LONDON—An optimistic outlook is more appropriate for the United States hotel industry than for the U.S. itself, according to a new survey by BDRC Continental.
Despite a weakening dollar, increasing national debt and “the crisis in the eurozone,” the consultancy says there will be no second “hotel recession” in 2012 like the one that hit U.S. lodging in 2010.
These findings are based on online interviews with 2,104 business travelers and 2,113 leisure guests who stayed in chain or star-rated hotels within the past 12 months. Fieldwork was conducted in July and August 2011. BDRC conducted a poll only for U.S. business travelers in 2008. This is its first covering the leisure guest.
The key conclusion of BDRC’s 434-page “US Hotel Guest Survey 2011”:
- Hilton Hotels & Resorts is market leader for business travelers, while Marriott Hotels and Resorts grabs the ring for leisure guests. The market leader combining the sectors is Hilton.
“In no other market across the globe do we see as tight a race for the No. 1 spot on brand equity as in the U.S. between Hilton and Marriott,” Tim Sander, BDRC’s head of hotel brand monitoring, said in an email from the London headquarters. “Overall there is quite a gap between these two and the next player, Holiday Inn, even though Holiday Inn does interfere in this two-brand dominance amongst leisure travelers.
“Curiously, neither Hilton nor Marriott make it into the top 10 on intent to recommend, which may imply that they are safe bets but need some outstanding attribute or trait that make users want to recommend them more,” Sander continued. “Non-deluxe brands find it generally harder to achieve as high recommendation scores as upscale players but there are some notable exceptions, Wingate being one of them.”
Other key findings from the survey include:
- Business travelers favor upper, full-service brands while budget brands are the segment for the “more cost-conscious leisure traveler.”
- Loyalty programs are growing faster in the U.S. than in other markets, with leisure travelers showing particularly “high engagement.”
- About one in six U.S. travelers is from Generation Y, which is the most likely demographic to travel internationally. Gen Y also is most prone to use social-media websites, checking them more than once a day.
- Internet search engines and hotel websites are the most frequently used information channels, suggesting hotels and chains should invest in and improve them continuously. There is opportunity, particularly regarding Gen Y, for a hotel brand to become a social-media engagement leader. Key target: Gen Y women by way of the smartphone.
- The expectation of free Wi-Fi is growing more widespread, and more than half of all travelers likely would choose a hotel that offered it, assuming all other criteria were met.
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Tim Sander
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Brand ranking
As it did in 2008, Hilton ranked first among business travelers, followed by Marriott, Holiday Inn, Ritz-Carlton, Best Western, Courtyard by Marriott, Embassy Suites by Hilton, Hyatt/Hyatt Regency, Sheraton and Holiday Inn Express. The bottom five: “any Radisson,” Doubletree by Hilton, Motel 6, Renaissance and Staybridge Suites.
The top 10 brands in leisure: Marriott, Holiday Inn, Hilton, Best Western, Disney, Ritz-Carlton, Four Seasons, Holiday Inn Express, Comfort Inn/Suites and Days Inn. The bottom five: Hampton Inn & Suites, Grand Hyatt, Sheraton, Hilton Garden Inn and La Quinta Inn/Suites.
The top 10 in combined ranking: Hilton, Marriott, Holiday Inn, Best Western, Holiday Inn Express, Comfort Inn/Suites, Courtyard by Marriott, Embassy Suites by Hilton, Ramada, and Hyatt/Hyatt Regency. The bottom five: Hilton Garden Inn, Doubletree by Hilton, “any Radisson,” Four Seasons and La Quinta Inn & Suites
Demographics and the bigger picture
In the U.S., 73% of business travelers are men, though 45% of Gen Y business travelers are women. The average age is 39, with one in six older than 55. The share of frequent stayers has grown, but this group has cut back on the number of nights they spend at a hotel. Conferences, training courses and seminars are the key reasons for such travel.
Fifty-one percent of leisure travelers are women, 43% are members of loyalty programs, and the average age is 41. Just over a quarter of leisure travelers have made a trip of five nights or more. Such travelers are far more likely to patronize budget brands than their business counterparts. Just more than half of such travelers make online reservations through hotel websites, rising to seven of 10 frequent stayers.
On a macro level, BDRC says the U.S. hotel market is doing better than the country’s overall economy, noting more than 58 million travelers visited in 2010, spending more than US$110 billion.
“Tourism industry pressure groups are currently campaigning for more visa-waivers to increase further the number of visitors,” the report says. “After the government cut visa fees to South Korea, 54% more Koreans traveled to America the following year.” (In a 19 January address at Disneyland in Orlando, Florida, President Obama pledged to expand the U.S. Visa Waiver Program, calling on the Secretaries of State and Homeland Security to develop an appropriate plan within 60 days.)
Although BDRC says the U.S. is unlikely to retain its position as the world’s largest economy much longer because of global competition, high unemployment and a large national debt, its hotel industry is doing fine. One indicator: Those loyalty programs in which more than 65% of U.S. business travelers participate. “Almost two in five business travelers have converted their points gained into a leisure trip,” the report says. “This is up 10% on 2008, so perhaps reflects some optimism returning as the economy recovers.”
Waldorf Astoria is the brand most likely to inspire loyalty, followed by Ritz-Carlton, St. Regis, Four Seasons and JW Marriott. The bottom five are Motel 6, Microtel Inn & Suites, Econo Lodge, Super 8 and Travelodge.
