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Future Issues in Sales, Marketing, and RevenueManagement in Greater China: What Keeps You Up atNight?David L. Jones a , Amy Lee a & Kaye Chon aa School of Hotel & Tourism Management, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University in HungHom, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR, ChinaPublished online: 25 Aug 2011.

To cite this article: David L. Jones , Amy Lee & Kaye Chon (2011) Future Issues in Sales, Marketing, and RevenueManagement in Greater China: What Keeps You Up at Night?, Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing, 28:6, 598-614, DOI:10.1080/10548408.2011.599219

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Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing, 28:598–614, 2011Copyright © Taylor & Francis Group, LLCISSN: 1054-8408 print / 1540-7306 onlineDOI: 10.1080/10548408.2011.599219

FUTURE ISSUES IN SALES, MARKETING, ANDREVENUE MANAGEMENT IN GREATER CHINA:

WHAT KEEPS YOU UP AT NIGHT?

David L. JonesAmy Lee

Kaye Chon

ABSTRACT. “Recognizing the current global economic crisis, what do you feel are the key impactsit will have on (sales, marketing, or revenue management) in the hospitality industry in the next 5 yearswithin the Greater China region?” This was the question asked in a Delphi study with 37 hotel industryleaders in Greater China and a follow-up Thought Leaders Roundtable. The results identified the topfive impacts in each of the disciplines and the Roundtable provided insights into how to address them.Additionally, how long these impacts will affect the region was determined.

KEYWORDS. Sales management, marketing, revenue management, China, Delphi method, trends,hotels

INTRODUCTION

The Global Economic Crisis

The shocking failure of Lehman Brothersin the early hours of September 15, 2008marked the start of a turbulent year. This globaleconomic downturn, which has been said tobe the most severe financial crisis in this postSecond World War period, had a significanteffect on the hospitality industry. In year-to-year measurements, international visitorarrivals dropped 6.1% in the first 2 quarters of2009 (World Travel & Tourism Council, 2009),with a corresponding fall in hotel room ratesaround the world by and average of 17%.

David L. Jones, PhD, is Associate Professor in the School of Hotel & Tourism Managementat The Hong Kong Polytechnic University in Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR, China(E-mail: hmdjones@polyu.edu.hk).

Amy Lee, MSc, is Doctoral Candidate in the School of Hotel & Tourism Management at The Hong KongPolytechnic University in Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR, China (E-mail: amy.lee.ho@gmail.com).

Kaye Chon, PhD, is Dean and Chair Professor in the School of Hotel & Tourism Managementat The Hong Kong Polytechnic University in Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR, China(E-mail: hmkchon@polyu.edu.hk).

Every major region around the world, exceptthe Caribbean, experienced the sharpest ratedeclines since January 2004. In Europe, theUnited States, and Latin America, hotel roomrates in Spring/Summer 2009 were at their low-est level in 5 years. Despite Asia outperformingother regions since Quarter 2, 2007, the impactwas still felt (Hotels.com. L.P., 2009). Hotels inthe Asia/Pacific region experienced decreasesfor all three key performance metrics for August2009. In year-over-year measurements, occu-pancy dropped 3.3% to 63.3%, average dailyrate (ADR) declined 24.7% to US$117.22, andrevenue per available room (REVPAR) fell27.1% to US$74.18. In first half of 2009, majorcities across China recorded significant declines

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in occupancy that coupled with the decline inADR performance, have led to the decline ofREVPAR (Smith Travel Research, Inc., 2009).Occupancy for all hotels in Hong Kong also fell9% and the average achieved hotel room rate fell17.5%, on a year-on-year basis, during Januaryto September 2009 (Hong Kong Tourism Board,2009). The average hotel occupancy rate inMacau also fell 12.6%, year-on-year to 60.7%,in June 2009 (Macau SAR Government, 2009).

Rebound from the Crisis

Despite persisting uncertainty, signs of recov-ery are now being seen around the globe; how-ever, recovery has been most dramatic in Asia.Over the last decade, the Asia region has over-taken the two well-developed and industrializedregions of the United States and Europe in termsof growth rate in tourism arrivals and receipts,and is now regarded not only as a major receiverbut also a generator of tourism. An Asian-ledgrowth in both inbound and outbound tourismwill be the defining feature of the hospitalityand tourism industry in the next decade from2010 onward.

Today, it is still difficult to judge if the cri-sis is really over, but some lessons have beenlearned. Instead of lamenting an unpleasantrecent past, hospitality industry professionalsneed to consider taking on new roles resultingfrom the uncertain landscape as the economyrecovers. In order to identify such uncertain-ties and challenges in the part of the worldexpecting the greatest growth in the hospital-ity and tourism industry, the School of Hoteland Tourism Management (SHTM) at The HongKong Polytechnic University (PolyU) and theHospitality Sales and Marketing AssociationInternational (HSMAI) Greater China Chapterjointly organized a research study on the impactsof the current global economic crisis on salesand sales management, marketing, and revenuemanagement in Great China. The question thatwe want to answer in this research is:

Recognizing the current global economic cri-sis, what do you feel are the key impacts it willhave on (sales, marketing, or revenue manage-ment) in the hospitality industry in the next 5years within the Greater China region?

Sales and sales management, marketing, andrevenue management are areas that are typi-cally greatly affected during economic down-turns. Sales management and marketing, beingcharged with the role of capturing and generat-ing demand, have always been targeted to stepup performance during the bad times; despitethe fact that during the good times, the econ-omy will often be given credit for good perfor-mance. The importance of revenue managementhas been increasingly recognized for its abil-ity to manage demand by optimizing revenuethrough maximizing rates at the time of highdemand and maximizing occupancy at the timeof low demand.

While there are numerous industry organiza-tions and experts who try each year to establishthe trends that need be addressed in this field,there has been no previous academic research ofthis type done in Asia where there are certainlydifferences in how economic recovery is occur-ring. Therefore, this study provides hotel sales,marketing, and revenue management executivesin Asia with an effective road map to addressthe management initiatives needed in the next 5years to recover from the economic crisis andjustify their future strategies to senior manage-ment and owners.

METHODOLOGY

The objective of this study was to explorehow the hospitality industry has been affectedby the recent global downturn in 2008–2009 andto identify the key issues that the industry has toface in sales and sales management, marketing,and revenue management. The length of impacthas also been addressed to consolidate the sig-nificance of these key issues and establish thefuture trend. Additionally, based on the identifi-cation of the key issues faced in each discipline,potential solutions and actions were sought.

Justification for Using the DelphiApproach

The qualitative method of the Delphiapproach was utilized in this study to determinethe key issues. The Delphi method is a marketresearch technique built upon the knowledgeand opinions drawn from a panel of experts

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from a particular industry, who are selected torespond independently to a subject of interestin a designated time frame (Dalkey, 1972). Thepanel is asked to rate or rank the importanceof each related impact for each round, withthe provision of the aggregate results fromthe prior round to facilitate a re-evaluationof their previous responses and to providejustification or additional comments whenevernecessary. The Delphi method is consideredan excellent method to predict and determineimpacts that will alter the future of the industry(Moeller & Shafer, 1994; Rowe & Wright,1999; Skulmoski, Hartman, & Krahn, 2007).

