The study surveyed 426 marketing executives from destination marketing organizations and accommodation firms about their online marketing strategies and budgets. It found that accommodation firms on average spent over 10 times more on marketing than destination firms, at $1.35 million compared to $136,000. Accommodation firms were also more likely to outsource functions like search engine optimization and pay-per-click advertising, while destination marketers generally handled more in-house. Most respondents from both groups expected their online marketing budgets to increase in 2011.

1. 2011 Travel Industry Benchmarking:
Marketing ROI, Opportunities, and Challenges in Online and
Social Media Channels for Destination and Marketing Firms
Cornell Hospitality Report
Vol. 11, No. 9, April 2011
by Rohit Verma, Ph.D., and Ken McGill
www.chr.cornell.edu

2. Advisory Board
Niklas Andréen, Group Vice President Global Hospitality &
Partner Marketing, Travelport GDS
Ra’anan Ben-Zur, Chief Executive Officer, French Quarter
Holdings, Inc.
Scott Berman, Principal, Real Estate Business Advisory
Services, Industry Leader, Hospitality & Leisure,
PricewaterhouseCoopers
Raymond Bickson, Managing Director and Chief Executive
Officer, Taj Group of Hotels, Resorts, and Palaces
Stephen C. Brandman, Co-Owner, Thompson Hotels, Inc.
Raj Chandnani, Vice President, Director of Strategy, WATG
Benjamin J. “Patrick” Denihan, Chief Executive Officer,
Denihan Hospitality Group
Brian Ferguson, Vice President, Supply Strategy and Analysis,
Expedia North America
Chuck Floyd, Chief Operating Officer–North America,
Hyatt
Gregg Gilman, Partner, Co-Chair, Employment Practices,
The Robert A. and Jan M. Beck Center at Cornell University
Davis & Gilbert LLP
Back cover photo by permission of The Cornellian and Jeff Wang.
Tim Gordon, Senior Vice President, Hotels, priceline.com
Susan Helstab, EVP Corporate Marketing,
Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts
Jeffrey A. Horwitz, Chair, Lodging + Gaming, and Co-Head,
Mergers + Acquisitions, Proskauer
Kevin J. Jacobs, Senior Vice President, Corporate Strategy &
Treasurer, Hilton Worldwide
Kenneth Kahn, President/Owner, LRP Publications Cornell Hospitality Reports,
Kirk Kinsell, President of Europe, Middle East, and Africa, Vol. 11, No. 9 (April 2011)
InterContinental Hotels Group
Radhika Kulkarni, Ph.D., VP of Advanced Analytics R&D,
SAS Institute © 2011 Cornell University
Gerald Lawless, Executive Chairman, Jumeirah Group
Mark V. Lomanno, CEO, Smith Travel Research Cornell Hospitality Report is produced for
Betsy MacDonald, Managing Director, HVS Global Hospitality the benefit of the hospitality industry by
Services The Center for Hospitality Research at
David Meltzer, Senior Vice President, Global Business Cornell University
Development, Sabre Hospitality Solutions
William F. Minnock III, Senior Vice President, Global
Rohit Verma, Executive Director
Operations Deployment and Program Management,
Marriott International, Inc. Jennifer Macera, Associate Director
Mike Montanari, VP, Strategic Accounts, Sales - Sales Glenn Withiam, Director of Publications
Management, Schneider Electric North America
Shane O’Flaherty, President and CEO, Forbes Travel Guide Center for Hospitality Research
Thomas Parham, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Cornell University
Philips Hospitality Americas
School of Hotel Administration
Chris Proulx, CEO, eCornell & Executive Education
489 Statler Hall
Carolyn D. Richmond, Partner, Hospitality Practice, Fox
Rothschild LLP Ithaca, NY 14853
Steve Russell, Chief People Officer, Senior VP, Human
Resources, McDonald’s USA Phone: 607-255-9780
Michele Sarkisian, Senior Vice President, Maritz Fax: 607-254-2922
Janice L. Schnabel, Managing Director and Gaming Practice www.chr.cornell.edu
Leader, Marsh’s Hospitality and Gaming Practice
Trip Schneck, President and Co-Founder, TIG Global LLC
Adam Weissenberg, Vice Chairman, and U.S. Tourism,
Hospitality & Leisure Leader, Deloitte & Touche USA LLP

