Tim Hamid Heads Cendant Hotel Sales

Cendant Corp.'s hotel group has appointed lodging industry veteran Tim Hamid vice president of worldwide sales, charging him with responsibility for the global sales effort on behalf of Cendant's nine midprice, economy and budget brands, totaling approximately 6,000 hotels under the Ramada, Days Inn, Super 8 and other flags.

Hamid takes the job at a time when brands at all price points are suffering the effects of cutbacks in business travel in the wake of the economic downturn. Brands at the price points in Cendant's portfolio, however, are faring better than their counterpoints at the higher price points because of the spike of interest in drive-to destinations. "Occupancy rates are gradually picking up and we're confident moving forward," Hamid said.

Today's poor market conditions present Hamid with an opportunity to develop and implement a longer-term vision that will help Cendant's brands improve their standing with travel buyers along with other customer segments. "At the risk of it sounding like a cliché, we want to work with customers as partners, sitting down with them in a consultative role," he said. "It's not just about the different Days Inns or Ramadas' price and location. Rather, we want a sense of buyers' goals and objectives for their hotel program overall, and only then to identify the piece of the program where Cendant brands might provide added value."

Hamid said that the company is planning one particular initiative for the corporate market, which is scheduled to launch this summer. Called Corporate Select, it would identify "crème de la crème properties for business travel among our different brands that were best suited to a particular buyer's needs. We'd then work with the buyer to create a hotel program tailored to that account." A version of Corporate Select that the company introduced in 2000 was focused solely on the Ramada brand. Cendant is preparing to unveil its latest Corporate Select incarnation at the National Business Travel Association meeting in July.

Given his global responsibilities, Hamid said he hoped to develop Parsippany, N.J.-based Cendant's presence in Europe, where sales currently are handled by local representation. Similarly, Hamid sees a potential market in European business travelers coming to the United States.

Earlier in his 30-year travel industry career, Hamid filled various sales and marketing roles at Bass Hotels & Resorts—now Six Continents—and Sheraton Hotels, now part of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide. He also held marketing positions for Pan American and Swissair.