WASHINGTON, DC (July 23, 2001) � The HSMAI Foundation has commissioned the first three research projects to be funded by its new Corporate Membership.  �Performance Metrics,� �Turnover� and �Defining Value Drivers� will be the subjects of the initial research projects to receive funding via the program, in keeping with the agenda set earlier this year by the Foundation�s Research Advisory Council (RAC).
        
�This is a very exciting time for the Foundation and the Corporate Membership,� says Cindy Estis Green, newly named chairwoman of the HSMAI Foundation and executive director of The Estis Group.  �Leaders in the industry identified these as areas where research was lacking, and the results of these projects will help to build a foundation of research for the hospitality sales and marketing discipline.�
        
One of the first subjects that the RAC identified as important to learn more about was Sales and Marketing Performance Metrics, on both an individual basis and on a property or location basis.
        
The HSMAI Foundation has selected D.K. Shifflet and Co. to conduct a survey on this subject. The Falls Church, Virginia-based Shifflet will be surveying hotels, CVBs, airlines and other industry-related organizations to research and report on what metrics, such as revenue per available room, visitor volume, and revenue passenger miles, are being used.
        
This comprehensive study will provide benchmark data that members of the industry can use to evaluate their own efforts, and which will serve as a reference for future studies.
        
Turnover within the hospitality sales and marketing profession is another area of research interest which will be initiated under the direction of the HSMAI Foundation and RAC.  There was a consensus among members of the RAC that few studies have done an adequate job of measuring turnover in sales and marketing positions.  To conduct a comprehensive study of turnover in the sales and marketing discipline specifically within the hospitality, tourism and travel industry, HSMAI has contracted the Ron Volper Group of White Plains, NY.
        
This study includes survey distribution to HSMAI members as well as senior industry executives (including hotel chains, CVBs, developers, and all segments impacted by the direct and hidden costs of turnover).  The focus is on comprehensive diagnostics including, but not limited to, analysis by job and earnings levels, by source of the candidate, such as campus hires versus experienced hires, and by the use of internal versus external on-the-job training programs.
        
The information gathering consists of an Internet-based on-line survey instrument as well as face-to-face (or phone) meetings with sales and marketing people presently employed in the industry; those who have left a job or the industry; as well as top-level management faced with these challenges on a daily basis.  The final report will reflect a document of �best practice� responses and will identify the factors leading to turnover among sales and marketing industry professionals, which is perceived to be higher than in other industries.
        
The third of the initial research projects focuses on Defining Value Drivers for Hotel Customers.  It will entail surveying hotel customers -- business and leisure -- in economy, mid-scale and upscale properties to determine what they value most -- price, amenities, convenience, technology, or other features of a particular hotel program.  This project will help determine the relative utility of benefits offered.
        
The research is being directed by Rohit Verma, Associate Professor of Management, the David Eccles School of Business, University of Utah (effective August 1, 2001).  Verma is currently Assistant Professor of Management at Kellstadt Graduate School of Business at DePaul University in Chicago.  Joining Verma in this study is Chekitan Dev, Associate Professor of Marketing, School of Hotel Administration at Cornell University in New York and Gerhard Plaschka, Associate Professor and Chair, Department of Management at Kellstadt Graduate School of Business at DePaul University in Chicago.
        
The results of these, and future studies to be funded via the HSMAI Corporate Membership, will be made available to members of the RAC in a special forum setting later this year.  Results will then be made more widely available.

Robert A. Gilbert, CHME, CHA, president and CEO of HSMAI states: �We are very encouraged by the response we have received to the Foundation�s Corporate Membership.  There is a great need for research with direct relevance to the hospitality sales and marketing profession.  We now have the means and a mechanism to fund such projects.�
        
The Corporate Membership was created to enhance the body of knowledge of HSMAI and its positioning in the industry by directing research initiatives and objectives to be implemented by the Foundation.  Participating as a Corporate Member allows hospitality and travel executives to be pro-active in determining and directing research initiatives by providing input on objectives and the content of research studies.
        
Corporate Members in the HSMAI Foundation consist of a cross-section of prominent leaders in the hotel, travel and tourism industries. They include: Accor, American Golf Corporation, Bass Hotels and Resorts, Best Western International, Cendant Corporation, Choice Hotels International, Citicorp Diners Club, Disneyland Resort, Fairmont Hotels & Resorts, HotelRevMAX, International Association of Convention & Visitors Bureaus, Irma S. Mann Strategic Marketing, John Q. Hammons, Manhattan East Suite Hotels, Marriott International, MeriStar Hotels and Resorts, Millennium Hotels and Resorts, Omni Hotels, Opryland Hotels, Passkey.com, Prime Hospitality, PriceWaterhouseCoopers, Radisson Hotels & Resorts, RealTime Hotel Reports, Ron Volper Group, Smith Travel Research, Sonesta Hotels, Resorts & Nile Cruises, Starwood Hotels & Resorts, TravelClick, Inc., and Wyndham International.