3. Thank you to our generous Corporate Members
Senior Partners
Hilton Worldwide
McDonald’s USA
Philips Hospitality
SAS
STR
Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces
TIG Global
Partners
Davis & Gilbert LLP
Deloitte & Touche USA LLP
Denihan Hospitality Group
eCornell & Executive Education
Expedia, Inc.
Forbes Travel Guide
Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts
Fox Rothschild LLP
French Quarter Holdings, Inc.
HVS
Hyatt
InterContinental Hotels Group
Jumeirah Group
LRP Publications
Marriott International, Inc.
Marsh’s Hospitality Practice
Maritz
priceline.com
PricewaterhouseCoopers
Proskauer
Sabre Hospitality Solutions
Schneider Electric
Thayer Lodging Group
Thompson Hotels
Travelport
WATG
Friends
American Tescor, LLC • Argyle Executive Forum • Berkshire Healthcare • Center for Advanced Retail Technology
• Cody Kramer Imports • Cruise Industry News • DK Shifflet & Associates • ehotelier.com • EyeforTravel •
4Hoteliers.com • Gerencia de Hoteles & Restaurantes • Global Hospitality Resources • Hospitality Financial and
Technological Professionals • hospitalityInside.com • hospitalitynet.org • Hospitality Technology Magazine •
Hotel Asia Pacific • Hotel China • HotelExecutive.com • Hotel Interactive • Hotel Resource • International CHRIE
• International Hotel Conference • International Society of Hospitality Consultants • iPerceptions • JDA Software
Group, Inc. • J.D. Power and Associates • The Lodging Conference • Lodging Hospitality • Lodging Magazine
• LRA Worldwide, Inc. • Milestone Internet Marketing • MindFolio • Mindshare Technologies • PhoCusWright
Inc. • PKF Hospitality Research • Resort and Recreation Magazine • The Resort Trades • RestaurantEdge.com •
Shibata Publishing Co. • Synovate • The TravelCom Network • Travel + Hospitality Group • UniFocus • USA Today
• WageWatch, Inc. • The Wall Street Journal • WIWIH.COM • Wyndham Green

4. 2011 Travel Industry
Benchmarking:
Marketing ROI, Opportunities, and Challenges
in Online and Social Media Channels for
Destination and Marketing Firms
by Rohit Verma and Ken McGill
Executive Summary
S
enior lodging and destination marketing executives often make vendor and marketing channel
decisions without sufficient time to investigate the ROI of alternative strategies or emerging
media choices. An internet-based survey of 426 marketing executives, drawn from the
TravelCom 2011 conference and Cornell Center for Hospitality Research database, with
support from Vantage Strategy and iPerceptions, found a wide range of expenditures on online
marketing, as well as considerable diversity in organizational structures. Two-thirds of the sample
comprised accommodation marketers, with the remainder being destination marketers or those
responsible for other types of marketing. Nearly three-quarters of the respondents reported spending
less than $10,000 on mobile media in 2010, about two thirds spent less than $10,000 on all social media
marketing. About 80 percent of the marketers said that they produced Twitter campaigns and social
promotions in-house, but such functions as search engine optimization and pay-per-click advertising
are largely outsourced. Accommodation firms are more likely to outsource all social media functions,
including pay-per-call, Twitter campaigns, and pay-per-click management. Destination marketers, on
the other hand, generally handle more functions in-house. Two-thirds of the entire sample said the
2010 e-commerce budgets had increased with respect to 2009. Sixty percent of accommodation
marketers anticipated a further increase in 2011, and 71 percent of the destination marketers said their
2011 budgets would increase.
4 The Center for Hospitality Research • Cornell University

