Defining Best Practices In Hotel Sales During A Difficult Economy 2008-2010

This study studied the effect of economic change on the hotel industry between 2008 and 2010 and profiled possible economic recovery markers for 2011. The literature review covered the elements that have changed in the travel market profiling how the consumer in all segments reacted to the downturn. Business travelers cancelled movements, cut budgets or truncated the length of trips while leisure travelers chose to not travel or limit movements. At the same time hotels saw an increase of room supply in the United States as room rates fell. It then became the responsibility of the hotel sales department to find way to recover lost revenue even as they were directly affected by the change in market and performance expectations by ownership. Budgeting, time, staffing and morale became key 3 elements to understand how a sales staff responds and how they could use “Best Practices” to discover alternative revenue streams. The study profiled three best practices learned based on the research. They were Best Practices to overcome decreased overall hotel service operation levels, to Overcome Decreased Marketing Dollars and to Overcome the lack of individual and group Sales Manager Support.