SPOKANE, WA— MTM Hotel Network has been launched this week by Tom Magnuson, principal of strategic marketing and branding-specialists The Magnuson Co., as the industry’s newest “alternative to hotel franchising.” Set up as a travel marketing organization positioned to provide global reservations and marketing services for independently owned U.S. and Canadian hotels and resorts, MTM Hotel Network is already officially “up and running,” and includes within its ranks 12 affiliate hotels and resorts in British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, Montana and Idaho (including properties in the primary markets of Seattle, Portland, Boise and Vancouver, BC). According to Magnuson, the new organization was established (as a subsidiary of The Magnuson Co. LLC here) largely because “hotels of all sizes— small, midsize and large— recognize how difficult it has become to realize [any significant]return through franchise affiliations, what with sign-up costs, room-revenue-based fees, etc. As such, our goal is to create an affordable [marketing and reservations]platform for independent hotel owners.” Magnuson explained MTM Hotel Network’s start-up fee for participating properties “is generally under $5,000. Moreover, the organization’s on-going fees are based on a percentage of the room-reservations delivered through the system’s consumer-targeted Internet booking engine, www.mtmtravel.com.” As he further pointed out, this commission-driven system basically boils down to one equating “no stay, no pay.” Magnuson essentially maintains a convergence of consumer and travel industry trends have created a set of needs driving the formation of MTM Hotel Network. “We are seeing a new breed of Internet-powered ‘turbo-consumers’ who are increasingly indifferent to brands,” he said. “Their buying choices differentiate hotels primarily upon location, quality, amenities, and room rate.” A long-time businessman, Magnuson is similarly no stranger to the inner needs and workings of the lodging and hospitality industry. Not only has his firm worked with several major hotel companies over the course of its decade-long existence, but Magnuson himself also has a personal ownership interest in four smaller properties in Idaho— the Best Western University Inn in Moscow, and the Historic Jameson Hotel, the Stardust Motel and the Best Western Wallace Inn (all in Wallace). As Magnuson further pointed out, the latter two sites are among the 12 locations currently affiliated with MTM Hotel Network. Finally, while he has set no firm targets at this time vis-à-vis the new organization’s rate of growth and ultimate critical mass, Magnuson was quick to note he’s looking for MTM Hotel Network to fill out its ranks— internationally— “as quickly as possible… and practical.”
Tom Magnuson