eTravel Project

Jonathan Tisch - Conference Chair

I recently attended the prestigious NYU Hospitality Conference, where I was invited to speak at the alumni panel “Buildings for the next generation” and discuss needs and wants of gen X & Y.

At the conference, I was somewhat surprised with the optimism shown by most hoteliers. While economists and finance people see a full recovery in 2011, they affirm that we are already seeing some good signs of recovery and banks are starting lending again.

Another point that struck me – perhaps because I deal with the luxury travel market – was that most upscale CEOs have decried rate reductions. Nowadays, most properties are discounting like crazy, cutting personnel and increasing staff productivity by cross-training their employees. Corporate clients are in a position to negotiate rates and ask for more perks. However, lowering rates does not always work to boost demand and drives revenues down.

An interesting article about this can be fount at BTNonline.com.