"Ask Dr. Resort"

The following is a reprint from the monthly newsletter of HSMAI’s Resort Marketing Special Interest Group. As you know, every member of HSMAI can join any of the SIG’s at no additional cost. One of the features of the Resort Marketing SIG is: Ask Dr. Resort -- an “Ask the Expert Service” available to members for advice and counsel from the Resort Marketing Advisory Board.

THE DOCTOR IS IN - drresort@gmail.com

As we move through the difficulties of the great recession, everyone has thoughts and ideas on what is happening. But what does it all mean and what should you be considering in your business plan. Below is a sample of what the Dr. is talking about and helping professionals like you get a fresh perspective on current events.

Inconspicuous Consumption…or is it stealth indulgence On one hand you have those who believe that people are readily willing to return to their old spending habits. On the other is the belief that we have become, once again, a nation of savers. While this is a valid conversation on the future of our guests, it doesn't help resorts that need to fill the occupancy void. However there is a group out there, and they are bigger than what you think, that still have money to spend on vacations but are hesitant….

The Resort Fee Outcry Resort fees have become common throughout our industry. From offsetting the costs of providing pool towels to maintain the beach, these have become part of the industry's landscape. Unfortunately, other lodging types have followed suite in adding their own version of fees (whether appropriate or not) and consumers now perceive these as part of a larger problem where companies are 'extracting every last cent from them'. So what happens when competitors lower their fees to attract guests…

If you would like to take full advantage of your HSMAI and Resort Marketing Special Interest Group membership, learn more about these topics or get your question answered by a panel of industry executives that know exactly what you are going through, please email the Dr. at drresort@gmail.com.

Note: You can explore this SIG, and several others at the main hsmai.org website.
You can join them all or select just the groups that apply to you and your company.
Best, Julie Wernick, HSMAInsider.

“Around Town” Column – February-March 2010

Here’s a collection of newsworthy items happening recently “Around Town” from our industry members and South Florida community.

Southeast Florida:

REVPAR Guru CEO Jean Francois Mourier was recently interviewed on NPR radio: http://204.13.1.19:81/ Just scroll to January 2010, then select Tuesday January 26th, South Florida hotel industry and economic impacts, to hear his interview.

The "Award Winning" Hampton Inn Plantation, for the second year in a row has won the prestigious Lighthouse Award for service and accommodations. This was awarded in 2008 and now for 2009. They are ranked #20 out of over 1700 Hampton Inns Worldwide.

Pri-Med, a brand owned and operated by M/C Communications LLC, the leading provider of professional education solutions to a community of over 220,000 physicians held it’s 12th consecutive meeting, their 2010 Conference & Exhibition at the Broward County Convention Center on February 11 - 14, 2010.
Pri-Med South had contracted room blocks with Bahia Mar Beach Resort, Embassy Suites 17th Street, Fort Lauderdale Hilton Marina, Hyatt Regency Pier 66, and Renaissance Fort Lauderdale. Greater Fort Lauderdale expected an estimated economic impact of $5.4 million from hosting this meeting.

Southwest Florida:

“The Beaches of Fort Myers & Sanibel” report that 36 area accommodations have been named to the Florida Green Lodging Program. These “green” accommodations are –
Fort Myers Beach: DiamondHead Beach Resort, Hampton Inn & Suites, Mango Street Inn, Pink Shell Beach Resort & Spa, and The Riviera Villas.
Sanibel Island: Blue Dolphin Cottages, Blue Dolphin Cottages, Castaways Beach & Bay Cottages, Ocean’s Reach Condominium Resort, Sanibel Inn, Seaside Inn, Song of the Sea, Sundial Beach & Golf Resort, and, The Sunset Beach Resort.
Fort Myers: Best Western Fort Myers Inn & Suites, The Crown Plaza, Comfort Inn & Suites Airport , Country Inn & Suites Sanibel Gateway, Courtyard by Marriott Fort Myers at I-75/Gulf Coast Town Center, Crowne Plaza Hotel, Hilton Garden Inn, Holiday Inn Downtown Historic District, Homewood Suites by Hilton Fort Myers, Hotel Indigo, La Quinta Inn & Suites Airport Residence Inn by Marriott, Sanibel Harbour Resort & Spa, Shell Point Guest House, Spring Hill Suites by Marriott, the Suburban Extended Stay Hotel.
Bonita Springs: Holiday Inn Express, Hyatt Coconut Plantation, The Hyatt Regency Coconut Point Resort & Spa, The Inn at the Springs. Estero: Hampton Inn & Suites; Pine Island: Bokeelia Tarpon Inn, Bridgewater Inn, Matlacha.

