott would want to optimize its market coverage, Marriott already has 65 properties and Starwood 28 (including hotels in the pipeline) if the three area airports represent regional boundaries. As a point of reference, Hilton only has seven properties in the area.

These three maps offer a vivid example of the complexities involving a large number of properties and the potential for brand overlap in a very important strategic market.

Marriott International – New York City Hotel Portfolio

Marriott’s extensive portfolio of New York City area hotels dominated the competition, even before the Starwood acquisiton.

Starwood Hotels & Resorts – New York City Hotel Portfolio

Starwood’s portfolio of two dozen New York City hotels is not as large as Marriott’s, but is still significant.

Hilton Worldwide – New York City Hotel Portfolio

Hilton’s seven New York City area hotels are dwarfed by the market saturation imposed by the combined portfolios of Marriott and Starwood.

If the sheer numbers and myriad owners were not daunting enough, within Marriott Rewards, anomalies already exist. Ritz-Carlton is the exclusive luxury partner of Marriott Rewards. That means Marriott’s new Bvlgari brand is currently barred from participating in the program. One may assume those terms would also apply to St. Regis. While there are only three Bvlgari properties worldwide, St. Regis has over 30 properties – many of which would be highly desirable additions to Marriott’s luxury portfolio.

With two Ritz-Carltons in New York City and one St. Regis, which lies only six blocks from one of the Ritz’s, Marriott could conceivably be forced to decide between the unattractive alternatives of making St. Regis ineligible for Marriott Rewards, or discarding the property. Having two Ritz-Carltons in such close proximity is highly unlikely. Might Marriott be so bold as to sack the 259-room Ritz-Carlton Central Park and reflag the 229 room St. Regis as a Ritz-Carton? Also doubtful, considering the top twelve floors of the current Ritz-Carlton house eleven massive condominiums; that’s a tough sell to the condo owners. Odds are Marriott will try to work out some sort of arrangement where both properties may be retained, ideally with the ability to add a Bvlgari property as well, if the opportunity arises.

Interesting property/market-specific discussions like these are undoubtedly already beginning to take place. Assume other hotel developemnt teams are already engaging in discussions with both Marriott and Starwood property owners as well – sewing fear that any contractual concessions benefiting the greater good are grounds for claiming breach of contract.

A major question for SPG members in particular, is how fast will the frequent guest programs be merged? They should not hold their breath for a quick announcement. Marriott acquired the 100+ property Protea brand in Africa two years ago, and it is still not yet integrated into Marriott Rewards. Delta Hotels was acquired 11 months ago and is also in the Rewards implementation queue.

Potentially slowing everything down will be how the Starwood American Express and Marriott Chase MasterCard/Visa card programs will be worked out. Starwood renewed its agreement with AmEx within the past year, but expectations are that the larger Chase/Marriott relationship will ultimately triumph, with the SPG AmEx relationship being sunset at some point.

Dealing with that many people, properties, points and major credit card relationships is not to be taken lightly. Expect Marriott to create a plan and execute it on their own timeline – resisting the impatient protestations of Wall Street, owners and guests to move quickly. In many ways, it is easier for Marriott to run the companies separately than the ordeal they will face when they are eventually combined.

Marrwood is not a Thing

A few individuals have had some fun calling the new entity Marrwood, but to be clear, this is not a pairing of equals. Starwood is on the business end of an acquisition; the same way a wounded water buffalo is on the receiving end of an acquisition by a lion. When the dust settles, there may be some scattered bones and fur left over, but nothing that could be easily recognized as its original form.

Marriott will eventually devour Starwood in a similar manner. Anything that may be difficult to digest will get discarded, but all the delicious parts will be savored and completely ingested.

As a senior executive at a major global hotel group told me prior to the announcement, they had not perceived Starwood as a viable competitor for well over 18 months. While many, if not most, former Starwood brands will survive, the parent will be mercifully euthanized. Somewhat ironically, the organization itself created largely through acquisitions (Westin – 1994; Sheraton, Four Points & The Luxury Collection – 1998, Le Méridien – 2005) will ultimately be unwound through an acquisition.

Regardless of the outcome, its going to be fun – except for those brands and properties finding themselves in the deadpool…

| The post Predicting The Marriott – Starwood Brand Deadpool by Robert Cole appeared first on RockCheetah

Properly keeping score at the 2015 Phocuswright Travel Innovation Summit requires laserlike focus, attention to detail, and most importantly, endurance…
Photo Credit: Adam Burrell | Flickr

The big change this year is the introduction of a “The Battlegound,” a preliminary play-in round, where three out of twenty startups, being less than three years old and have less than $1 million in total funding to date, will have a chance to pitch in the full Travel Innovation Summit competition. There will be forty-one organizations persenting in the Travel Innovation Summit.

This is your one-stop resource for the full Phocuswright Travel Innovation Summit, including summaries of the travel groups pitching for both the Battleground and Travel Innovation Summit Sessions, plus a list of judges (referred to as the “Dragons Den” this year,) and most importantly, a scorecard to capture your impressions and any mind-jogging comments – keeping 62 companies straight over two days can get tricky.

For your convenience, the scoring is based on the same six criteria used by the judges:

• Technical innovation
• Business Value
• Marketplace Impact
• Investment Potential
• Team Quality
• Presentation Quality

Additionally, for the Travel Innovation Summit, winners are awarded in in three categories, with an overall winner:

• Startup: Companies less than 18 months
• Emerging: Companies 18-36 months, in their early growth phase
• Established: Companies 3 years or older, launching new products

Judges (The Dragon’s Den)

• Philippe Chereque, Chief Commercial and Technology Officer, American Express Global Business Travel
• MiriamMoscovici, Director, Emerging Technologies, @BCDTravel
• Renee Welsh, CEO, Booking Boss
• Ned Williams, Partner, Brook Venture Fund
• Drew Patterson, CEO, CheckMate
• Ellen Keszler, President & CEO, Clear Sky Associates
• William Carroll, Clinical Professor, School of Hotel Administration, Cornell University
• Sam Shank, CEO, HotelTonight
• DeanForbesKDS, CEO, KDS
• Flo Lugli, Principal, Navesink Advisory Group
• Philip Wolf, Founder, Phocuswright
• Cameron Yuill, Founder and Managing Partner, Propeller.vc
• Rod Cuthbert, CEO, Rome2Rio
• Chris Hemmeter, Managing Director, Thayer Ventures
• Glenn Fogel, Head of Worldwide Strategy & Planning/EVP, Corporate Development, Priceline
• Jim Hornthal, Chairman, Triporati

If you are interested in learning more about these companies, below is all you need to know – their pitch, link to their website and Twitter handle and segment, plus the presenter’s name and role.

	Adadyn Website: http://adadyn.com Twitter: @adadyn Stage: ESTABLISHED Presenter: Raj Beri – COO Presentation: Tue, Nov 17 – 9:15 AM The Pitch: Adadyn makes programmatic advertising simple, affordable and approachable for travel marketers of all sizes.
	Africa Bookings Website: http://africabookings.com Twitter: @Africabookings1 Stage: EMERGING Presenter: Bruce Tapping – CEO Presentation: Tue, Nov 17 – 9:25 AM The Pitch: Gain an overview of Africa’s hotel distribution chain. Explore solutions to create revenue streams from the market’s demands.
	Evergage Website: http://evergage.com Twitter: @Evergage Stage: EMERGING Presenter: Karl Wirth – CEO Presentation: Tue, Nov 17 – 9:35 AM The Pitch: Travel companies can now capitalize on browsing behavior and historical data with personalization in real time.
	Rakuten Website: http://rakuten.com Twitter: @RakutenTravelJP Stage: ESTABLISHED Presenter: Makoto Wakimizu – Product Manager Presentation: Tue, Nov 17 – 9:45 AM The Pitch: Enable users to fully explore your property’s top features before booking with the ‘Customized Page’ platform.
	Guiddoo World Website: http://guiddoo.com Twitter: @imguiddoo Stage: STARTUP Presenter: Vineet Budki – Founder Presentation: Tue, Nov 17 – 9:55 AM The Pitch: Find out how to build in-destination activities that enhance the traveler experience during the trip.
	ClickTripz Website: https://clicktripz.com Twitter: @Clicktripz Stage: ESTABLISHED Presenter: Jeremy Murphy – COO Presentation: Tue, Nov 17 – 10:05 AM The Pitch: ClickTripz is a travel technology company that builds innovative software solutions to serve the needs of suppliers, publishers, advertisers and travelers. From marketplaces that connect the industry through proprietary ad-serving technology, to cloud-based tools that help hoteliers put heads in beds– ClickTripz has solutions that drive revenue at scale.
	Voyat Website: http://voyat.com Twitter: @voyat Stage: EMERGING Presenter: Benjamin Habbel – CEO Presentation: Tue, Nov 17 – 10:15 AM The Pitch: Explore the newest release from the leading retention platform for hospitality: a game-changer for any direct booking channel and hotel website.
	Proxce Website: http://proxce.com Twitter: @proxce Stage: STARTUP Presenter: Madhu Madhusudhanan – CEO Presentation: Tue, Nov 17 – 10:25 AM The Pitch: Use proximity-based, contactless identification for mobile check-in and keyless entry at hotels.
	conxxe Website: http://conxxe.com Stage: ESTABLISHED Presenter: Peter Hilton – CEO Presentation: Tue, Nov 17 – 10:35 AM The Pitch: Revolutionizing ground transportation partnerships with a technology for on-demand and pre-bookable options.
	Eysys Website: http://eysys.com Twitter: @eysyslimited Stage: ESTABLISHED Presenter: Humphrey Sheil – CEO Presentation: Tue, Nov 17 – 10:45 AM The Pitch: Learn who will buy what and when, automatically pick personalized content and ads, create hot lead lists and more.
	TripChamp Website: http://tripchamp.com Twitter: @tripchamp Stage: EMERGING Presenter: Michael Culhane – CRO Presentation: Tue, Nov 17 – 10:55 AM The Pitch: This frictionless marketplace for air and hotel resellers optimizes results using AI and saves businesses 10 – 20%.
	VenueNext Website: http://venuenext.com Twitter: @VenueNext Stage: STARTUP Presenter: John Paul – CEO Presentation: Tue, Nov 17 – 11:05 AM The Pitch: Give guests a context-aware smartphone connection to everything a venue has to offer.
	LeisureLink Website: http://leisurelink.com Twitter: @LeisureLink Stage: ESTABLISHED Presenter: Julian Castelli – CEO Presentation: Tue, Nov 17 – 11:15 AM The Pitch: This easy-to-use software tool allows property managers to simultaneously manage vacation rental channels (such as Airbnb) with traditional channels (like Expedia) from one single platform.
	MTT Website: http://mttnow.com Twitter: @Mobile_Travel Stage: ESTABLISHED Presenter: Paschal Nee – Director, Consulting Presentation: Tue, Nov 17 – 4:10 PM The Pitch: An intelligent mobile travel assistant that enables airlines and travel companies to transform the ‘day of travel’ in real time.
	HomeToGo Website: https://hometogo.com Twitter: @HomeToGo Stage: EMERGING Presenter: Dominik Schwarz – VP, Marketing & Communications Presentation: Tue, Nov 17 – 4:20 PM The Pitch: Search and find the best bargains with features like ‘Flex Search’ with this smart metasearch engine for vacation rentals.
	Travefy Website: https://travefy.com Twitter: @travefy Stage: ESTABLISHED Presenter: David Chait – CEO Presentation: Tue, Nov 17 – 4:30 PM The Pitch: This leading group travel planner provides powerful collaboration tools for travel brands, suppliers and agents.
	Mozio Website: https://mozio.com Twitter: @letsmozio Stage: EMERGING Presenter: David Litwak – CEO Presentation: Tue, Nov 17 – 4:40 PM The Pitch: This custom branded white-label app allows on-demand sedan booking in over 400 cities around the world.
	Cornerstone Information Systems Website: http://ciswired.com Twitter: @ciswired Stage: ESTABLISHED Presenter: Mat Orrego – CEO Presentation: Tue, Nov 17 – 4:50 PM The Pitch: Meet 4site the newest event-driven mobile travel app providing real-time and contextual trip data to travelers’ phones.
	Fusion Website: http://fusion.com Twitter: @fusionmoment Stage: ESTABLISHED Presenter: Mark Brown – VP, EMEA Presentation: Tue, Nov 17 – 5:00 PM The Pitch: Sell more ancillaries, more often. Discover how using real-time optimization drives the right offer at the right time in the right way.
	HelloGbye Website: https://hellogbye.com Twitter: @hellogbye Stage: EMERGING Presenter: Greg Apple – CMO Presentation: Tue, Nov 17 – 5:10 PM The Pitch: Designed for the modern traveler, this tool delivers personalized options for booking travel in two minutes or less.
	Moxie Website: http://gomoxie.com Twitter: @moxiesoft Stage: ESTABLISHED Presenter: Nikhil Govindaraj – VP, Products Presentation: Tue, Nov 17 – 5:20 PM The Pitch: See how this tool is transforming the digital experience by delivering modern engagement to modern customers.
	Suiteness Website: http://suiteness.com Twitter: @Suiteness Stage: EMERGING Presenter: Robbie Bhathal – CEO Presentation: Tue, Nov 17 – 5:30 PM The Pitch: Get exclusive access to luxury suites.
	Headout Website: https://headout.com Twitter: @Headout_App Stage: STARTUP Presenter: Varun Khona – CEO Presentation: Tue, Nov 17 – 5:40 PM The Pitch: An on-demand concierge that helps you discover and experience the world around you at the push of a button.
	Musement Website: https://musement.com Twitter: @musement Stage: EMERGING Presenter: Alessandro Petazzi – CEO Presentation: Tue, Nov 17 – 5:50 PM The Pitch: Travel with a concierge in your pocket and experience the best a city has to offer.
	Hipmunk Website: http://hipmunk.com Twitter: @hipmunk Stage: ESTABLISHED Presenter: Adam Goldstein – CEO Presentation: Tue, Nov 17 – 6:00 PM The Pitch: Hipmunk is announcing a new product on stage. As you can probably guess, it will reduce the agony of travel search even more.
	Milestone Internet Marketing Website: http://milestoneinternet.com Twitter: @milestonemktg Stage: ESTABLISHED Presenter: Anil Aggarwal – CEO Presentation: Tue, Nov 17 – 6:10 PM The Pitch: Marketing tools and reports overload? This single sign-on SaaS-based platform manages hotel marketing and channel analytics.
	IBS Software Services Website: http://ibsplc.com Stage: ESTABLISHED Presenter: David Friderici – VP, Product Management & Strategy, Airline Travel Services Presentation: Tue, Nov 17 – 6:20 PM The Pitch: Enabling flexible and unconstrained access to both external and internal travel inventory sources in a self-service mode.
	TripCreator Website: http://tripcreator.com Twitter: @TripCreator_com Stage: EMERGING Presenter: Hilmar Halldorsson – CEO Presentation: Wed, Nov 18 – 9:00 AM The Pitch: TripCreator enables users to plan and book their entire trip to Iceland in one place. Our state of the art suggestion engine provides an itinerary instantly based on the customer’s preferences to see and do that has already been checked for availability. The user can modify the itinerary according to his taste and then book every item in the itinerary without leaving the site. This includes, hotels, rental cars, tours and places of interests to see.
	Sabre Hospitality Solutions Website: http://sabre.com Twitter: @SabreHosp Stage: ESTABLISHED Presenter: Robert Dawson – VP, Digital Marketing Services Presentation: Wed, Nov 18 – 9:10 AM The Pitch: The point of inspiration meets the point of sale in hotel shopping and booking.
	Umapped Website: http://umapped.com Twitter: @unmapped Stage: EMERGING Presenter: Lisa Israelovitch – CEO Presentation: Wed, Nov 18 – 9:20 AM The Pitch: A collaborative itinerary platform for travel suppliers, agents and travelers to plan, manage and experience trips together.
	HOTELP2P Website: http://hotelp2p.com Stage: STARTUP Presenter: Martin Fernandez – CEO Presentation: Wed, Nov 18 – 9:30 AM The Pitch: This app will replace the booking sites for a peer-to-peer platform in the next decade.
	TTW Holdings Website: http://thetripworks.com Twitter: @TheTripWorks Stage: STARTUP Presenter: Satish Singh – CEO Presentation: Wed, Nov 18 – 9:40 AM The Pitch: Effortless trip planning and seamless fulfillment combine with data points to move the customer to book.
	Qalendra Website: https://qalendra.com Twitter: @Qalendra Stage: STARTUP Presenter: Cristian Munteanu – CEO Presentation: Wed, Nov 18 – 9:50 AM The Pitch: Our patented algorithms ingest data from many sources, compare all destinations at once and identify where the best conditions for vacations and activities are, anywhere in the world, with months in advance.
	QYER Website: http://qyer.com Stage: ESTABLISHED Presenter: Bryan Xiao – CEO Presentation: Wed, Nov 18 – 10:00 AM The Pitch: The painstaking task of making a fabulous travel plan is now simplified to a few clicks.
	Tansler Website: http://tansler.com Twitter: @tanslerrentals Stage: EMERGING Presenter: Jeremy Bernard – CEO Presentation: Wed, Nov 18 – 10:10 AM The Pitch: TANSLER (an anagram of RENTALS) is a vacation rental marketplace that allows renters to name their price, choose multiple homes & submit one binding offer. Hosts compete for the booking through a 24-hour ‘reverse auction’ & the first host to accept the offer ends the auction & confirms the reservation. Tansler eliminates the back-and-forth between renters & hosts making the rental process simpler, faster & more transparent.
	AirHelp Website: https://getairhelp.com Twitter: @theairhelper Stage: EMERGING Presenter: Henrik Zillmer – CEO Presentation: Wed, Nov 18 – 10:20 AM The Pitch: Money back and instant help for travelers when flights are delayed.
	Triptease Website: http://triptease.com Twitter: @Triptease Stage: EMERGING Presenter: Charlie Osmond – Chief Tease Presentation: Wed, Nov 18 – 10:30 AM The Pitch: Hotels are hurting. Explore how to improve brand.com, increase direct bookings and make online travel booking better.
	Revinate Website: http://revinate.com Twitter: @revinate Stage: ESTABLISHED Presenter: Josh Steinitz – VP, Global Business Development Presentation: Wed, Nov 18 – 10:40 AM The Pitch: Use guest data to deliver personalized experiences that create valuable relationships and lifelong customers.
	TripBAM Website: http://tripbam.com/ Twitter: @tripBAMRocks Stage: STARTUP Presenter: Steve Reynolds – CEO Presentation: Wed, Nov 18 – 10:50 AM The Pitch: We solve the travel manager’s three biggest challenges. We get the best rate possible. We increase compliance. We corral open bookings.
	Trekkable Website: http://trekkable.co Twitter: @GoTrekkable Stage: STARTUP Presenter: Benedict Jones – Founder Presentation: Wed, Nov 18 – 11:00 AM The Pitch: We help you find & book the best accessible hotel rooms!
	Waygo Website: http://waygoapp.com Twitter: @waygoapp Stage: STARTUP Presenter: Ryan Rogowski – CEO Presentation: Wed, Nov 18 – 11:10 AM The Pitch: Use a smartphone to point and instantly translate Chinese, Japanese & Korean.
	Zizoo Website: https://zizoo.com Twitter: @ZizooBoats Stage: STARTUP Presenter: Anna Bawicevic – CEO Presentation: Wed, Nov 18 – 11:20 AM The Pitch: Boat holidays made easy. 6,000 customer-reviewed boats in over 30 countries around the world.

Keeping track of 42 presentations over a day and one half can be difficult, so to help keep all those demos straight, use the form below to keep track of your scores and notes. There is also an option enter your name and email address. If you get them all right, there will be a record for you to provide as proof for any naysayers.

Open the Travel Innovation Summit Scorecard (Use for Mobile Browsers)

The winners will be announced at the last Center Stage session, following the interview with Expedia CEO Dara Khosroshahi and immediately preceeding the Wednesday evening cocktail reception.

The following firms competed in the preliminary Battleground competition:

	Bellhop Website: http://bellhop-app.com Twitter: @BellhopApp Stage: STARTUP Presenter: Payam Safa – CEO Presentation: Tue, Nov 17 – 2:45 PM The Pitch: Bellhop gives travelers access to all local restaurants, shows, activities, and transportation options from a single app.
	Bucket Website: http://likebucket.com Twitter: @LikeBucket Stage: STARTUP Presenter: Julia Lam – CEO Presentation: Fri, Nov 27 – 4:40 PM The Pitch: We help your adventures come to life by turning ideas to action. Collect trip ideas from anywhere across the web, personalize your trip by writing notes, uploading photos, and starring your favorite places and go see where your places are around you on a map.
	Grab Website: https://grabmobileapp.com Twitter: @grabmobileapp Stage: STARTUP Presenter: Jeff Livney – CXO Presentation: Sat, Nov 21 – 3:25 PM The Pitch: Grab unlocks travelers’ access to all airport dining and retail opportunities.
	Guidekick Website: http://guidekick.co Twitter: @Guidekick Stage: STARTUP Presenter: Mark Paddon – CEO Presentation: Mon, Nov 23 – 3:45 PM The Pitch: Guidekick is a mobile application platform for the world’s attractions.
	Hitlist Website: http://hitlistapp.com Twitter: @hitlist_app Stage: STARTUP Presenter: Gillian Morris – Founder Presentation: Sun, Nov 22 – 3:35 PM The Pitch: At Hitlist we have one mission: to help you travel more for less. Our intelligent filters help you find trips that suit your time, destination preferences and budget. We want to help people connect face to face and in doing so hope to build a friendlier world.
	Hotelied Website: https://hotelied.com Twitter: @Hotelied Stage: STARTUP Presenter: Zeev Sharon – CEO Presentation: Wed, Nov 18 – 2:55 PM The Pitch: Hotelied was founded based on the idea that every traveler brings something valuable to the hotels they stay in. Whether it is their social media influence, their travel loyalty, or even the industry they work in, every guest should be rewarded by hotels for who they are. Therefore, we have created the first hotel booking site where hotels can target exclusive, personal discounts and amenities to the guests they love.
	Lokafy Website: https://lokafy.com Twitter: @lokafytravel Stage: STARTUP Presenter: Kiran Samra – CEO Presentation: Sun, Nov 29 – 5:00 PM The Pitch: When you’re traveling, it’s easy to ignore this, and walk through a city the way you’d flip through a book. Lokafy wants to change this by connecting travelers with city locals who can not only share new places, but what those places mean to them. Lokafy helps travellers see a new city through the eyes of the people who live in it. Letting you see cities as they are meant to be seen.
	Magpie Website: https://getmagpie.com Twitter: @getmagpie Stage: STARTUP Presenter: Huong Tran – CEO Presentation: Tue, Dec 1 – 5:20 PM The Pitch: The world’s first private membership club for female travelers.
	Pana Website: https://pana.com Twitter: @HelloPana Stage: STARTUP Presenter: Devon Tivana – CEO Presentation: Thu, Dec 3 – 5:40 PM The Pitch: Pana is your on-demand travel concierge for planning and booking all of your travel needs.
	SeatWizer Website: http://seatwizer.com Stage: STARTUP Presenter: Richard McCartney – Co-founder Presentation: Tue, Nov 24 – 3:55 PM The Pitch: Try before you fly! Helping you find the most comfortable seat you can afford.
	Sharethebus Website: https://sharethebus.com Twitter: @sharethebus Stage: STARTUP Presenter: Kyle Boulay – CEO Presentation: Fri, Nov 20 – 3:15 PM The Pitch: Sharethebus.com is a place to join, create and share custom charter bus trips across North America.
	TravelWits Website: http://travelwits.com Twitter: @TravelWitsCom Stage: STARTUP Presenter: Maxim Likhachev – CEO Presentation: Thu, Nov 26 – 4:30 PM The Pitch: TravelWits.com lets people find cheapest combinations of flying and driving automatically. You enter your origin and destination, and TravelWits searches all airports, small and large, that are within driving distance, and finds the combinations that save you the most money.
	TRYTN Website: https://trytn.com Twitter: @trytn Stage: STARTUP Presenter: Reza Barissi – CEO Presentation: Mon, Nov 30 – 5:10 PM The Pitch: Trytn has been custom-built to address the e-commerce needs of service providers, including an easy-to-use interface that makes promoting and booking activities a breeze.
	Visit.org Website: https://visit.org Twitter: @VisitDotOrg Stage: STARTUP Presenter: Michal Alter – CEO Presentation: Sat, Dec 5 – 6:00 PM The Pitch: Book 130+ immersive, impactful tours & activities from local communities in 26 countries.
	Voopter Website: https://voopter.com.br Twitter: @voopter_brasil Stage: STARTUP Presenter: Pettersom Paiva – CEO Presentation: Wed, Nov 25 – 4:05 PM The Pitch: Voopter compares prices of airline tickets and hotels hundreds of airlines and online travel agencies.
	WeTravel Website: https://wetravel.to Twitter: @wetravel_to Stage: STARTUP Presenter: Johannes Koeppel – CEO Presentation: Wed, Dec 2 – 5:30 PM The Pitch: Organize and collect money for your group trips
	Wyndow Website: http://wyndow.com Twitter: @wyndow Stage: STARTUP Presenter: Oleg Kaganovich – CEO Presentation: Mon, Nov 16 – 2:35 PM The Pitch: Find fun things to do, when you’re ready to do them.

| The post Phocuswright Travel Innovation Summit Scorecard – 2015 by Robert Cole appeared first on RockCheetah

Many major hotel brands are described by the linguistic equivalent of jumbo shrimp served with mild picante sauce. At best ambiguous; often, meaningless.
Photo Credit: 434pics (cc|flickr)

The recent binge of brand launches by the major hotel groups, already not particularly adept at communicating distinguishing characteristics of their portfolio, results from pressure from investors for growth, despite slow new hotel room construction.

The outcome of the “Identify the Hotel Brand” quiz Hotel Brand Explosion Difficult to Describe illustrated the issue. Posed to the readership of this blog, which is largely comprised of seasoned travelers, the winning entry correctly identified only three out of the 100 brand descriptions presented.

Congratulations to Alexandra Zubko, co-Founder of TripTease for the comparatively high score. Others characterized the quiz as “impossible,” which I would tend to agree with, based on my score – which was a pathetic 19. Bear in mind that I had not only seen all the correct answers, but worked extensively with each description to create the quiz itself…

As opposed to focusing on the brands that were missed, more can be learned from the brands that Alexandra correctly identified (I too got these three correct.)

The first was Marriott’s Residence Inns: “Designed to provide everything you need to thrive on long stays, the all-suite [Residence Inns] features upscale, spacious suites with full kitchens and room to eat, work and dream. Plus you can enjoy a complimentary hot breakfast, Wi-Fi, evening socials and grocery delivery service.”

Residence Inns has always been a very pure brand – Despite the substantial number of all-suite brands, the positioning, size, and amenities of a Residence Inn were clearly defined.

Next was InterContinental’s new Even Hotels brand: “[Even Hotels] is the first hotel brand designed for business and leisure travellers who maintain a healthy and active lifestyle and are looking for a complete wellness experience at a mainstream price point.”

The “complete wellness experience” was a definite hint, and that is exactly the point. It makes the brand unique. It was also helpful that the brand was positioned as a pioneer and that it offered mainstream positioning.

The third was DoubleTree by Hilton: “It all starts with a warm chocolate chip cookie, a simple touch that sets the tone to create a rewarding experience for a guest’s entire stay. [DoubleTree by Hilton] understands that doing the little things well can mean everything.”

Trusting one’s branding to a cookie is risky – it’s certainly not a competitive advantage that is difficult to replicate. However, given the weak branding of the competition, at least it’s something unique that differentiates the brand.

Now, let’s compare those with the description of Best Western’s newest brand, Vīb (sorry to pick on BW) the brand wasn’t included in the quiz. This is a new brand, representing something that is a departure from Best Western and its recent Premier and Plus sub-brands.

Here’s the brand definition: Vīb (pronounced Vibe), is a stylish and technology-centric hotel concept created to meet the needs of today’s connected traveler.

First, if the name itself requires an explanation, that’s not an auspicious start. Next, if a new hotel brand is not stylish, and providing the tech travelers demand, it probably should not be a brand. Vībs appear to be directly competitive with Starwood’s Aloft and Element brands, as well as InterContinental’s Indigo, Marriott’s Moxy and Hilton’s Canopy lifestyle brands.

The playing field is getting crowded, which demands even more pronounced differentiation. Best Western leadership is counting on fee levels approximately 40% of those assessed by competitors to appeal to owners/developers. That may help secure some early deals, but continued expansion will require guests to favor the brand over the others.

Three Ways to Differentiate

There are three proven methods to solidly position brands – 1) unique attributes of the product itself, 2) superlative scale, such as being the first, or largest, and 3) the brand’s unique personality traits.

Over the long term, successful product traits may be duplicated or others may grow larger, so the comparatively more difficult task of developing a unique brand personality (and keeping it relevant) is the ultimate goal. Below are three examples from iconic brands beyond the hospitality industry:

Product – Apple
“Apple designs Macs, the best personal computers in the world, along with OS X, iLife, iWork and professional software. Apple leads the digital music revolution with its iPods and iTunes online store. Apple has reinvented the mobile phone with its revolutionary iPhone and App Store, and is defining the future of mobile media and computing devices with iPad.”

What is remarkable is that Apple Apple’s branding can be parsed by product vertical and remain salient.

• The best personal computers in the world
• Leading the digital music revolution
• Reinvented the mobile phone

But even Apple isn’t perfect, the iPad positioning is suspect – the tablet does not necessarily define the future of mobile media and computing devices. Regardless, Apple’s branding superiority is on par with its market cap.

Scale – Coca-Cola
“Coca-Cola is the most popular and biggest-selling soft drink in history.”

Being the best selling soft drink in history is not a position that is easily relinquished.

Personality – Virgin
“To be genuine, fun, contemporary, and different in everything we do at a reasonable price.”

