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SAN RAFAEL, Calif. � July 31, 2003 -- Market Metrix, LLC, the leading provider of market research services for the hospitality industry, today announced results of the Market Metrix Hospitality Index (MMHI) for the second quarter of this year. Fairmont Hotels & Resorts, JetBlue Airways and Enterprise Rent-A-Car ranked number one in the hotel, airline and rental car industry categories, respectively. Fairmont Hotels & Resorts customer satisfaction score rose by four points over the first quarter, a significant brand-wide performance improvement, bringing the chain from 14th place to first place in the overall hotel category. "We are very excited to receive the top hotel award in the prestigious Market Metrix Hospitality Index," says Chris Cahill, President and COO, Fairmont Hotels & Resorts. "With growing brand selectivity in the luxury category, Fairmont has made a concerted effort to deliver exceptional guest experiences. Key to this effort has been our guest loyalty program, Fairmont President's Club, as well as our commitment to upgrading our hotels' physical assets and guest amenities. There is no better recognition of our efforts than customer feedback. Receiving the top hotel accolade in the MMHI indicates that our efforts have been recognized and appreciated." JetBlue and Enterprise each had won the top spot for three of the past four quarters. Among the winners by hotel category, Walt Disney World Resorts has won top ranking in the upscale hotel category for four consecutive quarters � the only brand to win in a category four times in a row. Walt Disney World Resorts also scored the highest in customer loyalty, which is based on how likely its customers are to come back and to recommend the hotel, for the second consecutive quarter. Overall Industry Trends Despite weakening demand and the financial troubles facing the airline industry, airline passengers are slightly more satisfied now compared with a year ago. The airline industry score of 78, however, is still below other hospitality sectors (i.e., hotel and car rental). �The improvement in passenger satisfaction is due to fewer passengers, fewer planes in the sky, and less lost luggage. Fewer planes are also associated with better on-time performance and fewer flight cancellations,� says Jonathan Barsky, Ph.D., partner of Market Metrix. �Other factors, such as expanded self-service check-in programs, waiving ticket-changing fees, and cutting prices on some of the major business routes, have helped improve the overall customer experience.� Satisfaction in the rental car segment is seeing more remarkable increases, with a jump from 79 to 83 over the past four quarters. �Car rental companies have attempted to improve customer service, an area which was largely neglected when the major players were owned by the auto manufacturers,� says Dr. Barsky. �Express Service for frequent renters, a larger selection of automobiles, including sports cars and sport utility vehicles, in-car amenities such as mobile phones, and self-booking through the Internet are all examples of the industry trying to better serve their customers.� Hotel occupancy rates continue to fall due to
the combined effects of the war, the SARS virus and a weak economy, but
overall customer satisfaction remains flat or is up at many hotel brands.
Those leading the comeback in Q2 2003 include Fairmont Hotels & Resorts
(up 4 points), Four Points (up 3.9 points) and W Hotels (up 3 points).
�The post-9/11 recovery in customer satisfaction continues this quarter,
despite a continued fall in occupancy,� says Dr. Barsky. �Improvements
in satisfaction are linked to investments in the guest experience, such
as better staffing and the return of select services and amenities.
A renewed emphasis in this area will help maintain the momentum of the
recovery.�
About MMHI The Market Metrix Hospitality Index is a quarterly report of customer satisfaction with hotel, airline and car rental companies based on 30,000 in-depth consumer interviews. The MMHI ranks top hospitality brands by industry and, for hotels, by categories such as luxury, mid-price and economy. Detailed, in-depth and customized reports are available for subscribers. No other customer satisfaction index offers MMHI�s reporting frequency, volume of customer interviews, cross-industry results or innovative satisfaction measures. The MMHI contains 135 hotel brands, 25 airlines and 11 car rental companies. The wealth of data is presented in an easy-to-use format, enabling subscribers to quickly identify trends and find best practices. Subscribers can measure their company�s stand-alone performance and dynamically benchmark their ratings against those of self-selected competitors and highly ranked companies within and across the other hospitality industries. In addition to standard measures of customer satisfaction, MMHI has pioneered several proprietary measures. Hospitality companies that provide Loyalty Emotions -- select emotional experiences for customers, such as �pampered,� �relaxed� or �hip/cool,� depending on category and niche -- obtain higher rates and can increase prices with fewer defections. Loyalty Program Strength measures the relative success of a company�s loyalty program compared to other programs in the industry. The Secure Customer measures a customer�s intent to return and likelihood of recommending the hospitality company, important indicators of satisfaction. About Market Metrix
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