The Delphi method was chosen for this studyprimarily for its suitability in forecasting withincomplete knowledge, from a medium- andlong-term perspective, on the impact of thecurrent economic downturn on sales and salesmanagement, marketing, and revenue manage-ment in the hospitality industry within the next5 years. Its foundation relies on two basicassumptions: (a) the responses will tend to con-verge toward the median of the distribution withrepeated measurements, and (b) the median rep-resenting the group response will successivelymove toward the correct or most likely answer.

Challenges and Concerns of Conductingthe Delphi Approach

Four key features are regarded as necessaryfor defining a Delphi procedure. These are:anonymity, iteration, controlled feedback, andthe statistical aggregation of group response(Rowe & Wright, 1999). All of these wereincorporated in this study.

Additional challenges of conducting Delphiresearch are outlined in three categories—namely, panel selection, questionnaire develop-ment, and data analysis and research bias.

Panel Selection

Panel selection is vital to the success of theDelphi method (Stewart & Shamdanasi, 1990).The reliability of data collected by the pro-cess largely hinges on the quality of experts(Clayton, 1997). Defining experts can be prob-lematic and arbitrary. The definition of expertranges from “informed individual” to “someonewho has knowledge about a specific subject,”

according to the summarization of Keeney,Hasson, and McKenna (2001). However, sim-ply because individuals have knowledge of aparticular topic does not necessarily mean theyare experts (Keeney et al., 2001, p. 196). Inorder to ensure the credibility of experts, thecritical issue of Delphi research is fully describ-ing the panelists. In this research, experts wheredetermined by the board of the HSMAI GreaterChina Chapter and careful consideration wasgiven to selecting senior members of organiza-tions with knowledge of Greater China.

Further, participation in Delphi research is alengthy and time-consuming process. Therefore,only those individuals with strong opinionsabout the topic voluntarily spend time on theprocess. Non-emulative panelists are less likelyto volunteer to participate. Additionally, towardthe end of the study, the willingness of panelistsgradually diminishes. The waning of willing-ness and interest possibly limited the accuracyof participant response (Franklin & Hart, 2007).However, in this case, board members wereassigned panelists to follow-up on to assure wehad consistent results in each round.

Questionnaire Development

The success of Delphi research rests on theability of researchers to truly capture the keyissues of the topic (Simmonds, 1977). Thedevelopment of the initial pool of items can bea difficult task. Key issues may be missed andthen the significance of these issues may notbeen fully recognized. These missing issues inthe first stage are not easily recovered at theend of the research phase (Franklin & Hart,2007). This issue is addressed below in the sur-vey section regarding how the initial items weredeveloped.

Data Analysis and Research Bias

The data analysis process for a Delphistudy is subjective. Most commonly, researchersincorporate panelists’ responses and commentsand then formulate the subsequent question-naires. The process of condensing, refining, anddeveloping the next round of questionnairesis subjected to the knowledge, experiences,and perceptions of the researchers (Stewart &Shamdanasi, 1990). Researcher bias potentially

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exists. In this study, the responses of the panelistwere taken exactly as stated, with minor Englishgrammar edits and presented to the panel in aquantitative format, so this issue was minimized.

Additionally, a Greater China HospitalityThought Leaders Roundtable was held gather-ing senior level thought leaders for a full day ofbrainstorming and discussion on the top five keyimpacts determined from the Delphi method.The objective was to reach a consensus on howthe hospitality industry in Greater China shouldaddress the impacts. This also severed as anexpert validation of the most important impactsfrom the Delphi panel.

Other Statistical Methods Utilized

The statistical package of SPSS 17 (SPSS,Inc., Chicago, IL) was used to compare themeans between the various categories of pan-elists with t tests and ANOVA to determine sta-tistically significant differences between them.This process helped to clarify the results fromthe Delphi method.

The Delphi Method Panel

A panel of 37 members was identified by theHSMAI Greater China Chapter board membersand faculty members at SHTM. The memberswere chosen from senior managerial executivesat the corporate or property levels of vari-ous hotel groups and locations across GreaterChina on the basis of their experience and statusin the industry. A well-balanced representationwas sought from the three different disciplinesof sales management, marketing, and revenuemanagement and four major cities in GreaterChina (i.e., Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, andMacau), as well as at the corporate and prop-erty level.

The number of participants in this study wasconsistent with previous Delphi method studiesdone in hospitality and tourism, which rangedfrom 14–50 (Kaynak, Bloom & Leibold, 1994;Singh & Kwansa, 1999; Birdir & Pearson, 2000;Lloyd, Lopa, & Braunlich, 2000; Weber &Ladkin, 2003; Chandler, Finley, & Weber, 2005;Lee & King, 2008). Additionally, the threerounds used were consistent with these previousstudies.

The Survey

A set of guidelines for determining keyimpacts and the time period allowed forresponse for each individual round was definedprior to the commencement of the study toensure consistency. All the responses from thepanelists would remain anonymous in report-ing of the research findings. Based on previousDelphi studies, it was determined that the antic-ipated minimum response should be between15–20 members for each round (Kaynak et al.,1994). The 37 panelists solicited by invitationfor this research study were not only experi-enced, knowledgeable, and well-recognized inthe hospitality industry; but also had a soundunderstanding of the Greater China hospitalityenvironment. They all had more than 10 yearsof hospitality industry experience with at least 3years in Greater China.

Panelists were asked to rate the importanceof each key impact related to the research ques-tion using a 10-point Likert scale to increasescale sensitivity, as evident from the increas-ing number of scale points, with 10 being themost important and 1 being least important ineach of the three rounds. Additionally, in Round1 panelists were asked to add in new impactswhich they thought had been missed in thosepresented from the initial list created by theHSMAI Greater China Board members; and toestimate the time frame of these key impacts inthe final round. A three round Delphi methodwas chosen, based on findings that a two or threeiteration Delphi is sufficient for most researchto arrive at consensus for most research stud-ies (Skulmoski et al., 2007). The survey processwas to end when consensus was achieved. Thepanelists were given 3 weeks to respond to eachround. An HSMAI Greater China Chapter boardmember or SHTM faculty member followed uppersonally on panelists who did not respond byeach of the deadline dates to ensure timely input.Each round of the survey took approximately 2months, and the three round survey processestook approximately 6 months from February toJuly 2009 to complete.