Virgin’s branding is all personality. Richard Branson’s entrepreneurial realm spans over 400 very different companies – and being different is part of the organizational DNA. Most importantly, the brands must reflect the first trait; being genuine – without that, the other attributes don’t protect the brand nearly as well.

But there are lodging brands that reflect high quality branding –

Kimpton effectively describes itself with a distinctly contemporary attitude and sense of fun.

Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants
“There you are. We just knew we’d find each other. You: A savvy traveler who’s always up for thoughtful perks. Us: The best loved boutique hotels with a passion for making it personal. We’re stylish — you’ll love our bold design — but we don’t do stuffy. Helping mix business and pleasure, like a perfect cocktail, is our secret sauce. So whichever of our 60+ hotels you choose, we’ll find ways to make your stay extraordinary.”

InterContinental would be well advised not to mess with Kimpton’s branding as it integrates the brand into its portfolio.

Four Seasons is similarly differentiated by a brand description that is all about pursuing quality and exceptional service delivery.

Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts
“Times change, but our dedication to perfecting the travel experience never will. Our highly personalized 24-hour service, combined with authentic, elegant surroundings of the highest quality, embodies a home away from home for those who know and appreciate the best. As the company has grown from a single hotel to 96 in 40 countries, our deeply instilled culture, personified by our employees, continues to get stronger. Over more than 50 years, our people have built an unrivalled depth of reliability, trust and connection with our guests – a connection we will steadfastly uphold, now and always.”

A new brand (that I was proud to work on) also clearly positions itself on a global scale:

National Geographic Unique Lodges of the World
“National Geographic Unique Lodges of the World, brings together and showcases sustainable hotels and lodges around the world that are innovators in providing enriching and authentic guest experiences and inspiring travelers to engage with a destination.”

The spectacularly high name recognition and outrageously favorable brand sentiment contributed by National Geographic undeniably anchor the brand. However, even if the group of hotels was not affiliated with National Geographic, the branding would still be distinctive.

So, effective hotel branding is possible, it is just not getting the attention it deserves from the the major hotel groups. This is not because they employ ineffective marketing leadership, it is the external pressure to grow that is the culprit. In an effort to make a brand as exploitable as possible (suitable to a broad range of destinations, appeal to diverse market segment and not filter out too many prospective deals with unnecessary constraints) the branding gets softened, often losing its key points of differentiation.

Hotel Brand Quiz Answer Key:

For those that may take exception to that last point, I offer as an example for your consideration, the top 100 hotel brands from the top 10 global hotel groups. Easy? It should be. I’m sorry to say it is not. Test yourself – see how much difference the removal of the brand name and key geographic or numeric signals makes. Plus, feel free to offer unsubstantiated claims of your success in the comments.

Question 1:
“[Brand] is contemporary by attitude, socially responsible and service-driven.”

[spoiler title=”Click to Reveal Hotel Brand”]Radisson® is contemporary by attitude, socially responsible and service-driven.
Brand: Radisson
Parent: Carlson[/spoiler]

Question 2:
“When you stay with [Brand], you really enjoy its good service and exceptional value. You’ll notice its unique style, familiar atmosphere, and carefully maintained facilities, immediately let you know that you’ve picked the perfect place. You’ll appreciate having just the right amenities- all at a sensible price. Oversized work area. Large, well-lit [Brand] signature showers. Free high-speed Internet access. free morning medley breakfast, in-room coffee and newspaper. Over [number] locations [area]. [Brand] rewards program and commitment to your satisfaction.”

[spoiler title=”Click to Reveal Hotel Brand”]When you stay with Sleep Inn®, you really enjoy its good service and exceptional value. You’ll notice its unique style, familiar atmosphere, and carefully maintained facilities, immediately let you know that you’ve picked the perfect place. You’ll appreciate having just the right amenities- all at a sensible price. Oversized work area. Large, well-lit Sleep® Signature Showers. Free high-speed Internet access. Free Morning Medley breakfast, in-room coffee and newspaper. Over 350 locations worldwide. Choice Privileges® rewards program and Commitment to your Satisfaction*.
Brand: Sleep Inn
Parent: Choice[/spoiler]

Question 3:
“In exceptional destinations around the globe, [Brand] reflect the culture and history of their extraordinary locations, as well as fresh, modern expressions of [Brand]’s rich legacy. [Brand] provides guests the exceptional environment and the personalized attention of true [Brand] service that creates a singular experience.”

[spoiler title=”Click to Reveal Hotel Brand”]In exceptional destinations around the globe, Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts reflect the culture and history of their extraordinary locations, as well as fresh, modern expressions of Waldorf Astoria’s rich legacy. Waldorf Astoria provides guests the exceptional environment and the personalized attention of true Waldorf service that creates a singular experience.
Brand: Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts
Parent: Hilton
Brand: Grand Hyatt
Parent: Hyatt[/spoiler]

Question 4:
“[Brand] provides global travelers with luxurious accommodations and spas, dramatic architecture, multiple exceptional restaurants and bars, and state-of-the-art technology to create memorable experiences in gateway cities and magnificent resort locations.”

[spoiler title=”Click to Reveal Hotel Brand”]Grand Hyatt hotels provide global travelers with luxurious accommodations and spas, dramatic architecture, multiple exceptional restaurants and bars, and state-of-the-art technology to create memorable experiences in gateway cities and magnificent resort locations.
Brand: Grand Hyatt
Parent: Hyatt[/spoiler]

Question 5:
“You’ll feel right at home with [Brand] residential style amenities and affordable rates. You’ll find enough room for an extended stay, with separate areas for relaxing, working and dining. Studio and one-bedroom suites with a fully-equipped kitchen, free premium cable TV and a large work area with bright task lighting let you feel at home on the road.  On weekdays, start your day off right with our free continental breakfast.  Enjoy the convenience of free high-speed Internet access, weekly housekeeping service, and guest laundry and exercise facilities.”

[spoiler title=”Click to Reveal Hotel Brand”]You’ll feel right at home with MainStay Suites® residential style amenities and affordable rates. You’ll find enough room for an extended stay, with separate areas for relaxing, working and dining. Studio and one-bedroom suites with a fully-equipped kitchen, free premium cable TV and a large work area with bright task lighting let you feel at home on the road.  On weekdays, start your day off right with our free continental breakfast.  Enjoy the convenience of free high-speed Internet access, weekly housekeeping service, and guest laundry and exercise facilities.
Brand: MainStay Suites
Parent: Choice[/spoiler]

Question 6:
“If you’re looking for a great value over a longer stay, [Brand] is for you. Our spacious rooms have a well-equipped kitchen and free premium cable TV.  Weekly housekeeping service and onsite washers and dryers provide you with all the conveniences of home.  Free high-speed Internet access, convenient personal dataports and voicemail allow you to get work done when you need to.  [Brand] offers great rates for stays of one week or more.”

[spoiler title=”Click to Reveal Hotel Brand”]If you’re looking for a great value over a longer stay, Suburban Extended Stay Hotel® is for you. Our spacious rooms have a well-equipped kitchen and free premium cable TV.  Weekly housekeeping service and onsite washers and dryers provide you with all the conveniences of home.  Free high-speed Internet access, convenient personal dataports and voicemail allow you to get work done when you need to.  Suburban® offers great rates for stays of one week or more.
Brand: Suburban
Parent: Choice[/spoiler]

Question 7:
“We can’t stop time. We can just make it seem like you have more of it. It’s not a trick, but rather, the result of our unique philosophy. We believe the best setting is the one that allows the extraordinary to emerge. Whether in a slowly swaying hammock or in rooms swathed in silk with gorgeous views of the [area], we’ll ensure nothing comes between you and what you seek—whether clarity, inspiration or wellness.””

[spoiler title=”Click to Reveal Hotel Brand”]We can’t stop time. We can just make it seem like you have more of it. It’s not a trick, but rather, the result of our unique philosophy. We believe the best setting is the one that allows the extraordinary to emerge. Whether in a slowly swaying hammock or in rooms swathed in silk with gorgeous views of the Andaman Sea, we’ll ensure nothing comes between you and what you seek—whether clarity, inspiration or wellness.
Brand: JW Marriott
Parent: Marriott[/spoiler]

Question 8:
“[Brand] is known as the industry’s first branded boutique hotel, artfully combining the conveniences and consistencies of a brand hotel with the design cache and service personality of a boutique.”

[spoiler title=”Click to Reveal Hotel Brand”]Hotel Indigo is known as the industry’s first branded boutique hotel, artfully combining the conveniences and consistencies of a brand hotel with the design cache and service personality of a boutique.
Brand: Hotel Indigo
Parent: Intercontinental[/spoiler]

Question 9:
“An enduring symbol of sophistication, style and legendary service, [Brand] creates exceptional luxury experiences at more than [number] locations around the globe. The memories created by the ladies and gentlemen of [Brand] stay with you long after you leave.”

[spoiler title=”Click to Reveal Hotel Brand”]An enduring symbol of sophistication, style and legendary service, The Ritz-Carlton creates exceptional luxury experiences at more than 80 hotel and resort locations around the globe. The memories created by the ladies and gentlemen of The Ritz-Carlton stay with you long after you leave.
Brand: The Ritz-Carlton
Parent: Marriott[/spoiler]

Question 10:
“[Founder]’s refreshing collection of one-of-a-kind modern luxury hotels, created in collaboration with [chain], is an evolutionary response to the desire for a sophisticated experience from the guest with a contemporary lifestyle.”

[spoiler title=”Click to Reveal Hotel Brand”]Ian Schrager’s refreshing collection of one-of-a-kind modern luxury hotels, created in collaboration with Marriott, is an evolutionary response to the desire for a sophisticated experience from the guest with a contemporary lifestyle.
Brand: Edition
Parent: Marriott[/spoiler]

Question 11:
“[Brand] is [chain]’s benchmark brand in the budget segment. This nifty, casual brand offers a simple, no frills solution and has made essential comfort at a budget price central to its thinking. With more than [number] hotels in [number] countries, [Brand] offers its guests comfortable rooms with fluffy duvet and pillows, free WI-FI (except in Australia) and a gourmet breakfast buffet. In 2012, [Brand] redesigned its public areas with a focus on optimizing these lively spaces in a nifty, playful way and creating a warm, friendly atmosphere.”

[spoiler title=”Click to Reveal Hotel Brand”]Ibis budget is Accor’s benchmark brand in the budget segment. This nifty, casual brand offers a simple, no frills solution and has made essential comfort at a budget price central to its thinking. With more than 500 hotels in 16 countries, ibis budget offers its guests comfortable rooms with fluffy duvet and pillows, free WI-FI (except in Australia) and a gourmet breakfast buffet. In 2012, ibis budget redesigned its public areas with a focus on optimizing these lively spaces in a nifty, playful way and creating a warm, friendly atmosphere.
Brand: ibis budget
Parent: Accor[/spoiler]

Question 12:
“Designed to provide everything you need to thrive on long stays, the all-suite [Brand] features upscale, spacious suites with full kitchens and room to eat, work and dream. Plus you can enjoy a complimentary hot breakfast, Wi-Fi, evening socials and grocery delivery service.”

[spoiler title=”Click to Reveal Hotel Brand”]Designed to provide everything you need to thrive on long stays, the all-suite Residence Inn features upscale, spacious suites with full kitchens and room to eat, work and dream. Plus you can enjoy a complimentary hot breakfast, Wi-Fi, evening socials and grocery delivery service.
Brand: Residence Inn
Parent: Marriott[/spoiler]

Question 13:
“Within the [Brand] family, [Brand] nurtures an off-beat, avant-garde spirit that invites medium-stay guests to experience a new way of hotel living. Discover our 30 square-metre modular suites and a wide range of services which give you total freedom for work and relaxation such as relaxing massages, the loan of a Smart, the Boutique Gourmande and the Suite Box.”

[spoiler title=”Click to Reveal Hotel Brand”]Within the Novotel Family, Suite Novotel nurtures an off-beat, avant-garde spirit that invites medium-stay guests to experience a new way of hotel living.
Discover our 30 square-metre modular suites and a wide range of services which give you total freedom for work and relaxation such as relaxing massages, the loan of a Smart, the Boutique Gourmande and the Suite Box.
Brand: Suite Novotel
Parent: Accor[/spoiler]

Question 14:
“[Brand], located in premier city-centre locations, are designed for the individual traveler seeking personalized service, gourmet dining, exceptional concierge services, unparalleled business amenities and luxurious small meeting and event facilities.”

[spoiler title=”Click to Reveal Hotel Brand”]Park Hyatt, located in premier city-centre locations, are designed for the individual traveler seeking personalized service, gourmet dining, exceptional concierge services, unparalleled business amenities and luxurious small meeting and event facilities.
Brand: Park Hyatt
Parent: Hyatt[/spoiler]

Question 15:
“[Brand] is a leading mid-market brand committed to providing a caring, consistent and comfortable hospitality experience delivered with a touch of home.”

[spoiler title=”Click to Reveal Hotel Brand”]Country Inns & Suites By CarlsonSM is a leading mid-market brand committed to providing a caring, consistent and comfortable hospitality experience delivered with a touch of home.
Brand: Country Inns & Suites by Carlson
Parent: Carlson[/spoiler]

Question 16:
“The casual atmosphere. The thoughtful touches. The attentive, courteous service. It’s easy to understand why the [Brand], which includes [Brand], [Brand] and [Brand], is so popular with both business and leisure travelers. Located in key business and vacation destinations across the world, [Brand] is an upper-upscale full-service brand featuring flexible meeting space, restaurants, business and fitness centers. Our resorts offer golf, tennis, beautiful beaches, spas and more.”

[spoiler title=”Click to Reveal Hotel Brand”]The casual atmosphere. The thoughtful touches. The attentive, courteous service. It’s easy to understand why the Wyndham brand, which includes Wyndham Hotels and Resorts, Wyndham Garden® and Wyndham Grand® Hotels and Resorts, is so popular with both business and leisure travelers. Located in key business and vacation destinations across the world, Wyndham is an upper-upscale full-service brand featuring flexible meeting space, restaurants, business and fitness centers.  Our resorts offer golf, tennis, beautiful beaches, spas and more.
Brand: Wyndham Hotels and Resorts
Parent: Wyndham[/spoiler]

Question 17:
“With [Brand], you have access to [number] budget hotels all over [area]. Sleep well in a trio room or a duo room from €19 a night. In business for over 25 years, [Brand] offers clean, convenient rooms for 1, 2 or 3 people at the lowest price, 24/7.”

[spoiler title=”Click to Reveal Hotel Brand”]With hotelF1, you have access to 238 budget hotels all over France. Sleep well in a trio room or a duo room from €19 a night. In business for over 25 years, hotelF1 (former Formule1) offers clean, convenient rooms for 1, 2 or 3 people at the lowest price, 24/7.
Brand: hotelF1
Parent: Accor[/spoiler]

Question 18:
“Warm, clean, comfortable surroundings welcome you at [Brand], with all the amenities to ensure a restful and productive stay at an exceptional value.”

[spoiler title=”Click to Reveal Hotel Brand”]Warm, clean, comfortable surroundings welcome you at BEST WESTERN hotels, with all the amenities to ensure a restful and productive stay at an exceptional value.
Brand: Best Western
Parent: Best Western[/spoiler]

Question 19:
“[Brand] is designed for the way you live and work. An all-suites hotel with more spacious rooms, it offers a separate workspace with moveable desk and ergonomic chair. Enjoy luxurious bath amenities and bedding. Connectivity Panel technology. Flat panel TVs in living/work room and bedroom areas. Microwave, refrigerator, Wolfgang Puck coffee and room service. Plus a swimming pool and state-of-the-art fitness center. Contemporary dining with the barista gourmet coffee bar, hot breakfast buffet and dinner menu. A 24/7 convenience store with comfort food as well as healthy and organic snacks. Free high-speed wired and wireless Internet access. [Brand] rewards program and the [Brand] Pledge, a true unconditional guest satisfaction guarantee* that promises your complete satisfaction or your night’s stay is on us.”

[spoiler title=”Click to Reveal Hotel Brand”]Cambria Suites® is designed for the way you live and work. An all-suites hotel with more spacious rooms, it offers a separate workspace with moveable desk and ergonomic chair. Enjoy luxurious bath amenities and bedding. Connectivity Panel technology. Flat panel TVs in living/work room and bedroom areas. Microwave, refrigerator, Wolfgang Puck coffee and room service. Plus a swimming pool and state-of-the-art fitness center. Contemporary dining with the barista gourmet coffee bar, hot breakfast buffet and dinner menu. A 24/7 convenience store with comfort food as well as healthy and organic snacks. Free high-speed wired and wireless Internet access. Choice Privileges® rewards program and the Cambria Pledge, a True Unconditional Guest Satisfaction Guarantee* that promises your complete satisfaction or your night’s stay is on us.
Brand: Cambria Suites
Parent: Choice[/spoiler]

Question 20:
“[Brand] hotels, located in prime destinations and business districts, offer an intimate environment for travelers eager to experience the local flair. Guests enjoy personalized service and modern comfort in rooms and locally-inspired restaurant/bars. Event facilities are perfect for small weddings and business meetings.”

[spoiler title=”Click to Reveal Hotel Brand”]Hyatt hotels, located in prime destinations and business districts, offer an intimate environment for travelers eager to experience the local flair.  Guests enjoy personalized service and modern comfort in rooms and locally-inspired restaurant/bars. Event facilities are perfect for small weddings and business meetings.
Brand: Hyatt Hotels
Parent: Hyatt[/spoiler]

Question 21:
“Located near major highways, [Brand] hotels offer road travelers on a budget easily accessible and basic overnight accommodations at more than [number] convenient locations across [area].”

[spoiler title=”Click to Reveal Hotel Brand”]Located near major highways, Knights Inn® hotels offer road travelers on a budget easily accessible and basic overnight accommodations at more than 350 convenient locations across North America.
Brand: Knights Inn
Parent: Wyndham[/spoiler]

Question 22:
“With nearly [number] locations in over [number] countries, [Brand] offers a welcoming and restorative experience where you can relax and be yourself. From a full-service stay that includes free WiFi to a convenient stop in your travels, there’s a [Brand] for you.”

[spoiler title=”Click to Reveal Hotel Brand”]With nearly 830 locations in over 50 countries, Ramada® Worldwide offers a welcoming and restorative experience where you can relax and be yourself. From a full-service stay that includes free WiFi to a convenient stop in your travels, there’s a Ramada hotel for you.
Brand: Ramada
Parent: Wyndham[/spoiler]

Question 23:
“[Brand] is the first hotel brand designed for business and leisure travellers who maintain a healthy and active lifestyle and are looking for a complete wellness experience at a mainstream price point.”

[spoiler title=”Click to Reveal Hotel Brand”]Even Hotels is the first hotel brand designed for business and leisure travellers who maintain a healthy and active lifestyle and are looking for a complete wellness experience at a mainstream price point.
Brand: Even Hotels
Parent: Intercontinental[/spoiler]

Question 24:
“[Area] hotel economic leader, [Brand] offers you the ultimate comfort: a new innovative bedding designed by the [Brand] Research Department, a comfortable and well-equipped room, modern and design welcome areas. Caring and efficient, [Brand] ensures the highest level of service of its category: a 24 hour reception, breakfast from 4:00 am to midday, light meals served round the clock and a non-stop bar. An ISO 9001 certified guarantee of quality and illustrated by the “15 minutes satisfaction” contract. With more than [number] [Brand] hotels in [number] countries, whatever the reason for your stay, [Brand] has the hotel you are looking for!”

[spoiler title=”Click to Reveal Hotel Brand”]European hotel economic leader, ibis offers you the ultimate comfort: a new innovative bedding designed by the ibis Research Department, a comfortable and well-equipped room, modern and design welcome areas. Caring and efficient, ibis ensures the highest level of service of its category: a 24 hour reception, breakfast from 4:00 am to midday, light meals served round the clock and a non-stop bar. An ISO 9001 certified guarantee of quality and illustrated by the “15 minutes satisfaction” contract. With more than 983 ibis hotels in 58 countries, whatever the reason for your stay, ibis has the hotel you are looking for!
Brand: ibis
Parent: Accor[/spoiler]

Question 25:
“An upscale brand in major urban centres, gateway cities and resort destinations offering business travellers high levels of comfort, service and amenities.”

[spoiler title=”Click to Reveal Hotel Brand”]An upscale brand in major urban centres, gateway cities and resort destinations offering business travellers high levels of comfort, service and amenities
Brand: Crowne Plaza Hotels & Resorts
Parent: Intercontinental[/spoiler]

Question 26:
“These suites are built for the extended stay traveler who appreciates independence and the space for a relaxed and productive stay. Guests have come to know us by our modern spacious suites with full kitchens, free Wi-Fi, free breakfast and friendly staff who deliver a warm ‘hello’ when you walk through the door.”

[spoiler title=”Click to Reveal Hotel Brand”]These suites are built for the extended stay traveler who appreciates independence and the space for a relaxed and productive stay. Guests have come to know us by our modern spacious suites with full kitchens, free Wi-Fi, free breakfast and friendly staff who deliver a warm “hello” when you walk through the door.
Brand: TownePlace Suites
Parent: Marriott[/spoiler]

Question 27:
“Get everything you’re looking for with style and service you want, all at a great price. We have what matters most to you like stylish rooms, comfortable beds, delicious breakfast and fresh coffee. Plus lots of other extras you’ll love.”

[spoiler title=”Click to Reveal Hotel Brand”]Get everything you’re looking for with style and service you want, all at a great price. We have what matters most to you like stylish rooms, comfortable beds, delicious breakfast and fresh coffee. Plus lots of other extras you’ll love.
Brand: Four Points by Sheraton
Parent: Starwood[/spoiler]

Question 28:
“With over [number] convenient locations across [area] offering free breakfast and free high speed internet access, and over [number] properties throughout [area], [Brand] is one number you can count on for a great night’s rest.”

[spoiler title=”Click to Reveal Hotel Brand”]With over 2,400 convenient locations across North America offering free breakfast and free high speed internet access, and over 500 properties throughout China, Super 8® is one number you can count on for a great night’s rest.
Brand: Super 8
Parent: Wyndham[/spoiler]

Question 29:
“One of the most recognized names in the industry, [Brand] offers travelers a world of authentic experiences. The brand continues to be the innovative, forward-thinking global leader of hospitality. With products and services that meet the needs of tomorrow’s savvy global travelers, we shape experiences in which every guest feels cared for, valued, and respected.”

[spoiler title=”Click to Reveal Hotel Brand”]One of the most recognized names in the industry, Hilton Hotels & Resorts offers travelers a world of authentic experiences. The brand continues to be the innovative, forward-thinking global leader of hospitality. With products and services that meet the needs of tomorrow’s savvy global travelers, we shape experiences in which every guest feels cared for, valued, and respected.
Brand: Hilton Hotels & Resorts
Parent: Hilton[/spoiler]

Question 30:
“For value-conscious families looking for familiar and dependable accommodations, [Brand] is a nationally recognized lodging chain with a heritage of hospitality. The brand has nearly [number] hotels in [number] countries that offer comfortable accommodations regardless of travel occasion.”

[spoiler title=”Click to Reveal Hotel Brand”]For value-conscious families looking for familiar and dependable accommodations, Howard Johnson® is a nationally recognized lodging chain with a heritage of hospitality. The brand has nearly 450 hotels in 12 countries that offer comfortable accommodations regardless of travel occasion.
Brand: Howard Johnson
Parent: Wyndham[/spoiler]

Question 31:
“Offering that little something extra, from well appointed rooms to modern amenities, [Brand] are thoughtfully designed to suit the needs of any business or leisure traveler.”

[spoiler title=”Click to Reveal Hotel Brand”]Offering that little something extra, from well appointed rooms to modern amenities, BEST WESTERN PLUS hotels are thoughtfully designed to suit the needs of any business or leisure traveler.
Brand: Best Western Plus
Parent: Best Western[/spoiler]

Question 32:
“[Brand] is a collection of high-end hotels all around the world. Each hotel of the collection stages with talent a unique personality and story, experienced by guests through its architecture, interior design and services. Each hotel is inspired by one of the three typical atmospheres of the collection. Some hotels present ‘Heritage’ origins, places filled with history; others reflect an aesthetic universe, a style, the ‘Signature’ of a personality that contributed to their creation or decoration; still others promise a relaxing time, ‘Serenity’ in a natural or urban retreat. All hotels of the collection invite guests to experience ‘Memorable Moments’.”

[spoiler title=”Click to Reveal Hotel Brand”]MGallery is a Collection of high-end hotels all around the world. Each hotel of the Collection stages with talent a unique personality and story, experienced by guests through its architecture, interior design and services.
Each hotel is inspired by one of the three typical atmospheres of the Collection. Some hotels present ”Heritage” origins, places filled with history; others reflect an aesthetic universe, a style, the “Signature” of a personality that contributed to their creation or decoration; still others promise a relaxing time, “Serenity” in a natural or urban retreat.
All hotels of the Collection invite guests to experience “Memorable Moments”.
Brand: MGallery
Parent: Accor[/spoiler]

Question 33:
“Offering “everything in one place,” each resort blends grand settings, luxurious rooms and world-class entertainment to delight you with a truly enchanting getaway.”

[spoiler title=”Click to Reveal Hotel Brand”]Offering “everything in one place,” each resort blends grand settings, luxurious rooms and world-class entertainment to delight you with a truly enchanting getaway.Offering “everything in one place,” each resort blends grand settings, luxurious rooms and world-class entertainment to delight you with a truly enchanting getaway.
Brand: Gaylord Hotels
Parent: Marriott[/spoiler]

Question 34:
“With smart, engaging service, [Brand]’s trend-setting designs capture the energy and style of each individual location.”

[spoiler title=”Click to Reveal Hotel Brand”]With smart, engaging service, Park Plaza® hotels’ trend-setting designs capture the energy and style of each individual location.
Brand: Park Plaza
Parent: Carlson[/spoiler]

Question 35:
“[Brand] located in leading destinations worldwide, feature innovative guestroom designs, extensive meeting facilities, energizing restaurants and bars; all to ensure every guest will find the right space to connect to whomever and whatever matters most.”

[spoiler title=”Click to Reveal Hotel Brand”]Hyatt Regency hotels and resorts located in leading destinations worldwide, feature innovative guestroom designs, extensive meeting facilities, energizing restaurants and bars; all to ensure every guest will find the right space to connect to whomever and whatever matters most.
Brand: Hyatt Regency
Parent: Hyatt[/spoiler]

Question 36:
“[Brand] is a collection of independent, remarkable hotels whose only unifying characteristic is their glorious individuality. Each hotel is hand-picked for its distinct character and personality, appealing to passionate travelers seeking local discovery.”

[spoiler title=”Click to Reveal Hotel Brand”]Curio is a collection of independent, remarkable hotels whose only unifying characteristic is their glorious individuality. Each hotel is hand-picked for its distinct character and personality, appealing to passionate travelers seeking local discovery.
Brand: Curio a Collection by Hilton
Parent: Hilton[/spoiler]

Question 37:
“Inviting spaces and room to unwind. Whether you’re relocating to a new area or embarking on a family vacation, [Brand] provides an atmosphere ideal for today’s extended stay guest. Enjoy spacious suites with fully equipped kitchens in most locations and an atmosphere where you can truly make yourself at home.”

[spoiler title=”Click to Reveal Hotel Brand”]”Inviting spaces and room to unwind. Whether you’re relocating to a new area or embarking on a family vacation, Hawthorn Suites by Wyndham® provides an atmosphere ideal for today’s extended stay guest.
Enjoy spacious suites with fully equipped kitchens in most locations and an atmosphere where you can truly make yourself at home.
Brand: Hawthorn Suites by Wyndham
Parent: Wyndham“[/spoiler]

Question 38:
“A refined level of comfort awaits you at [Brand]. Distinct styling. Personalized service. The plush amenities and features will always leave a lasting impression.”

[spoiler title=”Click to Reveal Hotel Brand”]A refined level of comfort awaits you at BEST WESTERN PREMIER hotels. Distinct styling. Personalized service. The plush amenities and features will always leave a lasting impression.
Brand: Best Western Premier
Parent: Best Western[/spoiler]

Question 39:
“[Brand] is the only midscale hotel brand that combines the strength of an international network with a strong quality commitment, and the warm experience of hotels, all different, rooted in their local community and managed by enthusiastic hoteliers.”

[spoiler title=”Click to Reveal Hotel Brand”]Mercure is the only midscale hotel brand that combines the strength of an international network with a strong quality commitment, and the warm experience of hotels, all different, rooted in their local community and managed by enthusiastic hoteliers.
Brand: Mercure
Parent: Accor[/spoiler]

Question 40:
“Situated in key destinations around the world, each [Brand] is a one-of-a-kind experience with a compelling local flavor. Here you will find attentive service, relaxing surroundings and thoughtful touches you expect from [chain] on a grand scale. Guest rooms are comfortable and refined… dining experiences are crafted by expert chefs… and artfully appointed lounges and public areas invite you to linger. [Brand] properties are also ideal for large-scale social engagements and business events. Flexible meeting spaces, elegant halls and sophisticated entertainment and presentation capabilities ensure a memorable and successful event.”

[spoiler title=”Click to Reveal Hotel Brand”]Situated in key destinations around the world, each Wyndham Grand® Hotel and Resort is a one-of-a-kind experience with a compelling local flavor. Here you will find attentive service, relaxing surroundings and thoughtful touches you expect from Wyndham on a grand scale. Guest rooms are comfortable and refined… dining experiences are crafted by expert chefs… and artfully appointed lounges and public areas invite you to linger. Wyndham Grand® Hotel and Resort properties are also ideal for large-scale social engagements and business events. Flexible meeting spaces, elegant halls and sophisticated entertainment and presentation capabilities ensure a memorable and successful event.
Brand: Wyndham Grand Hotels & Resorts
Parent: Wyndham[/spoiler]

Question 41:
“Meet the [Brand], a network of historic, boutique and unique hotels that offer guests an authentic, local experience. Member hotels share a passion for delivering attentive service to guests seeking a more experiential, individualized travel experience that gives them a sense of local flavor.”

