PHOENIX— On Jan. 10, the Lodging Conference kicked off with a Power Panel that included hoteliers Jim Evans of Best Western, Mike Leven of US Franchise Systems, Curtis Nelson of Carlson Hospitality Worldwide, and Kirby Payne of the AH&LA. The executive panel tackled issues that would help bring the industry back on course. These included distribution channels, pricing models, and other tactics to drive profitability for hotel owners. “We don’t concentrate enough on driving better lines of profitability to franchisees,” said Nelson. “One of the single biggest issues we have is the huge discounts that go on right now. It will be difficult to bring the industry back from it.” Nelson went on to say that Carlson is focusing on distribution channels, including travel agents and online distributors, to drive business to its hotels. Leven pointed out, however, that rate erosion began before the events of Sept. 11. “That bubble had already burst,” he said, noting the industry must work on pricing plans, which he considered one of the most important dynamics of the business. Meanwhile, Evans noted that he sees the major distribution channels changing with online transactions increasing. “We [Best Western] expect next year that 30% of our business will come from the Internet alone,” he said. —Shannon McMullen