In view of the growing use of the Internet andelectronic commerce in the hospitality industry,an online survey was utilized to distribute the

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three round questionnaires, to provide advan-tages to both researcher and Delphi participantalike. The most significant benefit of online sur-veys is the convenience and speed provided bythis mode of interaction. Its quick turnaroundtime also helps in keeping enthusiasm alive, andthus attrition low. Qualtrics online survey soft-ware (Qualtrics, Inc., Hong Kong SAR, China)was used to develop the three round Delphisurvey for this research project.

The Survey Process

Committee members from the HSMAI HongKong/Macau Chapter were first invited to iden-tify key predictions for each of the three dis-ciplines: (a) sales and sales management, (b)marketing, and (c) revenue management, whichwere then compiled to form the key impactsfor each discipline used in the first round. Thefirst round of impacts was sent to the panel of37 thought leaders in April 2009. The panelistswere asked to rate the importance of each of the11–15 impacts of each discipline, and they wereencouraged to add any other impacts they feltwere missed in each discipline. Those impactsof each discipline with ratings higher than themean of each discipline, as well as those newimpact items that had been added by panelists,formed the impacts used in the second round.The second round of impacts was then sent tothe same panel in May 2009, who were againasked to rate the importance of the now 16–23 impacts in each of the categories. The fiveimpacts with the highest ratings in Round 2 fromeach of the three disciplines formed the third andfinal round. The final round of impacts was sentto the same panel in June 2009, who were asked

to estimate not only the importance, as was donein the first two rounds, but also the time frameof the effect of the impact.

Panel Composition

The composition of the Thought Leaderspanel, as well as the response rate of each roundare shown in Table 1.

One the major potential drawbacks of usingthe Delphi method is that attrition could runas high as 50%, particularly given the lengthyduration of the survey and the very busyschedule of the thought leaders on this panel(Weber & Ladkin, 2003). However, in this case,the response rate for each round was nearly80% with 29, 30 and 29 responses receivedfor Rounds 1, 2, and 3, respectively. Amongthe 37 panelists, only three members—all fromMainland China—had chosen not to respond toany round of the survey. The panel was furthercategorized according to levels of responsibili-ties (corporate office and hotel property level);functions (general operation, sales and market-ing, and revenue management); and locations(Mainland China—Shanghai and Beijing, andSARs—Hong Kong and Macau) for analysis(see Table 1).

The Greater China Hospitality ThoughtLeaders Roundtable

In order to enhance and validate the find-ings of the Delphi study, one additional stepwas taken to further qualify the responsesand provide insights into how to addressthem. HSMAI and SHTM jointly invited agroup of 20 of the most senior level CEOs,

TABLE 1. Membership of the Delphi Thought Leaders’ Panel by Categories

By categories Panel Round 1 Round 2 Round 3

The panel 37 28 30 29Level of responsibility: Corporate 18 13 14 14Level of responsibility: Property 19 15 16 15Function: General & operation 17 13 14 13Function: Sales & marketing 14 10 11 11Function: Revenue management 6 5 5 5Location: Mainland China region 14 9 11 11Location: SARs 23 19 19 18

Note. SARs = special administrative regions.

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Presidents, and Vice Presidents, as well asthe board members from the HSMAI GreaterChina Chapter, to a 1-day roundtable discus-sion in Hong Kong. The final participants atthe roundtable included: four President/CEOs,one Vice President/General Manager, two VicePresident level sales and/or marketing execu-tives, one corporate level Director of RevenueManagement, four HSMAI board members—allwith extensive sales and marketing backgroundat both the property and corporate level. Allparticipants represented hotel groups with prop-erties throughout the Greater China region.

The final results of the Delphi rounds werepresented at that roundtable and the group brain-stormed and discussed each of the areas of salesand sales management, marketing, and revenuemanagement impacts in separate 1.5-hour ses-sions over the course of the day. After eachsession, participants were asked to identify spe-cific actions to address the impacts that he/shefelt were most important. A system of placingcolored dots on the three actions each partic-ipant felt were most important was used todetermine the recommended actions.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

This section is divided into the three areasof sales and sales management, marketing, andrevenue management. The primary emphasis ison the final results obtained from Round 3 ofthe Delphi study (see Table 2 and Figure 1) butthere were also some interesting observationsof impacts that didn’t make it through the earlyrounds that will be addressed. Additionally, theactions to address the impacts in each area arepresented.

Key Impacts on Sales and SalesManagement

The highest rated impact with the least vari-ation of opinion was in the area of sales andsales management, sales team has to be morefocused on closing the deal and should be fast inhunting for new business/prospects (M = 9.00,SD = 1.06; see Table 2). Interestingly, thisimpact was not identified during the preliminary

round, but was added by a panelist in Round 1.The other four impacts (helping the sales teamto focus on closing business, hiring for atti-tude and train for skills, keeping the sales teammotivated, understanding that relationship/leadselling is often more successful than cold call-ing) all had some of the highest ratings for allimpacts, across all disciplines. The only notablevariation in opinion was with keeping the salesteam motivated that had the highest standarddeviation of all of the impacts in all disciplines(SD = 1.87).

In comparing the various categories of pan-elists, no significant difference (p < .05) wasfound based on level of responsibility or loca-tion (see Table 3). However, there was onesignificant difference between functional areasand that was on the impact of keeping thesales team motivated. It was found that gen-eral management and operations panelists ratedthis impact significantly higher than the others(M = 9.31). Sales management and market-ing panelists also rated this significantly higherthan revenue management panelists (M = 8.82,6.80, respectively). Additionally, those pan-elists whose function area was general manage-ment and operations rated this impact highestamongst all impacts (M = 9.31). It was alsointeresting to note that those from the sales func-tion area did rate sales team has to be morefocused on closing the deal and should be fastin hunting for new business/prospects highest(M = 9.25).

In analyzing the overall results of the mostimportant impacts in sales and sales manage-ment, those related to closing business receivedthe highest ratings. The panelists generally con-verged throughout the three rounds on theimportance of building an effective and efficientsales team, from enhancing their selling tech-niques in closing the deal, and identifying newpotential business, sales team has to be morefocused on closing the deal and should be fastin hunting for new business/prospects and help-ing the sales team to focus on closing business;employing the right people, hire for attitudeand train for skills; to continuing to keep themmotivated, keeping the sales team motivated;and significance of maintaining a relationshipselling approach with the customer, understand

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TABLE 2. Final Top Five Sales and Sales Management, Marketing, and RevenueManagement Impacts from Round 3

Importancea Time frameb

M (SD) M (SD)

SalesS1 Sales team has to be more focused on closing the deal and should

be fast in hunting for new business/prospects9.00 (1.07) 2.55 (0.82)

S2 Helping the sales team to focus on closing business 8.93 (1.31) 2.82 (0.55)S3 Hire for attitude and train for skills 8.86 (1.09) 2.97 (0.19)S4 Keeping the sales team motivated 8.69 (1.87) 2.79 (0.62)S5 Understand that relationship/lead selling is often more successful

than cold calling8.57 (1.23) 2.64 (0.73)