5. About the Authors
Rohit Verma, Ph.D., is professor of operations management and executive director of the Center for
Hospitality Research at the Cornell University School of Hotel Administration (rohit.verma@cornell.edu). Among
his research interests are product-and-service design and innovation, customer choice modeling, and quality
process improvement of supplier selection strategies. His work has appeared in such publications as MIT Sloan
Management Review, Journal of Operations Management, and Cornell Hospitality Quarterly.
Ken McGill is EVP of Research for Vantage Strategy (ken.mcgill@vantagestrategy.
com). He directs Vantage’s Travel & Tourism Research division where he delivers
insight and intelligence to DMOs and Travel & Tourism suppliers. Prior to Vantage, he
was Executive Vice President for IHS Global Insight and head of its Travel & Tourism
Practice. McGill directed both existing client relationships and spearheaded new development efforts, particularly
in the functional areas of market research, economic impact assessment, and resource planning. In his 30 years
in economic and strategic consulting, McGill has developed an expertise in research and planning methods
that has been successfully applied to business problems in a variety of corporate and government settings. He
is particularly known for his work in combining primary market research with traditional economic and industry
analysis. A particular focus of McGill’s work has been in tourism economic impact assessment. Moreover, McGill’s expertise has often been
called upon to estimate the economic impact of specific destinations, attractions, convention facilities, resort/hotel developments, events, and
tourism policy decisions.
The authors gratefully acknowledge the support of the TravelCom Conference and Vantage Strategy in conducting this study.
Cornell Hospitality Report • April 2011 • www.chr.cornell.edu 5

6. COrnell Hospitality Report
2011 Travel Industry Benchmarking:
Marketing ROI, Opportunities, and Challenges in Online and
Social Media Channels for Destination and Marketing Firms
by Rohit Verma and Ken McGill
A s part of the planning for TravelCom 2011, conference organizers consulted the
TravelCom advisory board members to identify their most pressing issues. These chief
marketing officers and marketing executives identified the acceleration of online
marketing forces as a common concern. The executives feel that they are being called
on to make vendor and marketing channel decisions without sufficient time to investigate the ROI of
alternative strategies or emerging media choices, as well as benchmarking what others are doing.
Uncomfortable with ad hoc decision making, the executives requested a study that would establish
benchmarks for organizational practices and decision making.
6 The Center for Hospitality Research • Cornell University

7. Exhibit 1
Sample composition
Destination Marketing
Executives
Annual budget for marketing
and e-commerce averaged
$136,000 in 2010; two-thirds Accommodation
reported that this was an
increase over 2009; seven Marketing Executives
of ten anticipated an
increase in 2011 87 Annual budget for marketing
and e-commerce averaged
$1,354,000 in 2010; two-
thirds reported that this
was an increase over 2009;
291 six of ten anticipated an
increase in 2011
Other Travel- 48
related Firms
Destination Accomodation Other
This study is the result of that expressed need. With the elCom databases of travel industry marketing executives.
support of Vantage Strategy and iPerceptions, we developed A total of 426 industry respondents completed the survey,
a questionnaire that would allow us to assess the state of and they were assured that no private or identifying infor-
electronic marketing—establishing benchmarks and provide mation would be shared. The purpose of the study was only
a comparison point for resources devoted to electronic to create a public benchmark and allow private compari-
marketing. sons of the participants’ firms with those benchmarks.
We divided the survey questions into three overarching
Executive Profile
themes:
(1) Information that places a firm into a competitive set; Sixty-eight percent of the respondents worked in accom-
(2) How dollars are spent in the online marketing space modation firms, 20 percent were destination marketers,
(3) How resources are allocated and the rest worked in a variety of travel-related firms (see
We categorized the responses to the survey questions to Exhibit 1).
assess different aspects of online marketing initiatives in the The respondents reported a noticeable difference in
following areas average annual budgets for marketing and ecommerce. At
• Budget and resource allocation, $1.354 million, the average budget reported by marketers
• Marketing and promotion , for accommodation firms was ten times the average for
• International strategy development, destination marketers, who reported an average of $136
• Commerce and conversion, thousand dollars. Both groups reported that the electronic
• Loyalty and reputation, marketing portion of those budgets was increasing year to
• Analysis and research, year.
• Challenges and future opportunities. The two types of organization also reported different
We conducted the survey online during January and structures for deploying members of the online market-
February 2011. Respondents were part of the CHR and Trav- ing services team and the ecommerce team (see Exhibit 2).
Cornell Hospitality Report • April 2011 • www.chr.cornell.edu 7

