Destination Relaxation

New York University and Deloitte pulled together a team of professionals to develop a “Vision 2010” of the global hospitality industry. A key finding in the study titled, “Hospitality 2010: A Five-Year Wake-up Call” showed “while currently location is usually the deciding factor for customers when choosing a hotel—with more than 97 percent of affluent leisure travelers and 93 percent of affluent business travelers considering location to be ‘extremely influential’—this picture is gradually changing.” The report said, “given the market saturation in gateway cities worldwide with leading brands sited close to one another, location is likely to become increasingly less important.” Vision 2010 predicted “tomorrow’s travelers will be far more influenced by brand, and—importantly for the financial health of a hotel—guests who are loyal to their preferred brand are likely to stay more and spend more.”