"We surveyed our top industry executives and astute analysts to find which people and companies they expect will shine in the coming years and impact the role of sales and marketing in our growing hospitality and travel industry," said Bob Gilbert, CHME, CHA, president and CEO of HSMAI.

Gilbert added: "The past 100 years have been milestones, to say the least, in the world of travel. We have witnessed the advent of air travel, the resurgence of cruise travel, the creation of the hotel chain, the development of the theme park, and faint rumblings that some day soon we might plan trips to visit an international space station.

"There were the pioneers that started it all like Pan Am, which we thought would be around forever, and the brash entrepreneurs like Richard Branson whom many said would never last."

Poised on the brink of a new Millennium, the Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International, the largest international association of travel sales and marketing professionals, has compiled its list of "The Top Brands And Trend setters To Watch In The New Millennium." The following lists those people and companies in alphabetical order.

ACCOR

There's been a lot going on at this quiet French company. Operating under the credo "Never take no for an answer," Accor has been building quite an empire since 1967 with 13 hotel brands including Sofitel, Novotel, and Motel 6, plus a variety of other travel services. It also bought Red Roof Inns for $613 million last July and then sold off $500 million worth of the buildings less than six months later. They are the leading hotel group in Africa and Asia Pacific and most recently took over management of 27 Australian hotels.

ROBERT BIGELOW

The Las Vegas native and owner of Budget Suites of America who made his fortune developing mid priced hotels and apartment complexes in the Southwest has found a new frontier to conquer: space! While it may be just a fantasy, stranger dreams have come to fruition. Bigelow is just one of many intrigued with the possibility of space travel. Other possible space travel explorers include astronaut Buzz Aldrin, author Tom Clancy, and Virgin Atlantic's Richard Branson. And even the Space Transportation Association has gotten in on the act by recently establishing a Space Travel and Tourism Division. According to reports, Mr. Bigelow is investing as much as $500 million to design and build a 100 passenger luxury cruise ship that will permanently orbit the moon, offering adventurous vacationers an unforgettable week long excursion. Hopefully, his calculations will be better than NASA's!

RICHARD BRANSON

Richard Branson was, well, a virgin when it came to the hospitality industry. Having launched Virgin Airways in 1985, today he is the industry's poster child for out-of-the-box marketing, brand loyalty, and creating the customer experience. The Virgin Empire extends from travel to communications, cinemas, venture capital companies, financial services, cola, and oh, yes, we can't forget Virgin Bride. But Branson isn't done yet. He has just announced plans to launch a group of boutique luxury hotels called Limited Edition by Virgin in such "virgin territory" as Necker Island in the British Virgin Islands, Mallorca, Spain; on Italy's Amalfi Coast, and in South Africa, to name a few. Undoubtedly he will redefine the "hotel" experience, but keep watch for his trademark off-the-wall marketing techniques... he may just teach hoteliers a thing or two!

BRITISH AIRWAYS

This company is out to redefine itself in 2000 and beyond. According to recent comments by company executives, British Airways is reinventing itself from the inside out and has a goal of selling 50% of its tickets over the Internet by the end of 2003. Additionally, British Airways has also announced the abolition of its agency commission system in the United Kingdom and the implementation of a new agency payment system (taking effect at the beginning of 2001). How consumers and travel agents going to react is a key question.

CARNIVAL CORP.

Is Carnival out to control the cruise industry? Can they do it successfully -- and more importantly will the consumer react positively to this behemoth? The parent corporation of Carnival Cruise Lines, which has experienced quite a number of mishaps during the past year, also owns Holland America and Windstar cruises and has substantial ownership in Costa Cruises, Seabourne Cruise Line, and Cunard Line. The company grossed about $3 billion in 1998 and is looking to expand its cruise business into the international arena, including Asia. Just recently, they attempted to join with Star Cruises in a 40-60 purchase of struggling Norwegian Cruise Line, but backed out because of control issues. The question is, can they successfully maintain the individuality of the brands and the profitability of each company for the long term, especially with the unprecedented launch of four new ships this year?

CENDANT

Bouncing back from accounting irregularities related to the merger with CUC International, Cendant had taken a beating on its stock price, although things seem to have leveled off. The more intriguing thing about this company is that they have accumulated the largest consumer database ever and they could quite well become a case study in database marketing. Cendant is fast at work strategizing how to integrate all the consumers for their various brands and will undoubtedly become the textbook definition for determining "Share of Customer." The growth of this company depends upon identifying cross marketing opportunities and continuing to build and leverage their massive warehouse of consumers by selling multiple products to the same individuals.

EXPEDIA

Having drawn a patent infringement lawsuit from Priceline.com and going public on Nov. 10, 1999, we suppose you cannot overlook Expedia. Also in the business of reservation price finders like Priceline.com, Expedia has plans to offer a large suite of travel tools. The company is placing a lot of emphasis on service and wants to be available to the customer wherever they are (whether it's on a wireless device, a computer in your car, on your TV, laptop, PC, wherever else the Internet is available). With travel buying on the Internet being the fastest growing e-commerce category, we expect Expedia to be one of, at least, two major players facilitating online travel.

HILTON HOTELS

Hilton Hotels is about to join the ranks of the megabrands which up until now had two major players: Starwood and Marriott. With its recent merger acquisition of Promus Hotels Doubletree, Embassy Suites, Hampton Inn, Homewood Suites, and Red Lion brands), Hilton is now in a better position to compete, and Wall Street may just get off the back of President Stephen F. Bollenbach whose long term reputation as a "master deal maker" has disappointed many up to this point. We think he'll be the one to get the last laugh!