MarketingM1 Clearly knowing the target market(s) is essential and to tailor the

product/campaign to that8.83 (1.07) 2.76 (0.58)

M2 Customer retention is most critical; do not compromise onstandards and services just because guests are paying“promotional or TA rate”

8.79 (1.24) 2.90 (0.31)

M3 Greater use of CRM to enhance loyalty and customer retention 8.41 (1.09) 2.83 (0.38)M4 Competitive pricing strategy 8.28 (1.33) 2.03 (0.98)M5 Creating a strong and unique marketing message 8.14 (1.48) 2.66 (0.67)

Revenue managementR1 Focus on total revenue management across all revenue streams as

owners and management concentrate on bottom line8.62 (1.32) 2.59 (0.57)

R2 Effective distribution in emerging market (e.g., China, India) 8.62 (1.37) 2.72 (0.59)R3 Forecasting becomes critical to effectively staff and manage costs

in a downturn8.48 (1.48) 2.21 (0.94)

R4 Though the focus has shifted to “closing the deal now” or “taking itfirst then yield later,” revenue management can contribute greatlyto a hotel’s positioning through pricing

8.38 (1.27) 2.59 (0.73)

R5 Revenue management is very important when it comes to selectingthe right piece of business that will contribute positively to thehotel bottom line

8.28 (1.46) 2.66 (0.72)

Note. TA = travel agent; CRM = customer relationship management.aImpact mean based on a 10-point Likert scale with 10 = Most , 1 = Least .bTime frame based on (a) only through the current economic downturn, (b) only for the next 5 years, or (c) ongoing with notime limit.

FIGURE 1. Graph of the Means of the Final Top Five Sales and Sales Management, Marketing,and Revenue Management Impacts and Time Frames from Round 3 (color figure available online)

6.00

7.00

8.00

9.00

10.00

Impa

ct

1.00

2.00

3.00

Tim

e Fram

e

Importance 9.00 8.93 8.86 8.69 8.57 8.83 8.79 8.41 8.28 8.14 8.62 8.62 8.48 8.38 8.28Time Frame Mean 2.55 2.82 2.97 2.79 2.64 2.76 2.90 2.83 2.03 2.66 2.59 2.72 2.21 2.59 2.66

S1 S2 S3 S4 S5 M1 M2 M3 M4 M5 R1 R2 R4 R5

aImpact mean based on 10-point Likert scale with 10 = Most, 1 = Least. bTime frame: 1 = only through the current economic downturn, 2 = only for the next 5 years, 3 = ongoing with no time limit.

Red = Sales, Blue = Marketing, Green = Revenue Management.

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TABLE 3. Final Top Five Results from Round 3: Sales, Marketing, and Revenue ManagementImpacts Importance Comparison by Subgroups

Impact Importance Level of responsibility Location Function

Corporate Property Mainland SARs GM SM RM(n = 14) (n = 15) (n = 11) (n = 18) (n = 13) (n = 11) (n = 5)

Sales and sales managementS1 9.00 (1.07) 9.14 (0.95) 8.87 (1.19) 9.18 (0.87) 8.89 (1.18) 8.85 (0.99) 9.27 (0.95) 8.80 (1.64)S2 8.93 (1.31) 8.86 (0.86) 9.00 (1.65) 9.45 (0.93) 8.61 (1.42) 9.23 (1.01) 8.91 (1.30) 8.20 (1.92)S3 8.86 (1.09) 8.79 (0.89) 8.93 (1.28) 9.09 (0.94) 8.72 (1.17) 8.77 (1.37) 9.18 (0.75) 8.40 (0.89)S4 8.69 (1.87) 8.86 (1.51) 8.53 (2.20) 9.00 (1.18) 8.50 (2.20) 9.31 (0.85)∗ 8.82 (2.09)∗ 6.80 (2.39)∗S5 8.57 (1.23) 8.50 (1.35) 8.64 (1.15) 8.27 (1.27) 8.76 (1.20) 8.77 (1.09) 8.60 (1.08) 8.00 (1.87)

MarketingM1 8.83 (1.07) 8.86 (1.17) 8.80 (1.01) 8.45 (1.04) 9.06 (1.06) 8.54 (1.27) 9.18 (0.87) 8.80 (0.84)M2 8.79 (1.24) 8.79 (1.12) 8.80 (1.37) 8.73 (1.00) 8.83 (1.38) 9.08 (1.04)∗ 9.00 (1.10)∗ 7.60 (1.51)∗M3 8.41 (1.09) 8.57 (0.85) 8.27 (1.28) 8.36 (1.43) 8.44 (0.86) 8.69 (0.86) 8.36 (1.43) 7.80 (0.48)M4 8.28 (1.33) 8.14 (1.23) 8.40 (1.45) 8.27 (1.35) 8.28 (1.36) 8.54 (1.45) 8.09 (1.45) 8.00 (0.71)M5 8.14 (1.48) 8.21 (1.58) 8.07 (1.44) 7.73 (1.95) 8.39 (1.09) 8.46 (0.97) 8.09 (1.51) 7.40 (2.41)

Revenue managementR1 8.62 (1.32) 8.36 (1.45) 8.87 (1.30) 8.73 (1.61) 8.56 (1.25) 8.54 (1.45) 9.09 (1.04) 7.80 (1.64)R2 8.62 (1.37) 8.50 (1.45) 8.73 (1.22) 8.09 (1.38) 8.94 (1.21) 8.62 (1.50) 8.82 (1.17) 8.20 (1.30)R3 8.48 (1.48) 8.29 (1.68) 8.67 (1.29) 8.64 (1.21) 8.39 (1.65) 8.85 (1.21) 8.45 (1.75) 7.60 (1.34)R4 8.38 (1.27) 8.43 (1.40) 8.33 (1.18) 7.91 (1.04) 8.67 (1.33) 8.23 (1.24) 8.73 (0.91) 8.00 (2.00)R5 8.28 (1.46) 8.07 (1.49) 8.47 (1.46) 7.73 (1.68) 8.61 (1.24) 8.00 (1.53) 9.09 (0.70)∗ 7.20 (1.79)∗

Note. SARs = special administrative regions; GM = general management; SM = sales management; RM = revenuemanagement.∗Significant difference at p > .05.

that relationship/lead selling is often more suc-cessful than cold calling. It would seem thatthe most effective way to accomplish this is tohire the right people, keep them motivated, andencourage them to use relationship selling skills.

The difference of opinion on the impact ofkeeping the sales team motivated between var-ious functional areas is also of particular inter-est. Since those at the general managementand operational level of responsibility rated thisimpact the highest, it seems that those in senioroperational roles are more concerned aboutaddressing the motivation of the sales team. Theproperty level Director of Sales should prob-ably be encouraged by this and continue toseek ways to keep his/her sales team motivated.However, a word of caution, as the focus onclosing business, finding new prospects, and stillmaintaining a relationship selling approach maybe an indication that motivation is defined differ-ently at the operational levels of management.It may simply mean bringing in more businessduring an economic downturn is a reflectionof motivation.