[spoiler title=”Click to Reveal Hotel Brand”]Meet the Ascend Hotel Collection®, a network of historic, boutique and unique hotels that offer guests an authentic, local experience. Member hotels share a passion for delivering attentive service to guests seeking a more experiential, individualized travel experience that gives them a sense of local flavor.
Brand: Ascend Collection
Parent: Choice[/spoiler]

Question 42:
“At [Brand], we anticipate travelers’ needs and deliver what matters most. All of our guests are welcomed with a two-room suite, free made-to-order breakfast each morning, and complimentary drinks and snacks for two hours every night. We’re delighted to welcome you in over [number] unique locations, so stay with us and come experience all [Brand] has to offer.”

[spoiler title=”Click to Reveal Hotel Brand”]At Embassy Suites Hotels, we anticipate travelers’ needs and deliver what matters most. All of our guests are welcomed with a two-room suite, free made-to-order breakfast each morning, and complimentary drinks* and snacks for two hours every night. We’re delighted to welcome you in over 200 unique locations, so stay with us and come experience all Embassy Suites has to offer.
Brand: Embassy Suites Hotels
Parent: Hilton[/spoiler]

Question 43:
“[Brand] is the award-winning, upscale, yet affordable, hotel brand. We continually strive to ensure today’s busy travelers have everything they need to be the most productive on the road, no matter the occasion. With high levels of service and amenities usually only found in pricier hotels, guests count on us to help them be successful when they’re on the road.”

[spoiler title=”Click to Reveal Hotel Brand”]Hilton Garden Inn is the award-winning, upscale, yet affordable, hotel brand. We continually strive to ensure today’s busy travelers have everything they need to be the most productive on the road, no matter the occasion. With high levels of service and amenities usually only found in pricier hotels, guests count on us to help them be successful when they’re on the road.
Brand: Hilton Garden Inn
Parent: Hilton[/spoiler]

Question 44:
“Today, [Brand] celebrate the travelers of the world. Our mission is to host you brilliantly… to make your every event and stay with us unforgettable and effortless. From next gen meeting spaces to tech-enhanced guest service and beyond, we offer [number] locations worldwide to help you connect, relax and recharge — wherever it is your travels take you.”

[spoiler title=”Click to Reveal Hotel Brand”]Today, Marriott Hotels celebrate the travelers of the world. Our mission is to host you brilliantly… to make your every event and stay with us unforgettable and effortless. From next gen meeting spaces to tech-enhanced guest service and beyond, we offer 500 locations worldwide to help you connect, relax and recharge — wherever it is your travels take you.
Brand: Marriott
Parent: Marriott[/spoiler]

Question 45:
“Smart luxury is at the core of everything [Brand] does. We offer our guests one-of-a-kind experiences, service that’s intuitive and connections to people and places near or far. We’re the destination of a new generation of global travelers for whom life, business, and pleasure seamlessly intersect. People who know that the greatest luxury is the luxury of being yourself.”

[spoiler title=”Click to Reveal Hotel Brand”]Smart luxury is at the core of everything Conrad Hotels & Resorts does. We offer our guests one-of-a-kind experiences, service that’s intuitive and connections to people and places near or far. We’re the destination of a new generation of global travelers for whom life, business, and pleasure seamlessly intersect. People who know that the greatest luxury is the luxury of being yourself.
Brand: Conrad Hotels & Resorts
Parent: Hilton[/spoiler]

Question 46:
“For a modern and savvy choice in mid-tier, extended-stay travel, guests choose [Brand]. By delivering unexpected style, enhanced flexibility, expanded spaces, and differentiated amenities, [Brand] is creating a more forward-thinking extended-stay experience. Our goal is to ensure guests are comfortable and productive, whether they’re staying a few days or a few months.”

[spoiler title=”Click to Reveal Hotel Brand”]For a modern and savvy choice in mid-tier, extended-stay travel, guests choose Home2 Suites by Hilton®. By delivering unexpected style, enhanced flexibility, expanded spaces, and differentiated amenities, Home2 Suites is creating a more forward-thinking extended-stay experience. Our goal is to ensure guests are comfortable and productive, whether they’re staying a few days or a few months.
Brand: Home2 Suites by Hilton
Parent: Hilton[/spoiler]

Question 47:
“You are not just a person. And we are not just hotels. We are a 15-room boutique fishing lodge in [area]. And a 3,000-room luxury high-rise on the [area]. We’re not bound by similarities. We’re bound by distinction. We may share a [Brand]. But everything else is different.”

[spoiler title=”Click to Reveal Hotel Brand”]You are not just a person. And we are not just hotels. We are a 15-room boutique fishing lodge in Colorado. And a 3,000-room luxury high-rise on the Vegas Strip. We’re not bound by similarities. We’re bound by distinction. We may share an Autograph. But everything else is different.
Brand: Autograph Collection Hotels
Parent: Marriott[/spoiler]

Question 48:
“[Brand], the award–winning chain of all newly–constructed, interior corridor hotels, continues to raise the bar in economy lodging. With over [number] hotels, [Brand] provides a consistent and reliable experience for all business and leisure travelers alike.”

[spoiler title=”Click to Reveal Hotel Brand”]Microtel Inn & Suites by Wyndham®, the award–winning chain of all newly–constructed, interior corridor hotels, continues to raise the bar in economy lodging. With over 300 hotels, Microtel Inn & Suites provides a consistent and reliable experience for all business and leisure travelers alike.
Brand: Microtel Inn & Suites by Wyndham
Parent: Wyndham[/spoiler]

Question 49:
“Born in [year], [Brand] is a 4-star international midscale brand for business & leisure travelers, with hotels located in the heart of major international cities, business districts and tourist destinations.”

[spoiler title=”Click to Reveal Hotel Brand”]Born in 1967, Novotel is a 4-stars International midscale brand for business & leisure travelers, with hotels located in the heart of major international cities, business districts and tourist destinations.
Brand: Novotel
Parent: Accor[/spoiler]

Question 50:
“[Brand] is an iconic, stylish and sophisticated brand with leading-edge style where the delight is in the detail. It offers guests a holistic hospitality experience that’s totally relevant to now.”

[spoiler title=”Click to Reveal Hotel Brand”]Radisson Blu is an iconic, stylish and sophisticated brand with leading-edge style where the delight is in the detail. It offers guests a holistic hospitality experience that’s totally relevant to now.
Brand: Radisson Blu
Parent: Carlson[/spoiler]

Question 51:
“From the moment you arrive at [Brand], we want you to relax and feel at home. We offer a warm atmosphere and helpful service. You’ll restore yourself in our clean cozy rooms and you can stay connected with free high-speed internet access.”

[spoiler title=”Click to Reveal Hotel Brand”]From the moment you arrive at Comfort Inn hotels, we want you to relax and feel at home.  We offer a warm atmosphere and helpful service.  You’ll restore yourself in our clean cozy rooms and you can stay connected with free high-speed internet access.
Brand: Comfort Inn
Parent: Choice[/spoiler]

Question 52:
“[Brand] welcome international, cosmopolitan seasoned travelers from all over the world for business and leisure stays. [Brand] is the executive lifestyle upscale hotel brand: a new generation of hotels for a new generation of mobile, hyper-connected customers.”

[spoiler title=”Click to Reveal Hotel Brand”]Pullman hotels and resorts welcome international, cosmopolitan seasoned travelers from all over the world for business and leisure stays. Pullman is the executive lifestyle upscale hotel brand: a new generation of hotels for a new generation of mobile, hyper-connected customers.
Brand: Pullman
Parent: Accor[/spoiler]

Question 53:
“There you are. We just knew we’d find each other. You: A savvy traveler who’s always up for thoughtful perks. Us: The best loved boutique hotels with a passion for making it personal. We’re stylish — you’ll love our bold design — but we don’t do stuffy. Helping mix business and pleasure, like a perfect cocktail, is our secret sauce. So whichever of our [number]+ hotels you choose, we’ll find ways to make your stay extraordinary.”

[spoiler title=”Click to Reveal Hotel Brand”]There you are. We just knew we’d find each other. You: A savvy traveler who’s always up for thoughtful perks. Us: The best loved boutique hotels with a passion for making it personal. We’re stylish — you’ll love our bold design — but we don’t do stuffy. Helping mix business and pleasure, like a perfect cocktail, is our secret sauce. So whichever of our 60+ hotels you choose, we’ll find ways to make your stay extraordinary.
Brand: Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants
Parent: Intercontinental[/spoiler]

Question 54:
“Travel should be inspiring, and inspiration is exactly what you’ll find at [Brand] worldwide. Select from historic hotels, chic boutiques or luxurious resorts. Discover the local scene with the help of on-site navigators. Plus, enjoy active lobby lounges, bars and restaurants with [trademark] events.”

[spoiler title=”Click to Reveal Hotel Brand”]Travel should be inspiring, and inspiration is exactly what you’ll find at Renaissance Hotels worldwide. Select from historic hotels, chic boutiques or luxurious resorts. Discover the local scene with the help of on-site Navigators. Plus, enjoy active lobby lounges, bars and restaurants with RLife® LIVE events.
Brand: Renaissance Hotels
Parent: Marriott[/spoiler]

Question 55:
“A new hotel philosophy where imagination designs the experience and experience invents the future. This is not luxury. This is the future. The images are reality. The reality will be affordable, in a relative context. This is [Brand] – witness, work in progress coming to a conclusion.”

[spoiler title=”Click to Reveal Hotel Brand”]A new hotel philosophy where imagination designs the experience and experience invents the future. This is not luxury. This is the future. The images are reality. The reality will be affordable, in a relative context. This is Radisson Red – witness, work in progress coming to a conclusion.
Brand: Radisson Red
Parent: Carlson[/spoiler]

Question 56:
“A new hotel philosophy where imagination designs the experience and experience invents the future. This is not luxury. This is the future. The images are reality. The reality will be affordable, in a relative context. This is [Brand] – witness, work in progress coming to a conclusion.”

[spoiler title=”Click to Reveal Hotel Brand”]Protea Hotels spans the sub-Saharan with its collection of seaside resorts, city center hotels, private game lodges and mountain retreats. Whether in Cape Town or Johannesburg, each property offers a unique local experience, a welcoming room and expected amenities.
Brand: Protea Hotels
Parent: Marriott[/spoiler]

Question 57:
“For those seeking an energizing experience, [Brand] by [chain] is the hotel brand that creates ‘a positive stay’ with its simple, guest-directed service and thoughtful, local choices.”

[spoiler title=”Click to Reveal Hotel Brand”]For those seeking an energizing experience, Canopy by Hilton is the hotel brand that creates “a positive stay” with its simple, guest-directed service and thoughtful, local choices.
Brand: Canopy by Hilton
Parent: Hilton[/spoiler]

Question 58:
“An extended stay hotel brand offering comfortable and stylish accommodation.”

[spoiler title=”Click to Reveal Hotel Brand”]An extended stay hotel brand offering comfortable and stylish accommodation.
Brand: Staybridge Suites
Parent: Intercontinental[/spoiler]

Question 59:
“[Brand] properties reflect the unique personality of each locale, and are dedicated to creating inspiring and vibrant living spaces where travelers can indulge in their own personal sense of comfort and style with attentive and unscripted service.”

[spoiler title=”Click to Reveal Hotel Brand”]Andaz properties reflect the unique personality of each locale, and are dedicated to creating inspiring and vibrant living spaces where travelers can indulge in their own personal sense of comfort and style with attentive and unscripted service.
Brand: Andaz
Parent: Hyatt[/spoiler]

Question 60:
“Enter a [Brand], and you’ll immediately notice how good it feels to be here. That’s because each of our signature services has been designed with a better you in mind. Experience truly restorative sleep in our iconic [trademark] bed. Energize with a [Brand] workout. And indulge in our delicious [trademark] menu.”

[spoiler title=”Click to Reveal Hotel Brand”]Enter a Westin hotel, and you’ll immediately notice how good it feels to be here. That’s because each of our signature services has been designed with a better you in mind. Experience truly restorative sleep in our iconic Heavenly® Bed. Energize with a WestinWORKOUT®. And indulge in our delicious SuperFoodsRx menu.
Brand: Westin Hotels & Resorts
Parent: Starwood
[/spoiler]

Question 61:
“Since the original [Brand] [area] opened its doors over [number] years ago, the [Brand] brand has sought to provide an experience that goes beyond expectation. With its distinct heritage and signature [Brand] butler service, found at every location around the world, there is no address like [Brand].”

[spoiler title=”Click to Reveal Hotel Brand”]Since the original St. Regis New York opened its doors over one hundred years ago, the St. Regis® brand has sought to provide an experience that goes beyond expectation. With its distinct heritage and signature St. Regis Butler Service, found at every location around the world, there is no address like St. Regis.
Brand: St. Regis
Parent: Starwood[/spoiler]

Question 62:
“With over [number] locations worldwide, [Brand] offer great value to leisure and business travelers including free [trademark] breakfast and free high-speed Internet access. We work hard to earn our reputation as the best value under the sun.”

[spoiler title=”Click to Reveal Hotel Brand”]With over 1,800 locations worldwide, Days Inn® hotels offer great value to leisure and business travelers including free Daybreak® Breakfast and free high-speed Internet access. We work hard to earn our reputation as The Best Value Under the Sun.
Brand: Days Inn
Parent: Wyndham[/spoiler]

Question 63:
“[Brand] and its [trademark] employees link the world with [area] elegance across a collection of unique addresses offering their guests and partners a “Cousu Main” service enriched with emotion, performance and a passion for excellence.”

[spoiler title=”Click to Reveal Hotel Brand”]Sofitel and its Ambassadors (employees) link the world with French Elegance across a collection of unique addresses offering their guests and partners a “Cousu Main” service enriched with emotion, performance and a passion for excellence.
Brand: Sofitel
Parent: Accor[/spoiler]

Question 64:
“[Brand] is committed to your success. You can spread out in our oversized rooms with separate sleeping and living areas. Every room includes a full size pull-out sofa bed, as well as a refrigerator, microwave and in-room coffee maker and free high-speed internet access. And throughout our hotels you’ll experience breathing room – our 100% smoke-free policy.”

[spoiler title=”Click to Reveal Hotel Brand”]Comfort Suites is committed to your success.  You can spread out in our oversized rooms with separate sleeping and living areas.  Every room includes a full size pull-out sofa bed, as well as a refrigerator, microwave and in-room coffee maker and free high-speed internet access.  And throughout our hotels you’ll experience Breathing Room – our 100% smoke-free policy.
Brand: Comfort Suites
Parent: Choice[/spoiler]

Question 65:
“When you’re looking for a nice place to stay for a price that’s easy on your budget, look to [Brand]. You’ll get a free premium cable channel and you can ease into your morning with free coffee.”

[spoiler title=”Click to Reveal Hotel Brand”]When you’re looking for a nice place to stay for a price that’s easy on your budget, look to Rodeway Inn®.  You’ll get a free premium cable channel and you can ease into your morning with free coffee. 
Brand: Rodeway Inn
Parent: Choice[/spoiler]

Question 66:
“[Brand], all inclusive resorts, create experiences where anything is possible, because everything guests need is included: luxury accommodations, authentic dining options, world-class entertainment and locally inspired activities.”

[spoiler title=”Click to Reveal Hotel Brand”]Hyatt Ziva all inclusive resorts, create experiences where anything is possible, because everything guests need is included:  luxury accommodations, authentic dining options, world-class entertainment and locally inspired activities.
Brand: Hyatt Ziva
Parent: Hyatt[/spoiler]

Question 67:
“[Brand] combines style with casual hospitality. Featuring spacious guest rooms with the cozy corner, free Wi-Fi, the 24/7 gallery menu, coffee to cocktails bar, and free a.m. [trademark] breakfast with your stay.”

[spoiler title=”Click to Reveal Hotel Brand”]Hyatt Place combines style with casual hospitality.  Featuring spacious guest rooms with the Cozy Corner, free Wi-Fi, the 24/7 Gallery Menu, Coffee to Cocktails Bar, and free a.m. Kitchen Skillet breakfast with your stay.
Brand: Hyatt Place
Parent: Hyatt[/spoiler]

Question 68:
“[Brand] are perfectly situated in key business, airport and suburban locations. We offer tasteful, intimate hotels with comfortable guest rooms that offer a wealth of thoughtful amenities. Every hotel provides casual dining options, inviting lobbies and cozy library lounges for reading or socializing. And of course, flexible meeting space that can accommodate a wide range of functions.”

[spoiler title=”Click to Reveal Hotel Brand”]Wyndham Garden® hotels are perfectly situated in key business, airport and suburban locations. We offer tasteful, intimate hotels with comfortable guest rooms that offer a wealth of thoughtful amenities. Every hotel provides casual dining options, inviting lobbies and cozy library lounges for reading or socializing. And of course, flexible meeting space that can accommodate a wide range of functions.
Brand: Wyndham Garden Hotels
Parent: Wyndham[/spoiler]

Question 69:
“[Brand] is a new generation of expertly curated luxury hotels inspired by the lifestyle and sensibilities of the contemporary global traveller. Individual and inspiring, each property within the collection offers a distinguished guest experience and an invitation to immerse oneself in the best a location can offer.”

[spoiler title=”Click to Reveal Hotel Brand”]Quorvus Collection is a new generation of expertly curated luxury hotels inspired by the lifestyle and sensibilities of the contemporary global traveller. Individual and inspiring, each property within the collection offers a distinguished guest experience and an invitation to immerse oneself in the best a location can offer.
Brand: Quorvus Collection
Parent: Carlson[/spoiler]

Question 70:
“One of the world’s most recognised hotel brands with a global reputation for service, comfort and value.”

[spoiler title=”Click to Reveal Hotel Brand”]One of the world’s most recognised hotel brands with a global reputation for service, comfort and value.
Brand: Holiday Inn
Parent: Intercontinental[/spoiler]

Question 71:
“[Brand] offers upscale home comfort for extended stay guests. Featuring residentially inspired suites with real kitchens and living rooms, free Wi-Fi and morning spread breakfast including omelet bar with your stay, 24-hour guest market and laundry.”

[spoiler title=”Click to Reveal Hotel Brand”]Hyatt House offers upscale home comfort for extended stay guests.  Featuring residentially inspired suites with real kitchens and living rooms, free Wi-Fi and Morning Spread breakfast including omelet bar with your stay, 24-hour Guest Market and Laundry.
Brand: Hyatt House
Parent: Hyatt[/spoiler]

Question 72:
“This is an upper-moderate tier lifestyle hotel brand for the design conscious traveler. Each offers a convenient city location and a stylish, cosmopolitan feel. Urban in the best sense of the word, these hotels are ideal for both business and leisure travelers who want to really experience all the options of a city.”

[spoiler title=”Click to Reveal Hotel Brand”]This is an upper-moderate tier lifestyle hotel brand for the design conscious traveler. Each offers a convenient city location and a stylish, cosmopolitan feel. Urban in the best sense of the word, these hotels are ideal for both business and leisure travelers who want to really experience all the options of a city.
Brand: AC Hotels
Parent: Marriott[/spoiler]

Question 73:
“Discover an all-suite hotel offering stylish space and inspiring design, all at an affordable price. Connect, work or relax with free Wi-Fi and refreshing spaces that are open and bright. Meet and mingle in inviting lobbies and jump-start your day with a complimentary hot and healthy breakfast. Enjoy over [number] locations across [area]. Style and space. Beautifully priced.”

[spoiler title=”Click to Reveal Hotel Brand”]Discover an all-suite hotel offering stylish space and inspiring design, all at an affordable price. Connect, work or relax with free Wi-Fi and refreshing spaces that are open and bright. Meet and mingle in inviting lobbies and jump-start your day with a complimentary hot and healthy breakfast. Enjoy over 300 locations across North America. Style and space. Beautifully priced®.
Brand: SpringHill Suites
Parent: Marriott[/spoiler]

Question 74:
“At [Brand], our mission is to satisfy every guest, every time. In fact, we’ve made satisfaction a promise with our unconditional, 100% [Brand] Guarantee. No matter which of the more than [number] [Brand] properties you visit, you’ll find incredible value, friendly service, free breakfast and Internet, our clean and fresh [Brand] beds, and well-appointed rooms.”

[spoiler title=”Click to Reveal Hotel Brand”]At Hampton, our mission is to satisfy every guest, every time. In fact, we’ve made satisfaction a promise with our unconditional, 100% Hampton Guarantee. No matter which of the more than 1,900 Hampton properties you visit, you’ll find incredible value, friendly service, free breakfast and Internet, our Clean and Fresh Hampton Beds®, and well-appointed rooms.
Brand: Hampton
Parent: Hilton[/spoiler]

Question 75:
“[Brand] creates opportunities to connect — to home, to colleagues, and to friends, both old and new. Whether stirring up some conversation in the [trademark] experienced with Microsoft or meeting up over complimentary breakfast in [Brand] club, [Brand] brings people together.”

[spoiler title=”Click to Reveal Hotel Brand”]Sheraton® Hotels & Resorts creates opportunities to connect — to home, to colleagues, and to friends, both old and new. Whether stirring up some conversation in the Link at Sheraton℠ experienced with Microsoft® or meeting up over complimentary breakfast in Sheraton Club, Sheraton brings people together.
Brand: Sheraton Hotels & Resorts
Parent: Starwood[/spoiler]

Question 76:
“Timeless, chic design, cultural experiences and discovery moments are the elements that connect our hubs in destinations like [areas] and beyond. [Brand] awakens curiosity and stimulates thinking, inspiring guests to see things in a new way.”

[spoiler title=”Click to Reveal Hotel Brand”]Timeless, chic design, cultural experiences and discovery moments are the elements that connect our hubs in destinations like Istanbul, San Francisco, Koh Samui and beyond. Le Méridien awakens curiosity and stimulates thinking, inspiring guests to see things in a new way.
Brand: Le Méridien
Parent: Starwood[/spoiler]

Question 77:
“[Brand], adult only all inclusive resorts, create experiences where anything is possible, because everything guests need is included: luxury accommodations, authentic dining options, world-class entertainment and locally inspired activities.”

[spoiler title=”Click to Reveal Hotel Brand”]Hyatt Zilara, adult only all inclusive resorts, create experiences where anything is possible, because everything guests need is included:  luxury accommodations, authentic dining options, world-class entertainment and locally inspired activities.
Brand: Hyatt Zilara
Parent: Hyatt[/spoiler]

Question 78:
“You’ll never have to look far to get a great value because over [number] [Brand] deliver an affordable and convenient place to stay. Enjoy lots of amenities free of charge including wireless Internet hotspots and a premium movie channel. And best of all, you get a free continental breakfast to start your day off right.”

[spoiler title=”Click to Reveal Hotel Brand”]You’ll never have to look far to get a great value because over 800 Econo Lodge® hotels deliver an affordable and convenient place to stay.  Enjoy lots of amenities free of charge including wireless Internet hotspots and a premium movie channel.  And best of all, you get a free continental breakfast to start your day off right.  
Brand: Econo Lodge
Parent: Choice[/spoiler]

Question 79:
“[Brand] sets the standard in upscale, extended stay. By offering home-like comforts and quality bundled services, we remain a leader in customer satisfaction and performance. Spacious one- and two-bedroom suites plus deluxe studio suites, all with full kitchens, allow travelers to spread out and stay productive when on the road.”

[spoiler title=”Click to Reveal Hotel Brand”]Homewood Suites by Hilton sets the standard in upscale, extended stay. By offering home-like comforts and quality bundled services, we remain a leader in customer satisfaction and performance. Spacious one- and two-bedroom suites plus deluxe studio suites, all with full kitchens, allow travelers to spread out and stay productive when on the road.
Brand: Homewood Suites
Parent: Hilton[/spoiler]

Question 80:
“A clean, uncomplicated extended stay hotel choice offering convenience and good value.”

[spoiler title=”Click to Reveal Hotel Brand”]A clean, uncomplicated extended stay hotel choice offering convenience and good value.
Brand: Candlewood Suites
Parent: Intercontinental[/spoiler]

Question 81:
“Listening to our guests and treating them like neighbors is what we do best. We call it hometown hospitality and it comes complete with all the comforts of home like free high–speed internet access and complimentary breakfast at the [Brand] [trademark] at over [number] properties. Whether you’re traveling for a leisure getaway, a family vacation or on business, [Brand] has the right hotel for you.”

[spoiler title=”Click to Reveal Hotel Brand”]Listening to our guests and treating them like neighbors is what we do best. We call it hometown hospitality and it comes complete with all the comforts of home like free high–speed internet access and complimentary breakfast at the Baymont Breakfast Corner® at over 350 properties. Whether you’re traveling for a leisure getaway, a family vacation or on business, Baymont Inn & Suites® has the right hotel for you.
Brand: Baymont Inn & Suites
Parent: Wyndham[/spoiler]

Question 82:
“[Brand] gives you all of the tools for success for one simple rate. Wired and wireless high-speed internet access, hot breakfast, printing, copying and faxing in the 24-hour business center, access to fitness center and whirlpool and much more are all included at no extra cost.”

[spoiler title=”Click to Reveal Hotel Brand”]Wingate by Wyndham® gives you all of the tools for success for one simple rate.  Wired and wireless high-speed internet access, hot breakfast, printing, copying and faxing in the 24-hour business center, access to fitness center and whirlpool and much more are all included at no extra cost.
Brand: Wingate by Wyndham
Parent: Wyndham[/spoiler]

Question 83:
“A non-standardised economy and design brand aimed at all those who are looking for “the best of the best”, [Brand] offers an all-inclusive package, with room rates including breakfast and internet access. Situated in the heart of cities and in other major centres of activity, each establishment has its own distinct personality and reflects a colourful, bright and energetic brand spirit with a hint of humour. Simplicity, interactivity, quality and conviviality are the brand’s core values.”

[spoiler title=”Click to Reveal Hotel Brand”]”A non-standardised economy and design brand aimed at all those who are looking for “the best of the best”, ibis Styles offers an all-inclusive package, with room rates including breakfast and internet access.
Situated in the heart of cities and in other major centres of activity, each establishment has its own distinct personality and reflects a colourful, bright and energetic brand spirit with a hint of humour. Simplicity, interactivity, quality and conviviality are the brand’s core values.
Brand: ibis Styles
Parent: Accor“[/spoiler]

Question 84:
“[Brand] is a favorite for people who enjoy going on adventures with the entire family. They turn to [Brand] as a great place to stay and can always count on great value because we deliver the best of the basics.”

[spoiler title=”Click to Reveal Hotel Brand”]Travelodge is a favorite for people who enjoy going on adventures with the entire family. They turn to Travelodge as a great place to stay and can always count on great value because we deliver the Best of the Basics.
Brand: Travelodge
Parent: Wyndham[/spoiler]

Question 8:
“This is the leading luxury hospitality collection in the world. It is comprised of a few select properties in major cosmopolitan cities and luxury resort destinations. Each location makes a strong reference to the local culture while retaining a distinctly [area] contemporary luxury feel.”

[spoiler title=”Click to Reveal Hotel Brand”]This is the leading luxury hospitality collection in the world. It is comprised of a few select properties in major cosmopolitan cities and luxury resort destinations. Each location makes a strong reference to the local culture while retaining a distinctly Italian contemporary luxury feel.
Brand: Bvlgari Hotels & Resorts
Parent: Marriott[/spoiler]

Question 86:
“Over [number] locations across [area] offer everything you need for a comfortable and productive stay at a great value. Modern rooms and suites, ample workspaces, and friendly and responsive staff.”

[spoiler title=”Click to Reveal Hotel Brand”]Over 700 locations across the US, Canada and Mexico offer everything you need for a comfortable and productive stay at a great value. Modern rooms and suites, ample workspaces, and friendly and responsive staff. LET’S GET IT DONE®.
Brand: Fairfield Inn & Suites
Parent: Marriott[/spoiler]

Question 87:
“Escape to where iconic design and contemporary luxury set the stage for exclusive and extraordinary experiences. [Brand] provides insider access in cities bustling with energy and intrigue as well as at exotic retreats and getaways.”

[spoiler title=”Click to Reveal Hotel Brand”]Escape to where iconic design and contemporary luxury set the stage for exclusive and extraordinary experiences. W Hotels® provides insider access in cities bustling with energy and intrigue as well as at exotic retreats and getaways.
Brand: W Hotels
Parent: Starwood[/spoiler]

Question 88:
“[Brand] has operated in the [area] region for almost twenty years, establishing itself as a distinctive upscale collection of hotels and apartment hotels in key business and resort locations around the region. Each [Brand] hotel is anchored around ‘Discover a new authentic’ with the hotel connected closely to its local area through its design, welcome and partnerships.”

[spoiler title=”Click to Reveal Hotel Brand”]Grand Mercure has operated in the Asia Pacific region for almost twenty years, establishing itself as a distinctive upscale collection of hotels and apartment hotels in key business and resort locations around the region. Each Grand Mercure hotel is anchored around ‘Discover a new authentic’ with the hotel connected closely to its local area through its design, welcome and partnerships.
Brand: Grand Mercure
Parent: Accor[/spoiler]

Question 89:
“[Brand] is bright, bold, fresh, uncomplicated, friendly and fun.”

[spoiler title=”Click to Reveal Hotel Brand”]Park Inn by Radisson is bright, bold, fresh, uncomplicated, friendly and fun.
Brand: Park Inn by Radisson
Parent: Carlson[/spoiler]

Question 90:
“There are certain things you expect from your hotel: a bright comfortable room, free high-speed Internet access and a free hot breakfast**. At [Brand], you’ll get everything you expect to make your trip more relaxing and enjoyable, all at a great value.”

