Hotel & Motel Management - June 16, 2008 - (Page 1) NEWS HOSPITALITY INDUSTRIES PROMOTE TOURISM Page 4 SPECIAL REPORT HITEC TO FEATURE ‘COOL’ CHANGES Page 24 CONSUMER INSIGHT LEISURE TRAVELERS RATE CREATURE COMFORTS Page 54 www.HotelMotel.com News Analysis, Trends and People Since 1875 A HotelWorld Network Publication | Vol. 223, No. 11 | June 16, 2008 Transforming tech Industry banks on alternative, more efficient solutions first to be trimmed. Hoteliers and hospitality IT professionals are challenged with National Report–Given the state operating at minimal costs and developof the economy, business-spending ing cost-saving opportunities, all while habits for the remainder of 2008 and providing guests the conveniences of looking forward to 2009 are chang- Page 24 home and masking any deficiencies. ing. Within the lodging industry, hoAccording to The Boston Globe in early teliers are increasingly forced to evaluate spending 2008, Forrester Research released a report saying, cuts to offset dips in occupancy that most likely will “U.S. companies and government agencies are exlead to lower revenue. pected to increase their spending on information Information technology budgets are often the See Transforming tech | page 24 By Jason Q. Freed SENIOR EDITOR Hanson retires from PWC, heads to NYU By Harvey Chipkin CONTRIBUTING EDITOR SEE RELATED COVERAGE: HITEC prepares to rock Austin Lenders coming out of the woodwork By Jason Q. Freed SENIOR EDITOR Las Vegas–Daniel Lesser, senior managing director at CB Richard Ellis, borrowed a quote from Warren Buffet to sum up the vibe at Meet the Money 2008. Lesser was addressing the current economy and its effects on buyers’ hesitance withLesser in the lodging CBRE industry: “When everyone is being greedy, be fearful. When everyone is being fearful, be greedy,” he said. Lesser, addressing nearly 400 hoteliers during JMBM’s annual Meet the Money hotel financing conference in May at the Green Valley Ranch Resort in Las Vegas, Nev., was optimistic about the “continued, albeit Butler slower,” growth JEFFER MANGELS BUTLER & MARMARO within the lodg- ing industry. He told hoteliers that 2008 is a great time to grow their portfolios. “2008 is a terrific time to buy U.S. hotel assets,” Lesser said. “There is money out there. This perception that there is no debt out there, it’s a flawed perception. The leverage that existed before the peak is not out there, but there is really lots of 60-percent to 70-percent lenders out there.” The mere fact that Jim Butler, chairman of Jeffer Mangels Butler & Marmaro’s Global HospitalSee Lenders | page 46 New York–For the last two decades, Bjorn Hanson, Global Industry Leader—Hospitality and Leisure for PricewaterhouseCoopers, has been one of the mostquoted experts in the lodging industry. On June 30, he will retire from PWC to join the faculty of the Preston Rob- Hanson ert Tisch Center PWC for Hospitality, Tourism and Sports Management at New York University. | page xx See Bold word No stranger to academia—or See Hanson | page 50 Guest satisfaction up, economy a hindrance By Heather Gunter ASSOCIATE EDITOR INFO CONCIERGE National Report–The good news: Guest satisfaction with hotels is up, according to two studies. The bad news: While this could indicate more willingness to spend, cur- Barsky rent economic conditions MARKET METRIX mean many consumers are tightening their belts on travel. Customers might be more satisfied with hotels, but with prices rising on everything from fuel to food, it’s increasingly difficult See Guest | page 50 Leisure travel accounts for 82 percent of U.S. international outbound travel. Top five destinations and number of travelers: 1. Mexico 5,827,000 2. Canada 5,085,000 3. Caribbean 2,476,000 4. Italy 1,623,000 5. U.K. 1,208,000 Source: AAA U.S. Outbound Travel Analysis & Summer 2008 Forecast http://www.HotelMotel.com
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