The Crowne Plaza Fort Myers has received the "Meeting Excellence" Award for the 3rd quarter. It is also the 3rd quarter in a row that they have received this award. The award is based on responses to the meeting survey sent to all meeting planners that have held meetings at the hotel asking for them to rank their service, and food quality. The hotel is also offering a "10% discount off the Master" promotion for any meetings booked and held before June 30, 2010. Meeting Planners will receive a 10% discount off their total master bill, PC rewards points for all attendees and Bonus PCMR points for the meeting planner.

The Hyatt Regency Coconut Point Resort & Spa, Bonita Springs, has been honored as one of “2009’s Top 50 Resorts in the U.S. and Canada” in Travel + Leisure magazine’s 14th annual readers’ survey. The resort was one of only two Hyatt’s selected in the prestigious listing.

The Resort at MarinaVillage at the Tarpon Point Marina in Cape Coral is scheduled to open Nov. 1. A SunStream Hotels & Resort property, the resort is the first luxury resort in Cape Coral and offers guests 19 stories of views of the Caloosahatchee River, San Carlos Bay and the Gulf of Mexico

Residence Inn Fort Myers-Sanibel in Fort Myers has opened its all-suite, extended-stay property. Breakfast is included daily and pets are welcome.

Hotel Indigo, the Fort Myers River District’s first boutique hotel opened with 60 oversized guest rooms and seven condo-style suites, as well as a rooftop pool, lounge, spa and fitness center, valet parking, cocktail lounge and two restaurants. It is located at 2115 Main Street, Fort Myers.

Hyatt Place Fort Myers at the Forum plans a mid-October opening. The full service property includes flexible meeting space and will offer guests complimentary breakfast each day.
Gasparilla Inn & Cottages in Boca Grande has hired Chef Peter Timmons, former executive chef of the award-winning restaurant at The Greenbrier in White Sulphur Springs, WV.

The Naples, Marco Island, Everglades CVB Annual Tourism Workshop with the Collier County Board of Commissioners and the Tourist Development Council takes place Monday, March 15 from 1 to 3 pm in County Commission Chambers at the Collier County government administration complex. The main topic for discussion will be how to allocate funding for year-round destination marketing campaigns in the future. For more information on the workshop, please e-mail Jack Wert.

Frontier Airlines Extends Service -- The Lee County Port Authority is pleased to announce that Frontier Airlines' seasonal nonstop flights to Denver International Airport (DEN) have been extended to year-round service.

Naples Beach Hotel & Golf Club has received the prestigious "2009 Planners' Choice Award" from MeetingNews magazine. The award will be presented to Jim Gunderson, general manager of the newly renovated 319-room resort.

The Ritz-Carlton Golf Resort, Naples promoted Darryl Adams to the position of Hotel Manager. Adams was previously the Executive Assistant Manager, Rooms Division for The Ritz-Carlton Resorts of Naples, overseeing operations for both the Ritz-Carlton Golf Resort, Naples and The Ritz-Carlton, Naples.

Visitors TV Network welcomes new, local representation in the Naples/Marco Island area. Larry and Cecily Lancit are the official representatives for this service, free to area hotels.
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To submit items for future editions, send to jwfranklin1@gmail.com
Best, Julie Wernick, HSMAInsider

Congress Passes Act to Market U.S. to International Tourists

Congress passed a bill this week (to be signed by President Obama as its being supported by the White House) to market the US to international visitors.

Officials in South Florida have been lobbying for the Travel Promotion Act for almost two years. This Act creates a $10 fee charged mostly to European visitors (those foreign travelers who don’t need visas) to fund up to $100 million a year for advertising campaigns and other marketing efforts. The travel industry would provide the other $100 million in joint ad purchases, donated trips for travel writers, and other in-kind contributions.

Foreign visitors account for about half of Miami-Dade's 12 million annual visitors, the biggest share of international tourism among the country's major hotel markets, and for about 20 percent of Broward’s tourism market.

The Commerce Department says foreign arrivals hit a record 58 million in 2008, but the travel industry sees the United States losing market share in the global tourism industry as other countries spend more on promotion.

Many other countries have a cabinet-level tourism ministry and large tourism marketing budgets in competition for travelers. By contrast, the United States has a small tourism office mainly devoted to research and there has not been a national tourism campaign for over ten years when promotions amounted to less than $50 million in a 3-year period.

Local tourism marketing officials feel this is a great opportunity, especially in today’s economy, to bring foreign press here to tout our benefits to the world.
Congrats to all.