[spoiler title=”Click to Reveal Hotel Brand”]There are certain things you expect from your hotel: a bright comfortable room, free high-speed Internet access and a free hot breakfast**.  At Quality® hotels, you’ll get everything you expect to make your trip more relaxing and enjoyable, all at a great value.  
Brand: Quality
Parent: Choice[/spoiler]

Question 91:
“At [Brand] you’ll get everything you need, when you need it. That’s because our on-demand services let you call the shots. You’ll enjoy a restaurant, room service, fitness center, 24-hour business center and a well-appointed room with soft bedding, large desk and ergonomic chair. All in an approachable atmosphere with affordable rates. “

[spoiler title=”Click to Reveal Hotel Brand”]At Clarion® hotels you’ll get everything you need, when you need it.  That’s because our on-demand services let you call the shots.  You’ll enjoy a restaurant, room service, fitness center, 24-hour business center and a well-appointed room with soft bedding, large desk and ergonomic chair.  All in an approachable atmosphere with affordable rates. 
Brand: Clarion
Parent: Choice[/spoiler]

Question 92:
“From legendary palaces and remote retreats to timeless modern classics, [Brand] enable the most discerning traveler to collect a world of unique, authentic and enriching experiences.”

[spoiler title=”Click to Reveal Hotel Brand”]From legendary palaces and remote retreats to timeless modern classics, The Luxury Collection® Hotels & Resorts enable the most discerning traveler to collect a world of unique, authentic and enriching experiences.
Brand: Luxury Collection Hotels & Resorts
Parent: Starwood[/spoiler]

Question 93:
“[Brand] delivers options that are designed around the way you travel. Options that can help you have a successful trip at over [number] hotels worldwide. Like dining choices that meet your needs. Completely connected environments featuring free Wi-Fi. And local information on our [trademark].”

[spoiler title=”Click to Reveal Hotel Brand”]Courtyard delivers options that are designed around the way you travel. Options that can help you have a successful trip at over 900 hotels worldwide. Like dining choices that meet your needs. Completely connected environments featuring free Wi-Fi*. And local information on our GoBoard.
Brand: Courtyard by Marriott
Parent: Marriott[/spoiler]

Question 94:
“Natural light. Open spaces. Healthy options. With spacious guestrooms featuring fully equipped kitchens, spa-inspired bathrooms and the [trademark] bed, [Brand] has everything guests need to be productive on the road.”

[spoiler title=”Click to Reveal Hotel Brand”]Natural light. Open spaces. Healthy options. With spacious guestrooms featuring fully equipped kitchens, spa-inspired bathrooms and the Heavenly® Bed, Element℠ Hotels has everything guests need to be productive on the road.
Brand: Element by Westin
Parent: Starwood[/spoiler]

Question 95:
“[Brand] is a select-service urban hotel brand with over [number] in many of the most cosmopolitan cities across [area] and [area] like [areas].”

[spoiler title=”Click to Reveal Hotel Brand”]Tryp by Wyndham® is a select-service urban hotel brand with over 115 hotels in many of the most cosmopolitan cities across Europe and the Americas like Madrid, Barcelona, Paris, Berlin, Lisbon, Frankfurt, Buenos Aires, São Paulo and Montevideo.
Brand: TRYP by Wyndham
Parent: Wyndham[/spoiler]

Question 96:
“A modern, fresh and fun destination, [Brand] is a place where energy flows, personalities mingle, and opportunities abound. Lighting cities around the world with a social spark, [Brand] all share a sense of excitement that leaves guests amazed and abuzz.”

[spoiler title=”Click to Reveal Hotel Brand”]A modern, fresh and fun destination, Aloft Hotels℠ is a place where energy flows, personalities mingle, and opportunities abound. Lighting cities around the world with a social spark, Aloft hotels all share a sense of excitement that leaves guests amazed and abuzz.
Brand: Aloft Hotels
Parent: Starwood[/spoiler]

Question 97:
“A fresh, clean, uncomplicated hotel choice offering comfort, convenience and good value.”

[spoiler title=”Click to Reveal Hotel Brand”]A fresh, clean, uncomplicated hotel choice offering comfort, convenience and good value.
Brand: Holiday Inn Express
Parent: Intercontinental[/spoiler]

Question 98:
“[Brand] is all the style and soul you’ll find at a boutique hotel, but way more affordable. Because if you have the guts to go out and explore the world – and we know you do – at least look good doing it. It’s just like home, but with a bartender.”

[spoiler title=”Click to Reveal Hotel Brand”]Moxy is all the style and soul you’ll find at a boutique hotel, but way more affordable. Because if you have the guts to go out and explore the world – and we know you do – at least look good doing it. It’s just like home, but with a bartender.
Brand: Moxy Hotels
Parent: Marriott[/spoiler]

Question 99:
“The world’s first truly international hotel brand, [Brand] is located in more than [number] countries with local insight that comes from over [number] years of experience.”

[spoiler title=”Click to Reveal Hotel Brand”]The world’s first truly international hotel brand, InterContinental Hotels & Resorts is located in more than 60 countries with local insight that comes from over 60 years of experience.
Brand: InterContinental Hotels & Resorts
Parent: Intercontinental[/spoiler]

Question 100:
“It all starts with a warm chocolate chip cookie, a simple touch that sets the tone to create a rewarding experience for a guest’s entire stay. [Brand] understands that doing the little things well can mean everything.”

[spoiler title=”Click to Reveal Hotel Brand”]It all starts with a warm chocolate chip cookie, a simple touch that sets the tone to create a rewarding experience for a guest’s entire stay. DoubleTree by Hilton understands that doing the little things well can mean everything.
Brand: DoubleTree by Hilton
Parent: Hilton[/spoiler]

Fearing for the Major Hotel Brands

Attempting to market and merchandise poorly differentiated products is an unattractive proposition for three reasons:

• The products become commoditized, making price the dominant factor in a consumer’s decision process.
• Hotel brands survive on fee revenues paid by the hotel owners. According to HVS, in 2014, the median franchise cost was 11.8% of rooms revenue. The fees ranged from a low of 3.3% for Best Western Premier, to 14.7% for Hilton’s Hampton Inn brand.
• When combined with growing distribution costs due to intermediary share increases, high hotel brand fees layered over high online travel agency margins produce an unsustainable drag on hotel owner profitability.

The worst case scenario is that if guests do not understand or care about the brands, the hotel groups may unintentionally becoming the equivalent of online travel agencies to both consumers and hotel owners.

Many global hotel brands are quick to point out the success of their frequent traveler programs to justify an affiliation. However, these points-based programs bear very little resemblance to true guest loyalty. At the present time, hotel frequency programs are fundamentally tools for travelers to extract personal benefit from employer funded travel expenditures.

Those programs are currently powerful forces, but not nearly as powerful as great products paired with great branding.

At this point, the major hotel groups need to hope that the major online travel agencies and metasearch websites don’t get better with their own branding initiatives. If they do, retaining guest loyalty will become increasingly difficult.

Ultimately, that is where the ultimate battle will be fought.

| The post Hotel Brand Differentiation – An Oxymoron? by Robert Cole appeared first on RockCheetah

If the hotel brand fails to provide insight into the guest experience, what good is it? In many cases, hotel brand descriptions are not helping.
Photo Credit: brionv (cc|flickr)

Great branding is all about creating a unique and highly defensible consumer value proposition – ideally, one that allows the company to capitalize on extended lifetime customer value.

The world’s largest hotel chains have recently embarked on an unprecedented period of introducing new lodging brands. Many of these new brands are often described as “lifestyle brands,” designed to appeal to the sensibilities of millennial travelers.

Unfortunately, these fledgling brands are often being bolted onto large hotel chain brand portfolios where consumers are challenged to recall the affiliation of the brand with its respective parent chain. See Hotel Brand Matching Test Results for how the relatively well traveled readers of Views from a Corner Suite scored when trying to match 100 brands from the top ten global hotel brands.

Worse yet, the existing brands are often poorly differentiated from the competitors. This is nothing new. In June 1997, Cornell University School of Hotel Administration marketing professor Leo Renaghan asked the hundreds attending the Hotel Electronic Distribution Network Association (HEDNA) Conference “Can someone please tell me the difference between a Hilton, Sheraton and Radisson?” The response was palpably awkward silence.

He was not being malicious or glib; he asked because a property located in Central New York had been all three over a period of ten years and had never experienced any degree of business disruption while changing brands. The hotel’s management continued to operate the property and the only things that changed were the sign and logoed products.

Renaghan’s cautionary tale was that ineffective branding would eventually put the hotel groups at risk. Poor differentiation could introduce opportunities for third parties to disrupt traditional hotel group roles. Nearly two decades later, that lesson has not yet been learned, but that day of reckoning may be coming.

Below, the descriptions of the 100 hotel brands from the Matching Test are listed. The task will be to select the correct brand associated with each description, which has had references to trademarks, geographic locales and sizes removed. The descriptions are sourced directly from the hotel chain websites. A word of warning – this task is much more difficult than matching a brand to a chain.

Before moving on to the quiz, it is important to look at what is happening and why – because it is not healthy for a hotel industry that is already failing to take the threat of disruptive lodging products like Airbnb or HomeAway seriously.

Because Starwood scored so well in the earlier Brand Matching Test, I will pick on them here. The issues raised are also being experienced by the other major hotel groups as well.

Growth for Growth’s Sake

Starwood has a tough start to 2015. In February, CEO Frits van Paasschen was unceremoniously let go – victim to the double-whammy of not only falling short of Starwood’s own growth projections, but also trailing its publicly-traded competitive set of Marriott, Hilton, Hyatt and InterContinental. Starwood’s share price spiked 2.7% on the announcement, despite the lack of a successor being named.

The message to Starwood from Wall Street was clear GROW. NOW. Or else…

Soon thereafter, interim Starwood CEO Adam Aron introduced a new soft-brand, Tribute Portfolio, setting a target of adding 100 properties by 2020 – certainly music to the ears of the investment community. With 10 properties expected to be added in 2015, the resulting balance of 90 properties to be added over the ensuing four years will be a formidable challenge.

As a point of reference, Starwood acquired the nascent Luxury Collection brand when Starwood acquired Sheraton from ITT in 1998. That soft-brand has been grown to 98 properties, but over a period of 17 years. Marriott founded its Autograph Collection soft-brand in 2010, launching with a group of seven properties under common ownership. After five years, the Autograph Collection has grown to 75 properties.

Given greater competition, plus a measured hotel supply growth forecast, Starwood expects to grow from 2016 to 2020 at a pace 50% faster than Marriott grew its Autograph Collection.

Another growth related challenge facing Starwood is size of he properties it is contracting. Marriott’s Autograph properties, at an average 233 rooms, are 40% larger than the typical property in the Marriott portfolio, due to the relatively high ratio of select service properties. If the average Tribute Portfolio property winds up comparably sized, it would be 33% smaller than the typical Starwood property, due to Starwood’s relatively high ratio of large resort and convention properties.

While the Royal Palm is nearing 400 rooms, the remaining four announced properties come in at an average size under 150 rooms, putting further pressure on overall chain growth results.

Starwood is not fighting Autograph alone. Hilton is ramping up its Curio soft-brand as well – stating that they want to have 350 hotels within the same five year time horizon. Considering the lifestyle brands as well, Marriott plans to open 150 Moxy properties, totalling 25,000 rooms by 2020. Hilton appears more patient with its new Canopy brand, wanting 30 properties by 2017, but ultimately seeking “hundreds” of properties within the next five to ten years.

The widespread strategy to add soft-brands is a comparatively straightforward method for the hotel groups to increase the number of available rooms within a given geographic territory, while continuing to satisfy market fencing defined in existing franchise and management agreements.

If the hotel group can properly position a new brand, it can conceptually be introduced without cannibalizing existing demand for hotels throughout existing hotel brand portfolios. How the hotel brands are differentiated from one-another is critically important for consumers and hotel owner/operator partners.

Significant brand density requires revenue management discipline to offer pricing consistent with market demand and relative brand positioning. That task is easier during periods when demand is strong, but such solidarity may be tested during economic downturns.

Location, Location, Location

Ellsworth Statler coined the famous phrase a century ago when asked about the three factors that dictated a hotel’s success. It remains a foundational axiom for real estate today.

Aron was clear about target markets for the Tribute brand “We know exactly where they’re telling us to be — Paris, London.” A list on a video featuring Starwood Preferred Guest members involved in the Tribute Portfoliobrand development process also included: New York, San Francisco, Hong Kong, Rome & Tokyo.

After the initial 393-room Royal Palm property in Miami (no issues there, it’s a solid international gateway city) the four additional locations have been confirmed as:

• Nashville, Tennessee (Noel Place Hotel, 166 rooms, opening 2016)
• Savannah, Georgia (Unnamed, 173 rooms, opening 2016)
• Asheville, North Carolina (Vandre Nouveau Hotel, 150 rooms, opening 2017)
• Charleston, South Carolina (Unnamed, 100 rooms, opening 2017)

The four additional cities are not exactly pulling from the top of the target list. Starwood senior vice president Dave Marr, has indicated that the Tribute brand will be sourcing its properties from a potential pool of 600 properties globally. Capturing a one-third share of a prospect pool within five years is an admirable goal. The challenge will be to secure hotels in the locations that the guests are demanding.

Whither (or Wither) the Legacy Brands?

As much attention as Starwood’s lifestyle brands may be getting, Starwood still needs to address the challenges facing its large legacy brands. Together Sheraton and Westin represent 53% of Starwood’s overall hotel portfolio and 66% of its room inventory.

Mr. Aron recently admitted its Sheraton brand, needs some work, stating the brand “needs to be significantly reinvigorated” and “we have some hotels that need more focus on the fundamentals of delivering service quality to our guests…” Ouch. Statement like that, in addition to freezing up development efforts, signal inventory losses from brand pruning and the inevitable Property Improvement Program to reposition the hotels – putting additional pressure on organizational growth rates.

Aron further elaborated that the solution to Sheraton’s woes could “only come from top-notch marketing.” One might argue that the fundamentals of delivering quality service are an operational, as opposed to a marketing, challenge. Others might suggest that many hotels within the Sheraton portfolio would require significant capital infusions to update and/or upgrade their facilities to successfully refresh the brand.

Unfortunately, one of the downsides of the “asset-light” strategy that dramatically reduced the real estate held by major hotel groups in an effort to slim down balance sheets, leaves brand management dramatically less control over property-level hotel investment decisions. Starwood owns only 3% of its hotels. 48% are under management contracts and 49% are franchised. Not so long ago, the splits were equal thirds.

The other brands will be pressed to pick up any slack. While Starwood’s W and St. Regis brands are respected, together they represent a paltry 6.6% of Starwood’s total properties and only 5.9% of available rooms. Starwood’s Luxury Collection soft-brand contributes a mere 7.8% of the hotel portfolio and 5.3% of the rooms.

This may be one reason that Starwood recently announced its decision to explore strategic alternatives, with Starwood chairman Bruce Duncan emphasizing, “No option is off the table.” Wall Street’s expectations may simply be too aggressive. Growing while repositioning 2/3 of the rooms is a tall order. Breaking up the group to feed growth hungry competitors might be one option, but that could negate the value of the highly regarded Starwood Preferred Guest program.

Hopeful Hyperbole or Delusional Deception?

Across all the major hotel groups, the flowery adjectives adorning the hotel brand descriptions often appear to be sourced from some warped marketing edition of a Bullshit Bingo Thesaurus.

For example, this is how the new Tribute Portfolio brand is described on Starwood.com:

OUR HOTELS
This isn’t about us. It’s about you. You want more incredible hotels in exciting locations, superior service and the SPG member benefits you love. Tribute Portfolio invites you to discover hotels as unique as you are. Stay Independent.

This may be a personal preference, but when I am trying to select a hotel to stay in, or a hotel brand to affiliate with, it IS about the hotel brand, not the traveler.

That description says very little about the brand, except that they are “incredible” hotels in “exciting” locations with “superior” service. That covers a lot of territory. For someone basing a decision on that description alone, it also creates the perception of an exceptional hotel guest experience. Expectations are set pretty high when booked into an “incredible” hotel – especially one in an exciting location with superior service. Without any detail provided, it sounds like my kind of place.

That’s the problem – guests want the details to understand if the hotel truly is their type of place. If they book and it is not, they get disappointed and vent their frustration on TripAdvisor.

Websites and Pictures Worth 1,000 Words – In an Language You Don’t Understand

The fast-tracked Tribute Portfolio launch happened so quickly that the brand has not yet made its debut in the Starwood Hotels list of brands on its consumer website – not even on the corporate brand pages. It’s not even in the brand footers at the bottom of every Starwood Hotels web page either. There has been an area of the Starwood website created for the Tribute Portfolio, it’s just very hard to find at this point.

Brand websites, striving for consistency, often serve the lowest common denominator, failing to promote the key attributes of the brands. Architectural shots of vacant lobbies/rooms, close-ups of food, or attractive models posed in generic surroundings are the interchangeable puzzle pieces assembled into mood boards masquerading as websites.

Starwood produced a nice teaser video for Tribute Portfolio – very light on specifics, but that is normally acceptable for a brand that does not yet exist. The playful, video does communicate that the hotels will be different.

Compare the video with the web page on the Starwood website for the Royal Palm, the first member of the Tribute Portfolio. Most people could not possibly deduce any form of connection between the emotive quality of the video and the web page responsible for closing sales. That is not a good thing.

Screenshot of the web page for Starwood’s founding Tribute Portfolio hotel, the Royal Palm in Miami. It communicates nearly nothing about the hotel, and less about the brand, to a prospective guest.

For those feeling bad for how Starwood is executing with its Tribute Portfolio soft-brand, it could be worse. Below is the initial image and copy loaded into the Curio page of the Hilton website. The combination of black & white generic imagery and the heavy handed price/book direct messaging says a lot; just not anything good about its collection of independent hotels.

It’s difficult to imagine what Hilton was thinking by introducing its Curio soft-brand using this design/messaging. Maybe they weren’t…

The Brand Identification Quiz

It will be interesting to see how self-confident industry insiders and travel industry experts perform on this little test. The goal is simple – Match the hotel brand description with the correct hotel brand. If the marketing teams for the major hotel chains have done a good job, it should be easy. The sad reality is that in many cases, you may be lucky to select a brand that is categorized within the same chain scale.

Again, the brand names, trademarks, geographic areas and unit counts have been replaced with generic [Brand], [trademark], [area] and [number] placeholders to avoid providing obvious hints.

Each of the 100 hotel brand descriptions belong to a brand that is a member of one of the top 10 global hotel groups. Each description was taken from its parent hotel chain web site. Again, cheating is no fun – it is much more entertaining to see which hotel groups do the best job of describing their respective hotel brands.

The winner will be the individual who correctly identifies the most hotel brands correctly. In the case of a tie, the earliest submission will serve as the tie breaker.

Good Luck. You will need it. Actually clairvoyance might be much more useful…

The winning prize will again be heartfelt congratulations and a personal sense of a job well done.

The game will close at 23:59 US Central Time on Friday, May 22, 2015. The winner and full answer key will be posted shortly thereafter.

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Based on an average grade of C- for individuals familiar with the hotel industry recognizing hotel brand affiliations, this must be the grading scale some hotel brands internally use themselves…
Photo Credit: PapJeff (cc|flickr)

Major hotel groups continuously pitch the strength of their brand positioning when soliciting management and franchise agreements to hotel owners. The brands are positioned relative to the competition, markets segmented to align prototype properties with highly attractive traveler personas, and lots of image-rich language glowingly portrays the brand as a perfect fit for the prospect.

From a consumer perspective, the distinctions may not be so clear. As demonstrated by the travel/hotel wonks that tend to follow this blog, when asked to match the 100 hotel brands to their parent top 10 global hotel groups, answers were not clear-cut.

While the sample size and methodology can in no way be claimed to be statistically significant, comprehensive, or even scientific, there are some clear indications that hotel branding relationships could use some work. The average score wound up being a miserable C-.

This was despite simplifying the test with easy questions allowing one to match the “Best Western”, “Hilton”, “Hyatt”, “Marriott” and “Wyndham” brands to the “Best Western”, “Hilton”, “Hyatt”, “Marriott” or “Wyndham” hotel groups. The two individuals tied with the highest score of 94 out of 100 still missed 6% of the questions.

Considering the scale of fees extracted to support brand advertising, the full group of 100 brands scoring only just over 70% on their parent brand relationships raises serious questions. First, is if the positioning of these hotel brands within a parent hotel group is critical to the success of the member properties, and second,

Given the asset-light strategy employed by virtually all the major hotel groups, if the other shoe were to drop and hotels started questioning the value of the brand identities, hotel groups now lack a large group of owned properties to serve as an anchor to their portfolios. Without clear-cut competitive advantages or product differentiators, franchise and/or management agreement renewals tend to gravitate toward discussions of fee levels.

For the publicly held hotel groups, lowering fee levels – which negatively impact margins, represent a major red-flag for institutional investors. Pressure is compounded by the share growth of online travel agencies and increased online distribution. What happens if OTAs or publisher-backed soft brands begin to become more important to guests than traditional multi-brand hotel groups?

The Hotel Brand Explosion

Hotel Group Performance

For the vast majority of the large, well-established, global hotel brands, parent affiliations were clearly understood. However, this is not the immediate battleground for most hotel groups. Instead, most are focused on expanding the number and property count of their new hotel brands.

As opposed to commenting on all the brands where the affiliations were well known (that should be the expectation), the focus will be on those brands scoring at the low end of the spectrum.

Accor
Aside from the two year old MGallery soft-branded collection of independent properties, Accor’s member brands were largely recognized by the respondents.

Best Western
When presented alone, the “Premier” tier of Best Western’s branding is not readily associated with the brand. It may be safe to assume that the perception of Best Western is stronger than the designation for its upscale product line.

Carlson
Somewhat surprisingly, the Carlson brand portfolio wound up scoring the lowest degree of recognition among the top 10 global brands – 58%. While it is understandable that the new Radisson Red and Quorvus Collection brands, both launched in 2014, have not yet become established, the Country Inns & Suites brand founded in 1987, was also rarely associated with its parent.

Choice
Unlike Carlson, Choice cold not point to newly announced brands pulling down its average – neither the Rodeway and MainStay Suites brands, both established in the 1990’s were associated with Choice, nor were the Cambria Suites or Suburban brands (launched in 2007 & 2005 respectively). Like many other soft-branded groupings, the Ascend Collection was also often orphaned.

Hilton
The newly launched Canopy brand and Curio brands may not have attained top of mind awareness as Hilton brands, but most of the other brands have. The rare exception was the slow-starting extended-stay Home2 brand, now in its fifth year. This may reflect a pattern, as Hilton’s 15 year-old extended-stay Homewood Suites brand only attained a middling score.

Hyatt
Hyatt’s two new all-inclusive brands, the adults-only Zilara and Family oriented Ziva, both opening this month were virtual unknowns. Andaz, now seven years old, still seems to lack identification with Hyatt as its parent.

Intercontinental
It’s logical that some may have missed the news of Kimpton’s acquisition by Intercontiental, and the new Even brand is still unknown, but the respondents sadly failed to recognize the decade-old triumvirate of Candlewood, Indigo and Staybridge as belonging to IHG – that’s not a good thing.

Marriott
With a total of sixteen brands, Marriott won in the quantity department. Its new brands – including Ian Schrager’s Edition, Moxy and Protea, as well as the slightly older acquisitions AC and Gaylord are generally not known as Marriott brands. Better, yest still somewhat average scores were attained for the still often overshadowed, SpringHill and TownPlace brands.

Starwood
The hotel group with the most recognized brand affiliations was Starwood – scoring 86%. The brands pulling down the average were Le Meridien and the Luxury Collection soft-brand, with St. Regis scoring slightly higher. All other Starwood brands were widely recognized, scoring over 90%.

Wyndham
Narrowly losing out to Carlson by only two points (at 60%), in the low score competition, was Wyndham. [Brand] Garden and [Brand] Grand appeared to be frequently confused with Hilton Garden Inn and Grand Hyatt. However, unique and comparatively well established brands, Baymont, Days Inn, Microtel and Tryp all scored failing grades below 60%, while Howard Johnson, Knights Inn and Super 8 were close behind, attaining D level scores. Without any new brands launched or acquired since 2010, if Carlson’s two brands launched in 2014 were removed from consideration, Wyndham would have had the lowest score.

The table below includes each of the 100 brands surveyed, grouped by parent hotel chain, including the year that the brand and that chain were first paired. A letter grade is also provided – this grade reflects a straight grading of the success rate of the respondents from the Hotel Brand Matching Test. The scale was 90+% = A, 80+% = B, 70+% = C, 60%+ = D and below 60% = F.

NOTE: The term [Brand] was used as a variable when the hotel chain name was used in the hotel brand name.

Here are the results, by brand and parent chain:
 

 
From a personal perspective, I also took the test – scoring only 97 – unable to correctly match three hotels correctly to their parent chains, despite having created the test myself… The hotel guests never stood a chance.

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Some questions are not as simple as they look… Like matching 100 hotel brands
Photo Credit: Duncan Hull (cc|flickr)

Despite the hotel business tallying record performance, the opening of new hotel supply continues to lag demand growth. However, this is not stopping the major hotel groups from creating new brands and making acquisitions to expand their empires.

Hotel groups frequently explain that they create new hotel brands to address the needs of the modern traveler. Some more jaded industry observers might characterize that as code for optimizing market coverage without infringing on the territories defined by franchise agreements for their existing brands.

From the chain perspective, more hotel rooms in a given market grows fee revenue; rationalized, it is always better to compete with oneself than the enemy. For the individual hotel owner, that is generally not the case – revenues streams are personal – and property specific.

So, as an intellectual challenge to industry insiders and frequent travelers, here is a little test – Match the Hotel Brand with it’s Parent Hotel Chain. Simple, right? Prove it…

To make the quiz a bit more challenging, the “Hotels and Resorts,” “Inns and Suites” and “by Brand” qualifiers were all removed unless they were necessary to eliminate an ambiguity between brand names. Also, to make it a bit more difficult, whenever a hotel group name was used in combination with another term, a generic [Brand] replaced the identifiable name.

The more demanding test would have involved asking respondents to describe each brand, or worse, differentiate them from the other brands. Sadly, many hotel group executives are hard pressed to accomplish that for their own brand portfolios…

All of the 100 brands listed are real and belong to one of the 10 major hotel groups listed. No cheating – it will be much more fun to learn which brand relationships are best understood, and which are most often confused.

The winner will be the individual who pairs the most brands correctly, in the shortest period of time.

Good Luck.

The Quiz is Now Completed/Closed

For the full answer key, please see Hotel Brand Matching Test Results

CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR WINNER – Kerry Boatwright with an impressive score of 94 of 100.

Kerry narrowly defeated John McAuliffe, who also scored 94, but took a mere 20 seconds longer to complete the quiz.

It doesn’t get much closer than that…

The winning prize will be the heartfelt congratulations and awestruck envy of the global hotel industry… plus a personal sense of a job well done.

The game will close at 23:59 US Central Time on Wednesday, December 24, 2014. Santa’s Elves (having nothing else to do, and wanting to keep busy) will post the correct answers and winner’s name on Thursday, December 25th.

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If Travel Innovation Summit Bingo catches on, next year we might be able to hire this guy to officiate…
Photo Credit: sandwichgirl (cc|flickr)

The diversity of products and varied backgrounds of the presenters is wide-ranging. The quality of the demonstrations can be equally varied.

In the past some very interesting products have been inadvertently undermined by an incoherent narrative or ineffective presentation skills. Similarly, some questionably viable products have wowed audiences with slick presentations.

The session, spanning six hours end-to-end, can get grueling. A barrage of thirty demonstrations, sequenced in waves of ten, are interrupted only by lunch, and a single afternoon break.

A portion of the time is allocated for a panel of experts to offer commentary on the merits or shortcomings of the product or demonstration.

If only there was something fun to do for all the ADHD travel industry marketing and technology types to pass the time…

Even better if the form of entertainment still required paying attention to what the presenters were saying…

In the interest of providing a public service, I respectfully introduce:

2013 PhoCusWright Travel Innovation Summit Bingo

As an alternative, if you would prefer to download a PDF copy of the Bingo card, click here: 2013 PhoCusWright Travel Innovation Summit Bingo Card.

Note: If you don’t like the combination of phrases on the card, wait a couple minutes and reload this page. An updated card including a variety of new terms should appear. The cards are dynamically generated from a list of over 100 buzzwords. The PDF version is also created on the fly.

The rules for TIS Bingo are simple – each time a specific phrase is uttered during a session, mark it off the card. The first person to get five in a horizontal, vertical or diagonal row wins. The “AWESOME” square in the middle is a free space, as it is assumed that term will be used in every presentation.

While not wanting to pass judgement on those who may want to play under strict or lenient rules, words and phrases prefixed, suffixed, featuring related tenses, conjugations or forms may certainly be permitted as matches.

In one minor variation from standard Bingo rules, in deference to those on stage, TIS Bingo players should refrain from screaming “Bingo!” in the ballroom. Instead, proclaim your accomplishment using the hashtag #TISBingo on your social media platform of choice.

Also, if you believe there should be additional words or terms added to the list, please do not hesitate to recommend them. Use the #TISBingo hashtag on Twitter for speediest results.

Potential Variations Are Unlimited

Feel free to enlist your friends and make up your own rules.

For those lacking elderly ancestors expert at Bingo, here is a quick synopsis of alternative patterns that may be mutually agreed upon IN ADVANCE to determine the winning card:

Bingo Pattern Variations

• The letters C, E, F, L, N, O, T, U, X, Y & Z (L’s can be in any orientation)
• Postage Stamp (four adjacent squares in any corner) – Includes double, triple & quadruple (cloverleaf) variations
• Four Corners (and Inside Four Corners – adjacent to the center square)
• Plus Sign (large & small)
• Blackout (all squares)
• Diamond (inside & outside)
• Picture Frame (inside or outside)
• Railroad Tracks (parallel lines with an empty row between)
• Six or Nine Pack (adjacent squares forming a rectangle)
• Kite – combining the Postage Stamp and Diagonal (any direction)

(Full credit to my Polish Grandmother-in-law who played with five cards simultaneously)

Another option for play is to forget about those demonstrating at the Travel Innovation Summit and pick on the experts instead by extending the competition to include the Center Stage sessions on Wednesday and Thursday.

