Marking a milestone

In early 1992, the year HOTEL BUSINESS® was founded, the Hampton Inn chain posted the results of a survey of guests to determine where families would travel in the year 2000. Twenty percent said we’d be heading for the moon, Mars and outer space and an equal percentage said foreign countries. Eighteen percent said “the same places as today.” The expectations of the respondents— then ages five to 15— were high and, interestingly, it’s that same age group that’s currently driving many of the initiatives and strategies put in play by today’s hotel companies. In an industry where change is rampant— turnover, mergers and acquisitions, IPOs, prototypes, new brands, to name just a few— 15 years can represent several lifetimes, particularly for the executives who play in this arena. After a decade and a half of chronicling lodging’s movers and shakers, HOTEL BUSINESS® decided to turn the tables and get a perspective from the other side of the keyboard as to what the past 15 years have meant to those who live the life. We also included where our players were when we were starting out. Not surprisingly, the prize for job stability goes to J.W. Marriott Jr., who is still chairman and CEO of Marriott International, Inc., just as he was in 1992. Still, he said, much else has changed since then. “We are seeing the lodging industry play an active role in protecting the environment and an ongoing commitment to diversity initiatives,” he said. “Competition has never been more intense, as the major companies aggressively expand their portfolios around the world. Electronic reservations systems, frequent traveler programs and revenue management systems are all part of how we do business. As Baby Boomers begin to retire and Gen-Xers come into their own, we’re seeing a revolution in rising expectations.” Back in 1992 Stephen Bollenbach, co-chairman and CEO of Hilton Hotels Corp., worked with Bill Marriott at Marriott as CFO and today the two companies compete on many levels. Better business model “The industry is much better today. The focus of large companies like ourselves on the notions of brandings within price points within the hotel business has been important to that. The fact that there’s more travel today makes our business better,” he said. “Another thing we may not have recognized 15 years ago is the advent of the new communications systems, the Internet, Blackberries. Originally, they were frightening concepts because the notion was that people wouldn’t travel as much. The reality is it’s gotten people to take their offices, their homes and all their communications with them, so they travel even more.” Stevan Porter, president of the Americas at IHG was the director of field marketing for Embassy Suites in 1992 and agreed the industry has changed for the better. “We have studied and embraced commercial and strategic practices from a cross section of other industries,” he said. “This has pushed the industry along the path of being different, better and special. We are one of a few industries requiring a sizeable multi-market capital investment, producing our product largely at the moment of consumption, selling ourselves to consumers on a base of marketing funds that are mere fumes compared to most consumer goods and services.” Yvonne La Penotiere, president of Carlson Hotels Worldwide in the Americas, in 1992 was at Nabisco Foods Group in Parsippany, NJ, serving as the senior marketing manager for the Ortega Mexican Foods line. She, like Bollenbach, sees greater emphasis on brand building and traditional brand management in the industry today.   “Companies are putting more effort into creating a clear brand identity and differentiation from their competitors,” she said, adding there also has been a transition for some in the franchise business toward defining the primary customer as the guest versus the franchisee. “Decisions are made very differently if you are trying to accommodate the end user of your product