Best, Julie Wernick, HSMAInsider

What Consumers Are Reading About Travel... - Update

Conde Nast Traveler’s List 2010 with “the best places to stay in the world” as selected by readers of Conde Nast Traveler magazine included some of our HSMAI-South Florida area’s hotels. These included in Palm Beach: The Brazilian Court, The Breakers, Sundy House – Delray; In Miami-Dade: Four Seasons Hotel Miami, Mandarin Oriental Miami, Sagamore Hotel-Miami Beach, The Setai-Miami Beach; and In Southwest Florida: Ritz Carlton and Ritz Carlton Golf Resort-Naples.

Fodor’s Newsletter featured an article on “6 Ways to Save on Your Warm Weather Vacation”. In #2: “Don’t Pay for Stuff You don’t Need”, the editor suggested passing on a large resort if you prefer a low key holiday. In #5: “Simply Pick a Cheaper Place”, they suggested staying a few blocks inland from the beach for lower rates and mentioned this would be true for South Beach and for Fort Lauderdale.

Fodor’s Winter Escape Photo contest: “Show Us Your 80 Degrees” ends on February 28th.

The “Free Your Florida side Sweepstakes” to win a trip for 2 to Florida (plus a chance to win a new Miata convertible) was kicked off in their newsletter the beginning of this month and runs through April 30th. The Delray Beach Marriott and the Key Largo Resort Marriott are the featured hotels.

A Fodor’s article on “Spa Retreats in Paradise” featured The Canyon Ranch Hotel and Spa in Miami as the “splurge” location and The Standard in Miami Beach as the “save” location.

TripAdvisor featured Miami Beach (as #5) in their January “Top 10 Warm Weather Escapes”.

TripAdvisor’s “Travelers’ Choice 2010” list of “Top 10 Trendiest Hotels in the U.S.” included the W Fort Lauderdale as their # 2, with #3 The EPIC Hotel (Miami) and #10 Sense South Beach Hotel (Miami Beach);
and their “Top 10 Spring Break Rental Hotspots” list included Marco Island, FL at #7.

Best, Julie Wernick, HSMAInsider

“Table of Eight” – February 17, 2010 – Part 2

The HSMAI-South Florida chapter’s monthly meeting was held Wednesday. Alfredo Gonzalez, VP of International Tourism, GFLCVB, and Virginia Sheridan, President, M. Silver Associates Public Relations, spoke about international tourism and travel trends. In addition, we heard from Biki Khurana, Managing Director of Condor. The airline will be starting flights between FLL and Frankfurt on May 14th with 540 seats weekly.

In Part 1 of our “Table of Eight” column, I highlighted Alfredo’s remarks. This is a continuation of that first column. (As previously mentioned, comments are from my notes; the presentation slides will be posted on www.hsmaisouthflorida.org under resources.)

After Alfredo spoke, we heard from Biki Khurana about the tourism potential of the German market. Some positives: the favorable exchange rate, fairly strong economy (only 3% down), their love of travel, and their 6 weeks annual vacation time. This market is increasingly using the internet (up to 56%), but most still go to a travel agent to book once they’ve done their research. For this market, it is important to work with the various tour operators (there are 5 big ones as most have consolidated). A recent travel agent survey indicated 82% sell Florida most frequently (50% of people coming to a t.a. book a trip to the U.S). In addition, Biki stressed that we should have a German language website to reach this market.

Virginia Sheridan talked about changes since her last presentation at the October GFLCVB’s marketing meeting. She noted that even experts disagree on whether we were or are still in a recession or a depression. Overall there is a general feeling of a more positive outlook for 2010. There’s some good news, but still facing some problems (tight credit; high unemployment; less time off; shorter vacations, et al). 2009 was bad for all areas of travel especially the airline industry (and hotel occupancies were down 55%).
What is the 2010 outlook? More/lot of the same; recovery in 3 to 4 years; consumer spending is stabilizing; ancillary fees are increasing which people are adjusting to in the airline industry (but don’t like in the hotel industry – creating more “shopping around”).

Some good news: some small increases in domestic/biz/leisure travel; increased travel from Brazil(Latin America);Luxury travel has increased some 5-8%;gas prices will not have much of an impact; Destinations catering to luxury vacationers will see an end to visitor declines; More “escapism” travel.

Here are some of the top tourism trends mentioned by Virginia: social groups; celebrations; hospitality industry incentives, e.g. credits, discounts, etc.; low cost airlines attracting the biz travelers; average number of hotel nights may increase; unpredictable booking cycles making it harder to forecast; consumers taking the deal – value is the #1 factor in travel; “Perkonomics” – rewarding your best customers differently than your other customers as loyalty programs become more customized; the growing importance of “doing the right thing” – social and environmental responsibility.