8. Exhibit 2
Online marketing services and e-commerce team placement
Destination Firms
Accommodation Firms
Online Marketing Services
Marketing department 75% Online Marketing Services
Sales department 4% Marketing department 41%
87
eCommerce department 2% Sales department 17%
Operations department 6% eCommerce department 9%
Operations department 5%
eCommerce
Marketing department 51%
291
Sales department 6%
eCommerce
Web services department 11%
Operations department 12%
48 Marketing department 33%
Revenue management department 40%
Sales department 27%
Web services department 5%
Operations department 3%
Destination Accomodation Other
Exhibit 3
Online pricing strategy and distribution team placement
Destination Firms Accommodation Firms
Online Pricing Strategy Team Online Pricing Strategy Team
Marketing department 25% Marketing department 10%
Sales department 4% Sales department 18%
Revenue management department 12%
Operations department 12% 87 Revenue management department 54%
Operations department 5%
Distribution Strategy
Marketing department 53% 291 Distribution Strategy
Marketing department 14%
48
Destination Accomodation Other
Three-quarters of the destination marketing organizations ecommerce teams part of the revenue management depart-
housed their online marketing team in the marketing de- ment, and another 17 percent were in the sales department.
partment, but that was true of just 41 percent of the accom- Looking specifically at the people who determine strat-
modation marketers. Instead, 17 percent of the online team egy for online pricing and distribution, we again see that the
was housed in the accommodation firms’ sales department, marketing department is foremost for destination market-
and another 9 percent in the ecommerce department. ing firms, but that is not true of accommodation firms (see
A similar relationship occurred for the ecommerce Exhibit 3).
team. Just over half of the destination marketing firms put Well over half of the accommodation firms (54%) put
the ecommerce team in the marketing department, while their pricing strategists in the revenue management depart-
that was true in only one-third of the accommodation firms. ment, with another 18 percent in sales. Just 10 percent of the
Instead, 40 percent of the accommodation firms made their accommodation firms had their pricing strategy function
8 The Center for Hospitality Research • Cornell University

9. 0 0
Exhibit 4 Exhibit 5
Online marketing and e-commerce budget Percentage allocation of staff time (average of 3.25
allocation staff)
60 60
60
e
e
Destination 50
Accomodation Destination Accomodat
g
Destination Firms Destination Firms
g
50 50
Destination Accomodation 40
40 Destination Accomodation
a
a
Accommodation Firms Accommodation Firms
40 60
t
30
t
50
n
n
30 30
20
40
e
e
20 20
10
c
c
30
r
10
r
10
0
20
e
e
0 0
P
Accommodation 10
Destinationn Accomodation
P
tio
n
Destinationion ion ar
ch on
i o si on i ch r
rs at t r at ea
mo ve ut re
se mo ve ut re
s
o n ep o n ep
nd
pr
an
d co
an
dr
ics
an
d
0 nd
pr
an
d co
n dr
sa
nd
ga y t ga ya tic
et
in rce ya
lt ly
et
in rce ya
lt ly
k me Lo A na k me Lo A na
ar m ar m
M Co M Co
Exhibit 6
Online advertising budget for 2010
Over $1,000,000
$499,999 - $1,000,000 Destination
Destination Firms
Average $≈80,000
Accomodation
$250,000 - $499,999
$100,000 - $249,000
Destination Accomodation
Accommodation Firms
Average $≈60,000
$50,000 - $99,999
$25,000 - $49,999
$10,000 - $24,999
Less than $10,000
0 10 20 30 40
Accomodation
in marketing. For the destination marketers, 25 percent of Destination
tion, and analytics and research. The respondents reported
firms put pricing strategy in marketing, and just 12 percent similar percentage allocations of staff time (Exhibit 5). For
in the revenue management department. For distribution the entire sample, the average number of staff members
strategy, well over half of the destination firms housed distri- involved in online marketing and ecommerce was 3.25.
bution strategy in their marketing department, but that was The range of budgeted online advertising expendi-
true of only 14 percent of accommodation firms. tures was remarkable, with some firms reporting budgets
In terms of budget allocations, marketing and promo- of less than $10,000 and others over $1 million (Exhibit
tion was by far the largest single online marketing and 6). The budgets skewed toward the lower end of the range,
ecommerce category for both destination and accommoda- however, as the average online advertising budget for ac-
tion firms (see Exhibit 4). Those expenditures were followed commodation firms was approximately $60,000, while for
in order by commerce and conversion, loyalty and reputa- destination marketers the average was about $80,000. In
Cornell Hospitality Report • April 2011 • www.chr.cornell.edu 9

