Marketing Strategies for the Lodging Industry

The occupancy rates in the lodging industry have been flattening in recent years. Occupancy rates in the mid60 percent range are projected for the firsthalf of the 1990s, in comparison with occupancy rates above 70 percent throughout the decade of the 1980s (Sharav, 1992, pp. 17721773). Further, many existing units are old, and in soso or worse condition. Many are in locations which are now declining. There are also wide variations among travelers in terms of what sort of facilities and amenities they really want, and how much they are willing to pay for them. Thus, the market conditions will likely be good for the efficient and alert lodging operator; however, these same conditions could prove to be disastrous for others.

For the lodging industry as a whole, a major problem to be solved is the stimulation of the use of unused capacity. While this problem is more serious for the marginal operator, it is an issue of concern to all operators. The development of a marketing strategy to stimulate the use of unused capacity in the lodging industry will be the focus of the proposed research.

The assumption upon which the proposed research will be based is that the data required for the conduct of the study will either be available in the form of secondary source material, or that such data may be developed as original source material. The