ORLANDO, Fla.- May 16, 2007 - Approximately one-half of hotel guests,
whether vacationing or on a business trip, expect a free breakfast as part
of their room rate, according to a new study data from YPB&R, an international
advertising agency specializing in serving travel and leisure clients.
As part of their hotel selection decision-making process, 49% percent
of leisure travelers and 53% of business travelers feel getting a free
breakfast is very or extremely influential.
Business travelers’ attitudes toward free breakfast are even more pronounced
in measuring hotel pricing and value. More than three in five business
travelers (65%) surveyed find a hotel or motel that provides a complimentary
breakfast included with the hotel’s nightly room rate very or extremely
desirable.
The data, from the soon-to-be-released 2007 YPB&R/Yankelovich Partners
National Leisure Travel Monitor and its business counterpart, the YPB&R/Yankelovich
Partners National Business Travel Monitor, also indicate:
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Seven out of ten leisure travelers (71%) enjoy trying new dishes and
foods when they go out to lunch or dinner during a trip. Three-quarters
(74%) of business travelers, perhaps reflecting their ability to use an
expense account when dining out, say they enjoy trying new dishes and foods
during a business trip. “Leisure and business travelers are telling
us they are in a more experimental mood when it comes to dining out during
a trip,” said Dennis Marzella, executive vice president of strategic marketing
for YPB&R, the international advertising agency that collaborates in
the annual study. “Life enriching experiences like travel, good restaurants,
theater, and other activities rank high as an aspiration among both leisure
(64%) and business travelers (68%).”
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More than one-half (52%) of business travelers say they prefer to dine
in restaurants outside the hotel in which they are staying. “This suggests
an excellent opportunity for full-service lodging establishments to increase
their share of food & beverage spending by developing more imaginative
restaurant concepts. The need is clearly there — 54% of these travelers
report they want a diversity of restaurants on premise. Business travelers
are also likely to be responsive to more stylish, fast, casual restaurants
in mid-scale properties,” Marzella said.
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Confusion reigns about nutritional information available these days.
Leisure travelers (70%) and business travelers (64%) are in almost perfect
agreement in responding that they are confused about what one should or
should not eat. Still, 68% of business travelers and 66% of leisure travelers
expect to make more of an effort to eat better and live a healthier lifestyle
this year. “Expect traveling consumers to be receptive to more healthful,
upscale casual-dining establishments like the Seasons 52 restaurant concept
launched by Darden Restaurants in the past few years,” Marzella noted.
“Also, there is rising opportunity in `smaller box' upscale, fast, casual
versions of tasty, on-the-go cuisine that is good for you,” he said.
The 2007 YPB&R/Yankelovich Partners National Leisure Travel Monitor
and the YPB&R/Yankelovich National Business Travel Monitor are now
in their 15th and 12th year of publication, respectively. Each study, conducted
among a nationally representative audience, is regarded as an important
barometer in the measurement of attitudes and pre-dispositions of traveling
Americans.
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