It is always fun to see if expert panelists, talkbackers, PhoCusWright analysts or CEO’s of publicly traded companies (constrained by SEC rules governing the release of non-public information) resort to buzzwords in their professionally groomed remarks.

For the truly adventurous – especially those who want to score Bingo’s with mind-numbing haste, before a cocktail reception, casually let it slip that you are the decision maker for a new investment group interested in angel-stage investments ranging from $1,000,000 to $2,500,000 for a select group of innovative travel startups.

Of course, if your jaded, cynical self can’t stand to listen to the speakers, you can easily turn your Bingo card into a Travel Innovation Summit Word Game. Just make up your own fictional product and try to describe it by incorporating all 25 words into the description.

Invite a colleague for some friendly competition. Whoever can create a description using the fewest total number of words wins!

Some Background on the Event

For those unfamiliar with the Travel Innovation Summit, participants pay between $13,000 & $16,000 (which includes two 3-day passes to the full PhoCusWright Conference) each to demonstrate.

Each entry has eight minutes to demonstrate their innovation on stage. Each demonstration is followed by a 2 1/2 minute panel critique and a one-minute rebuttal by the demonstrator.

At stake, in addition to the audience exposure and adulation from Travel Innovation Summit groupies, are a variety of awards are presented:

• The Brand USA Marketing Innovation Award – for the best innovation related to tourism marketing
• The General Catalyst Award for Travel Innovation – a $250,000 convertible bridge loan to a company less than three years old, currently in the process of raising capital and not yet having raised more than $1 million to date
• Winner and Runner-up for each of the three maturity categories
• Winner and Runner-up in the Startup category (Less than 18 months old)
• Winner and Runner-up in the Emerging category (18-36 months old)
• Winner and Runner-up in the Established category (3+ years old)
• Best Business to Consumer innovation
• Best Business to Business innovation
• People’s Choice (Audience-voted award)

There is no formal award presentation to the TIS Bingo winner. Heartfelt congratulations may be extended at the cocktail reception following the sessions.

The Critics Circle, panelists responsible for providing feedback after every presentation are:

• Miriam Moscovici, Director, Emerging Technologies, BCD Travel
• Evan Konwiser, Entrepreneur/Advisor/Consultant, Independent Consultant
• Erik Blachford, Venture Partner, Technology Crossover Ventures

Participants are scored on the level of technical innovation, business value and potential marketplace impact by a panel of judges. This year’s group include:

• Bill Bailey, Vice President, Corporate and Business Development, TripAdvisor
• Gregg Brockway, Co-Founder and former EVP and General Manager, TripIt
• Bill Carroll, Senior Lecturer, School of Hotel Administration, Cornell University
• Fritz Demopoulos, Co-Founder, Qunar and Managing Director, Queen’s Road Capital
• Glenn Fogel, Head of Worldwide Strategy and Planning and EVP, Corporate Development, Priceline.com Inc.
• Eric Hart, Vice President, Corporate Development, Expedia Inc.
• Chris Hemmeter, Managing Director, Thayer Ventures
• Jim Hornthal, Chairman, Triporati and Former CEO, Preview Travel
• Ellen Keszler, President and CEO, Clear Sky Associates
• Debu Purkayastha, Principal, New Business Development, Google Inc.
• Diego Saez-Gil, CEO, WeHostels
• Tim Stanley, SVP of Enterprise Strategy and Cloud Innovation, Salesforce.com
• Ned Williams, Partner, Brook Venture Fund

The Combatants
This years list of demonstrators again represents a diverse group of hopefuls dreaming of more than 11.5 minutes of fame:

• BevyUp
• CheckMate
• Concur Technologies
• DataPop
• DerbySoft
• Flights With Friends
• Freeppie
• GetGoing.com
• Globa.li
• GoWiMi
• Groupize
• KDS
• MakeMyTrip.com
• MiniTime
• Mygola
• OLSET
• Ostrovok.ru
• Peek
• Rome2rio
• Roomer Travel
• Routehappy
• Sabre Travel Network
• SafelyStay
• Sociomantic Labs
• TravelPayouts by JetRadar
• TravelShark
• Ve-Go
• VerbalizeIt
• WanderWe
• What Now Travel

Alternates
In the rare event of flight delays, cessation of operations, stage fright, or poisoning at the hand of competitors, four alternates are eagerly waiting in the wings for their opportunity to wow the crowd:

• Localeur
• Make It Social
• Travel.ru
• XciteDeal

Flights With Friends, Globa.li, OLSET, Routehappy and SafelyStay were all recipients of Travel Innovation Summit scholarships that helped defray the cost of participation.

You Must Not Be Present To Play

Best of all, because the PhoCusWright Conference is streamed live, everyone at home can play Travel Innovation Summit Bingo! Get access here: PhocusWright Online Ticket 2013. Again, the #TISBingo hashtag can be used to compare scores and keep up between attending and remote players.

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Hoteliers say accusers of price fixing are spinning their wheels, but regulators believe where there’s smoke, there’s fire…
Photo Credit: spwelton (cc|flickr)

Hotel brands and OTAs rely on rate parity as the basis for consumer best price guarantees. Lawyers call it Resale Price Maintenance (RPM.) The uninformed call it price fixing. Only one thing is for certain – passions run high and everyone feels they are somehow being wronged by the accusations of the other side.

The UK Office of Fair Trading (OFT), the French Competition Authority, the Swiss Competition Commission and Germany’s Federal Cartel Office are all investigating the practice. Some opportunistic US lawyers are busy filing class action suits.

The allegations range from hotels artificially inflating consumer prices, to OTAs using their market power to prohibit hotels from giving competitors lower prices, to hotels colluding with the OTAs to limit the number of competing OTAs.

Oddly, as oppositional and contradictory as these charges may be, they pertain to exactly the same pricing mechanism. It would seem to be highly unlikely that all suppliers and distributors, both severally and collectively, are simultaneously leveraging their market power to constrain trade with each other.

What follows is an attempt to remove the emotion, evaluate the facts, and come to some reasonable conclusions about the nature of hotel rate parity – it is easiest to think of it as a Manufacturers Suggested Retail Price. From here forward, I’ll call it RPM, not only because that’s the correct legal term, but just like automotive engines, when RPM’s get high, there’s often lots of loud whining, uncontrollable shaking, billowing smoke, and the emission of noxious gasses…

How Hotel Pricing Works

Before getting into the details of RPM, it’s beneficial to understand why hotels apply the practice in the first place. It is all based on how hotels have traditionally been priced and sold.

A hotel product is not simply a room. It is actually the combination of 1) a room category (inventory) and 2) a rate plan (price.) This is very similar to an airline, where a comparable product is created by pricing an Economy class seat (inventory) with, for example, a Y (unrestricted,coach) fare.

A hotel room category is normally a variety of rooms or room types that may or may not relate to a grouping of physical room numbers. A room category may be based on the room size, view, building/floor, bedding, room features, amenity package, special services, accessibility, elevator proximity, renovation status, or frankly, anything else the hotel might come up with to efficiently manage its inventory.

Perennial favorite room categories for consumers are “Partial Ocean View King” and “Run of House.” Oceans are big. Partial views sound quite small. One always wonders if such a view requires standing on the patio chair to catch a glimpse of the ocean around the side of the hotel. Run of House simply means there is no specific type of room associated with the rate. However, any particular hotel’s translation for ROH could fall anywhere between “whatever we have left” to “tipping the desk clerk might improve your options…”

Hotel rate plans, on the other hand, define the actual monetary value assigned to each of these types of room. They are more virtual in nature. They might be associated with a specific distribution channel, transaction model, agency relationship, market segment, corporation, group, travel management company, advance purchase timeframe, yield tier, payment method, or again, any other pricing method that might work for the hotel.

But the complexity does not stop there. The length of stay may also influence product availability or pricing (for example, a three night stay may be priced less or offer greater availability than any single night stay during the same timespan. A good example is how LAs Vegas casinos control inventory and pricing over high demand weekend periods, or Dallas hotels manage inventory over Texas-OU weekend. These are called Full Pattern Length of Stay controls. Adding closed to arrival, minimum stay or no departure constraints to seasons or date ranges can add further dimensions to a hotel product line.

Additionally, there may be inventory allocations or rate fences established that close out availability of specific room categories or rate plans at defined occupancy levels, or after a certain number of reservations are booked for a specific category, plan and/or combination. The lead time prior to arrival is also considered when applying such rules.

Just to make certain there are a daunting number of pricing/availability permutations and combinations, floating pricing tiers may be overlaid as an additional dimension.

To make matters worse, since not all rate plans apply to all room categories, the resulting array of options can be anything but intuitive – for consumers and hotel management alike.

Ultimately, this all winds up getting worked out at the property level, where there may be varying degrees of expertise or revenue management system sophistication to coalesce all these options into a logical, consumer friendly strategy. As a result, two similar properties could offer consumers dramatically different pricing structures and discounting strategies for a remarkably similar product offering.

But hotels are not just only sold directly to consumers. Intermediaries, such as OTAs, play a significant role in the hotel distribution equation.

Distribution through third parties doesn’t make things any easier. Intermediaries can sell hotels under two methods – First, is a retail model, where the hotel serves as merchant of record for the sale and an intermediary serves as its agent, receiving a commission in exchange for referring the sale. OTAs often call this the Commission or Agency Model. Booking.com typically sells hotels under the agency model, as do most traditional travel agencies.

The second is a wholesale model, with the intermediary serving as the merchant of record for the sale, marking up a net rate provided by the hotel. The intermediary profit is the difference between the net rate and the retail price charged to the consumer. This is commonly referred to by OTAs as the Merchant Model. It is the predominant method employed by Expedia/Hotels.com and most tour operators for hotel bookings.

But not all merchant model bookings are created equal. A net rate for a wholesaler selling a room-only booking might float at 15% under the hotel’s best available rate, where a wholesale package rate might receive a 25% discount. An opaque rate, used to move distressed inventory through Priceline could see a 50% price reduction.

Unlike consumer package goods, the Manufacturers Suggested Retail Price is not simply $299 for a 32GB iPhone 5s until Apple decides to release it next model. Hotel prices can change instantaneously based on perceived fluctuations in market demand, competitive actions or the number and pricing of reservations on the books – for various stay patterns – for various arrival dates streaming into the future.

There is little fixed when it comes to hotel pricing.

Now for a Brief History Lesson

Given the highly variable nature and extreme complexity of hotel pricing structures, it is important to note that hotel rate parity RPM is nothing new.

The merchant model was born decades ago (unquestionably as early as the 1950’s,) when tour operators contracted hotel rooms at net wholesale rates. Those rates were explicitly made available only for sale in combination with flights within inclusively priced travel packages. The wholesalers (often referred to as consolidators) were free to offer discounted package pricing that was lower than the combined retail prices of the individual travel components.

In some cases, the discounts could be so deep that one of the travel components might appear to be offered free of charge. This was acceptable to the hotels and airlines as it was impossible for consumers to determine the underlying pricing of the individual components.

Room-only hotel sales at these net rates were explicitly forbidden. If the tour operator did offer a standalone hotel product, those rooms could be sold on a commissionable basis, or at higher (lower percentage discount) net rate plan quoted by the hotel, if the wholesaler desired to sell the room naked and maintain its role as merchant of record.

In some cases, hotels might agree to deeper discounts/higher commissions for international guests in consideration of the potential to capture incremental sales and the inability for domestic consumers to learn of special pricing made available solely to those living on another continent. This was especially true if retail distribution was primarily channeled through retail travel agencies.

Over the years, a strict policy was applied to negotiated corporate, preferred travel agency, consortia, group and government rates, as well as for complimentary or bartered room inventory. The policy fundamentally forbid these organizations from the “onward-distribution” of discounted rates to third parties or unaffiliated consumers at rates that undercut the hotel’s retail pricing.

To a large extent, these policies still remain in effect today. it is what keeps every travel agency from quoting a unique rate that is different from the rate quoted by the hotel or any other travel seller on the planet. If such a policy was allowed, consumer confusion would be rampant, with the introduction of tremendous market inefficiency surrounding a low price search process.

Variable Pricing Strategies Make Pricing Dynamic

One change from the distant past was the advancement of technology that allowed pricing to be instantly changed at the discretion of the hotel. Earlier, hotels would commonly negotiate tour operator and corporate rates on an annual basis, often in the summer preceding the year to be contracted. This resulted in static rates extending out 15+ months that could leave the hotel uncompetitive if they overestimated demand, or leave money on the table if demand was underestimated.

Worse yet, if hotels adjusted their retail pricing based on updated demand forecasts at some point throughout the year, previously contracted tour operator margins could get squeezed if prices were reduced, or wildly inflated if retail pricing was raised.

Fortunately, once travel agencies, OTAs, corporations and tour operators were able to electronically interface with hotel reservation systems to interactively transmit rate and availability queries, new relative pricing structures were developed. Discounted and wholesale rate plans could then be priced at a percentage off of the BAR (Best Available Rate,) or the lowest generally available, published rate for a particular stay pattern.

The whole pricing structure may also be pegged to vary based on increases/decreases in the BAR. One large hotel group allows up to 28 rate tiers so relative pricing schemes may be ratcheted up or down depending on forecast demand.

The greatest benefit of this approach was the ability to unify the strategies governing property retail pricing structures with intermediary agency and merchant model compensation models.

If a hotel charged $200/night, an OTA receiving a 20% commission would receive $40 under the agency model and an OTA receiving a 20% discount under the merchant model would see a $160 net rate – yielding a $40 margin on the sale.

The benefit not only reduced market confusion by presenting clear consumer messaging regarding pricing across hotel-direct or intermediary channels, but it also enabled hotels and OTAs alike to offer best rate guarantees to consumers, confirming the integrity of their branding.

If the hotel later dropped the BAR to $180, the agency-model OTA commission would automatically be reduced to $36.00, matching a new OTA merchant-model margin of $36.00 on an adjusted $154.00 net rate.

In each case, consumers reserving a standalone hotel room would receive the lowest publicly available rate, regardless of the booking channel or business model it was purchased under.

This is where uninformed accusations of “price fixing” fall apart. Hotels independently set prices based on market conditions, not under the collusion-inspired duress wrought by competitive hotels and/or intermediaries, as imagined by delusional conspiracy theorists. RPM is used to effectively manage the frequent price variations across multiple business models and distribution channels for a perishable product.

The practice enables the added consumer protection of the best price guarantee.

Sliding under the BAR

But hotels don’t sell all their product under direct, agency or merchant rate plans that operate under RPM. Three additional online distribution products are available to quote rates for sale that are not subject to RPM: Opaque, Package & Private Sale.

Opaque covers Priceline’s reverse auction “Name Your Own Price” model, as well as their new “Express Deals” option that mimics Hotwire’s opaque hotel product where the rate is revealed, but not the property name until after the purchase is consummated. Brand agnostic consumers can normally save 20-50+% by waiting for the hotel to be revealed after the booking. To see how to game the opaque sites for fun & savings, see Travel Gamification – How to Save Money Booking Hotels.

The standard opaque pitch is that these sites make a pool of brand-agnostic consumers available to hoteliers who then have the opportunity to wow the guest with service and convert them to repeat guests. Two flaws in this logic are apparent – First, these consumers are already brand indifferent, with that behavior reinforced with up to 70% savings as a reward. Their loyalty aligns with the discounted booking channel, not the hotels that it assigns them.

Secondly, it is a fairly tall order to win over a new client, not because the hotel stay isn’t great, but when the price is doubled for a return trip, a completely different value paradigm exists. For guests already comfortable booking opaque hotels, why should they take the risk of staying at a known property at little or no discount when maybe an even better hotel is available at a lower price? Like the roulette wheel in Las Vegas, the game is specifically designed to tip the odds in favor of the house – in this case, the opaque travel site.

Hailing back to its wholesale roots, hotels are still generally sold below retail pricing within multi-component packages. With the advent of dynamic packaging, it is now relatively common for a traveler to create their own custom packages by combining a car rental or flight booking with a hotel stay to capture a discount.

The savings are typically sourced from the hotel discounts. Some OTAs do a poor job of combining car rental, treating it as a transparently priced add-on, which largely eliminates the ability to bundle in car rental discounts as well.

Proponents of dynamic packaging tout its superiority to opaque models for distributing discounted hotel rates and distressed inventory. Booking a hotel on an opaque website may shield the hotel brand prior to the sale, but once transacted, the guest knows the exact price for the hotel.

Because the relative wholesale pricing of the travel components is not known, and inventory may be sourced across multiple pricing tiers, hotel retail pricing integrity is maintained. It is difficult for travelers to reliably discern the underlying hotel pricing within a package. As a result, there is no practical need for resale price maintenance on package sales.

Private Sale websites are largely a misnomer. Members may see rates lower than BAR pricing, value added benefits, or sometimes both. The one stipulation is that the user must be registered for the service, so the rates are hypothetically suppressed from public view on a password protected site.

In most cases however, the websites require little more than an email address or registration via Facebook Connect to join their member communities. No fees or other qualification criteria exist – all are welcome. While this degree of inclusiveness is admirable, the composition of the membership is largely indistinguishable from the general public.. The bar established to vette suitability for membership is set unfathomably low – if bar exists at all.

Rise of the Guardians & Revenge of the Nerds

Hotel Reservations Network (HRN), the predecessor of Hotels.com, emerged early in the pre-internet 1990’s as a modern consolidator that focused on standalone hotel bookings. Agreements were simple and intentionally signed at property level in order to avoid interference from brand corporate offices. As HRN grew, hotels largely failed to recognize the ramifications of offering low wholesale rates without requiring prepayment or sharing inventory risk.

Unencumbered by restrictive contractual terms, HRN gained experience selling across multiple brands and a growing selection of geographic markets. With the advent of the internet, HRN leveraged its superior (although still rudimentary) business intelligence to offer consumers a best rate guarantee.

During peak demand periods, when HRN was inclined to optimize its margins, they often offered pricing higher than hotel-direct pricing. Few guests were inclined to test the veracity of the low price guarantee. During need periods, however, HRN aggressively under-cut hotel pricing to shift share and drive volume.

HRN smartly positioned itself to support do-it-yourself hotel booking through improved price transparency and comparison shopping. By 2001, many hotel groups intervened to negotiate more favorable terms on behalf of member hotels – normally introducing RPM conditions to regain some control over retail pricing.

The terrorist attacks of 9/11/2001 again altered the playing field. OTAs capable of channelling demand to desperate properties were openly allowed to violate RPM terms by desperate hotel managers. For a distressed hotel with ample room inventory, any booking was better than an empty room that had no prospect for sale through any other channel – regardless of a hotel brand’s recommendation to resist such temptation.

In 2004, the InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) distribution agreement was up for renewal. Expedia presumably sensed an opening to be opportunistic – As IHG only managed 200 of their 3,000+ properties, one could imagine it would be difficult to control franchisees who reportedly received upward of 15% of their transient business through Expedia’s websites that now included Hotwire and HRN, renamed as Hotels.com.

Expedia reportedly went all-in; demanding last room availability and the elimination of rate parity conditions. Expedia apparently guessed wrong.

IHG managed to convince its franchisees that they would forever lose control over their retail pricing structure if they acquiesced to Expedia’s demands. Instead of breaking the back of a major hotel group, with the potential for others to fall like dominoes based on this precedent, IHG stood firm and terminated its Expedia agreement. This single event emboldened other hotel groups that had been lackadaisically managing OTA RPM to start aggressively monitoring compliance and tighten contractual terms.

However, when the global financial crisis hit in 2008, many amnesiac hoteliers, forgetting their post 9/11 travails, again permitted the widespread undercutting of rates. This was sometimes exacerbated by the elimination of corporate positions responsible for monitoring compliance due to budget cuts.

At the present time, most major hotel groups and independent properties with competent revenue management capabilities operate with a low price guarantee pegged to the BAR and unilaterally apply RPM across all their room-only agency and merchant distribution channels.

Again the spurious price-fixing allegations also ignore the reality that only about one-third of hotel revenue is sourced through online channels. PhoCusWright’s Online Travel Overview, Twelfth Edition projects OTAs to generate 14% of US hotel revenue in 2014 – the same ratio as in 2011. That does not reflect a marketplace with OTAs exerting undue control over hoteliers.

PhoCusWright’s research projects more hotel room revenue sourced from hotel websites, but the gains are from offline hotel direct channels.

Similarly, the forecast growth of hotel website-sourced revenue share is not the result of fictionalized collusion by hoteliers wreaking revenge on OTAs, but the understandable shift from offline hotel direct and central reservations traffic to the hotel websites. Hotel corporate and group business segments continue to drive considerable volumes of business – largely outside the control of the major OTAs.

Given that the maturity of the US hotel market relative to online hotel booking predates markets within Europe and Asia Pacific regions, the US should provide an excellent example of a marketplace flourishing with ubiquitous RPM practices. Consumers are not disadvantaged. Neither hoteliers nor intermediaries are restraining trade or driving the other from the market due to iron-fisted control over distribution channels.

Introducing The Rule of Reason and the Introduction of Unreasonable Rules

With a mature market like the US functioning well, what could possibly be the problem? There is one legal twist – globally, legislation governing Resale Price Maintenance varies dramatically between jurisdictions.

The United States Supreme Court ruled in Leegin Creative Leather Products, Inc. v. PSKS, Inc. that vertical price restraints are to be evaluated based on the Rule of Reason. The rule distinguishes between price restraints with anti-competitive effects that are harmful to consumers, and those with procompetitive effects that are in the best interest of consumers.

When fundamentally weighing the benefits against the harm, the foremost issue is evidence of consumer injury as a direct result of the practice. There is no evidence of consumers being disadvantaged by rate parity policies with hotels; it is therefore permitted.

A major concern about RPM is it enables a practice that facilitates retailer and supplier collusion, for example, the exclusion of more efficient retailers by a supplier. This is not the case with hotels. Under the agency model, a more efficient travel retailer operates more profitably than its respective competitors. Under the merchant model, a more efficient wholesaler is able to derive the same profitability as a competitor at a lower degree of discounting by the hotelier. In the cases above, markets operate smoothly pursuant to capitalist principals.

A good example of an industry where RPM could have a detrimental impact on consumers would be pharmaceuticals, due to the proprietary nature of drugs and a lack of alternatives for an inventoriable product where prices rise when supply is artificially constrained. Hotels are largely a commoditized, perishable product that loses revenue if the supplier chooses to artificially constrain supply.

Even for merchant model transactions, the OTA is not a reseller in the classical sense. OTAs rarely incur any form of inventory risk through block commitments or prepayment. In most cases, even when the traveler prepays for the hotel room under a merchant transaction, the hotel is not paid until after the guest departs. Traditional reseller models have the reseller purchasing the goods from the supplier, incurring full inventory risk and then needing to sell the product on a retail basis to recoup their outlays. Under this scenario, it is important for the reseller to be able to reduce pricing as market demand decreases in order to effect a sale.

Competition-related challenges may also arise when consumers do not have access to low price discount alternatives. This is certainly not the case with hotels as opaque websites almost always offer discounted rates well below those offered on a retail basis. Also due to market forces and the fragmentation of the hotel industry, a large number of comparable hotels typically exist within any specific geographic area. Access to alternative and/or discounted product is not a common problem for travelers.

The UK Doesn’t Just Have Different Rules for Spelling and Driving

In the United Kingdom, the 1964 Resale Prices Act deemed all resale price agreements to be against the public interest, unless proven otherwise (pretty much the inverse of the 2007 US law.)

The issue of hotel parity was never raised until 2010 when Skoosh, an insignificant OTA with a hypothetical business model predicated on disregarding hotel contractual terms that required RPM, made reckless accusations of price fixing a) between hotel brands, 2) between OTAs and c) between hotels and OTAs.

The laughably ill-informed and naive accusations included rampant confusion between agency and reseller roles, resale price maintenance and most favored nations agreements, and the fundamental process of how hotel rates are established (which is incidentally, independently and at the property level.)

It was difficult to imagine how such wild fictions could be taken seriously, however the one organization that understood hotel distribution less than Skoosh was the OFT. And so, the boondoggle began.

After a two year investigation, the OFT alleged that Booking.com and Expedia each entered into separate agreements with InterContinental Hotels Group that restricted each OTA’s ability to discount the rate at which room only hotel accommodation bookings are offered to consumers. Because RPM is per se illegal by law in the UK, the OFT felt compelled to act.

The decision specifically cited a violation of Article 101(1) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, which states:

Article 101
1. The following shall be prohibited as incompatible with the internal market: all agreements between undertakings, decisions by associations of undertakings and concerted practices which may affect trade between Member States and which have as their object or effect the prevention, restriction or distortion of competition within the internal market, and in particular those which:
(a) directly or indirectly fix purchase or selling prices or any other trading conditions;
(b) limit or control production, markets, technical development, or investment;
(c) share markets or sources of supply;
(d) apply dissimilar conditions to equivalent transactions with other trading parties, thereby placing them at a competitive disadvantage;
(e) make the conclusion of contracts subject to acceptance by the other parties of supplementary obligations which, by their nature or according to commercial usage, have no connection with the subject of such contracts.

Any reasonable person reading that passage would naturally conclude that any violation would produce evidence that the actions of the transgressors “have as their object or effect the prevention, restriction or distortion of competition.”

However, the OFT decided to take a remarkably creative approach to interpreting the law by explicitly stating in Section 4.3 (The OFT’S Competition Concerns) of its document rather circuitously titled “Hotel online booking: Notice of intention to accept binding commitments to remove certain discounting restrictions for Online Travel Agents”:

The OFT considered that it was not necessary to demonstrate that the Relevant Price Agreements did, in fact, have anti-competitive effects in order to establish an infringement of the Chapter I prohibition and Article 101(1) TFEU

One would think that after investigating business practices in concerning the Competition Act and cartels (which is how this content is categorized on the OFT website), the OFT would be hell-bent on proving legal infringements by exposing a conspiracy among hoteliers or OTAs. One can only conclude that after two years of investigation, insufficient evidence of collusion or conspiracy existed – largely because it never occurred.

This thesis is supported by the actions of the OFT itself. Instead of arriving at a decision and enforcing the TFEU statute, the OFT appears to have admittedly confessed that it has not arrived at a decision, and instead has adopted the tangential strategy of securing commitments from the parties subject to Section 31A of the Competition Act of 1998.

The pertinent section states:

31A. Commitments
(1) Subsection (2) applies in a case where the OFT has begun an investigation under section 25 but has not made a decision (within the meaning given by section 31(2)).
(2) For the purposes of addressing the competition concerns it has identified, the OFT may accept from such person (or persons) concerned as it considers appropriate commitments to take such action (or refrain from taking such action) as it considers appropriate.

As a result, a truly bizarre resolution was adopted cooperatively by the OFT, Expedia, Booking.com and InterContinental Hotels Group. Full documentation can be found at the OFT Website: Investigation into the hotel online booking sector

To summarize, the following commitments would be made for a period of at least three years:

• The Commitments concern the freedom to offer Reductions in respect of Hotel Rooms at Hotel Properties located in the EU by OTAs to Closed Group Members who are UK Residents and who have made at least one Prior Booking with that OTA.
• The freedom to offer Reductions will be given to OTAs operating under any business model, irrespective of, for example, whether the Closed Group Member pays for the hotel room booking at the end of the hotel room reservation process or after his or her stay at the relevant hotel, or to whom the Closed Group Member makes payment.
• IHG will clarify or amend any existing commercial arrangements, if necessary, with Other OTAs to ensure that these arrangements comply with the Principles without undue delay… [and] ensure that, for the duration of the Commitments, any new commercial arrangements with Other OTAs comply with the Principles
• Reductions may be no greater than the level of commission earned by that OTA for the relevant Hotel Property.
• OTAs may publicise information regarding the availability of Reductions in a clear and transparent manner, including to price comparison websites and meta-search sites [but] cannot publicise information… which would allow a discounted retail rate to be calculated to consumers who are not Closed Group Members.
• Reductions means reductions off Headline Room Rates, for example by way of discounts, vouchers, rewards and/or cash back…
• Closed Group means a group where membership is not automatic and where: (i) consumers actively opt in to become a member; (ii) any online or mobile interface used by Closed Group Members is password protected; and (iii) Closed Group Members have completed a Customer Profile.

Breaking this down, the OFT managed to strike a dubious Trifecta of a) Not helping consumers that have never booked through an online travel agency, b) Merely redefined an OTA as a Private Sale website and c) Undermining the retail pricing structure of the hotel industry.

The burning question is why would the companies involved not just tell the OFT to pound sand and come back when they had firm evidence of anticompetitive behavior and damage inflicted upon markets or consumers.

Based on pure conjecture, there would be no incentive to fight such a decision if it was beneficial to the organization. For Expedia, this commitment creates an outcome that fulfills fifteen years fighting to establish a competitive advantage under the merchant model by setting prices a levels below those offered by the hotel. Booking.com, as an agency model shop, would be equally thrilled by the structure of the commitments that provide them with similar advantages.

As far as IHG is concerned, it is hard to say why they failed to put up a fight. The burden of proof would have been on them to prove that hotel rate parity clauses do not “effect the prevention, restriction or distortion of competition,” but it appears that the OFT had a hard time proving that they do… At the least, they could have started with the points I raised above.

I am desperately hoping that they were not trying to be clever, egotistically believing that while the elimination of rate parity would suck for the hotel industry, it would suck less for them, given their global footprint and asset-light portfolio. When revenue streams are reduced, hotel owners get squeezed because they bear the operating costs and debt service; the brands continue to collect to be compensated for their franchise fees, albeit adjusted for lower hotel revenues.

Somewhat tragically, as much of a beneficial service that was done for the hotel industry by IHG’s management team in 2004, an equally, if not more disastrous degree of damage will be inflicted upon the industry when these conditions are adopted by the EU – which appears likely given the defined scope of geographic market coverage detailed in the commitments.

There will also be intense pressure for the elimination of resale price maintenance in other jurisdictions – regardless of standing legal precedent. Remember that old HRN divide & conquer strategy? Get ready for it to be deployed by market managers on a newly enriched, weaponized level.

