The Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International (HSMAI) has teamed with D.K. Shifflet & Associates Ltd. (DKS&A) and Smith Travel Research …
The Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International (HSMAI) has teamed with D.K. Shifflet & Associates Ltd. (DKS&A) and Smith Travel Research (STR) to provide hotel sales and marketing executives with the competitive intelligence and historical trends required to more accurately develop their annual marketing plans and sales strategies.
The STR Marketing Plan Databook is a comprehensive tool that provides hotels with actionable industry data customized to their local market and competitive set.
DKS&A is introducing two new products, HotelGESTSM, an email based property level guest satisfaction system that reports and benchmarks a hotel’s performance against its market area hotel segment, and their Origin Guest Generation products, which profile business and leisure hotel guests from each market area’s major feeder markets.
“We are very excited about these partnership endeavors, which provide access to the expertise of two industry giants for reliable and customized statistical performance data at a greatly reduced rate for HSMAI members,” states Robert A. Gilbert, CHME, CHA, president and CEO of HSMAI.
“These three distinct products are powerful tools that will enable hotel marketers to better understand their market, customers and competitors,” says Gilbert. “Technology has enabled companies to aggregate data that is meaningful marketing information for hotels and resorts, and gives them access to customized and accurate information to base strategic decisions, both short- and long-term,” he adds.
DKS&A’s HotelGESTSM is a new property level guest satisfaction system whereby a hotel obtains and submits guest e-mail addresses to a remote provider that surveys the guest, typically within 24 hours. Hotel managers can access the system 24/7 to review guest ratings and comments for their hotel. Hotels receive eight standard reports and their ratings are benchmarked against the hotel segment performance for their market area.
“This product takes property level guest satisfaction management into the 21st century,” states Douglas K. Shifflet, president & CEO, D.K. Shifflet & Associates Ltd, adding: “What makes it so unique is that properties can benchmark their performance against area segment hotels, making this system a vital tool for any hotel sales, marketing, and management professional.”
Origin Guest Generation products, also from D.K. Shifflet, provide hotel segment guest profiles for business and leisure travelers visiting local market areas. Additionally the report provides subscriber hotels with their hotel segment’s market capture rates for outbound travelers from their top five feeder markets. All metrics are reported in hotel/motel room nights.
From Smith Travel Research, the customized STR Marketing Plan Databook provides:
- Local market competition analysis
- Ready-made charts and graphs that may be imported directly into forecasts
- Local Hotel Construction Pipeline report
- Current and historic occupancy trends
Mark Lomanno, president of Smith Travel Research, notes: “We are very pleased to announce this partnership as HSMAI represents the pulse of the sales and marketing community, who depend so heavily upon STR data for their measurement and strategic planning needs.”
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
