Innovation Accounts For Movement In Standings

<B> Innovation Accounts For Movement In Standings</B>

By Maria P. Vallejo

For hotels, maintaining services and programs geared toward the travel and meeting buyer community is no longer enough. Movement and innovation is paramount when it comes to placement in Business Travel News's Top U.S. Hotel Chain Survey this year.

Many of the previous years' winners in each of the eight categories repeated their performances in this year's survey, but some of them gave way to chains that sported individualistic design, renovations, new technologies and programs directed at buyers.

"Companies that are innovating are being recognized for it," said Bjorn Hanson, who heads PricewaterhouseCoopers' hospitality and leisure industry group in New York. "Those standing still are falling behind the others. If they continue to do well what they did well in the past, it's not enough."

Some high-ranking winners in the deluxe and upper upscale categories proved that greater distribution of properties does not necessarily lead to higher buyer recognition. With a smaller number of properties in their portfolios, some of these chains topped the charts by dint of their unique properties and service styles.

In the upscale category, some chains took advantage of recent consolidations that now allow them to offer more properties and affiliations with larger parent companies. Some of the entities formed in 1997 and 1998 shifted acquired and newly launched brands into higher slots as they invested in redesign and improved their service and marketing. Analysts and buyers agreed that while most of the top performers of years past have maintained their high standards, the new competitors on the scene have succeeded in catching the attention of travel and meeting buyers.

The midprice segments (with and without food and beverage) did not stray far from the formula that brought them success last year: Renovation plus newly constructed properties equals higher rankings.

The economy and budget hotel segments showed no great shifts from last year's results. And in the extended stay segment, the traditional chains demonstrated the power of name brands by holding their post positions against a large influx of new competitors.