10. 10
0
Exhibit 7
Percentage budget for online media placement
More then 95%
More than 95%
Destination
Destination Firms
Average ~40%
Accomodation
85% to 94%
85 to 94%
75% to 84%
75 to 84%
65% to 74%
65 to 74% Destination Accomodation
Accommodation Firms
Average ~45%
55% to 64%
55 to 64%
35% to 44%
45 to 54%
35% to 44%
35 to 44%
25% to 34%
25 to 34%
11% to 24%
11 to 24%
Less then 10%
Less than 10%
0 5 10 15 20 25
Exhibit 8
Accomodation Destination
Source of online media and advertisement purchasing
Not Not
sure sure
5% 5% One
One agency
agency 21%
27% on
one agency
Handled
internally
Handled multiple agency
35% mu
internally
40% handled internally ha
not sure no
Multiple
Multiple agency
agency 39%
28%
Destination Accommodation
Firms Firms
terms of the percentage of the marketing budget, online than $10,000 on social media, and three-quarters spend less
media placement also varied widely (Exhibit 7). than $10,000 on mobile media.
Although the average online budget allocations repre- The breakdown of purchasing channels for advertising in
sented an average of 40 percent of destination firms’ market- online media is similar for destination and accommodation
ing budget, seven of the 87 destination firms and 20 of the firms (see Exhibit 8). While substantial percentages of firms
216 accommodation marketers reported online budget handle purchases internally, many also use multiple agencies.
allocations of less than 10 percent of the marketing expendi- A relatively small percentage use just one agency for online
tures. Two-thirds of the firms reported that they spend less media buys. Looking more specifically at how these firms
10 The Center for Hospitality Research • Cornell University

11. Exhibit 9
Solutions for online marketing: Percentage in-house
Pay Per Click Management
Search Engines
Accommodation Firms
Accommodation Destination
Destination Firms
Destination Accomo
Pay Per Call 60
Ad Exchanges
50
SMS/Text Messaging
Link Building
40
Branding 30
Press Release Distribution 20
Video Distribution 10
Social Influence
0
Twitter Campaigns
20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Exhibit 10
Solutions for online marketing: Percentage outsourced to specialized firms
Pay Per Call
Branding
Twitter Campaigns
Affiliate Marketing
Ad Placement Destination
Destination Firms Accomo
Accommodation Firms
SMS/Text Messaging
Social Influence
Video Distribution
Search Engines
Link Building
Pay Per Click Management
0.0 20.0 40.0 60.0 80.0 100.
handle the many aspects of online marketing, we see that other perspective, accommodation firms are far more likely
ACCOMODATION
such matters as Twitter campaigns and social influence are
DESTINATION
than destination firms to retain specialized firms for online
largely handled in house (see Exhibit 9). marketing campaigns (see Exhibit 10).
Indeed, destination marketing firms are, in gen- The difference in approaches shows up most notice-
eral, more likely to handle all online marketing functions ably in pay-per-call, branding, Twitter campaigns, and
in-house. On the other hand, pay-per-click management, affiliate marketing programs. Destination firms reported
search engine management, and pay-per-call campaigns outsourcing these functions only 25 percent of the time,
are quite frequently outsourced. Taking this issue from the while accommodation firms frequently outsource not only
Cornell Hospitality Report • April 2011 • www.chr.cornell.edu 11

