Gerstein, 1987, 1781). Since 1977, however, the hotel segment of the industry has not performed even this well (Sharav, 1991, 1772 1773). In the early 1990s, the hotel segment of the industry is plagued by overcapacity (Sharav, 1991, 1172 1773), and a softening economy (Value Line Investors Service, 1992, 2000).
Findings Related to the Strategy The feasibility of the strategy to target seminar attendees at the near by university was assessed according to two principal criteria. The first criterion concerned the business viability of the strategy. The business viability of the strategy was assessed through an analysis of both primary and secondary data pertaining to the area and the seminar travelers business.
The second criterion concerned the acceptability of the strategy to the residents of the area in which the hotel is located. The acceptability of the strategy to the community was assessed through an analysis of primary data. These primary data were collected through the administration of questionnaires to a sample of the local population.
The hotel is located in the San Fernando Valley, adjacent to California State University, Northridge. The population in this immediate area in 1980 was only 22,719. Population growth swelled the local population to approximately 28,000 in 1990. This small local population cannot support the hotel, thus, a wider target population was defined.
Los Angeles is an area of dominant influence, with an area population of 12.2 million persons. Further, Los Angeles is the second leading manufacturing market in the country, with almost four percent of total manufacturing output in the United States occurring in Los Angeles. The concentration of manufacturing organizations in the Los Angeles area means that the area has a strong market for business conventions and other business meetings ...