As buzz words come and go, we always hear them first from Virginia. Back a couple years ago, at another of her presentations, we learned the word “mancation” (and you can read about this in one of my old columns) which then became as popular (and overused) as the later phrase “staycation”. So keep your ears open for the “new normal” and for “perkonomics”, as I’m sure you’ll begin to see both these terms every where in the near future. Thanks Virginia for bringing us up to date.

Just a reminder: Send in your news for inclusion in the next “Around Town” column. Best, Julie Wernick, HSMAInsider.

“Table of Eight” – February 17, 2010 – Part 1

The HSMAI-South Florida chapter’s February meeting was held yesterday at the Design Center of The Americas in Dania Beach, FL. A crowd of about 100 people were in attendance to hear speakers Alfredo Gonzalez, VP of International Tourism, Great Fort Lauderdale CVB, and Virginia Sheridan, President, M. Silver Associates Public Relations, speak on international tourism and review trends for our industry. In addition, we heard from DCOTA about the facility as well as from Condor who will be introducing new nonstop flights from Fort Lauderdale to Frankfurt, Germany beginning May 14th.

It was so nice to see some “old” friends as well as a lot of new faces in attendance. A portion of monies from the monthly raffle were designated from this meeting for the UNICEF Children’s Fund for children in Haiti. What a wonderful idea! A surprise drawing awarded two airline tickets on Condor to Frankfurt. Congrats to Bruno Perez (RevParGuru) on his raffle win.

Alfredo highlighted ten megatrends in International Tourism. He talked about its 1) Growth: Travel is a “right”, a necessity. 2) Energy Demand: With no other alternatives to jet fuel in the near future, airline pricing will continue to be a concern. 3) Rising Climate of Fear: Some people are making decisions based on this; triggered by the news media; more people are just adapting v.v. their travel decisions. 4) Participant Economy: Consumers are in the drivers’ seat. What do consumers want/feel? 5) Experiential economy: Consumers have “live your life” attitude; they have the basics; now they are willing to pay more for experiences than possessions. 6) Socio-Demographic Disparities: Social behavior is changing attitudes; aging population is now “hip”. 7) Urbanization: By 2020, 60% are living in a city. (Need to travel to “escape”) 8) Mobility: Traveling further and farther and more often. Decisions to travel (even in Europe) made by women. Wider use of Internet/multiple channels. 9) Global Warming – most not concerned, but… 10) Sustainability: going green becoming important and changing the way they buy travel. . (Comments are from my notes; presentation slides will be on the chapter’s website: http://www.hsmaisouthflorida.org/ under resources.)

In addition, Alfredo discussed consumer trends in Europe. What has changed in the last ten years? One of the main differences was the increased use of the internet. He mentioned the importance of not just dealing with tour operators, alone, as in certain markets consumer buying online has increased to about 50% and up. Knowing your market is important as not all behave the same (Sweden, e.g. 93% do their research online and 48% actually buy online; In Italy, however, only 17% actually buy online). There are new consumers: active seniors, extended family groups, cosmopolitan consumers, and the affluent.

To be continued... Best, HSMAInsider, Julie Wernick

VISIT FLORIDA PUSHES “SHARE A LITTLE SUNSHINE” CAMPAIGN

In Miami Beach on February 16th, Governor Charlie Crist joined more than a hundred Florida tourism industry representatives to re-launch the grassroots ‘Share a Little Sunshine’ campaign. The Governor and VISIT FLORIDA President/CEO Chris Thompson called on all Floridians to help strengthen the state’s economy by sending a personal invitation to out-of-state friends and family, encouraging them to visit Florida.

“Together we can let the world know how great Florida truly is, and help keep our state’s world-class restaurants, resorts, parks, and attractions strong,” said Governor Crist.

In 2008, tourism returned $3.9 billion to Florida in tax revenue and generated $65.2 billion in direct economic impact. The ‘Share a Little Sunshine’ campaign has the potential to increase visitation to the state and raise much-needed sales tax dollars.

On the ‘Share a Little Sunshine’ Web site, www.ShareaLittleSunshine.org, Floridians can select one of several free video invitations or custom e-mail postcards that can be sent to friends and family directly from the site. To encourage Floridians to send invitations, a Florida vacation package will be given away each quarter to someone who sent an invitation through the site.

In addition to the video and invitation components, the integrated campaign is supported by statewide promotions and public service announcements. Through partnerships, the message of ‘Share a Little Sunshine’ appears on TV, radio, and billboards throughout the state. Also, the Governor’s Office of Film and Entertainment, Florida Lottery, Florida Attractions Association, Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association, and Florida State Parks will use the ‘Share a Little Sunshine’ for advertising and promotion. The campaign is on Facebook and Twitter as well.