12. 30 20
20 10
10 0
0
Exhibit 11
Implementation solutions: Percentage in-house
Site Hosting
Social Sites
Mobile Apps
Destination
Destination Firms Accomodatio
Mobile Website
Destination Accomodation
Accommodation Firms
Corporate Website
0 20 40 60 80 100
Exhibit 12 Accomodation Destination
Content-management system
Other Enterprise Enterprise
Other
Open 8% 18% Open 17%
12%
Source
None Source
28% 8% Open 29% Open
None
source source
28% 8%
open source 29%
enterprise
None custom
None
8% 8% none Custom
Custom 34%
Other
Custom 38% Other
Custom
other
8%38% Enterprise 12%34% Enterprise
18% 17%
Destination Firms Accommodation Firms
those functions, but also ad placement and social influence Again, destination marketers were slightly more likely
campaigns. than accommodation marketers to handle most of these
The marketers were much more inclined to handle functions on their own. The breakdown of sources for the
social media sites and corporate websites on their own than content management system was similar for both destination
they were mobile apps and the mobile website, which were marketers and accommodation firms: just under 30 percent
most typically outsourced (see Exhibit 11). were open source, not even 20 percent were enterprise sys-
tems, and over one-third were custom written (see Exhibit
12 The Center for Hospitality Research • Cornell University

13. Exhibit 13
Average development cycle
Not
60
Not
Every
60 Every
sure50
sure 7%
two four +
15% years 50 years 40 Every
21% 6% two
Every
40Every two years 30 years Ever
34%
four +
years 30Every year 20 Ever
15% Every year
10%
20Every three years
Every three 10 Ever
years
10Every 30% years
four+
0 Ever
Every three
0Not sure Not
years Every year
30% 23%
Destination Firms Accommodation Firms
Destination Firms Accommodation Firms
Exhibit 14
Percentage of accommodation and destination firms that...
...use an advertising management system
use an Ad mgt system
Destination
Destination Firms Accomodatio
provide eCommerce functionality
...provide e-commerce functionality Destination Accomodation
Accommodation Firms
...sellladvertising space
sell advertising space
have internal staff forfor social media or reputation
...have internal staff social media/reputation mgt
management
provide online purchasing capabilities
...provide online purchase capability
...have asocial media strategy.
have social media strategy
0 25 50 75 100
12). For most firms, the development cycle on these systems Exhibit 14). Responsibility for managing social media
Accommodation
typically occupied two or three years (see Exhibit 13). Destination
resided overwhelmingly in the marketing and sales depart-
The two types of companies took relatively similar ap- ment (58% of respondents), with a small percentage in pub-
proaches to social media policies and functionality, with one lic relations (15%), ecommerce (12%), or a smattering other
exception. Destination firms were overwhelmingly more departments (15%). Asked which social media were most
likely to sell advertising space on their sites than the accom- effective, the marketers rated Facebook at the top, followed
modation firms were. As a result, the destination firms were by Twitter, YouTube, and LinkedIn (Exhibit 15, next page).
somewhat more likely to maintain an advertising manage- Accommodation firms were far more likely than desti-
ment system. nation marketers to report that they maintain blogs. Fifty-
On the other hand, the accommodation firms were one percent of the accommodation firms reported blogging,
more likely to provide online purchasing capabilities (see compared to just 31 percent of destination firms. The person
Cornell Hospitality Report • April 2011 • www.chr.cornell.edu 13

14. 10 0
0
Exhibit 15
Percentage of accommodation and destination firms providing a rating of “very effective” for social media
sites
100
80 Destination
Destination Firms Accomodation
60 Destination Accomodation
Accommodation Firms
40
20
0
Xanga
Twitter
Ning
Hyves
Facebook
MySpace
Xing
Bebo
Orkut
Flickr
Hi5
YouTube
LinkedIn
Foursquare
Gowalla
Exhibit 16
Destination Accommodation
Factors cited as frustrations in online marketing by accommodation and destination marketers (percentages)
Unreliable Vendors
Sign-Off Progress
Technology Limitations
Implementation Speed
Limited Market Knowledge
No Strategic Plan
Resource Limitations
Budget Limitations
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
responsible for managing the blog was almost never the Frustrations
CEO or president. Instead, blogging fell primarily to the As shown in Exhibit 16, the marketers cited budget and
director of marketing, the social media or public relations resource limitations as their number-one issue. Other issues
staff, or in some cases external partners. were the absence of a strategic plan, limited market knowl-
14 The Center for Hospitality Research • Cornell University

