This American Hotel & Lodging Association (AH&LA) and STR Special Report, “Distribution Channel Analysis: a Guide for Hotels”, authored by Cindy Estis Green and Mark Lomanno and published by the Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International (HSMAI) Foundation, discusses the effects of channel mix on profitability and what the industry can expect in the near term in the distribution landscape.
“Distribution Channel Analysis: a Guide for Hotels” drills down to issues of distribution costs and benefits, price elasticity, and the evolving roles of marketing, revenue management and distribution strategy in a dynamic and volatile online environment. The full report is the most comprehensive analysis made to date of the hotel industry's use of distribution channels in order to develop tools and metrics to assist hotels in determining their optimal channel mix. It is based on interviews with hundreds of industry executives along with data sources including distribution costs, price elasticity analyses, media spending for hotel advertising, consumer clickstream data and channel mix from more than 25,000 hotels and 100 brands representing more than three million hotel rooms.