Addressing the Key Sales and SalesManagement Impacts

As mentioned above, The Greater ChinaHospitality Thought Leaders Roundtable washeld to further define the impact results from theDelphi study and establish actions to be taken.The participants felt the following were the mostimportant areas that needed to be addressedto deal with the sales and sales managementrelated impacts:

• training for fundamental skills• hiring for the right attitude• motivation of the sales team• relationship selling• leadership

More specifically, in regard to hiring for atti-tude; selecting from within the organization,hiring both those driven by the “hunter andfarmer” approaches (i.e., those who prospectwell and those who nurture the relationship withthe customer well), being cautious about hiring

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fresh university grads in preference to thosefrom other departments in the hotel, and rec-ognizing attitude was more important than thebackground of the individual were actions thatneeded to be addressed. Closing the deal was feltto be a relationship selling issue, which relatesback to hiring for the right attitude. Keepingthe sales team motivated means understandingindividual salesperson’s needs and establishingmeasurable, flexible goals that are dynamic.Performance also needs to be related to pay,and could include incentives from new busi-ness created. Additionally, it was felt that salestraining needs to be separated from the humanresource department and done by the salesleadership.

Key Impacts on Marketing

Clearly knowing the target market(s) isessential and to tailor the product campaignto that (M = 8.83, SD = 1.07; see Table 2)was rated the most important impact. Certainlythis is a key principle of marketing and requiresa good database of customer’s preference toaccomplish it. Customer retention is most crit-ical: do not compromise on standards and ser-vices just because guests are paying “promo-tional or TA rate” (M = 8.79, SD = 1.24)was considered second most important whilegreater use of CRM to enhance loyalty andcustomer retention (M = 8.41, SD = 1.09)was rated third, indicating that customer reten-tion through the application of customer knowl-edge is critical to success in the Greater Chinaregion. Having a competitive pricing strategy(M = 8.28, SD = 1.33) was rated as thefourth highest impact that also requires cus-tomer knowledge and the ability to match theright price to the right customer. Finally, cre-ating a strong and unique marketing message(M = 8.14, SD = 1.48), was rated the fifthhighest impact, which relates to the issue of thebranding message, as well as focusing on theright target market.

In comparing the various categories of pan-elists, only one significant difference (p > .05)was found on the impact of customer retention ismost critical: do not compromise on standardsand services just because guests are paying

“promotional or TA rate” and it was at thefunctional level (see Table 3). It was found thatrevenue management panelists rated this impactsignificantly lower than the other two functionalareas of general management and operations andsales management and marketing (M = 7.80 forrevenue management, 9.08 and 9.00 for man-agement and operations and sales managementand marketing, respectively; see Table 3). Thosepanelists from the general management func-tion area also rated this impact highest amongstmarketing related impacts (M = 9.08). Thosefrom the sales and marketing and revenue man-agement function areas rated clearly knowingthe target market(s) is essential and to tai-lor the product/campaign to that the highest(M = 9.25, 8.80, respectively).

The overall results of the most importantimpacts in the marketing showed those relatedto customer needs were rated the highest. Thestrong consensus on clearly knowing the tar-get market(s) is essential and to tailor theproduct/campaign to that indicates the need tofocus on understanding, reaching, and retainingthe right markets with the right efforts. It is ofparticular interest to note the difference of opin-ions on the impact of customer retention is mostcritical: do not compromise on standards andservices just because guests are paying “promo-tional or TA rate” between the panelists fromdifferent function areas. Additionally, sincethose panelists from the function area of generalmanagement and operations rated this impactthe highest, it seems that the senior manage-ment is most concerned about the impact ofpotential compromise on service due to promo-tional rates.

Addressing the Marketing Impacts

The key areas to address regarding themarketing impacts, as determined by theRoundtable were:

• customer retention• need for marketing and operations to work

closely• Customer Relationship Management

(CRM) needs to be cross-discipline/cross-functional

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• need to look at expectations of customersand their perceptions as opposed to justcustomer satisfaction

• know the different needs for different cus-tomers

One of the most important issues addressedwas the need for operations support, specifi-cally the General Manager, for marketing to besuccessful in an economic downturn. This alsomeans that marketing has to be measurable toget the “buy-in” from the operations side andthe right metrics need to be put in place toaccomplish that objective.

Knowing the customer was identified in anumber of ways including knowing the differ-ences in needs from wholesalers and corporatecustomer needs, researching the customer, andfinding more ways to learn more about thecustomer regardless of the distribution channelused. It was also felt that you have to knowthe customer to segment them, even when deal-ing with intermediaries. CRM was felt to playan important role in customer retention, but ittakes cooperation from all areas, not just themarketing department to work effectively.

The point about understanding expectationsand perceptions of the customer as opposed tojust customer satisfaction was related to know-ing if you have truly addressed the needs of eachcustomer segment. This was discussed in rela-tionship to Mainland Chinese travelers in partic-ular, where the expectation might not have beenas high as a traveler from a Western country,and therefore perceptions might also be quitedifferent. There was sentiment that MainlandChinese customers are now expecting more andthis should be addressed to maintain a share ofthe market, as this market has remained strongerin the down economy than other markets aroundthe world.

The concept of “customer is king” and havingcustomer information is empowering were evi-dent from these findings, which is particularlyimportant during the tough economic times.

Key Impacts on Revenue Management

Focus on total revenue management acrossall revenue streams as owners and managementconcentrate on bottom line (M = 8.62,

SD = 1.32), and effective distribution in emerg-ing market (e.g., China, India; M = 8.62,SD = 1.37) were both rated the highestamong all the revenue management impacts (seeTable 2). The third highest rated impact wasforecasting becomes critical to effectively staffand manage costs in a downturn (M = 8.42,SD = 1.48), which, along with the impactsabove, would indicate that good forecasting iscritical to the role of the revenue manager inanalyzing all streams of revenue and choos-ing the right distribution channels. The fourthand fifth highest impacts though the focus hasshifted to “closing the deal now” or “takingit first then yield later,” revenue managementcan contribute greatly to a hotel’s positioningthrough pricing (M = 8.38, SD = 1.27) andrevenue management is very important when itcomes to selecting the right piece of businessthat will contribute positively to the hotel bottomline (M = 8.28, SD = 1.46) are indicators of theimportance of the need for having revenue man-agers in the decision process to accept or rejectpotential business.

