Intro to Hospitality Management
Ch. 11 & 12

Chapter 11
1. a. Construction on the global level seems to be a trend right now. The report shows the construction pipeline by stages in which the hotels are in development. It also discusses the three-year forecast of the hotel openings.
It also discusses the supply trend in a 5 year time frame. Details Construction Pipeline Project and Guest Room Counts for Each of the Three Stages of Construction, Forecasts New Supply Additions for the Next Three Years, Displays Current Census Counts and Provides New Supply Additions for the Previous Two Years (Lodging Econometrics, 2013).
1. b. The one trend that I think is an up and coming major player with hotel competition is the introduction of Airbnb. The innovative way of travel that the company provides is going to give traditional hotel vacations a run for its money. People do not care as much as they used to about hotel brand when they plan their travel. What they care about is a hotel's location, value, and review (Singh, 2013).
2. a. Similarities among the three websites are that all offer a multiple property sites globally. Two of the three offer luxury property sites only while the other site has property sites that meet the needs of the average family traveler.
2. b. The target market for two of the three is more of the upscale luxury traveler and not the family traveler; more so the investor of luxury rather than the common vacationer.
2. c. One of the sites is strictly a lodging trust company that offers a variety of hotel and resort properties. It is partnered with several different properties to offer a global opportunity. The other two sites offer hotel and properties that are owned by their parent company and offer properties globally as well but only through their brand.
2. d. The Felcor Lodging Trust would be the paper clip REIT. The Felcor Lodging Trust Group does not have a brand specific to the company. The group has several different properties that are within the portfolio.
Ch 12
1. a. Wyndham seems to be more on the lines of a timeshare type property and Choice looks to market them as more economical. Wyndham is global as Choice is, but one major difference I see from the website homepages is that Choice offers full service on their website where Wyndham does not. On Choice you can book your entire vacation on the website including air and car, where Wyndham is just the property booking.
1. b. Based on the two websites, I would have to say that Wyndham has more information because you have a chat session that you can access and ask questions in real time where I did not see that option on the Choice site. The Choice site is not as user friendly as the Wyndham site either. When using the compare tool on the Wyndham site it has more detail than that of the Choice site as well.
2. a. The first thing that is very noticeable is the use of global vacationing. All three websites market international travel on their websites. All three offer a different environment while looking at the homepage. On the Four Seasons website not only is the international site enticing, but the website is also providing the information of the climate per slide that is showing. The Ritz Carlton offers a search box for the different hotel properties and booking information to decide whether the hotel offers a room at the time of your vacation. The Rosewood site appeals to the old Hollywood era. The site markets the Roman Holiday black and white marketing that would appeal to the higher end traveler.
2. b. If I were booking a vacation through these websites, it would be a hard decision between the Four Seasons website and Rosewood website. When first looking at the Four Seasons site, I thought it was a unique idea of the addition of climate information per slide. Since it is real time climate information, which might be a deciding factor of where to vacation in that time of the year. The Rosewood site has that exciting getaway feel when looking at the homepage.
2. c. All three websites market to the upscale traveler. These properties are not suitable for everyone, where the Choice hotel marketing has options for all types of travelers. The Choice site is more geared towards the family traveler.

Works Cited
Lodging Econometrics. (2013, November 30). Retrieved from www.lodgingeconometrics.com: http://www.lodgingeconometrics.com/ownership-management-groups
Singh, V. (2013, Novemeber 30). How Airbnb Is Crushing Traditional Hotel Brands. Retrieved from hotel online: http://www.hotel-online.com/press_releases/release/how-airbnb-is-crushing-traditional-hotel-brands