Property managers and other travel related businesses are realizing that it is better to sell at a lower price than to absorb the cost of an empty room.  �I find hotels are starting to work like airlines, focusing more on filling rooms at lower prices then we (hotels) traditionally would accommodate�, as one property manager reported.  According to several hotels, the most popular choice to unload distressed inventory is by using companies such as ID90.com, which focuses on the airline employee travel market and HRN who works with the general public.

Major air carriers have already cut their available seats on planes by about 20 percent on average, and have reduced their schedules due to lessened demand.  However, hotels don�t have the luxury to reduce their inventory, and so hotels from Cancun to Chicago sit half empty.

As a result, hotels are scrambling to fill rooms.  The experts agree the best thing to fill your rooms and help the hospitality industry recover, is to be aggressive in your marketing strategies.  As Robert Gregor of SOVA Consultants, recommends in a recent article in AAHOA Hospitality, �Develop a strategic marketing plan, targeting a specific audience.�  Perhaps that is why many hotels are finding the airline employee travel market a viable vertical market.

Due to the publics new fears of flying, airline employees are taking to the skies more than ever. Why?  Airline employees are more comfortable with flying and receive free or deeply discounted flying benefits and the increase of seat availability on airplanes makes it easier for them to travel.  In fact, Outrigger Hotels and Resorts of Hawaii, who own 43 properties, has reported an increase in airline employee bookings post September 11th and just recently listed their properties on ID90.com (www.id90.com), a website dedicated to airline employees and their travel needs.

�Clients are not as concerned with efficiency right now, they want advice, insider information and opinions,� says Dr. Marc Mancini.  Often over looked, airline employees are really in a unique position to reassure and guide the traveling public and can be good source for word of mouth advertising.

Knowledge is power, and now more than ever it is crucial that hotel owners and managers keep abreast of emerging trends and effective strategies.  �Tempted to cut advertising?� As stated by HSMAI President and CEO, Robert A. Gilbert, �While that may be the natural instinct, now is the time to get your message and offers out there.�

Mark Mancini is currently a Professor of Travel at West Los Angeles College, Dr. Mancini has appeared on CNN, ABC's Good Morning America and Showtime. He was named "Educator of the Year" by the International Society of Travel and Tourism Educators.

ID90.COM is the worlds largest employee travel website.  Headquartered in Los Angles CA � USA they can be reached at 818-597-2510 or via e-mail at [email protected]