15. edge, and issues with implementation speed and technology Acknowledging the possibility of hurling money into the
limitations. A few mentioned unreliable vendors. black void of the internet, it seems likely that the compa-
nies that have carefully committed resources will enjoy the
Discussion
rewards of a vibrant electronic distribution strategy.
This survey shows an industry still in transition with regard
to online marketing and electronic commerce. Based on Conclusion
their budget expenditures, it’s clear that some firms have Over time, we anticipate that both destination and accom-
jumped wholeheartedly into online commerce, while others modation marketing firms will focus specifically on where in
are still testing the waters with relatively small expenditures. their organization the online marketing services and strategy
One note on the range of expenditures however, we did function will be housed. Part of that decision is a function of
not normalize the budgets on a per-room basis, so it may be corporate culture, of course, but it may be that ecommerce
that a company that reported a relatively small budget ex- will evolve to become a discipline of its own, as revenue
penditure in absolute dollars has actually committed a large management has done in the past few years.
percentage of funds in relation to its company size. The key factor is to ensure that electronic marketing
That said, we were surprised to find such tiny bud- and sales strategies are congruent with the organization’s
get allocations for online media. A substantial number of overall marketing approaches. While online sales and com-
accommodation firms reported under $50,000 in annual merce can only grow as time goes on, the fact remains that
expenditures, and a relatively large percentage of destination a substantial portion of the travel business is still sold via
firms had allocated under $25,000. In this context, it’s worth traditional distribution channels.
underscoring the fact that respondents cited budget and re- Perhaps the key test for accommodation and destina-
source limitations as their chief frustration. Technology and tion businesses is managing the transition from traditional
vendors are not standing in the way of online markeitng ini- channels to electronic channels, especially since there’s no
tiatives and strategies. Apparently, money is doing so. While guarantee of a gradual change from one to another. The
it is true that much can be accomplished on the internet history of the growth and development of social media has
for “free,” it’s clear that several firms have determined that it been one of discontinuity, and there’s no reason to think that
makes sense to commit resources to develop a comprehen- we’ve seen an end to new and unexpected communication
sive electronic strategy, instead of a “bootstrap” approach. channels. n
Cornell Hospitality Report • April 2011 • www.chr.cornell.edu 15

