|
By Lisa Yorgey Lester
Hotel or lodging managers ensure the comfort of their guests, whether these guests are vacationers or weary travelers. In addition to making sure reservations, check-in and check-out processes run smoothly, a hotel manager is responsible for promoting hotel services, such as spas, fitness centers and restaurants.
In 2000, lodging managers accounted for approximately 68,000 jobs, and earned a median annual salary of $30,770, with the middle 50 percent earning between $23,670 and $41,830, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
All hotel managers are not equal; they have an array of titles and diverse responsibilities. The size of the hotel they manage and whether it's independent or part of a chain also are factors. Usually hotel managers have both corporate and operations responsibilities. If they manage a large hotel, they often have department managers that report to them.
"As a whole, they have a job that has recently gotten even more difficult since the tourism and travel market has taken a hit," explains Jeff Moriarty, director of sales and marketing at DM2, an Illinois-based list management company that represents several hotel management properties, including the Hotels magazine subscriber file. Not only are managers required to focus on the operations of a hotel, but now they often are required to be more proactive in recruiting business, such as drumming up corporate events, Moriarty notes.
Media Medley
Direct mail and space advertising traditionally have been the media of choice for reaching hotel managers. Marketers of industrial cleaning supplies, safety products, furniture, uniforms, business stationery, tools and garden supplies have tapped this market by direct mail. Traditionally, manufacturers and distributors of china, glassware, linens, freezers and refrigerators, and specialty soaps and shampoos reach this market via space ads in trade magazines as well as with field sales representatives.
The use of e-mail as a medium to reach this market is growing, adds Moriarty. He notes that because e-mail isn't confined to a physical location, marketers can use this medium to reach hotel managers away from the office.
Barbara Gill, president of Maryland-based list manager Chessie Lists, also has seen a rise in the use of e-mail by marketers targeting this segment, and confirms mailers are testing the e-mail portion of the Hotel and Motel Management magazine file, which her firm represents.
Indeed, hotel managers have demonstrated a propensity to purchase goods and services online. More than 13,000 Hotels subscribers indicate they make purchases on behalf of their company via the Internet.
Companies Mentioned:
 |
|
Secrets of Direct Marketing Testing
Strategic Catalog Marketing