Again, no significant difference was foundon opinions between levels of responsibility orlocation (see Table 3). However, the panelistsfrom different function areas did have a sig-nificant difference of opinion on one impact,revenue management is very important when itcomes to selecting the right piece of businessthat will contribute positively to the hotel bottomline. Not surprisingly, the difference in opin-ion was between those in sales management andthose in revenue management. What is interest-ing though is that it was the sales managementpanelists who gave the impact a higher rating ofimportance (M = 9.09 compared to M = 7.20for revenue managers). In fact, revenue man-agers rated this impact lower in importance thanthe other four. One explanation might be that therevenue management panelists simply recognizethe fact that their role is important to the bottomline, but when we are in a down economy theimpact is more visible to sales management thanduring good times.

In analyzing the overall results of the mostimportant impacts in the revenue manage-ment discipline, those related to managing theoverall stream of revenue and choosing the right

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distribution channels in emerging markets wererated the highest. As noted, the ability to pre-dict future outcomes and trends of the businessthrough forecasting must be an integral part ofthe revenue manager’s role. Therefore, there isthe need for executives in revenue managementto explore good forecasting tools to serve thisfunction, which may be of particular importanceduring a time when we are experiencing a downeconomy.

Addressing the Key Revenue ManagementImpacts

The Roundtable participants identified thefollowing as ways to address the revenue man-agement impacts:

• need to develop a sales strategy team com-prised of revenue management, sales andmarketing, and general management;

• focus on the lifetime value of the customer;• recognize the enterprise value, across all

streams of revenue, in analyzing data fromCRM;

• establishing strong brand to accomplishthe right pricing.

In addition to the recommendation that a salesstrategy team be developed, it was also felt thatestablishment of a position of Vice President ofRevenue Generation at the corporate level wasneeded. It was also felt that for revenue manage-ment to accomplish its objective, the forecastingof demand was critical and that requires moresophisticated forecasting tools. However, beforenew systems and tools are in place, a mind-set shift to looking at total revenue, enterprisevalue, and lifetime value of the customer in deci-sion marketing regarding revenue managementneeds to be made.

Time Frame of the Key Impacts on Sales,Marketing, and Revenue Management

The effect of these impacts was also mea-sured in terms of three different time frames:(a) only through the current economic downturn,(b) only for the next 5 years, or (c) ongoing withno time limit. In analyzing the overall results ofthe time frame of these impacts (see Table 2 and

Figure 1), they were generally believed to lastbeyond the current economic downturn to thenext 5 years or as ongoing concerns.

The sales and sales management impact ofhiring for attitude and train for skills was theimpact that had the most concurrence amongstthe panel as an ongoing concern (M = 2.97,SD = 0.19; see Table 2). So it seems that find-ing sales team members with the right attitudeis most important all of the time. It is noted thatvariations in opinions on time frame were iden-tified for two impacts as shown in Figure 1 bythe line graph. The marketing impact of compet-itive pricing strategy (M = 2.03, SD = 0.98) wasone impact felt to only be critical for the next5 years; however, there was also a great dealof difference of opinion among the panelists asshown by the large standard deviation. In thearea of revenue management, the other notableimpact of forecasting becomes critical to effec-tively staff and manage costs in a downturn(M = 2.21, SD = 0.91) also showed a variationfrom the general consensus on the other impacts.This certainly could be expected as the impact isfocused on the downturn, but in fact forecastingshould play a key role in revenue managementat all times, as stated previously.

Notable Impacts That Didn’t Make theFinal Round

The top five impacts in each discipline havebeen presented above, but sometimes whathasn’t been said is just as valuable in telling thewhole story. Therefore, particular note of someof the impacts that didn’t make it through thethree rounds needs to be included in the resultsdiscussion.

In the area of sales and sales management, theimpact presented in Round 1 that had the leastsupport was loss of best sales talent to indus-tries where incentive payouts can still be earned(M = 6.00, SD = 2.13) coupled with the secondlowest importance hospitality sales profession-als won’t be able to meet sales targets and bonuspayments (M = 6.15, SD = 2.51). It would seemto tell us that when times get tough, the issue ofbonuses or better offers elsewhere is not an issueof great importance (see Table 4). However,there was a difference of opinion between those

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TABLE 4. Round 1 Results: Sales and Sales Management, Marketing, and Revenue ManagementImpacts Means and Standard Deviations

M SD

Sales impactsRealignment of sales focus to regional markets that can deliver short-term 8.54 1.43Keeping sales team motivated 8.46 2.41Helping the sales team to be focused on closing business 8.43 1.81Training to help sales team members negotiate with confidence 8.11 2.17Focus on total revenue streams when evaluating the value of any deal or account 7.81 1.90Need to enhance skills on account management to maximize profitability per account and

reduce sales costs7.64 2.20

Sales prospecting and acquiring customers through new channels as opposed to theirtraditional channels

7.54 2.05

Increased focus on long-term strategic partnerships with select customers that can drivevolume

7.32 2.28

Smaller and more efficient sales departments through the better use of technology such asCRM and Electronic Distribution channels

7.32 2.09

More leisure business targeted to compensate for the reduction in corporate room nights 7.18 2.28Greater centralization of account negotiations and more fragmentation of demand from

corporate accounts7.07 2.16

Renewed reliance on wholesalers, consolidators, and other middlemen in the hotel bookingprocess with revival of the merchant model, especially in the mass Asian markets

6.93 2.29

Hospitality sales professionals won’t be able to meet sales targets and bonus payouts 6.29 1.51Loss of best sales talent to industries where incentive payouts can still be earned 6.00 2.13Overall sales impact mean 7.46

Marketing impactsEffectively measuring ROI 8.32 2.13Creating a strong and unique marketing message 8.14 2.14More electronic promotions and use of social media, user generated content to engage

customers7.93 1.92

Managing an effective marketing program with less budget 7.86 1.69The medium is the message and there is not necessarily one message for all channels 7.56 1.95Budget reductions and an increased shift in spending from traditional to online advertising 7.54 1.69Greater emphasis on direct marketing (i.e., direct mail, direct e-mail) to targeted customers

as opposed to print image type advertising7.46 2.10

Greater use of CRM to enhance loyalty and customer retention 7.46 2.24Luxury products will be seeking to “rebrand” themselves 6.78 2.39Reduction in brand and strategic initiatives with an increase in tactical promotion based

campaigns6.64 2.38

Overcommunication especially to loyalty databases 6.23 1.84Overall marketing impact mean 7.45

Revenue management impactsEffective distribution in emerging markets (e.g., China, India) 8.43 1.48Forecasting becomes critical to effectively staff and manage costs in a downturn 8.11 2.20Focus on total revenue management across all revenue streams by owners and management 8.00 2.19Focus shift from yield management (maximizing rate) to increasing occupancy (gaining

additional revenue)7.86 2.38

Move toward GOPPAR and F&B RM, including meeting space, by chains in response toowners demand for better ROI