But before predicting the impact on the hotel industry, let’s first cover why this ill-advised decision by the OFT lacks merit.

Why the UK Office of Fair Trading (and the European Union) are Getting this All Wrong

Resale Price Maintenance, as manifested by the global hotel industry, is procompetitive and in the best interest of consumers.

The points below highlight the principal arguments that RPM should be outlawed due to a negative impact on consumers. Clearly, none of these scenarios apply to hotel RPM policies.

Hotel RPM practices are not anticompetitive, because they do not:

1. Eliminate retail price competition between brands that independently establish Resale Price Maintenance
2. Reduce intrabrand competition. (Many distribution alternatives exist for any single hotel property)
3. Set absolute pricing on a brand level. (Absolute hotel prices are set at the unit level – especially because most are independently owned, managed and/or branded)
4. Establish a fixed or minimum retail price. (Nearly universally, hotels are variably priced; RPM only applies at each hotel’s absolute price level before it is changed based on market conditions)
5. Enable promotion that exploits consumer information gaps through misleading or fraudulent retail sellers
6. Facilitate cartel conduct at the supplier or retailer level
7. Threaten efficient or innovative retailing

Additionally, RPM does not reduce competition among hotels or Online Travel Agents for the following reasons:

1. If an OTA has market power, it can be exerted through wholesale pricing discounts or most favored nations agreements, not resale price maintenance
2. Hoteliers have no incentive to discourage competition among retailers. (History shows retailer cartels sell less than competitive retailers, so Hoteliers are worse off if retailers form a cartel)
3. It keeps discounting retailers from riding free on other retailers presale services
4. Typically, when brands are strong, gross selling margins of suppliers tend to be high and retailer margins tend to be small. (This is not the case with hotels (during the economic downturn, OTAs had record hotel profits while hotels had record losses)
5. No evidence that Resale Price Maintenance for hotels reduces total product sales
6. The hotel industry is not dominated by brand selling. While Brands sell aggressively through national and regional sales offices, selling remains largely distributed at the property level.
7. Hotel unit or brand market share does not exceed 15% (a level the European Commission uses as a standard.) While not directly relevant, RPM terms are stricter in Europe than the US)
8. Even under the merchant model, OTA/Hotel relationships are largely agency relationships with the OTA incurring limited selling risk. (OTAs normally do not take inventory risk on stand-alone hotel sales.)

Finally Hotels utilize several other alternative methods independent of RPM to optimize hotel sales:

1. Lowering the product’s absolute price
2. Increasing advertising and promotion, or making those efforts more effective
3. Offering contractual promotion incentives (promotion allowances) to retailers

The above represents 18 examples of ways RPM could potentially be used to constrain trade, but none of these examples apply within the hotel industry. This compares with ZERO examples provided by the UK OFT of ways hotel RPM was anticompetitive. If the OFT legitimately has a case (despite the fact that they don’t feel they need one) it would be tremendously enlightening to understand its basis.

A Reality Check – Why Rate Parity is Beneficial to All Parties

Hotels need OTAs to augment their own wholly controlled distribution channels. Brand.com works fine for loyal frequent guests, but for the large audience of brand agnostic deal seekers, or travelers unfamiliar with a brand (or its presence in a given geographic market,) OTAs are a consumer-friendly, convenient alternative.

Las Vegas casinos were never been big fans of OTAs as distribution channels, but despite dominant market share, large group and convention blocks and legions of loyal players, and resources that are the envy of the rest of the hotel industry, they can not fill their rooms alone.

With 40,000+ and 23,000+ rooms respectively available for sale every night, even gaming powerhouses like MGM Resorts International and Caesar’s Entertainment, now have OTAs ranking among their largest tour operators.

Complicating the matter further, the casino groups must strike a managerial balance between strict corporate governance and property managerial autonomy when it comes to pricing strategies. Unpredictable demand swings create a tenuous equilibrium somewhere between a logical brand positioning-based pricing continuum and cannibalism of sister property volume and margin through pricing tactics to fill property distressed inventory gaps.

Despite the fact that a small OTA created this mess in the first place, RPM actually helps smaller players by leveling the playing field against the behemoth OTAs. With RPM in affect, start-ups and innovative small OTAs are able to sell rooms at the same price as the hotel brands and the OTAs as opposed to being disadvantaged by larger players that have negotiated higher agency commissions or deeper merchant discounts on net rates.

Without RPM, which also makes it much easier for hotels to manage pricing and inventory with hundreds or thousands of distribution relationships, hotels are more inclined to limit the number of wholesalers and retailers that they work with.

For those that believe this may not be the case, consider the airline industry, where the need for RPM was eliminated by instead eliminating travel agency commissions and dramatically reducing access to discounted wholesale fares. In a non-RPM environment, airlines can afford to be picky with their partners.

BookIt.com is a decently sized, second-tier OTA. When Delta Airlines elected to simplify its online distribution relationships, BookIt was cut off from access to selling Delta fares – completely. BookIt was not singled out, as that same round also cut off CheapOAir and OneTravel. A later round eliminated CheapAir, Vegas.com, AirGorilla, and Globester.

Those changes took place in December, 2010 and January, 2011. This was not mere posturing by Delta – to date, none of these relationships has been reestablished. ATL-MSP city-pair search results on these sites look a lot like a travelogue of connecting airports compared to the larger OTAs.

Plus, CheapOAir is not an insignificant player – they work with 450 air carriers, just not Delta. In August 2013, CheapOAir ranked higher than Travelocity, Hotwire and Orbitz and third behind Expedia and Priceline in US market share based on website visits.

Such reduced choice among distributors is not beneficial for consumers. With the high degree of fragmentation of hotels, the opportunity to exclude secondary distribution players is even greater within the hotel industry.

Ironically, partly due to RPM, Skoosh was able to start working with hotel groups before the contractual violations shut them down. Without RPM, it is unlikely many hotel groups would work with Skoosh based on its ability to generate incremental booking volume.

Now humorously, Skoosh is publicly ridiculing the OFT because the government didn’t eliminate RPM for all consumers. Being unable to gain competitive advantage by capitalizing on a large, well established frequent guest program, it seems Skoosh’s initial self-serving complaint, did not produce its desired outcome.

To a certain extent however, Skoosh is right. If the issue was seriously about addressing an unfair condition for consumers, why would consumers be forced to create a profile and purchase a hotel room through an OTA to gain access to a discount? Or what of under-privileged consumers that lack access to computers or a credit card typically required to guarantee a hotel room when booking online?

The commitments dictated by the OFT do nothing to to correct an inequity (since none really existed,) while creating new barriers for some to gain fair access to the best available rates. The OFT has now inadvertently disenfranchised certain travelers, undermined the legitimacy of best rate guarantees, and structurally created an indefensible downward pressure on hotel profitability. Not bad if you like your lose – lose – lose scenarios.

A World Without Hotel Rate Parity

If rate parity vanishes, all bets for the financial viability of the hotel industry are off. This could manifest itself in many ways. Like Delta, hotel groups could potentially cherry pick relationships with OTAs who would not be subject to rate parity.

If the OFT “solution” becomes the norm, I foresee OTAS using market power and cross-brand shopping capabilities to a) aggregate demand b) gain superior business intelligence, c) offer best rate guarantees that simply shave off a bit of margin d) usurp responsibility for defining hotel retail pricing from the hoteliers.

Since these discounts may be offered through a discounted price or commission rebates, integrated wholesaler/retailers like OTAs have an extensive arsenal of pricing weapons to play with.

Lacking resale price maintenance, a hotel loses its ability to properly manage its retail pricing structure. This is particularly problematic for perishable services like hotel rooms where unsold inventory immediately loses its value once a specific date passes.

Hotel inventory is now largely priced dynamically and travel seller compensation is generally based on a fixed commission percentage (agency model) or a net wholesale rate that is discounted by a specific percentage from the best available retail price. Most often, the only absolute price that is set is the BAR that serves as the basis for the other prices.

On a retail basis, it becomes impossible for a hotel to match a travel seller’s discounted/rebated price. Even if the hotel reduces its price to match, the competitor possesses a mechanism to match or undercut any rate the hotel may offer a prospective guest – to the point the hotel offers a rate that is equal to the net (or net-of-commission) rate provided to the travel seller.

The greatest factor however, potentially impacts existing customers of the travel sellers or hotels. First, travel sellers gain a second structural advantage – by definition, they sell product across multiple product categories and hotel brands. Any previous airline booking, hotel stay, car rental, etc. regardless of the travel supplier’s geographic area or brand creates a pre-existing customer relationship and eligibility to access hotel rates below market pricing.

Even the largest hotel groups can only establish a customer relationship if a traveler makes a purchase from their specific brand. The order of magnitude is staggering. Booking.com has a portfolio of 300,000 hotels alone. But this is dwarfed by the aggregation of customers across parent Priceline’s portfolio of product that includes Priceline, Kayak and RentalCars.com. TripAdvisor’s meta-search product selling 500,000+ properties and registered relationships with millions of reviewers takes the notion of a customer to a new level. Apple, with the world’s largest database of user credit card numbers, or Google, across all of its registered product relationships dwarf the hotel brands, not to mention the single unit, independent hotelier.

The daunting competitive scope however may have less bearing than the most damaging impact – hotel guest profitability.

Hotel frequent guest programs, largely driven by corporate bookings, represent the most valuable guest segment for the hotel. Relatively brand loyal, these individuals sport both the greatest repeat stay frequency (which lowers marketing costs) and the highest average daily rates, since like airlines, business travelers tend to see higher pricing than those traveling on leisure trips.

With all research indicating that price reductions do not drive incremental demand creation, hotels face the reality that discounting only serves as an effective method to shift share from competitors.

Having been involved with negotiating hundreds, if not thousands of hotel deals (from both sides of the table) throughout my career, I can safely say that if a group can demonstrate scale, pricing power and a high degree of customer engagement, those benefits will be leveraged during negotiations. While rate parity protections may be stricken by new resale price maintenance rules, the ability for OTAs to negotiate most-favored nations pricing concessions – either on a net rate, discount percentage or commission basis – are not.

Hotels may be forced into deciding between two undesirable options – a) discontinuing relationships with distribution partners (resulting in a share loss to competitors) or b) forfeiting control of their retail pricing structures to intermediaries.

Hotels attempting to mirror OTA discounts directed at frequent guests would be structurally discounting business sourced from their least price sensitive and brand loyal market segment – a cannibalistic marketing strategy that would nearly guarantee lower profitability.

Unlike the airline industry that eliminated travel agency commissions and dramatically reduced access to wholesale pricing, the high degree of fragmentation within the hotel industry will not result in an industry-wide adoption of a more stringent business model. As a matter of fact, if hotels attempted that course, the intermediaries would immediately cry foul and head to court with accusations of restraint of trade.

For hotels, the dilemma is worse than being stuck between a rock and a hard place. It is more like being stuck between a rolling boulder and an abyss. Fundamental changes resulting from the UK OFT case, and its expansion to cover the EU, will affect the global hotel business and create a new normal that cannot be easily undone through business practice or legal appeal.

When UK consumers who are registered with OTAs start getting access to across-the-board discounts on hotels in the EU, the genie will be out of the bottle. As these are private sales, OTAS will be eager to extend the practice beyond UK citizens and EU hotels.

As few incentives will exist to confirm UK citizenship/residency the creation of sockpuppet accounts will be rampant, perhaps with a cottage industry arising as affiliates learn how to cleverly facilitate access to the reduced pricing. This could get very ugly – very fast.

Clearly, the merchant and agency models will not disappear. Hotels will continue to work with OTAs, but the OTAs will be able to attract and retain consumers with financial incentives to grow market share. The only question will be how much share do they gain and how quickly can the hotels reestablish equilibrium to the distribution equation.

Hopefully the David v. Goliath relationships between European hotels and OTAs will not devolve into a global Bambi v. Godzilla match-up.

Hotel industry leadership globally – not just in Europe – needs to begin contingency planning for this eventuality now – procrastinating will only bring greater earnings losses and increased market share deficits. the demise of rate parity / resale price maintenance policies may represent the single greatest strategic challenge facing hoteliers in the decade ahead.

| The post Getting Rev’ved Up About Hotel Rate Parity by Robert Cole appeared first on RockCheetah

Google updated its Google+ Local search processes and moved hotel search a good step forward. Hoteliers are going to like the changes and they shouldn’t piss off the OTAs too much either.
Image Credit: Michael Salerno cc|flickr

Consumers and Advertisers love Google. When it comes to searching for hotels, the 2012 Google/Ipsos study revealed 96% of leisure travelers started their hotel planning with search. There is not a publicly available statistic for Google’s share of hotel searches, but their overall search share is holding steady at 66.7%. If love could be expressed by browser behavior, this might be confused as adulation.

Google also commands 33.2% of the global $117 billion online ad spend. – up from 31.5% in 2012 according to eMarketer. As a point of reference, Facebook is in second place, with a 5% share. In mobile, they are even more dominant, with a 56% share, also up from 52.4% in 2012. While that may not reflect emotional love, it certainly reflects financial infatuation.

The challenge for Google is to make these various constituencies, often with diametrically opposed objectives, in a word, happy. Consumers want immediate answers to their queries – with the most relevant information prioritized for easy access. When it comes to mobile, they want enough information to make an informed decision without browsing through multiple pages and sites.

Advertisers want a return on their investment by converting search traffic into site traffic.

More specifically, OTAs want an opportunity to provide comparison shopping for all the OTA loyal or hotel brand agnostic travelers. Hotels and hotel brands want to cost-effectively attract brand loyal customers, as well as any that may merely have any degree of brand awareness.

Smaller and independent hotels that may not have the budget or expertise to execute Pay per click search campaigns simply want organic search to work effectively to be found based on merit – without the deck being stacked against them by larger and better funded competitors.

In the process of satisfying these groups, Google must also attempt to avoid accusations of being evil, while capturing a profit margin reflecting their ability to collectively add value to the overall process.

In many regards, with its latest update of its desktop local search results, Google has successfully maneuvered the treacherous waters of the online travel industry. While it is doubtful all parties will be ecstatic regarding the changes, ground for righteous outrage are largely unfounded.

First and foremost, Google has improved the hotel search experience for travelers, without disenfranchising any of the special interests inhabiting the ecosystem. Happy users mean more traffic, hopefully better conversion, and sales growth from the channel.

What follows is a breakdown of the improvements – many that were introduced in either Google Local searches and/or tablet search functionality launched six months ago.

In order to provide a complete perspective on the significance of these changes, it is also important to observe how the new formats integrate with hotel-specific searches and the Google+ Local pages.

There are 25 relatively new or newly integrated items that should be taken into consideration. These are also highlighted because most hotels currently feature the dreaded “Is this your business? Manage this page” prompt on its sparsely populated Google+ Local page.

Some online distribution, ad agency and corporate personnel desperately needs a refresher course on the basics of online hotel distribution – especially a reminder to keep updated on the changes impacting search and social platforms.

Google+ is much more than a simple social network – it provides context and validated relationships between pieces of information. It is the core of Google’s semantic web and related social initiatives.

Below are annotated screenshots of the new desktop destination search, specific property search and hotel Google+ Local pages.

First, this is what is now returned when “New York Hotels” is searched. The top 10 points that stand out are highlighted.

Google changes the look of its hotel search results, making them smarter and a bit more supplier friendly. Even though Online Travel Agencies continue to dominate the first page of organic search results.

1. Google applies its Knowledge Graph image carousel to display related properties that are most relevant to the search term utilizing semantic technologies. The Zagat rating and number of reviews are included. Would guess the review count would eventually be replaced by a rate if a traveler has previously entered dates into the Hotel Finder (but that is pure conjecture.)
2. A new expanded advertising unit is presented – the Expedia ad not only features top position above the organic results, but also includes three photos. Considering this is new, one can assume the relevance of the photos will be improve considerably over time.
3. Google Hotel Finder is now clearly marked as sponsored content. While it does push down organic listings, only one property example is provided for 2- through 5-star properties respectively. A non-date-specific price is posted, as well as the Zagat rating and number of reviews. This much less aggressive and less real-estate intensive approach to product search should help to temper several Fairsearch.org complaints and apease many congressional concerns.
4. The map features red dots for each of the hotels featured in the image carousel. Hovering over the dot pops up the hotel name with a link to its Google+ Local page.
5. This is an example of an organic search listing that features a coupon. Hovering reveals the details of the coupon. In this case, a $100 rebate is available for a 12-night stay – not a very realistic offer. Again, being relatively new, Hotels.com will undoubtedly get more clever in determining what will work best to incent clicks and conversion.
6. If the user is logged into their Google+ account and someone in their circles +1’s (that’s the equivalent to a Like to all the Facebook users) a web page, a notification is added below the organic search listing.
7. SEO is still important. Obviously large OTAs have an advantage for general searches, but individual hotels still have an opportunity with more long-tail search terms. Booking.com and Priceline ere auspicious in their absense from the results.
8. Marriott managed to score two listings – the only ones in the top 10 populated by a hotel supplier for this search) with its New York Hotels page and the Marriott Downtown property page.
9. Why is a 3 year old article about new boutique hotels included int he results? Only the Search Gods know… Probably some algorithm trying to inject relevant some news from a reputable site. Thinking the date published might be a good factor to add in that algorithm…
10. Again, for some reason, Google feels hostel searches are relevant for New York and HostelBookers must be doing some great SEO tricks to grab the last slot on page one.

The greatest benefit of the Knowledge Photo Carousel is that it provides one click searches for each of the featured properties. The original list of Knowledge Graph Image results are maintained as properties are selected and searched without entering the Google Hotel Finder tool.

Next is a screenshot of the results of a single-click property search (this one was from a booking that queried Times Square Hotels.) Five key points standout:



Single click searches for semantically similar hotels are available from the carousel. A Knowledge Graph card for the property is also provided next to full organic search listings.

11. A Hotel Knowledge Graph card is provided for the hotel that includes all key information like photos, map/direction and Zagat/review links, plus address ad telephone and hotel class. It also uses the Knowledge Graph to provide image links to five additional hotels considered similar based on semantic search technology.
12. The hotel property website should normally be displayed as the top organic search result listing – with its corresponding direct link to the property website.
13. The hotel brand website should normally be displayed as the second organic listing – again, with a direct link to the appropriate hotel page on the brand website.
14. The remaining organic search results should be similar to an organic search – the order should not be impacted by any advertising activity.
15. If sufficient bidding volume exists, additional paid AdWords listings will appear in the right column.

The Knowledge Graph includes a price for a default date, but clicking on the price opens a Google Price Ad widget that allows dates to be entered, with updated pricing immediately displaying in the widget.

While none of the links on the Knowledge Graph card point to the property website, with its positioning on a page where the hotel is the top organic search result, concerns of Google attempting to hijack all search traffic to its owned page content are largely appeased.

Following a link to the hotel’s Google+ Local page provides a graphic example of the gap that exists between Google’s enhanced capabilities and hotel industry adoption. Very few hotels have claimed, let alone populated their Google+ Local page with updated content.

Even for the few that have made the updates, even fewer have merged their self-managed Google+ Business listings with the Google+ Local pages predominantly managed by Google. One can only assume that the merging of these pages will provide for better seamless navigation across the different content sources in the future.

Below is an example of a merged page that has updated to the now now super-large header image. One can only hope hoteliers will use this space to show real humans enjoying the hotel as opposed to static architectural shots. Included are ten more points to consider.



Google’s new Google+ Local pages feature larger photos, the ability to merge with Google+ Business pages and lots of social & review content links.

16. Links at the top of the page are provided to hotel-sourced post, photo and video content. Very few hotels are leveraging this capability.
17. The larger image provides a compelling positioning opportunity. If the hotel does not provide a photo, the image defaults to a street-format map of the neighborhood. And a lost opportunity
18. The Google+ +1’s are auspiciously displayed. Hint, hint…
19. Photos sourced from the community are easily accessible for review – even more so than the images provided by the hotel.
20. Maps are fully integrated as they serve as the foundation of the Local platform
21. Google Price Ads are prominently displayed
22. If the hotel has merged its Google+ Local and Google+ Business listings, a link to the Business Listing is provided.
23. Zagat rating and reviews, as well as key features are provided.
24. Even more Google+ integration with those including the property in circles listed – with corresponding links to their Google+ profiles.
25. Food & beverage outlets also get links to their Google+ pages – another aspect that goes largely overlooked by most hotels.

With the greater integration of Google+ Local content into organic search processes, the importance of maintaining Google+ profiles and building out pages completely has increased significantly.

Finally, the last piece of integration is the Google Hotel Finder. This too shares the main attributes of the organic search and Google+ Local pages – Zagat ratings, reviews and pricing – all framed by the location.



Google Hotel Finder integrates with the new Google+ Local search functionality by aligning Zagat ratings, number of reviews, neighborhood and star ratings. Look for more integration in the future.

26. The results list may be filtered by price, stars, rating, amenities and major hotel brand
27. Working in tandem with the filtering capability, the results may be filtered by star rating in ascending or descending order, the user rating, or the current price relative to its normal pricing.
28. Pre-defined, polygon-based neighborhoods are provided to help better target specific areas. it is unclear why Google decided to use quadrilaterals, but they make them work, despite the obvious limitations.
29. Relative pricing is a powerful capability as illustrated by an ad highlighting a price that is well out whack with the rest of the market.
30. To simplify comparisons, users are able to bookmark properties by adding them to a shortlist for quick reference. Another powerful tool that empowers the consumer to make better informed decisions.

In total, Google has made great strides to integrate its own search, mapping, ratings and social platform with interactive pricing, and user generated content. The most integral part may very well be the emergence of the Semantic Web – providing contextual relationships between hotels based on, honestly, whatever consumers – through their behavior – and the algorithm, deem relevant.

Google has smartly supported the needs of the hoteliers and provided OTAs with additional opportunities to convert sales while making the hotel search and planning processes more efficient and streamlined for the user.

It is a large step forward that strongly supports the hotel and travel ecosystem – except perhaps, for competitive metasearch platforms. Google is finally beginning to demonstrate that it can deploy technology to create a sum that is greater than its component parts.

| The post Google Redesigns Hotel Search with Big Integration by Robert Cole appeared first on RockCheetah

Saw The Who twice on their last North American Tour with Keith Moon in 1976/77 – Long Live Rock
Image Credit: Heinrich Klaffs (cc|flickr)

Both music and travel can be transformative – For me, greater categorical impacts are difficult to recall.

If the topic of music arises in a conversation, the inevitable questions follow – “Who is your favorite band?” or “What is the best concert you have ever seen?”

When experiencing live music, it is not only who was seen, but where they were seen that creates indelible memories. The concert venue serves as a frame for the aural and visual pictures created by the artist.

You may be wondering why I am talking about unforgettable concert experiences in a blog that tends to focus on the marketing and technology aspects of the travel business.

Once you pass through all the acts and videos, at the end, I will let you know – if you could not figure it out for yourself.

Over the years I have been very fortunate to have seen some fantastic concerts – in some remarkably unique venues around the world. Seeing my favorite musical acts performing has become something of a travelogue – with the cities and venues contributing significantly to the overall experiences.

So before I get too old to remember, or lose my file of ticket stubs, it seemed these events should be archived for future reference. I have seen a great many concerts – hundreds over the years, with both highlights and lowlights. Yes, I have witnessed the best and worst of popular culture.

The Top 5 Highlights that failed to make the list:

• Rick Wakeman in Seattle at the Paramount Theater in 1975, when he ascended through the floor playing the theater’s Wurlitzer pipe organ that had been unplayed in decades
• Paul McCartney transforming the 70,000 seat, acoustically hostile Seattle Kingdome into a space with better sound than most living rooms to capture his Wings Over America tour on film in 1976
• Joe Jackson at Cornell’s Bailey Hall in 1979 – Backstage, we really didn’t think any human ingesting that quantity of drugs & alcohol could function – but he prevailed
• Trout Fishing in America playing Dallas Kidsfest in the late 1990’s – proving Kids music could be appealingly intelligent & subversive for parents too
• The Doors of the 21st Century at Houston’s Verizon Wireless Theatre in 2003, filming the full LA Woman album live with Ian Astbury of The Cult filling in for Jim Morrison (who was apparently indisposed)

In the case of Paul McCartney & Wings and Doors of the 21st Century, I personally attended the shows captured in the respective video clips. It’s a shame these didn’t make my official list, but they were beaten out by more influential acts and/or venues.

The Bottom 5 Low Points were either dreadfully disappointing, or soul-draining affairs (while perhaps, still unique points in pop culture):

• George Harrison – In Seattle on his maligned Dark Horse tour in 1975. Laryngitis is a respectable reason to cancel a concert tour. My 1st concert and greatest disappointment
• Robert Palmer – Twice. In Ithaca, NY & Toronto ON in the Early and mid-80’s. Both shows were played to a pre-recorded reel-to-reel backing track that killed spontaneity & improvisation
• Watching Wham meander aimlessly through a thin catalogue in a crowd of 60,000 screaming women at the massive Canadian National Exhibition Stadium in Toronto.
• The Spice Girls producing the most artistically sterile piece of piece of commercial schlock ever presented (and without Geri) at Dallas’ Coca Cola Starplex in 1998.
• The Wiggles, somewhere in Houston, at some point in time – I have not yet fully eradicated the complete memory, but I am still optimistic

So below is my official list – complete with live performance videos that fall as close as possible to the shows I actually attended. One additional consideration was video and sound quality, but thanks to YouTube, almost anything you seek may be found. It seems even the really old and offbeat stuff is increasingly getting digitized.

Google and/or YouTube locate some real gems when searching for audio recordings of the actual concerts. The number and quality of soundboard recordings is startling, and many include detailed setlists. If a specific show is missing, often a show from the same tour can be found – which is exactly what I have tried to do with the video clips embedded below.

For organizational purposes, I have arranged the groups by the decade when I started listening to them (or in a few exceptions, in the order when I first saw them perform live).

| The 1960’s |

The Rolling Stones
Saturday October 31, 1981 & Sunday November 1, 1981 – The Cotton Bowl, Dallas, Texas
The Halloween show featured a blinding, torrential rainstorm that left the tarp covered field with shin to knee deep water by the end of the concert. There couldn’t have been a greater contrast on Sunday, All Saints Day, under warm crystal clear skies. One cannot dispute that there was something symbolic in that juxtaposition. And the Halloween show was actually the better one of the two – probably having something to do with singing Sympathy for the Devil all those times.

I have seen The Stones a couple times subsequently – In Toronto at CNE Stadium in September, 1989 and back again in Dallas at The Cotton Bowl in November 1994 for the Voodoo Lounge tour, but all pale in comparison to that surreal Halloween show with most of the audience sporting costumes.

The Rolling Stones – Under My Thumb / When the Whip Comes Down / Let’s Spend the Night Together

Filmed November 1, 1981 at The Cotton Bowl, Dallas, Texas (Same Show)

The Who
March 25, 1976 & October 14, 1976 – Seattle Center Coliseum – Seattle, Washington
Through a rare tour scheduling fluke, The Who passed through Seattle twice on their last US Tour with Keith Moon on drums.

It was the ultimate high school concert experience – cutting afternoon class to get a good place in line, a mandatory pursuit to get close to the stage in the days of “festival” seating. And that line – a crushing sea of humanity where for 10 minutes, your body could be at a 30 degree angle with your feet eight inches off the ground.

Sadly, the second concert was Moon’s last live concert in the US. I’ve seen The Who a number of times since – in Toronto, Dallas & Houston and they were always really good. With all due respect to Zak Starkey (Ringo’s son) who now drums for them, it’s just not as great as they were with Mooney the Looney on drums or The Ox (John Entwistle) on bass.

The Who – Won’t Get Fooled Again

Filmed November 20, 1975 at The Summit in Houston, Texas (four months earlier)

| The 1970’s |

Neil Young
December 11, 1989 – Élysée Montmartre – Paris, France
I started listening to Neil Young’s debut album Everybody Knows this is Nowhere in 1969. It took a while to finally see him live. I was fortunate that a vacation in Paris coincided with Neil Young’s solo acoustic set at the historic 1,200 seat Élysée Montmartre. I was about 20 feet from the stage.

Neil was a bit surly with the French, which was quite entertaining. He had a jar of water to rinse his harmonica and decided that large arcing trails of water directed toward the crowd might add a nice dimension to his performance.

The Godfather of Grunge was in his element – playing his music the way he wanted. The crowd could go along for the ride or go do something better. There are few things better than Neil Young solo live.

My timing for that trip was impeccable – I also saw Melissa Etheridge supporting her new Brave & Crazy album in a small venue three days earlier as well.

I did see Neil perform with Crosby, Stills & Nash on their CSNY2K tour in March, 2000 at Reunion Arena in Dallas. Playing a 30 song set, the group, whom I have seen multiple times without Mr. Young, was playing at an elevated level – Neil raised their game, which was great to witness.

Neil Young – Heart of Gold / Rockin’ in the Free World (Acoustic)

Filmed October 12, 1989 at Muziektheater Stopera in Amsterdam, Netherlands (Two months earlier)

Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band
November 7, 1978 – Barton Hall – Ithaca, NY
Being House Manager for the Cornell Concert Commission had its perks. The biggest one was meeting Bruce Springsteen and having an opportunity for a brief conversation. It was not a deep philosophical discussion of the imagery and orchestration of his songs, more along the lines of a) if he really did stop by the Ithaca Mall earlier int he day and invite some kids to the show & b) When he wanted to eat the 28 oz. T-bone steak specified in the rider to his contract (he begged for some chicken and swore to kill the guy who added the steak since he now got one every night.