JETBLUE AIRWAYS

They may just be the little airline that could and give Southwest Airlines a run for their money in the "great regional airline" category. Here's another entrant into the low fare regional airline class which is based at New York's Kennedy International Airport. David Neelman is the company's chief executive. Does he have experience in the airline biz? Why of course...he started the Salt Lake City based Morris Air which was sold to Southwest Airlines and WestJet of Canada. So what's the big deal? The company is pledging airfares about 65% lower than current prices. Plus, it plans to offer live satellite television programming that some say could revolutionize in-flight entertainment in the aviation industry. Long range plans call for the airline to fly to some 30 cities. We suppose the fact that some key members of Jetblue's marketing team are former Virgin staffers couldn't hurt either!

PEGASUS

Anyone involved with technology and distribution in the hospitality industry is definitely worth watching. As the Internet's growth affects all commercial activity, Pegasus is pivotal in building the new generation of distribution channels that will define how business is conducted in hospitality. Pegasus is working to make the new distribution landscape as cost efficient and user friendly as possible for hotel chains and independents alike, and they are providing as many choices as possible on the consumer end without complicating usage and maintenance for suppliers. At the same time Pegasus is making these distribution channels "intelligent" by harvesting data, which offers a whole other range of possibilities. Buckle your seat belts.. .it's going to be a wild ride!

PLANSOFT

PlanSoft is changing the way meeting planners source and book hotels, destinations, and related services, and is a true testament to the fact that technology will indeed impact the way our industry conducts business! In the planning stages for quite a number of years, PlanSoft's list of original investors and current major sponsors reads like a "Who's Who" of the travel and meetings industry: Marriott, Hyatt, Starwood, MPI, PCMA, and ASAE. Just a few months ago the company received $24 million in venture financing and only recently got an additional $6 million in funding to expand internationally. It's plain to see that with PlanSoft making it easier to plan meetings and access suppliers, the future of the group industry may never be the same.

PRICELINE.COM

Many said it would never work, or last, this phenomenon of name-your-price bidding not just for airline travel, but now hotel rooms, groceries, and soon gasoline. Priceline.com has changed the way consumers buy travel, and pretty much everything else! And they've done so virtually overnight. But looking at it from a sales and marketing perspective, Priceline.com is not just a channel for distressed merchandise. When you think about it, the company has virtually eliminated the need for the supplier to deal with non brand loyal customers. Priceline.com has made it easier for companies to focus their reservations management efforts on brand loyal customers as opposed to spending too much energy on those shopping solely for price. What a concept!

RITZ-CARLTON

The first and only hotel company to ever win the Malcolm Baldridge Award for Quality is at it again.. kudos to Ritz-Carlton for winning the coveted award for the second time! Never one to rest on its laurels, the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company is continually raising the bar for service and has recently created The Ritz-Carlton Learning Institute dedicated to teaching not only Ritz-Carlton employees and vendors, but other companies worldwide who want to fully understand and learn to implement the belief system, procedures, and training which Ritz-Carlton has proven leads to excellence in customer service and quality.

ROSENBLUTH INTERNATIONAL

In an age when many are forecasting the demise of the travel agent, the nation's third- largest travel agency with $4 billion in annual revenue just made a major step to secure its future. Hal Rosenbluth, Chief Executive, Rosenbluth International, abandoned plans to build his own web site and instead bought a majority stake in Biztravel.com, a leading Internet site for making business travel arrangements. It appears that Mr. Rosenbluth is hell bent on vaulting Rosenbluth into the forefront of on-line travel and securing a prime spot in the e-commerce travel arena. Grab some popcorn and sit back in the recliner. . .this should be an interesting ride!

STARWOOD HOTELS & RESORTS

Starwood, which operates the St. Regis, Luxury Collection, Westin, Sheraton, Four Points, and W brands is one of the leading hotel and leisure companies in the world with more than 700 hotels in 77 countries and 130,000 employees at its owned and managed properties. The company has gone through a good number of top management and marketing department changes which leads one to believe there is some confusion in direction; however, we are confident that Starwood will iron out the kinks and growing pains and come out on top in the global hotel game.

TRAVELOCITY

Following a merger with Preview Travel, which puts the joint company on top of the Internet, according to a leading industry Internet research organization, and a new partnership with Priceline.com, Travelocity is firmly entrenched in a high stakes battle to control the market. Some industry insiders believe Expedia might just win out after all because of its seamless customer service. Another problem could be Travelocity's partnership with Priceline.com which could confuse the marketplace and hamper easy access. This is definitely a match-up to watch.

CUBA

Americans are literally chomping at the bit to visit Cuba and the Cubans are getting ready. There has been incredible hotel growth over the past five to eight years as the Cuban government made a major commitment to encourage hotel investment not only in and around Havana, but in the island's own version of Cancun known as Veradaro (situated about one and one-half to two hours from Havana). The expectation is that once the travel embargo for U.S. citizens is lifted, Cuba will become a major destination for U.S. citizens. The question is will its current infrastructure be able to handle the demand?

LAS VEGAS

We think destination Las Vegas is definitely hot right now.. perhaps along the lines of everything old is new again! Vegas has been demolishing old hotels along the strip and creating new masterpieces, the latest trend being recreating other destinations in Nevada like New York, Egypt, and Venice. The Bellagio and Steve Wynn's Mirage Resorts brought much hoopla to Vegas while the recent opening of Paris continues the theme of "Continental" ambiance in the desert. Want more proof? The Las Vegas CVB reports a record number of visitors in 1999!

HSMAI is the leading organization of sales and marketing professionals representing all segments of the hospitality industry. With a strong focus on education, HSMAI has become the industry leader in identifying and communicating trends in the hospitality industry while operating as a leading voice for both hospitality and sales and marketing management disciplines.