7.63 2.06

Greater adoption of revenue management by local and smaller regional groups 7.50 2.20Rate decisions create a “rate war” 7.41 2.27Rate parity and rate integrity are impacted by undisciplined practices by hotels colluding with

smaller OTAs7.37 2.27

Emphasis on GOPPAR and REVPAC/GOPPAC 7.35 2.33Increased focus on lowering cost of distribution, shift in channel focus 7.21 2.02Pricing for up-selling instead of using a pure hurdle rate mentality 7.18 2.20Ancillary revenues will become increasingly meaningful 7.04 2.19

(Continued)

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TABLE 4. (Continued)

M SD

Pushing “distress inventory” while maintaining price integrity 6.89 2.08Reduced rates mean hotels have to cut back on services and then the whole product is eroded 5.11 2.85Pressure to reduce headcount in revenue management with significantly less revenue to

manage and limited opportunities to yield4.81 2.47

Overall revenue management impact mean 7.19

Note. CRM = customer relationship management; ROI = return on investment; GOPPAR = gross operating profit peravailable room; F&B RM = food and beverage revenue management; OTAs = online travel agencies; REVPAC/GOPPAC =revenue per available customer/gross operating profit per available customer.

from Mainland China and those from the SARson both of the above impacts, with those fromthe Mainland rating it higher in importance inboth cases (M = 6.67 and 7.56, respectively,for Mainland based panelists and M = 5.68 forboth impacts from those in the SARs). Further,in Round 2 pay for performance as the sole com-pensation model (M = 6.38, SD = 2.83; seeTable 5) also indicates, regardless of the differ-ences of opinion on a few issues between thosein the Mainland and those is the SARs, that thepay or bonuses structure for sales team mem-bers is probably not an area that will have animpact the industry needs to prioritize in GreaterChina. Although, it should be noted that in addi-tion to the differences discussed above, all ofthese items had high standard deviations indi-cating there is difference of opinion amongstall panelists on the sales impacts related tocompensation of salespeople.

Marketing impacts that didn’t make the cut toRound 2 included two items that would suggestthe branding message of hotels would not beabandoned in the downturn (reduction in brandand strategic initiatives and increase in tacti-cal promotion based campaigns, M = 6.64, andluxury products will be seeking to “rebrand”themselves, seeking to separate themselves from“irresponsible luxury,” and will have to findmore meaningful positioning and messaging,M = 6.78; see Table 3). Additionally, tacti-cal marketing will take over from brand/imagemarketing in tough times was rated near thebottom in importance in Round 2 (M = 7.37;see Table 4). Although one of the final top fivemarketing impacts could be related to brand-ing, creating a strong and unique marketingmessage, it might be an indication that “staying

the course” with the branding message duringthe down economic times is the direction thatneeds to be taken.

The revenue management impacts that werenot seen as important in the first two rounds hadan overall theme suggesting reductions of anytype are not the answer to more effective ratemanagement. Impacts related to rate reductions(pushing “distress inventory” while maintainingprice integrity, M = 6.89 in Round 1), loweringcosts of distribution (increased focus on lower-ing cost of distribution: shift in channel focus,M = 7.40 in Round 2), reducing service levels(reduced rates means hotels have to cut back onservices and then the whole product is eroded,M = 5.11 in Round 1), and even the potentialimpact of a rate war (rate decisions creating arate war, M = 7.73 in Round 2) were not seenas important enough to make it to the top (seeTables 4 and 5). Perhaps, this is encouraging asthose that did survive to the top five were morefocused on getting the right business through theright channels.

There was also a bit of a mixed result betweenthe disciplines regarding outside sources ofbusiness, including wholesalers and online thirdparty websites. On the one hand, in the sales dis-cipline renewed reliance on wholesalers, con-solidators, and other middlemen in the hotelbooking process with revival of merchant modelespecially in the mass Asia markets (M = 6.93in Round 1; see Table 4) wasn’t consideredas important enough to make the next round.However, on the other hand, in Round 2 the salesimpact of trying to reduce the reliance on whole-salers; consolidators are getting less impor-tant (M = 6.03) along the marketing impactwith fewer Internet bookings and more direct

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TABLE 5. Round 2 Results: Sales and Sales Management, Marketing, and Revenue ManagementImpacts Means and Standard Deviations

M SD

Sales and sales management impactsKeeping the sales team motivated 8.80 1.52Sales team has to be more focused on closing the deal and should be fast in hunting for new

business/prospects8.73 1.26

Helping the sales team to focus on closing business 8.67 1.54Hire for attitude and train for skills 8.60 1.71Understand that relationship/lead selling is often more successful than cold calling 8.40 2.06Consumers have greater bargaining power and demand greater “value for their money” now—for

example, free upgrades, more complimentary rooms, etc.8.33 1.32

Focusing on updated market information, tactics, and strategies in order to meet every customer’sneeds

8.31 1.73

Training to help sales team members negotiate with confidence 8.20 1.67Serious price war amongst competitors 8.07 2.29Realignment of sales focus to regional markets that can deliver in the short-term 8.07 1.87The focus has shifted to “closing the deal now” or “taking it first,” then “yield later” 7.93 1.98The recent H1N1 virus has really caused significant loss of forward bookings 7.83 2.45Focus on total revenue streams when evaluating the value of any deal or account 7.77 1.91The ability to sell “product” versus “price” 7.77 2.16More short-term bookings are generated in the current business environment. Consumers are

getting smarter and often wait until the last minute as they know hotels will discount further at thevery last minute.

7.70 1.91

Offer a performance driven compensation package to sales personnel 7.63 2.36Need to enhance skills on account management to maximize profitability per account and reduce

sales costs7.60 2.09

The combination of economic turmoil plus the H1N1 virus is affecting leisure business first andcorporate markets second

7.33 2.26

Adjustment of salaries to emphasize bonuses for results 6.77 1.94Corporate individuals book through wholesalers and local tour operators for cheaper net inclusive

rates6.43 2.15

Pay for Performance as the sole compensation model 6.21 2.83Trying to reduce the reliance on wholesalers and consolidators are becoming less important 6.03 2.48Consumers no longer perceive packages or promotions featured on the Internet or hotel websites

as “attractive”5.72 2.25

Overall sales impact mean 7.69Marketing impacts

Customer retention is most critical; do not compromise on standards and services just becauseguests are paying “promotional or TA rate”

8.97 1.03

Clearly knowing the target market(s) is essential and to tailor the product/campaign to them 8.87 0.94Greater use of CRM to enhance loyalty and customer retention 8.63 1.30Competitive pricing strategy 8.60 1.04Creating a strong and unique marketing message 8.57 1.19How to stand out in the crowded, oversupplied hotel market when additional new supply is coming

online in great numbers over the next couple of years8.53 1.57

Managing effective marketing programs with a lower budget 8.47 1.72Extract value from every dollar you spend (emphasize return) and track effectiveness of marketing

dollars to ensure efforts are worthwhile8.27 1.60

Greater emphasis on direct marketing (i.e., direct mail, direct e-mail) to targeted customers asopposed to print image-type advertising

