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It was not so long ago that you could virtually count the leading brands in the hotel industry on one hand. Hilton, Sheraton and Inter-Continental among the industry's standard bearers for years spring immediately to mind. In the wake of the huge expansion of the last decade, however, an abundance of brands gained at least a tenuous foothold in the marketplace as the segmentation fostered by our industry's leaders generated a proliferation of newcomers. Many of these brands have struggled to build a sense of identity, and their futures remain in limbo. To the owners and lenders who provide capital to the hospitality industry worldwide, the issue of brand identity has taken on a new and important meaning. Decisions concerning the approach to brand marketing frequently define the difference between an organization's success or failure, and these questions are getting more rigorous attention than ever before. And if investors and lenders are sometimes confused about what's at stake, consider the confused consumer, buffeted by the mixed brand signals he frequently gets from the industry. It is thus legitimate to ask whether brand marketing in the hospitality sector involves more art than science. Conventional wisdom suggests that the hotel industry is consolidating with an increasing portion of the world's hotels affiliated with chains, as opposed to remaining independent. In the United States, for example, approximately 70 percent of hotel properties are "chain-affiliated," and it's assumed that the customer increasingly prefers accommodations that fly a flag a kind of "good housekeeping" sign of approval. Despite the flagging of property, however, consumer research suggests that a steady minority of travelers remain evidently quite satisfied with non-branded products approximately 28 percent of leisure travelers and 22 percent of business travelers... To read the complete article, click here to download the printable pdf file (56 kb).
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