16. Cornell Center for Hospitality Research
Index
www.chr.cornell.edu Vol. 10, No. 12 Cases in Innovative
Cornell Hospitality Quarterly 2011 Proceedings Practices in Hospitality and Related
http://cqx.sagepub.com/ Vol. 3, No. 4 Brave New World: Online Services, Set 4, by Cathy A. Enz, Ph.D.,
Hotel Distribution, by Glenn Withiam Rohit Verma, Ph.D., Kate Walsh, Ph.D.
2011 Reports Vol. 3, No. 3 Social Media and the
Sheryl E. Kimes, Ph.D., and Judy A.
Siguaw, D.B.A
Vol 11 No 8 Search, OTAs, and Online Hospitality Industry: Holding the Tiger by
Booking: An Expanded Analysis of the the Tail, by Glenn Withiam Vol. 10, No. 11 Who’s Next? An Analysis
Billboard Effect, by Chris Anderson Ph.D.
of Lodging Industry Acquisitions, by
Vol. 3 No. 2 The Challenge of Hotel and Qingzhong Ma, Ph.D., and Peng Liu, Ph.D.
Vol. 11 No. 7 Online, Mobile, and Text Restaurant Sustainability: Finding Profit in
Food Ordering in the U.S. Restaurant “Being Green,” by Glenn Withiam Vol. 10, No. 10 Cases in Innovative
Industry, by Sheryl E. Kimes, Ph.D., and
Practices in Hospitality and Related
Philipp F. Laqué Vol. 3 No. 1 Cautious Optimism: Services, Set 3: Cayuga Sustainable
CHRS Examines Hospitality Industry Hospitality, Chic & Basic, JetBlue Airlines
Vol. 11 No. 6 Hotel Guests’ Reactions to Trends, by Glenn Withiam Jumeirah Essex House, The Ritz-Carlton
Guest Room Sustainability Initiatives, by
Hotel Company, Runtriz, The Seaport
Alex Susskind, Ph.D. and Rohit Verma, 2010 Reports Hotel, Thayer Lodging, TripTelevision, and
Ph.D.
Vol. 10 No. 18 How Travelers Use Xsense Experiential Design Consulting, by
Online and Social Media Channels to Cathy A. Enz, Ph.D., Rohit Verma, Ph.D.,
Vol. 11, No. 5 The Impact of Terrorism
Make Hotel-choice Decisions, by Laura Kate Walsh, Ph.D. Sheryl E. Kimes, Ph.D.,
and Economic Shocks on U.S. Hotels, by
McCarthy, Debra Stock, and Rohit Verma, and Judy A. Siguaw, D.B.A.
Cathy A. Enz, Renáta Kosová, and Mark
Lomanno Ph.D.
Vol. 10, No. 9 Building Customer Loyalty:
Vol. 10 No. 17 Public or Private? The Ten Principles for Designing an Effective
Vol. 11 No. 4 Implementing Human
Hospitality Investment Decision, by Customer Reward Program, by Michael
Resource Innovations: Three Success
Qingzhong Ma, Ph.D. and Athena Wei McCall, Ph.D., Clay Voorhees, Ph.D., and
Stories from the Service Industry, by Justin
Zhang, Ph.D. Roger Calantone, Ph.D.
Sun and Kate Walsh, Ph.D.
Vol. 10 No. 16 Best Practices in Search Vol. 10, No. 8 Developing Measures for
Vol. 11 No. 3 Compendium 2011
Engine Marketing and Optimization: Environmental Sustainability in Hotels:
The Case of the St. James Hotel, by Greg An Exploratory Study, by Jie J. Zhang,
Vol. 11 No. 2 Positioning a Place:
Bodenlcos, Victor Bogert, Dan Gordon, Nitin Joglekar, Ph.D., and Rohit Verma,
Developing a Compelling Destination
Carter Hearne, and Chris K. Anderson, Ph.D.
Brand, by Robert J. Kwortnik, Ph.D., and
Ethan Hawkes, M.B.A. Ph.D.
Vol. 10, No. 7 Successful Tactics for
Vol. 10 No. 15 The Impact of Prix Fixe Surviving an Economic Downturn:
Vol. 11 No. 1 The Impact of Health
Menu Price Formats on Guests’ Deal Results of an International Study, by
Insurance on Employee Job Anxiety,
Perception, by Shuo Wang and Michael Sheryl E. Kimes, Ph.D.
Withdrawal Behaviors, and Task
Performance, by Sean Way, Ph.D., Bill Lynn, Ph.D.
Vol. 10, No. 6 Integrating Self-service
Carroll, Ph.D., Alex Susskind, Ph.D., and
Vol. 10 No. 14 The Future of Hotel Kiosks in a Customer-service System,
Joe C.Y. Leng
Revenue Management, by Sheryl Kimes, byTsz-Wai (Iris) Lui, Ph.D., and Gabriele
Ph.D. Piccoli, Ph.D.
2011 Hospitality Tools
Vol. 2 No. 1 MegaTips 2: Twenty Tested Vol. 10 No. 13 Making the Most of Vol. 10, No. 5 Strategic Pricing in
Techniques for Increasing Your Tips, by Priceline’s Name-Your-Own-Price European Hotels, 2006–2009, by Cathy
Michael Lynn Channel, by Chris Anderson, Ph.D., and A. Enz, Ph.D., Linda Canina, Ph.D., and
Shijie Radium Yan Mark Lomanno

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