Hotelier's 2003 Top Ten Internet Resolutions

How can hoteliers deal successfully with today's challenges and emerge as winners from the present travel and economic downturn? PricewaterhouseCoopers forecasts full-year 2002 U.S. hotel occupancy at 59.5%, one of the lowest rates in the last 75 years. RevPAR for the year is expected to be down 2.3 percent and ADR will decrease for a second year in a row, the first such consecutive decrease since the Great Depression. For 2003 PwC expects only a modest recovery. RevPAR will increase by only 3.5%. ADR is forecast to increase by 2.5% in 2003, while occupancy is expected to recover 0.6 percentage points and reach 60.1 percent. Whether you are an independent or branded hotel, a major hotel chain or hotel management company, you can stay ahead of your competitors and capture new market share with an effective Online Distribution Strategy. Utilized properly, your online distribution strategy and especially its direct-to-consumer component, can play a major role in softening the effects of the travel and economic slump and will, over longer-term, define the winners in these trying times. But hoteliers should remember that the Internet in 2003 can be your best ally or your worst enemy. As part of your 2003 Internet resolutions, here are the Top Ten Questions you should urgently consider: 1. I will make Direct-To-Consumer Online Distribution the centerpiece of my Internet strategy, because I know the Internet is the ultimate