The one remarkable thing was that during his soundcheck, he personally went to every corner of the massive armory to make certain the house sound mix was perfect before the show started. apparently The Boss has no respect for the acts that show up, play, get paid & let the sound board try to work out the mix during the first few songs. Linda Ronstadt & Heart did the same thing – real pros. Boston & The Cars – both at the height of their popularity? Not so much…

Bruce Springsteen – Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)

Filmed July 8, 1978 at Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix, Arizona (four months earlier)

| The 1980’s |

Talking Heads
October 29, 1977 – Nite Court, Ithaca NY
OK, so I cheated a bit – I discovered Talking Heads in a small, 250 seat Ithaca, New York club shortly after Talking Heads ’77 was released. Standing within 10 feet of the band, it was apparent that nobody had played like this before and it was highly unlikely that anyone else would even attempt to play like that again. But since most people didn’t know them until the 1980’s that’s how I will classify them.

I also saw them September 9, 1982 at the legendary Bronco Bowl in Dallas, Texas. Where else could you get a beer and bowl a few games before or after taking in a show? That also happened to be my first date with my wife who was previously not familiar with the band.

The next year, I caught them again on October 24, 1983 at an utterly forgettable venue – The Dallas Convention Center Arena. However, that show was not at all forgettable as it was their celebrated Stop Making Sense Tour. That show was six weeks before Jonathan Demme filmed their Pantages Theater, Hollywood, California show on December 15, 1983 for the movie.

Talking Heads – Psycho Killer

Filmed December 18, 1980 in Rome, Italy (three years, 2 months later) – with King Crimson’s Adrian Belew featured on guitar (sadly, I never saw him tour with them)

U2
October 16, 1993 – Texas Stadium – Irving, Texas
I was at Texas Stadium with 60,000 of my closest friends for the Zoo TV tour, but my 4th row seats more than compensated. The show was both visually and sonically spectacular. The band played 25 songs that night – tied for the most on that tour. Out of 156 shows on the world tour, they only played 25 songs seven times – that’s pretty special.

All I can tell you is that watching the video is most definitely not “even better than the real thing.”

U2 – Even Better Than The Real Thing / Mysterious Ways

Filmed November 26/27, 1993 at Sydney Football Stadium in Sydney, Australia (six weeks later)

| The 1990’s |

Pearl Jam
April 6, 2003 – Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavillion – The Woodlands, Texas

OK. So the same fate that put The Who on my path twice on their last US tour and The Stones on Halloween apparently kept Pearl Jam away from me for over a decade. Having grown up in Seattle, I would have loved to see them at the Moore Theatre when they started headlining. The Houston show was great – outdoor shows in a big shed can be challenging, but I had seat options that put me in the first five rows, plus the venue was about a 10 minute drive from my house – doesn’t get better than that.

Pearl Jam – Full Concert

Filmed April 30, 2003 at Nassau Coliseum, Uniondale, New York (three weeks later)

Foo Fighters
April 23, 2003 – Reliant Arena – Houston, Texas
Like Pearl Jam & Neil Young, it took a bit to finally see Foo Fighters live – the One by One tour tour was well worth the wait.

Having never seen Nirvana live, I can’t compare the energy level, but Dave Grohl brings a palpable drive and commitment to the material – he’s not passing time waiting to get paid. It’s a mystery how Grohl prepares his throat for the onslaught of primal screams – he must have developed calluses on his vocal cords over the years…

Plus, credit must be given to Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins – It can’t be easy playing drums for a guy who a) started the group playing all the instruments and b) was formerly Nirvana’s drummer. He appears to be more than adequately holding his own.

Foo Fighters – One by One

Filmed January 19, 2003 at Gold Coast Parklands, Southport, Australia (three months earlier)

| The 2000’s |

The White Stripes
September 8, 2005 – The Rave/Eagles Ballroom – Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Another classic venue – Buddy Holly played here in 1958 – a week before the day the music died. Meg & Jack came, killed it and left an audience stunned that a two-piece band could create that scope of music and atmosphere. They were relentless. They were also kind enough to throw in the tune “Little Ghost” reportedly in consideration of the ghost that haunts the closed pool in the basement, but often drifts upstairs to observe band afternoon soundchecks.

The White Stripes – Blue Orchid / Hotel Yorba / Seven Nation Army

Filmed June 24, 2005 – at Glastonbury Festival, Glastonbury, England (nine weeks earlier)

Back Door Slam
April 23, 2008 – The Rave/Eagles Ballroom – Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Davy Knowles may have only been 21 years old when I saw him for the first time, but this kid has the soul of a blues master. Having seen Eric Clapton, B.B. King, Albert King, Buddy Guy & John Mayall all play at significantly more advanced ages than this guy, he certainly has the potential to join their ranks.

Davy has been locked up in the studio honing his craft for the past 18 months – he is expected to tour in 2013/14 in support of a new EP. Always nice to see an artist spend time to improve his craft as opposed to constantly focusing on cashing in. That’s almost better than time off for rehab. Can’t wait to see how he’s developed as a musician. Expecting good things.

Back Door Slam – Come Home

Filmed September 30, 2008 at The Soiled Dove Underground, Denver, Colorado (five months later)

| The 2010’s |

Ed Sheeran
May 10, 2013 – The Rave/Eagles Ballroom – Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Apparently opening 72 shows every night for Taylor Swift on her Red tour is not enough work for 22 year old Ed Sheeran. Maybe he is still used to playing 312 gigs per year – the number he played in 2009. He seems to be a strong believe in the old adage that practice makes perfect.

And all that practice paid off. Sheeran is remarkable in his ability to engage his audience. About 1/3 of the way through the show, he asked his rabid throng of 1,200 festival seating fans who were crushed toward the stage to be silent for a quiet song. They obliged. What were formerly screaming fangirls hellbent on reenacting Beatlemania, suddenly all fell silent.

Despite his prodigious capability to engage, Sheeran appears to be dealing well with his fame – even after playing with Elton John on The Grammy Awards and now the Taylor Swift gigs. Like Davy Knowles, this kid is all about the music, staying humble, and not letting fame go to his head.

He folked, rapped, rocked, indied and balleded his way, alone, through a 1 hour 45 minute set that had his fans begging for having only a single album released thus far. He extended the first song of his encore “You Need Me, I Don’t Need You” to over 13 minutes and it flowed naturally.

Why do I think he is going to make it big? Check the video – how many opening acts do you know that can manage a full stadium sing-along for a song about a heroin addicted prostitute? I rest my case.

Ed Sheeran – The A Team

March 28, 2013 at the Prudential Center, Newark, New Jersey (six weeks earlier)

Now here is the big cheat. I have no idea who else will rate as an indelible musical influence through this decade – hopefully there will be many (but I’m not holding my breath.) So instead, I will go old school and highlight the one artist whose music has had a profound impact on me since I first heard his Past, Present & Future album in 1974. I would rate him as perhaps the most underrated songwriter of my generation.

Al Stewart
Late October, 1976 – Paramount Theater – Seattle, Washington
I have literally lost count of the times I have seen Al perform live – but the highlights included – as well as the venues – Seattle (The Paramount) New York (The Bottom Line – an iconic club, like CBGB’s, that should have been preserved as a historical site,) Toronto (the historic Danforth Music Hall,) Fort Worth (the now defunct Caravan of Dreams,) and Houston (McGonigel’s Mucky Duck – a great little pub & live music venue.)

At some point after being Paul Simon’s roommate in London in the mid-1960’s (pre-Garfunkel,) Al Stewart tossed aside romantic pop songs and folk ballads to challenge himself by writing songs about topics that had never before been put to music – and he has succeeded magnificently.

Although primarily known for his mid-70’s mega-hit Year of the Cat, Al has released 16 studio albums over the years and continues to periodically tour North America and Europe.

The video example here is a beautiful song about the German invasion of Russia in June, 1941, through the end of World War II in May, 1945. It’s poetic, historically accurate, and musically mesmerizing.

Al Stewart – Roads to Moscow

No Idea Where – 1978 (sometime later)

So why write a post about amazing live concert experiences on a blog that discusses the business of travel? Because unforgettable experiences are what travel is all about.

Airlines, hoteliers and tour operators become so self-absorbed in their day-to-day operations that they lose perspective. Travel enables people to have unforgettable experiences that shape their lives. Planes & hotel rooms facilitate travel; they are not the objective of travel.

Music plays a huge part in most people’s lives as well. Closing the gap between music-related experiences and travel represents a big opportunity for travel sellers. With supply scarcity able to generate good margins, surplus supply can also offer great consumer values to drive volume. For a concert event, the seats up front may be scarce, while simultaneously, there may be surplus seats in the back. The key is the bundling process, user experience and merchandising.

Hotels in particular, struggling to differentiate themselves, need to create memorable experiences for their guests. Concerts are a big demand generator. Many shows fall on or around weekends – typically a need period for hoteliers interested in sourcing weekend leisure business.

By working with promoters, venues, sponsors and the talent, travel sellers can creatively create value for fans – simplifying logistics, helping the fans better focus their attention on the music experience than the travel aspects. For others, the same could easily be applied to sporting events, museum exhibits, new restaurants, etc. – the concept is nearly universal.

So there’s my list – Now it’s your turn to travel, experience live music, and seek out historic venues where the greats have played before. You’ll wind up with not only a travelogue, but a soundtrack as well. And if you are lucky, maybe an enlightened hotelier or airline will help make it easier for you to you accomplish that goal.

Hoping readers will share their great live concert experiences and the venues where they were held in the comments.

P.S. I still check Pollstar.com for every trip I make, just to see if someone interesting is playing during my stay. If some performers names aren’t familiar, do a little research – great discoveries abound.

| The post Seminal Live Performances – A Memorable Travelogue by Robert Cole appeared first on RockCheetah

At most major airports, the rental cars are not getting wrecked, it’s the traveler’s wallet – even when they get a great deal
Image Credit: boeke cc|flickr

Times have changed. At one time, car rental was perceived as the tail of the travel dog. After considerable consolidation and a comparable reduction in fleets, the car rental industry leadership are happily wagging their tails as higher rental prices are taking a larger slice out of the travel spending pie. But an additional bite is coming from the taxes and fees associated with those airport rentals.

Like the airline industry, the car rental industry recovered from the global financial crisis by consolidating and reducing fleet sizes over three years. Over that same period, the industry managed to increase average annual revenue per car – a growth statistic that has not dipped into negative territory over the last decade.

Avis Budget Group, who acquired Zipcar last year, saw leisure pricing rise 8% in the 1st quarter of 2013. Hertz has achieved record year-over-year adjusted pre-tax income for seven consecutive quarters – helped along by its smooth acquisition of Dollar Thrifty Group. Recovering from the Global Financial Crisis, privately held Enterprise Holdings – parent of the Enterprise, Alamo and National Car Rental groups – booked record revenues and earnings for the third consecutive year in 2012.

In case you might not have noticed, these nine major car rental brands Avis, Budget, Zipcar, Hertz, Dollar, Thifty, Enterprise, Alamo and National are owned by just three entities. Those three groups also comprise 98% of US airport rental car market share.

The US rental car industry does have some smaller groups – Ace, Economy, E-Z, Fox, Payless, Sixt, U-Save and Advantage (which was divested by Hertz as part of the the Dollar/Thrifty acquisition) are regional players, but lack distribution across all US airports like the majors.

With consolidated control over supply, The rental car industry is now beginning to flex its muscles. Below is a table showing the trend of the number of US rental cars in service and the associated revenues over the past decade.

Trend of US Rental Car Fleet and Revenues 2000 to 2012
Source: Auto Rental News

Seeing macro industry numbers is one thing, but what does this look like to travelers out in the real world? Auto Rental News is in the process of expanding its tracking of car rental rates, but a sample of five airports provides some perspective.

The chart below compares average rental car rates the first five months of 2013 against the first five months of 2012. The degree of rate growth is breathtaking.

Rental Car Rate Comparison at Five US Airports – 1st Five Months of 2013 v. 2012
Source: Auto Rental News

With the exception of two months at Chicago O’Hare, all five markets displayed double-digit rate growth. When averaged year to date, the other four markets all averaged increases exceeding 20% year over year.

And more is coming. While corporate rates remained flat in 1Q 2013, Avis Budget Group now forecasts an across the board 4% rate increase that will generate $120 million in incremental earnings – not bad for popping the price only an average $1.60 per car rental day.

My money says that Avis Budget Group beats those rate growth projections in 2013, unless the economy implodes during the last half of the year.

A Taxing Question

It is one thing for rental car rates to rise, but that is only a portion of the story. When travelers pay for their rental cars, a gaggle of taxes, mandatory fees and sundry charges are added to the tally.

So how do these various strategies manifest themselves? I had the opportunity to rent a car in Seattle recently, so I learned first-hand.

Despite the aggressive rate growth previously referenced, I managed to score a mid-week rate of $14.00 per day for a mid-size car from E-Z Rent-a-car. Conveniently, they were even located in the brand new, $400 Million, SeaTac car rental facility with all the other rental car companies.

Little to my surprise, when I reviewed my reservation, there were a few additional fees added to the base rate. To be fair to the E-Z Rent-a-car folks, there were a couple of fixed daily fees that boosted the tax/fee ratio, but the end result was remarkable.

99% of the base rental price for taxes & fees caught my attention. One seriously must question exactly what is happening if the taxes and fees are equivalent the product being purchased…

NOTE: Further research revealed a $14.00 economy car at Boston Logan Airport, with $21.44 in fees, yielding a whopping tax & fee rate exceeding 153%.

For the Seattle booking, the total price was still a deal. It was less than a third when compared with the aggressive rates charged by the price-leading brands National, Avis and Hertz. Maybe I shouldn’t complain, but curiosity go the best of me – I needed to know how those taxes & fees got so high.

On the surface, while very high, some of the fees might be logically rationalized. The new rental facility was expensive to build, so a 12.7% Concession Recovery Fee, plus a $6.00 per day seemed high, but within the realm of possibility.

Similarly, the 29.2% Sales Tax rate appeared extreme, but lots of cities have gotten away with funding stadiums and tourist districts through taxes on those not residing as voters in their local jurisdictions.

The $1.99 per day Vehicle Licensing Fee also looked outrageous, but maybe the Washington State Department of Transportation had a grudge against car rental agencies. At least there weren’t any of those ridiculous Energy Recovery or Frequent Flyer Mileage assessments that have annoyed me with other car rental companies at other airports.

There was only one problem. I decided to check the official fee and tax rates with Mr. Perry Cooper, Airport Media Officer for the Port of Seattle – the agency responsible for operating Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.

Cooper’s figures did not exactly align with those assessed by E-Z Rent-a-car:

• Washington State Sales Tax is 9.5%
• Washington State Rental Car Tax is 6.7%
• County Tax is 1.0%

This results in a total tax subtotal of 17.2% – not the 29.2% charged on my rental receipt.

• SeaTac’s Concession Fee is 11.1%

It’s hard to say what else the 12.7% assessment might be recovering.

• Customer Facility Fee is $6.00 per day

Thank God they finally got one right…

So calculating the overages, it appears that $5.71 of tax or fee recovery charges were collected that was not supported by state or airport policy.

Math Majors Wanted

One might best describe these as anomalies. Maybe this was just an isolated instance. A single rental or a single car rental group having system issues over this specific rental period.

That theory proved to be incorrect.

Imagining I would be singling out E-Z Rent-a-car alone for some unscrupulous practices, I then compared rental car rates and their associated fees across all the rental car companies serving SeaTac Airport over two separate date ranges. The distressing results are listed below (click the table to see full-size table.)

Detailed Tax Inclusive Rental Car Pricing Comparison
Click Image to see larger version of table.
Source: RockCheetah Research

The findings:

The eleven rental car companies surveyed that serve Seattle’s airport are overstating their tax liabilities and overcharging travelers. Instead of the official 17.2% aggregate tax rate, over the example itinerary, the taxes assessed ranged from 19.1% (Dollar) to 22.72% (E-Z)

Only Dollar charged the correct 11.1% Concession Recovery Fee – the others charged between 11.13% (National) and 11.67% (E-Z.) These were not simple rounding errors.

Again, ALL of the rental agencies got the $6.00 Customer Facility Fee correct.

A defense of “employee error” is ludicrous as the variances apply to a large number of car rental groups and NONE of the errors worked in the favor of the consumer.

Another curious observation is the relationship between the taxes and their descriptions.

In the case of Fox Rent-a-Car, the tax and fee details listed on their website for a Seattle economy car rental correctly lists the Concession fee as 11.1%, but the calculated dollar amount comes out to 11.19%; State sales tax is described at 9.5%, but the number is again calculated incorrectly at 10.6%; the same applies to state rental tax, properly described as 7.7% (including county tax), but actually charged at 8.6%.

Interestingly, Enterprise, Alamo & National all break out the Sports Facility Tax and Regional Transit Tax that totals 2% of the base rental rate. These taxes were assessed to construct Safeco Field, home of the Seattle Mariners baseball team. I use the past tense intentionally because this tax was abolished in October of 2011.

The basis for the Vehicle License fee appeared to differ by agency, but every single one charged for it. E-Z again easily led the pack with its $1.99/day charge. The others ranged from $0.30 (Thrifty) to $0.80 (Hertz) per day or between 0.27% (Avis) and 0.63% (Advantage & Hertz.)

While rental car companies are allowed to recover costs incurred in the State of Washington to license, title, register, plate, and inspect rental cars, those fees must represent a good faith estimate of actual costs, or the fees need to be lowered the following year by any excess amount collected. In E-Z’s case, unless their cars have exceptionally low utilization, renters can expect lower vehicle licensing fees next year.

Humanely, E-Z and the three Enterprise owned brands (Alamo & National) did not charge an Energy Recovery fee. Neither did Dollar, but strangely, sister company Thrifty did… Advantage & Hertz charged $1.03/day, while Fox, Budget & Avis all charged $0.60/day and Thrifty trailed at $0.45/day.

Budget explains its rationale for the fee: “To help recover the escalating energy costs related to our business operations, we must also impose a separately stated Energy Recovery Fee (ERF) to all customers at all locations.” The national fee appears to be 0.60/day.

Unfortunately, this does not appear to be uniformly applied, as a quick check of the Budget website revealed that there is no fee associated with rentals at New York’s LaGuardia Airport, or Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. However, for some reason, Boston gets socked with a $0.79 fee per day.

I sincerely hope someone will someday be able to provide a more rational explanation for the Energy Recovery fee. As it is a “recovery fee,” I am wondering, has ever been an audit? According to the Avis Budget Group 2012 10-K, the North America Division had 86 million rental days. At $0.60 per rental, that comes to $51.6 million. That’s a lot of energy.

Considering Budget employs 18,000 staff in North America, if my calculations are correct, that comes out to an average energy cost of $2,866 per employee. That might be enough to cover the monthly heating and air conditioning bills for each of those employee’s private residences…

The Bottom Line

So, despite the strength of rental car demand relative to supply, it appears the rental car companies are greedily getting a bit fast & loose with their tax and fee calculations – at least in Seattle.

I’m no lawyer, but charges of felony theft of sales taxes is not something rental car companies want to mess with. Federal trade commission deceptive pricing claims and class action lawsuits on behalf of consumers are a couple other undesirable distractions. There should ultimately be some good explanations why these anomalies relating to the accurate description and calculation of sales taxes and fees occur.

When it comes to booking a rental car, consumer beware – always comparison shop based on the total price inclusive of taxes and fees. I never buy the Collision Damage Waiver and all the other coverages as my personal auto insurance covers it (check if yours does too.) I also always return the car full of gas to avoid the legalized extortion known as refueling charges.

Additionally, if staying at a hotel, it will be important to understand fees for overnight parking (and whether in & out charges may apply.) With car rental rates rising, for short flights, it might be cheaper to drive. Regardless, when daily economy car rental rates exceed $100 per day, that takes a lot of cabs and/or shared rides to cover those costs.

Finally, as the the charges on a car rental receipt may not match their respective descriptions, doing a quick calculation check – particularly for longer rentals – might be a good idea.

| The post Rental Car Pricing, Tax & Fee Demolition Derby by Robert Cole appeared first on RockCheetah

The establishment that hooked millions of kids to a lifetime of chilled confectionary dependency – the Tin Roof Sundae was my gateway drug of choice
Image Credit: happyitis.biz

Farrell explained that the brand’s birth was inspired by a family trip and an inability to get ice cream one evening while visiting Seattle’s Olympic Hotel, then managed by then Western International (the predecessor to Westin.)

Farrell went on to attribute its death to the inability of the company that acquired it to understand the brand, or its operations.

Farrell’s concept was simple – a bar for kids. It wasn’t just about Ice Cream and free sundaes on your birthday. It was about fun & excitement. The cost of ice cream was similar to the cost of alcohol. The kid mixing up the sundaes performed the same role as a bartender. He wanted a cool, fun place for high school and college kids to work.

The menu was kept simple – college and high school kids are not normally accomplished chefs. The menu featured a lot of items that were relatively easy to prepare with minimal training.

But the true genius was the marketing – it targeted kids, but it was specifically designed to appeal to three generations of kids. It was obviously “The“ spot for kids birthday parties, but it was also a place the whole family could agree on for a casual family dinner. Finally, grandparents loved Farrells both as a spot that ensured happy grandchildren, but the 1890’s theme also played a somewhat nostalgic role in their own childhood memories.

Farrell’s core philosophy was “Our business is not what we sell, it is who we serve.” He had that revelation with after receiving a letter from a customer of an early store in Bellevue, Washington (an early franchise and my favorite childhood bar dining establishment):

Dear Mr. Farrell,
I’ve been coming to your restaurant ever since it opened, I really love the place.
I love your ice cream, I love the fun, I love your hamburgers – they’re the best!
I love your pickles – they are the best pickle in Seattle. I always ask for an extra pickle and they always give me one.
Today, Mr. Farrell, I came in, asked for my usual, and asked for an extra pickle from the young waitress.
Well, I don’t know where she got the idea, but she said – I’ll have to sell you an extra side of pickles for $0.75.
Well, if that’s the way you are going to run your restaurant, Mr. Farrell, I’m not coming back.

Farrell made the internal service motto of the company “Give them the Pickle!” That, even more than pricing, ice cream or fun, was the secret to the entrepreneurial success of Farrell’s Ice Cream Parlours.

The first Farrell’s Ice Cream Parlour opened in Portland in 1963. With six stores, in 1968, Farrell started to successfully franchise the brand. In 1973, having never experienced a store closing, Farrell sold the now 55 unit brand to Marriott for $8 million.

Marriott started making changes – big changes. They hired external consultants to help them improve profit margins for an already successful brand. Recommendations included rapid expansion, radically expanding the menu, reducing the quality of the food, increasing prices, and bringing in video games to grow ancillary revenues.

The focus was almost exclusively internal – on how the product could generate higher profit. The role the consumer played in the formula was lost.

By 1975, there were suddenly 120 stores. Most ironically, in 1975, Farrell’s produced a video that touted all of the values that had made the company great to attract franchisees. It even closed with the line “Great things never change.” Little did they know

In the video, Bob Farrell looks directly into the camera and tells the viewer:

“We have always believed that the customer, and not profit, is the purpose of our business. Sure, we need to make a profit to stay in business, but our real goal is satisfying the customer, and at the same time, making a contribution to the community.”

Farrell’s new leadership was oblivious to the fact that they were ignoring the strategy so eloquently described in the video. All the “optimization” of the original brand concept didn’t work. Kids didn’t care about the expanded menu, but when the player piano was replaced by a salad bar, they did notice that the places weren’t nearly as much fun. Plus, the higher prices and video games alienated the parents and grandparents – an important funding source for the target market.

Farrell’s was no longer a bar for kids. Sadly, it had morphed into a less differentiated midscale restaurant competing with the likes of Denny’s, who served lower quality food at a low price point.

Worse yet, corporate ego would not permit retreat back to the original concept. Stores were renovated and further distanced from the original theme – in most cases, neutral colors ruled – perhaps to reduce the cost to potential buyers when they failed.

After less than a decade, in 1982, Marriott sold a struggling and unprofitable brand of 106 restaurants to a group of private investors for an undisclosed sum. The new owners then rode the mortally wounded brand into the ground less than five years later.

The following chart tracks the growth in the number of stores and the price of a banana split over the period 1963 through 1982.

The number of stores went up, and eventually, so did menu prices as the group struggled to extract more revenue from a declining number of patrons.

While Bob Farrell was still involved with the brand in a consulting capacity, his voice as the acquired founder apparently fell on deaf ears. When the Operations Analysis class met with him in the fall of 1980, he openly declared that Marriott had killed the brand – despite the fact that almost two years would pass before the brand was finally sold off.

Marriott should have listened, Bob Farrell’s insights into the success of his legendary brand were invaluable. In fairness to Marriott, I think they did learn a valuable lesson. The acquisition of the Ritz-Carlton brand in 1995 featured very little tinkering with the guest experience, while Marriott’s efficiency experts worked over the back of house processes to make the operation more efficient.

Farrell’s business philosophy is best described in his own words: “Profit is the consequence of success, not the cause of it. The minute you start looking at the cash register and not the customer, you lose sight of success.”

He also made that philosophy actionable by breaking it down into a simple message for the service industry (I call them ACTS):

Attitude
“Choose your Attitude. How you think about customers, is how you will treat them.”

Consistency
“Set high standards, and stick to them. Customers return because they like what happened the last time.”

Teamwork
“Look for ways to make each other look good. In the end, everything winds up in front of the customer!”

Service
“Make serving others your #1 Priority. Service is a noble profession, be proud of what you do.”

The above is a proven recipe for developing a customer-centric workforce

But perhaps the greatest contribution of Farrell’s to history is its fabled “Low Calorie – All the Ice Cream You Want Diet”

Here it is, unabridged, in all its glory:

Dieting should never be about depriving oneself of those precious few things that make life worth living. So while some compromise may be required to reduce caloric intake from other foods and/or meals, this diet proves one need never curtail their ice cream intake.
Image Credit: happyitis.biz

Farrell’s, like Southwest Airlines, another great brand born in the 1960’s, was smart enough not to take itself too seriously, allowed its employees to have fun, strove for operational simplicity, and always put the needs of the customer first.

Southwest survives today because of its dedication to its ideals. Farrells lost its way when its new corporate bosses allowed the company to become self-absorbed. And the market showed them who the real bosses were.

A few Farrells Ice Cream Parlours remain today in California, largely continuing the tradition of the original Farrells establishments. I would be fairly certain they don’t charge for an extra pickle.

If you see one, stop in. Try a Tin Roof Sundae and let me know if partaking of a genuinely legendary brand experience doesn’t make your day just a little bit happier.

| The post Valuable Lessons from Farrell’s Ice Cream Parlours by Robert Cole appeared first on RockCheetah

Airlines want full control over their passengers. Once inside their brains, they can trigger brand preference cues that dictate specific behaviors
Image Credit: driph (cc/flickr)

Calling this initiative self-absorbed is a gross understatement. The page content of the NDC homepage mentions neither “travelers” nor “passengers.” The NDC blog posts discuss passengers, but inevitably within the context of cost-recovery, yield and revenue optimization through the sale of unbundled services.

There are plenty of references to offering choice and customization (nothing wrong with that) but there is one term that is auspicious in its absence: “satisfaction.” Discussion of how NDC can better integrate air travel with the rest of the travel industry to enhance the end-to-end experience is woefully absent.

How many travelers take trips with the primary objective of experiencing an inflight experience on a commercial aircraft? If you find one, double check to see if they are actually paying for their own tickets. Sadly, that pursuit largely died with the demise of the Concorde, although a few aviation geeks have been quite excited about the 787, battery problems notwithstanding.

The driving motivation behind the NDC initiative is structurally changing two business models and exercising market control. Unfortunately, it has very little to do with technology.

The first business model is facilitating the sale of a growing menu of unbundled services. While carriers may argue that this initiative will offer the passenger superior choice, these options rarely create consumer value – most services were formerly available for free.

The ancillary services have been unbundled primarily to generate high margin incremental profit, not to empower consumers. Painfully little attention has been dedicated to improving passenger comfort, satisfying consumer demand or enhancing the travel experience.

The second business model under attack is the distribution supply and value chain. Traditionally, suppliers paid distribution channel costs, with intermediaries providing a revenue share upstream to the travel sellers engaging with consumers.

Airlines successfully zeroed out travel agency commissions a decade ago, forcing most brick & mortar travel agents to shift to transaction fees. The major Online Travel Agencies (OTAs) were holdouts due to either ownership with vested interests in Global Distribution Systems (GDS), or to maintain the GDS “productivity bonus” fees as one scarce source of air booking revenue.

With little incentive to continue supporting the traditional distribution processes, the ability for consumers to purchase unbundled services became largely an exclusive feature of the airline’s own website. Share shift for leisure bookings from expensive intermediary to lower cost direct channels was neither an unwelcome nor unanticipated result.

However, with neither a viable business model nor distribution capability to efficiently transact sales, technology development for ancillary services through third parties never took off. Lots of finger pointing resulted, but the reality is that interfaces don’t happen unless suppliers are fully invested in their success.

So now, the burning question is whether NDC will streamline airline reservation processing, enable improved personalization and help increase both demand for, and conversion of, traveler intent into incremental trips?

Not to jump to conclusions, but given its current structure, that is highly unlikely.

First, a History Lesson

It all started with a few airlines creating Central Reservation Systems (CRS) that evolved into the current GDS’.

The carriers wielded GDS agreements like weapons – resulting in governmental regulation of fairness rules to avoid anti-competitive behavior toward other airlines and consumers.

Worse yet, little consideration was given to interrelationships with hotels other components within the travel ecosystem. The hotel industry bore the brunt of onerous GDS agreement terms that dictated hotel groups must react to technical changes based on as little as 30 days notice.

After the hoteliers fundamental needs were ignored by the airlines for several years, in 1989, the environment became so untenable that more than a dozen bitterly competitive hotel groups banded together to form “The Hotel Industry Switch Company” (THISCO.) They created what is now known as the Pegasus switch to better manage transactional GDS interfaces and create opportunities to bypass the GDS infrastructure.

However, hotel booking innovation through the GDS channel remained stifled by insufficient planning or foresight by the air carriers even as the Internet-age dawned. In 1996, 2/3 of GDS hotel bookings were still made through “passive segments;” the unstructured, text-based notes that were used by travel agents to record hotel itinerary information that had been booked through alternate channels, like telephone, email or fax.

