| How will a war with Iraq (or anyone
else for that matter) effect travel and the hotel business? Are you in
denial or are you making a contingency plan for your hotel?
Several months ago, I wrote an article on contingency planning as an
addendum to the Marketing Plan. That dealt with infrastructure changes
in the market, the loss of a large contract or those things that could
significantly change the status quo in your hotel market. At that time,
we weren�t even concerned about a possible war.
For those of us who remember the Gulf War, the implications are profound.
If you recall, travel came to a screeching halt after the war began. A
large corporation that shall remain nameless issued a memo to all employees,
advising them that if they were on the road they should return home and
all business travel was suspended until further notice. Fortunately,
that war was relatively short. That may not be the case this time.
The travel industry has yet to recover from the changes in travel patterns
associated with 9/11 and the economic downturn. Couple that with the concern
over new terrorist attacks that could be associated with this war and it
could spell disaster for those who don�t plan and even for those who do,
it will significantly alter the revenue projections that have just been
finalized in most marketing plans.
Not one hotelier to whom I have spoken has given this much thought.
Alan Greenspan�s attempt to reassure us by indicating that he didn�t think
war would have a significant impact on the economy has done little to reassure
the uncertainty in the markets or the Consumer Confidence Index.
While a war will most certainly have an impact, giving some thought
to how it may effect your hotel and developing an alternative strategy
prior to the event shortens the response time. In the old SWOT analysis
model, the T stands for �threats�.
Which segments would be effected? Most certainly corporate and leisure
air travel to foreign destinations and gateway cities, such as LA and DC
will be impacted. Large convention venues and attractions where large numbers
of people congregate have been mentioned, as have large resort destinations.
Drive travel will still be the preferred domestic mode of transportation
although the destinations are likely to remain those closer to home or
close to military installations where family members may have been called
to serve.
What can individual properties do to minimize the impact on occupancies
and revenue? Below are just a few of the steps that you can take now in
your Contingency Plan.
-
Poll your accounts. Don�t assume that you know or understand how
a declaration of war is impacting them or is likely to impact them and
their travel policies. Ask every account and every group this tough question.
This will prevent you from being blindsided by a drastic drop in an accounts
transient travel, group booking cancellations and unanticipated attrition
in convention attendance.
-
Develop or maintain high visibility in drive markets. If you haven�t
done this already, start now. Target transient through your property�s
web site (you do have one, don�t you?) and your state�s tourism web site.
Post specials and packages aimed at the drive market. Make sure that you
have rate driven collateral at your state�s gateway visitors centers, invite
the volunteers or staff of those centers to tour your hotel. Get a billboard
(remember those) and make sure that you can re-paint it twice a year with
special offers seasonally.
-
Implement a group sales strategy aimed at drive markets. This includes
state and regional associations, corporations and affinity/SMERF groups.
These groups might go further afield in less uncertain times. If your sales
staff can make a sales trip to a market within 2 -3 hours of your hotel,
imagine how much you will save in expenses.
-
Call billeting and the visitor centers of any military installations
in your market. Billeting is the department that is responsible for
housing military personnel. In the event of a call-up of the reserves and
National Guard, they may not have enough beds on base. They can also direct
you as to how to get your information out to families of military personnel
called to duty who may want to visit them.
-
Offer special leisure packages to the military and their families.
If you are a resort location, make special offers through the military
and government travel agencies or the military bases. This is especially
compelling if your property is within a reasonable drive distance of a
military installation.
Walter Isenberg, President and CEO of Sage Hospitality, participated in
a panel discussion at the recent Colorado Hotel and Lodging Association
annual meeting, a conference where I also presented a seminar. In response
to a question from the audience about what keeps him up at night, he responded,
�The state of the world.� This is profound not only from a personal perspective
but a business perspective. It keeps me up at night as well. The
point is that if this war does occur, it is those who have prepared for
the possibility who will be in the best position to implement their strategy.
While it may not eliminate the impact of such an event, it will give you
an edge at revenue recovery. Everyone else will be lamenting the event
and excusing poor performance on �uncontrollable� events.
We can�t always control the things that happen but we can choose how
we respond and react.
Carol Verret is a twenty-year veteran of the hospitality business,
having begun her career with Four Seasons and Westin Hotels in Montreal,
Canada. She most recently was Vice President Sales and Marketing
for Sunstone Hotels before she left in 1996 to start her own business.
Carol Verret Consulting and Training provides consulting and training services
to the hospitality industry in the areas of customer service and sales.
For a complete description of her services, access her web site at http://www.carolverret.biz/.
Comments and feedback are appreciated and can be communicated via phone
at (303) 618-4065 or email at [email protected].
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