This underscored their obliviousness to both lodging industry needs and a lucrative business opportunity (no revenue stream was associated with the passive itinerary segments) all that mattered were the GDS-processed airline bookings. And their revenues reflected that strategy – over $2 billion in revenue from airline bookings and under $50 million for hotel bookings at one leading GDS.

The root of the problem was systemic. A startling reality was that to enhance hotel descriptions in a GDS, it was necessary to extend the BAS – the Basic Air Segment. That’s correct, even within the last decade, the square peg of hotel information, relied upon by millions through travel agents and online travel websites, was hammered into into the round hole of a data structure designed to describe an airline product.

Over the following fifteen years, as most GDS hotel databases have progressively been migrated off of the old TPF frameworks into relational databases or accessed interactively, the arrogance and self-absorption of the airline industry has again begun to rear its ugly head.

But back in 1999, a consortium of leading air carriers, working in concert with leaders from other travel verticals, established the non-profit OpenTravel Alliance to create a standard XML schema to facilitate the communication of traveler information between trading partners and across the industry.

Most importantly, this was done as an industry-wide initiative involving a wide variety of players within the travel industry.

It should be noted that the original OpenTravel XML messaging specification (Version 1.0 was published in July 2000) represented a remarkable degree of industry collaboration and is largely responsible for the vast majority of interfacing activity that has enabled everything from dynamic packaging to mobile apps. The effort involved an interoperability committee responsible for integrating the work contributed by working groups comprised of airlines, hotel, car rental, trade associations, GDS, technology providers and content publishers.

The OpenTravel spec was not perfect, but it allowed the industry to take huge steps forward by helping all involved smoothly exchange information. Most data elements were made optional so the specification would not unduly disenfranchise groups that had to navigate existing technological hurdles or new players developing innovations that reimagined the smooth exchange of information.

The OpenTravel Alliance established specifications have been continually enhanced over the years.

In July 2008, Graham Wareham, General Manager Product Distribution for Air Canada highlighted the important role OpenTravel had played in the industry and its importance moving forward:

“Air Canada believes open XML standards are critical to the technical advancement of airline distribution. Because OpenTravel’s standards are so widely adopted, we can now forge new commercial partnerships with enhanced distribution of our products and services. The ability to generate ancillary revenues through channels beyond our own website is key to our distribution strategy. The project Air Canada is leading will address the ability to offer additional services and discount options to the air traveler at time of reservation and to properly display these options at various points of a booking process.”

Then something changed. Some key members of the OpenTravel airline working group slowly curtailed their level of participation. While the airline industry was focused on aggressively unbundling its services to drive ancillary revenue streams, there was not comparable engagement on developing open industry standards to facilitate the broad distribution of these new services.

In mid-2010 the reason for decreased airline contributions became apparent – The airline-exclusive Open AXIS initiative was announced by an influential group of five airlines and two other organizations: Farelogix and Airline Tariff Publishing Company (ATPCO). Airlines Reporting Corporation (ARC) joined the Open AXIS board three days following inception.

The XML schema adopted by Open AXIS was not created by the member carriers, it was contributed by Farelogix, a for-profit corporation with a reputation for antagonistic relationships with travel intermediaries.

But here the plot thickens. Open AXIS was not successful in creating a following among non-founding airlines. While its ranks ultimately included 50 organizations, all additional participants were technology providers, not air carriers. Open AXIS had failed to gain traction within the airline industry.

Two and one-half years later, in January 2013, ATPCO purchased Open AXIS, reportedly for the sum of $1.00 and the assumption of debt that some parties estimated at six figures.

February 2013 then brought a decision by IATA’s Passenger Service Group to utilize the Open AXIS Schema as the foundation for IATA’s New Distribution Capability.

In May 2013, IATA assumed the license for the Open AXIS schema from ATPCO, which according to the press release, made “IATA the custodian of the Open AXIS XML schema, with full governance over schema evolution, including further development, maintenance and standardization efforts.”

Suddenly, the successful, industry-wide perspective nurtured by OpenTravel to develop travel industry XML interface standards was subverted, with control over airline standards now locked inside a gated airline community.

So much for the history lesson.

FLXing some Airline Muscle

A New Air Travel Control Tower

Innovation typically means disruption, and that is the primary factor that the major carriers, and IATA, are trying to “manage” through the establishment of NDC.

What is required is a flexible, structured framework for this information to be easily communicated between airlines, consumers and all their inter-related trading partners.

Broad participation in the standards creation process, as well as open review by those inter-related trading partners is particularly important. That is what made the OpenTravel Alliance specifications such a success.

Due to the adoption of the commercial Farelogix XML Schema, and the relatively closed circle of major carriers that have stakes in Open AXIS, ATPCO, ARC & IATA, the prospect of open review and enhancement is somewhat suspect.

In late 2012, IATA filed Resolution 787 with the United States Department of Transportation. It proposes the establishment of a single Dynamic Airline Shopping engine Application Programme Interface (DAS API) based on IATA NDC XML messages that will control all airline passenger interactions.

IATA’s description is unambiguous:

“A standard process is required for airlines to create their own product offer within their own systems (i.e. assemble fares, schedules and availability – all in one transaction) which will be provided directly by and owned by the airline.”

The DAS API serves as bookends to an “Interactive Exchange” that controls the rules, authentication and distribution governing of access to airline availability, fares and schedules.

Not only does this description try to make one size fit all, but it also closely parallels the design of the Farelogix FLX Airline Commerce Gateway – and not by coincidence.

But how could a commercial application suddenly be transformed into a legally binding process that impacts the global airline industry? Who are the decision makers who would allow such a thing to occur?

Even Google, Microsoft & Yahoo collaborated on the open schema.org specification that helps create context to help everyone search more efficiently across the Semantic Web.

Like in baseball, you can’t tell the players without a program. The only difference here is that when comparing a list of airline industry decision makers and baseball teams, the baseball teams have much larger rosters.

The chart below illustrates the highly incestuous relationships that exist between the world’s largest airlines, ATPCO ownership, the Airlines Reporting Corporation Board, IATA’s Passenger Distribution Group, airline alliance founders, the original GDS founders and Open AXIS founders.

A Power Rank was established as a measure of the dominance any single carrier may have over these various groups. The Power Rank tallied the number of these participation attributes for each airline.

The World’s Leading Airlines – At least in the distribution world. Mostly because they dominate passenger traffic, ATPCO, ARC, founded GDS’, alliances and Open Axis, plus the IATA Distribution Group.

Take careful note of the Power Rank scores for the five Open AXIS founders and their primary partners within the three airline alliances:

OneWorld

• American – 6/7 (Founder)
• British Airways – 6/7

SkyTeam

• Delta – 7/7 (Founder)
• Air France – 5/7

Star Alliance

• Air Canada – 7/7 (Founder)
• United – 7/7 (Founder)
• Lufthansa – 6/7
• US Airways – 4/7 (Founder)

Four of the five Open AXIS airline founders scored six or higher (out of seven) on the Power Rank scale. The highest Power Rank for a non-alliance member was a two, scored by Southwest Airlines, the 4th largest in the world, and two others. Emirates, the world’s 5th largest airline only scored a 1 for Power Rank.

A mere three of the 75 airlines listed managed a Power Rank of 4, including remaining Open AXIS founder US Airways, KLM (under common ownership with Air France) and Cathay Pacific. Each is also affiliated with a different airline alliance.

NOTE: The original version of the article flagged US Airways as having a Power Rank of 5 – due to their founding of the COvia GDS in the 1990’s. However, in the interest of being conservative, the Power Rank was later reduced to a 4 so only 1st generation GDS founders would be recognized as leaders. This is now somewhat a moot point given US Airways pending merger with American Airlines.

The eight airlines listed above dominate the global airline industry, and in this case, its newly minted distribution standards, through their ownership in the bodies that govern the global airline industry.

Democracy in Action

Of course, with such an important decision as determining the best technological approach to establish an airline industry standard, the best method would be to directly compare the various options based on predefined criteria. And that was exactly what the IATA Passenger Distribution Group (PDG) did.

Seventy-three empirical criteria were defined for the evaluation of the best schema for the NDC initiative. Both the OpenTravel and Open AXIS schemas were presented.

Interestingly, the individual responsible for pitching the Open AXIS schema to the committee apparently served dual roles as the head of product development for Open Axis and as the vice president of merchandising solutions for Farelogix.

The final outcome of the evaluation?

The OpenTravel schema narrowly edged out the Open Axis schema by a score of 96% to 48% for an overall score, and 100% versus 56% for the subset of merchandising messages.

The IATA Passenger Distribution Group subsequently voted. Two independent sources confirmed “The Open AXIS schema was approved by a 10-1 vote, despite having received lower scores in IATA’s evaluation process than the OpenTravel Alliance’s schema.”

Understanding that a) three of the eleven voting members represented Open AXIS founders, and b) all remaining members participate in airline alliances founded by those Open AXIS founders, would provide some important context for political dynamics of the vote.

The decision of the IATA Passenger Services Group was not based on the technology, the central issue driving the decision was governance. The group elected to go with inferior technology, as measured by their own standards, so they could wield full control over the specification.

That makes IATA’s pitch to the US Department of Transportation to support Resolution 787 as a means to implement a new “open” technology ring a bit disingenuous.

This process should give any external group interested in having its innovative or disruptive contributions to enhance the IATA NDC specification justifiable cause for concern. At least in the current climate, any proposal that potentially reduces airline control over pricing, distribution or merchandising, regardless of its benefit to improve travel industry efficiency or create consumer benefit, will face long odds at being incorporated into the standards.

There are many constituencies that can benefit from truly open standards to engage with travel products – Consumers, corporations, travel agencies, wholesalers, GDS’, search engines, other travel suppliers and other airlines. Unfortunately in the closed world of NDC, none of those other groups possesses any modicum of control – the original Open AXIS airline partners, Farelogix and IATA/ATPCO apparently call the shots.

This sort of political environment has no business influencing travel industry data exchange standards.

A similar scenario for lodging might be Airbnb proposing new schema extensions to support peer to peer short term rentals. If the standards were controlled by the hotel industry, the proposal would never be considered – based purely on political agendas. Within the framework of the OpenTravel Alliance however, the hotel working group might not be overly pleased, but the specification expansion could move forward without negating the existing hotel schema and at least leveling the distribution playing field for all participants.

If a similar scenario existed in the financial services industry, for example, if credit card companies controlled all aspects of the pricing, distribution and merchandising of settlement processes, any highly innovative and disruptive groups like Square or Dwolla would never be permitted to transact with a merchant. Fortunately, neither of these fictional scenarios are the case.

Reeling in the Years

The real tragedy is that with the major carriers going all-in on the Farelogix XML schema, future enhancements in the area of airline search and booking will likely be sidelined as the airline industry wrestles for total control of the air traveler’s itinerary. Open AXIS failed once, but now it’s round two; the stakes have been raised, but the players and underlying technology are unchanged.

I fall back on the famed Rita Mae Brown (sorry – not Einstein, Benjamin Franklin or Mark Twain) quote: “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results.”

It is within the realm of possibility that IATA could open up NDC and work to efficiently integrate it into the Air specifications of the OpenTravel Alliance, but that is highly doubtful. While not taking that route simply looks crazy to me, doing so would require some release of control – and as the Farelogix video reminds us, loss of control is apparently tantamount to failure.

To a great extent, the airline industry has turned its back on the larger travel industry in an effort to transform business models and establish dominant control over all aspects of its distribution channels. These standards don’t just impact airlines – they impact all sellers of travel and the patrons of hotels, car rental and activities that happen to travel by plane to their destination.

It looks a lot like history repeating itself when the airlines dominated travel distribution through the GDS. Control was exerted. Innovation suffered. Traveler satisfaction plunged.

In an era of unprecedented technological innovation, facilitated by the democratization of information, development of open systems and guided by cooperatively developed industry standards, such a closed structure and approach is repugnant.

Hopefully the mistakes of the past will not be repeated. But then again, seeing the same thing happen again and expecting a different outcome would be insane…

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Feeding the Big Data, Deep Web Monster with the Semantic Web. When done right, it’s a beautiful thing.

It was a pleasure to be invited back to again give a keynote presentation to the Association of Travel Marketing Executives 2013 Travel Marketing Conference. I joked that this was a bit surprising as I thought I might have been banned from the conference after presenting The Collision of SEO and Social – Who Draws the Creepy Line? which apparently was not too creepy and did not cross the line.

Toward the end of the presentation, there are several slides that set up my prediction for the “Killer Travel App.” I have evangelized these over the years and continue to believe that there are seven steps in the travel process, five types of travel transactions, the end-to-end travel experience and the multi-persona traveler. Mark my words – these continue to be critically important aspects of the industry and will represent the battleground for customer engagement in the years ahead.

The presentation addresses several issues that must be considered by travel marketers and investigates several points that need to contemplated when engaging customers.

The first of the two videos (following slide 13) embedded in the presentation is a silent example of the Google Flight Search from Hell – from four origin markets – MIA, MKE, MSP and DFW to five destinations NYC (EWR, LGA, JFK) CUN and LAS.

The second video (following slide 38) is the full 9 minute presentation by Jack Andraka, the 15 year old who developed a better (400 times more sensitive & 50% more accurate), faster (5 minutes instead of 14 hours) and cheaper ($0.03 for a paper test strip capable of recording 10 tests) that makes the former $800 test obsolete. It is well worth a viewing – incredibly inspirational.

Feedback from the session was very positive – the ATME crowd is always very engaged – even though I stood between them and lunch. For those unable to attend, I am always seeking new perspectives. Add a comment or reach out to me privately through the contact form.

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Early photo of Kevin May – the eye gives him away. His critics often cite his sniping at Tnooz commenters, bird-brained perspectives and foul temperament…
Image Credit: Pixar

Old School Kevin

Saint Cóemgen (obviously an antecedent to the contemporary term “Curmudgeon”), is popularly anglicized to Saint Kevin of Glendalough. Saint Kevin is the patron saint of crows, and known as a man who did not like the company of men… Seems a good fit so far…

As much as Mr. May is considered a legend in the travel industry, his namesake Saint is similarly legendary. Not figuratively; literally legendary. Jesuit religious scholar Father Francis Baert describes the Acta Sanctorum document that documents Saint Kevin’s miracles, “that although many of the legends given to this work are of doubtful veracity; it was decided to let them stand in favour of the antiquity of the document which is placed as having being written during or before the 12th century.”

His famous miracles include a blackbird landing on his outstretched arm and laying an egg in his hand, with Kevin holding that position until the egg hatched – Foreshadowing his modern namesake’s spiteful determination. The Saint also commanded a willow tree to produce 20 yellow apples; an obvious analogy for commanding writers to satisfy his impossible bidding, like producing stories based on nothing of material interest.

Mister Cool Science
The name Kevin is directly derived from the Kelvin – A common scientific measure that uses as its base, the null point of absolute zero, a temperature at which all thermal motion ceases.

That makes nothing cooler than Kelvin, and by extension, Kevin.

It also explains the magical attraction of such a rarity as a Kevin casts a powerful spell over those he meets. It’s often compared to a tongue touching frozen steel.

Up – The Documentary of Kevin’s Discovery

Pixar’s decision to option the riveting documentary of the thought to be lost “The Discovery Kevin May” and its eventual transformation into an animated feature film is the stuff of Hollywood legend. While all names were changed (except Kevin’s) to avoid litigious royalty claims, the characterizations are thinly veiled.

Many aspects of the film are not only historically accurate, but feature verbatim dialogue and blocking. Dennis Schaal (portrayed as Russell) did indeed discover Kevin by luring him out of hiding with chocolate. And while the initial cuddling was awkward for those present to stomach in real life, the geniuses at Pixar managed to translate it to animation without creeping out audiences.

The role of Timothy O’Neil-Dunne was also exquisitely captured in the character of “Dug” a performance indistinguishable from the original archive footage. Similarly, the Carl Fredrickson character, based on me, was quite put-off by Kevin’s antagonistic squawking (a sentiment that continues to this day.)

However, significant artistic liberties were also taken in the film. Gene Quinn (portrayed as Charles Muntz) who led the expedition Spoiler Alert! never plummeted to his death, how else could he have co-founded Tnooz after the capture and taming of Kevin? Also, the controversial decision to Spoiler Alert! kill-off the “Ellie” character in the film’s preface does little to detract from the importance of Valyn Perini’s role in Kevin’s location and discovery. Interestingly, the film’s producers chose an ending that left Kevin in the wild – an outcome that I pleaded the others to consider at the time.

The following segment accurately recreates Kevin’s discovery in the Dickensian town of Rochester, Medway, although Pixar changed the film’s setting to the wilds of South America:

Despite the liberties taken with the narrative, one final editorial decision, as an homage to the original source material, kept Kevin female in respect to his original condition prior to his oft-forgotten transgender reassignment surgery several years later. Many credit his plucking, trading his spectacular iridescent plumage and topknot for the Moby-esque shaved pate, as the source of his foul demeanor.

A Good Kevin is Hard to Find

Kevins are unusually rare – and not often found in the wild. Case-in-point, Biography.com, drawing from the collective annals of history, identifies just a mere dozen as Famous People Named Kevin. It’s a rather sad list.

The list is rife with actors, including Kevins Bacon, Costner, Hart, James, Kline, Pollak and Spacey. One may also choose to include Kevin Federline in that list, but that may involve too broad an interpretation of the term “actor.”

Only one tech-related entrepreneur makes the list, Kevin O’Connor, founder of DoubleClick and a lone politician – former Australian Labor Party Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.

Finally, it also includes two professional basketball players (Kevin Garnett and Kevin Durant) who, much like Kevin May, are paid well to dribble and take shots.

There it is – the aggregate history of famous Kevins. Although the list dies include three Oscar winners, Perhaps a bit more pathetic than sad.

As a point of reference, Biography.com lists 95 Famous People Named Robert.

• Film – Altman, De Niro, Duvall, Mitchum, Preston, Redford, Rodriguez, Wise, Zemeckis
• Arts/Literature – Browning, Burns, Frost, Joffrey, Ludlum, Mapplethorpe, Motherwell, Rauschenberg, Louis Stevenson
• Athletics – Griffin III
• Music – Johnson, Merrill, Palmer, Plant
• Military/Politics – Kennedy, E. Lee

The Formative Years
Early home videos, from the period before his acerbic plumage fully developed, provide a touching look into the the family relationships that helped mold such a unique persona. In this clip, Kevin exhibits his trademark impatience for obvious questions, as well as a degree of self-awareness normally reserved for those considerably older. The trademark cleverness is demonstrated by his twist on a game of hide & seek with his Dad.

Those Complicated Teen Years
The bestselling book, “We Need to Talk About Kevin” covers a period, described by Kevin’s publicist as “mildly exaggerated.” Frustrated that the film treatment focuses on a mother’s struggle to love her child, the publicist prefers to place his client squarely in the spotlight, “you’ll never see a more heartwarming portrayal of a boy who ends up murdering seven of his fellow high school students, a cafeteria worker, and the much-adored teacher who tried to befriend him, all two days before his sixteenth birthday…”

Pop Culture Kevin
Mention “Kevin the Pigeon” to any British schoolgirl, and they will gush enthusiastically about the reclusive 6th member of One Direction. The group’s creative muse was introduced to the band after member Louis Tomlinson became obsessed with kevinlukemay’s Audio Drivel compositions on SoundCloud . Unfortunately, due to decades of pleadings and court actions, neither Kevin May, nor his likeness, is permitted to be exposed to underage girls throughout the European Union. As a result, despite serving as the creative muse for the popular boy band, May must be represented in videos and on stage as Louis’ stuffed pigeon. Kevin figures prominently in the One Direction – Video Diary 4 video:

Meeting Kevin
In closing, when contemplating the powerful effect Kevin May has on the travel industry, it would be remiss to exclude the overwhelming visceral reaction from people encountering Kevin, in person, for the first time:

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Mauna Lani Bay Hotel and Bungalows on Big Island in Hawaii is my unfortunate subject.

Hotel pricing chaos makes hotel shopping a lot like riding a bucking bronco – it’s traveler versus beast…
Photo Credit: Eduardo Amorim | Flickr

A LivingSocial deal quoted $221 per night – reportedly discounted from a retail price of $442/night (the offer also includes a 2 for 1 price on a Grand Circle Island and Volcano Tour.)

That looked like a really low rate for a very nice hotel… I wondered how that stacked up against pricing through other booking channels.

The specific dates checked were for a 7 night, double occupancy stay from March 30 – April 6, 2013.

Here’s what I found:

Best rate on its own website is $322/night for the 30th Anniversary Package that also includes a $100 Credit per paid night for Spa, Golf, Dining and Activities that requires 14 day notice to cancel. Otherwise, the “best available” non-refundable room-only rate is $358.57.

Expedia quoted $740 retail (scratched-through) with a $259 pre-paid rate.

The hotel was not available at all on Booking.com or Priceline.com.

As a point of reference, Hotwire had a $216 rate for a 4.5-star / 4.5 guest rating property in the same area as Mauna Lani Bay (as confirmed by TripAdvisor.) This could also possibly be the Mauna Kea Beach Hotel, but all channels appear closed out, with no availability for that property. Rolling the dice on the property being booked may or may not be worth the risk for a savings of only $35 for the week.

Of course, if the traveler wants to go completely wonky with their discount rate hunting, one can always review my blog post on the ultimate money savng strategy – How to Save Money Booking Hotels.

Finally, one exceptionally nice aspect of Mauna Lani Bay – No Resort Fees. Always be careful that these little gems are not added in at the end of the booking process or subtly stated in a footnote. They can add up.

So what have we learned?

• Don’t always believe the discounts you see on the daily deals sites. Most are inflated. In this case, the Living Social deal was really a 14.7% discount. Not bad, but nowhere near 50%.
• The same goes for the scratch-through rates on the OTA’s – they are also often pure fantasy – or perhaps the highest rate the stupidest person in the world might pay by accident…
• “Best Available” rates – even on the hotel’s own website – may not always be the best rates available.
• If a hotel shows sold out, it may be available on another site – and at a discounted rate.
• Watch out for hidden resort fees.

When it comes to getting a great deal on a hotel room, the advertised deals may not be all they appear. The smart traveler will comparison shop to take advantage of the chaos wrought by hotel revenue managers who are either trying to be too clever for their own good or perhaps simply lost control of their pricing.

At times, getting a hotel deal may seem like a process more closely related to the study of chaos theory, than online shopping. Sometimes it’s the hotel’s pricing strategy that is in chaos.

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Butterflies are known for their ability to transform. While these are Queens, their relative the Monarch engages in a multi-generational migration covering thousands of miles each year.
Photo Credit: donjschulte@oxherderarts | Flickr

That’s how I started off as the lead-off panelist for the Tnooz-Monetate “Transforming Supplier-driven Travel Booking Experience” webinar. I was followed by Monetate Chief Marketing Officer Kurt Heinemann.

My portion focused on the travel industry landscape – the travel process, types of travel transactions and implications impacting customer conversion and loyalty. Kurt drilled down into the more practical applications of customizing the booking experience based on the information captures through previous interactions and user behaviors.

My multi-step travel process was followed by a discussion of the various methods of transacting travel bookings, including advanced methods such as dynamic and sequential packaging. I could not resist pointing out that the variety of packaging offered by OTAs today is merely the re-bundling of travel components as opposed to true dynamic packaging that is rules-based and results in retail pricing variations based on the efficiency and supplier partnerships of the travel seller.

I then outlined various revenue opportunities available to travel suppliers – and highlighted the cruise industry as an example of a sector that does a much better job of exploiting those opportunities than the others. The last section of my portion dealt with the fact that loyal, repeat customers were not simply discovered, but required a journey into enlightenment regarding enduring brand value.

My closing is seeming to become a permanent slide in every presentation, since I believe the industry cannot be reminded of it too often – Value Drives Transactions, but Values Drive Loyalty. Loyalty is ultimately based on the customer’s appreciation for the shared values between the travel seller, supplier and traveler.

Unfortunately, time did not permit discussion regarding Multiple Traveler Personas or Recommendation Engines, which will also play a role in the radical personalization of the end-to-end travel experience. But like my allusion to Distributed Packaging, the travel industry needs to deal with the basics before embarking on more sophisticated methods to engage customers and enrich travel experiences.

The full webinar, including the question and answer period was recorded and is available below or via YouTube:

If you are interested in reviewing the slides at your leisure, they are available below, plus the full presentation is available for download on SlideShare:

Over 400 people registered for the webinar and the feedback following the session was very positive. Add a comment or use the contact form to ask me any questions you may have – I am happy to answer them.

As I mentioned during the broadcast, I am a fan of Monetate. Their rule’s based approach to tailoring the customer experience in real-time provides marketing departments with significant autonomy from IT departments to manage campaigns. It is very powerful technology and is has produced compelling results for their clients.

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Well, the search is over – Introducing the “52 Love Salute” courtesy of Four Seasons Hotel New York and JetWay Private Air.

The Four Seasons Hotel New York, JetWay Private Air and a Premier Gem necklace say I love you so much better than mere words…

Imagine how their heart will beat faster when you describe everything the package includes:

Celebrate love and take aim for her higher heart with the lavish “52 Love Salute” package designed to honor Cupid’s divine inspirations, especially the ones that get hearts beating fast. Feel the love of Cupid’s arrow 52 times.

The package features:

• A private chartered flight on a luxurious jet of your choice with Jetway Private Air from any U.S. state, 52 love songs on a play list for in-flight serenade and 52 love poems for you to have as homage to your sweetness. Fly over the clouds and above the city in intimate style courtesy of JetWay Private Air, the official private jet company of Cupid himself.
• A night of delicious bliss at Four Seasons Hotel New York in the Ty Warner Penthouse Suite, one of the most iconic suites in the world. The evening of romance includes: Caviar and Champagne from Calvisius Caviar Bar, unlimited use of the hotel’s Rolls Royce with a personal chauffeur, a personal butler 24/7 and a decadent dinner for two prepared by Executive Chef John Johnson as well as unlimited massages given in the Penthouse spa room.
• A stunning 52-carat heart shaped diamond necklace from Premier Gem Corporation that dazzles for eternity.

Say I love you 52 times in ultimate style this Valentine’s Day. Four Seasons and JetWay will put your love above the clouds … and possibly over the moon.The price is $417,000 – $487,000, depending on the departure city.

To purchase the package, call JetWay private air (866-809-2198) or Four Seasons Hotel New York (1-800-487-3769)

Reservations are based on availability; Additional nights in the Four Seasons New York Ty Warner Penthouse are $40,000 plus tax, per night.
This package can only be booked over the telephone.

And perhaps your heart will beat a bit faster too when you sign that check…

But really, putting a dollar value on the richness of your relationship? How crass.

Reflect on your relationship – they’re worth it, right?

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Talking skiing in July with SkiTops, the Ski Tour Operators Association, deserves a cover image of the best summer ski shot ever – taken by my sister, Tina Cole

SkiTops is the Ski Tour Operators Association. The annual “University” meeting allows all the ski areas update the tour operators on all the latest renovations to their facilities and various improvements to their skiing programs. It is an informative, fun and by all accounts, productive meeting.

Most notably, SkiTops has taken an innovative approach to giving back to the ski community. Instead of producing those lovely logo-festooned specialty advertising items as souvenirs of the event (you know, those tschokes that wind up in the hotel room trash bin when you are packing to leave the conference) SkiTops finds a deserving local charity and not only makes a contribution, but enables all its member to learn more about the cause and make their own contributions.

While I would always like to think my presentation was the highlight of the event, that distinction definitely went to Roy Tuscany‘s casual talk about his High Fives Foundation during an evening event.

High Fives helps athletes that have suffered a life altering injury while participating in winter action sports. The group not only raises awareness for these athletes, but actively assists in raising money and provides grants to assist in rehabilitation.

Two athletes told their stories at the event. The first was Grant Korgan who despite suffering a L-1 burst fracture that left him paralyzed from the waist down in March 2010. With the help of High Fives, Grant is not only walking with the assistance of forearm crutches, but became the first adaptive athlete to reach the South Pole earlier this year.

The second was J2 national champion Jake Hickman who caught an edge during the US National Freestyle Team Selections competition in 2010 and was paralyzed from the T8 level down. Again, with the generous help of High Fives, his goal is now to make the 2013 National Team.

Having known a teenage girl who was paralyzed by a fall while training downhill decades ago, one can only wonder how an organization like High Fives could have changed her life…

71% of High Five’s revenue comes from individual donations, so if you feel so inclined, click here to donate.

My keynote presentation at SKiTops University 2012 covered a lot of territory for an audience that ranged from green circle to double black diamond expertise when it comes to online travel marketing and technologies. For those that were more interested in skiing than the processes involved in selling and supporting ski-related travel, there are plenty of background photos to let them daydream about tuning up their skis and heading for the mountains.

With diverse segments (alpine skiers, snowboarders and cross country skiers) having wildly different demographic, psychographic and lifestyle profiles, selling ski vacations is significantly more challenging than, for example, selling all-inclusive beach holidays.

One beneficial aspect is that the ski industry is large, with specific seasonality. US Ski Areas had over 60 Million skier visits over the 2010/2011 season (the most recent stats available) – an all-time record eclipsing the previous mark set during 2007/2008, prior to the global financial crisis. According to the Ski Industry Association, last year, the combination of Alpine, Snowboard and Cross-County skiers represented nearly 22.1 million total participants. Ski-related retail spending topped $3.4 Billion, despite one of the warmest winters on record.

On a personal note, skiing was my sport of choice through middle school and high school while growing up in Seattle, Washington. Racing for the Crystal Mountain Athletic Club, summer training on the Palmer Glacier at Mt. Hood Summer Ski Camp, and teaching at what was then Ski Acres (now Summit Central at Snoqualmie) for Ullr/Bellevue Ski School occupied winter weekends and vacations of my teenage years.

It was great to meet with all the ski resort sales people and the tour operators that work harder than most can appreciate to see that skiers have great vacations. It is a terrific sport supported by fantastic people who not only care about the business aspects, but the human aspects as well.

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