8.13 1.59

More electronic promotions and use of social media 8.10 1.29Customers know how to squeeze for the best deal; they are focused on price 8.03 1.56Place or Channel of Distribution is very important; having product (hotel) featured on various Third

Party Internet sites to increase visibility is the key to gaining room nights compared to traditionalchannels

7.97 1.52

Marketing using the 4 Ps (Product, Price, Place, and Promotion); Price and Place are the mostimportant factors during the current economic crisis

7.93 1.86

(Continued)

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TABLE 5. (Continued)

M SD

Effectively measuring ROI 7.90 1.79The medium is the message and there is not necessarily one message for all channels 7.86 1.51Budget reductions and an increased shift in spending from traditional to online advertising 7.67 1.65Advertising or email campaigns should not “overkill” during times like this as it will definitely have an

adverse effect on consumers who are inundated with offers from the competition7.47 1.53

More understanding on brand marketing 7.40 2.16Tactical marketing will take over from Brand/Image marketing in tough times 7.37 2.27Protect your brand and image and do not reduce rates below market value 7.17 2.68Less advertising and more word of mouth 6.80 2.22Fewer Internet bookings and more direct bookings are received 5.53 2.54Overall marketing impact mean 7.92

Revenue management impactsEffective distribution in emerging markets (e.g., China, India) 8.79 1.24Focus on total revenue management across all revenue streams by owners and management

concentrate on bottom line8.53 1.28

Though the focus has shifted to “closing the deal now” or “taking it first then yield later,” revenuemanagement can contribute greatly to a hotel’s positioning through pricing

8.50 1.25

Forecasting becomes critical to effectively manage staffing and costs in a downturn 8.47 1.38Revenue Management is very important when it comes to selecting the right piece of business that

will contribute positively to the hotel bottom line8.43 1.28

E-distribution management is also Revenue Management’s baby, as we can gain volume ofincremental room nights via this channel through proper management

8.40 1.30

Greater adoption of revenue management by local and smaller regional groups 8.36 1.39Rate flexibility is exercised depending on the total overall revenue 8.27 1.53Emphasis on GOPPAR and REVPAC/GOPPAC 8.17 1.62Rate parity and rate integrity are impacted by undisciplined practices by hotels colluding with

smaller OTAs.8.13 1.14

More frequent change in the BAR rates and within shorter lead times 8.00 1.69Shift from rate management (maximizing rate) to increasing occupancy to gain additional revenue. 7.93 1.84Move toward GOPPAR and F&B RM, including meeting space by chains in response to owners’

demand for better ROI.7.80 1.24

Rate decisions creating a “rate war” 7.73 2.13The hotel Revenue Management function will be able to determine which piece of business is worth

taking so that hotel will not just take cheap groups7.67 1.99

Increased focus on lowering cost of distribution; shift in channel focus 7.40 1.59Overall revenue management impact mean 8.16

Note. TA = travel agent; CRM = customer relationship management; ROI = return on investment; GOPPAR = grossoperating profit per available room; REV PAC/GOPP AC = revenue per available customer/gross operating profit peravailable customer; OTAs = online travel agencies; BAR = best available rate; F&B RM = food and beverage revenuemanagement.

bookings are received (M = 5.53 in Round 2)receiving relatively low ratings would lead tothe possible conclusion that outside sources ofbusiness and third parties maintain their impor-tance in a down economy or at least for the next5 years in Greater China (see Table 5).

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION

The findings have clearly indicated that dur-ing the tough economic times, having the rightpeople in the right positions with the right

budget and right pricing for the right marketswith the right message at the right time arewhat are needed to capitalize on an economicrecovery. The emphasis is on achieving “right-ness” during the process. The significance ofsales and sales management functions could notbe stressed enough during the bad times, asillustrated by the findings that the three mostsignificant impacts among all impacts in all dis-ciplines were all from the sales and sales man-agement areas. Panelists rated sales team has tobe more focused on closing the deal and should

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Jones, Lee, and Chon 613

be fast in hunting for new business/prospectsthe most important as represented by high-est ratings with the lowest standard deviation(M = 9.00, SD = 1.07), which is followed byhelping the sales team to focus on closing busi-ness (M = 8.93, SD = 1.31; see Table 2). Thisdefinitely puts the emphasis on closing busi-ness, which means having a good sales team,represented by hire for attitude and train forskill (M = 8.86, SD = 1.09) being the thirdmost important. It would seem the key is get-ting the right people by prioritizing attitude overskill as the hiring process and then training themwell within the company. Hiring the right peo-ple is also critical to using a relationship sellingapproach (another important impact in sales andsales management).

As the Thought Leaders Roundtable panelistsrecommended, this means hiring from within,training them on the fundamentals, and motivat-ing the sales team to seek new business. This canonly be done with good sales leadership.

Knowing the customers well and commu-nicating with the right messages in order toretain them is important, as well. This involvesthe application of customer relationship man-agement (CRM) to enhance customer retentionand loyalty, especially during a down econ-omy. CRM also needs to be cross-discipline andcross-functional, as identified by the ThoughtLeaders Roundtable participants.

Additionally, it has to be noted that supportfrom operations at the highest level is necessaryfor marketing efforts to be put in place. Thisalso means marketing must make their effortsmeasurable.

Conflicting interests on issues such as pric-ing strategies could be experienced betweenrevenue management, sales management, andmarketing if the objective of profit optimiza-tion and revenue maximization from all streamsis not properly understood and addressed.Therefore, as recommended by the ThoughtLeaders Roundtable participants, a sales strat-egy team including revenue management, salesand marketing, and general management needsbe implemented.

Revenue management in the hotel plays therole of a gatekeeper to carefully and tactfully

manage capacity and revenue generation withinan environment of limited supply and demand.This is a key factor in the growing recogni-tion of the importance of revenue managementwithin the last decade and why the ThoughtLeaders Roundtable participants even recom-mended establishment of a corporate level posi-tion of Vice President of Revenue Generation.When times get tough, the need for forecastingis particularly critical, but that also means goodforecasting tools. The potential for surviving thetide and coming out on top requires the ability toanticipate changes and trends during uncertaintimes with imperfect knowledge of the market.Therefore, good forecasting allows the hotel torespond quickly at the right time to reach theright target, such as the emerging markets ofChina and India.

This Delphi study identified the impactsin each discipline from the thought leadersin the field in Greater China. The ThoughtLeaders Roundtable added possible ways toaddress them. Therefore, the results provide afoundation for senior level sales, marketing,and revenue management executives to estab-lish their strategies for the next 5 years andbeyond. Additionally, the results provide justi-fication and support for convincing hotel com-pany senior management and hotel owners totake the right actions.

However, it is the property level sales, mar-keting, and revenue management teams thathave to put all of it into action. Therefore, arecommended future research consideration isto survey the property level teams in GreaterChina hotels to determine if there is concur-rence on the impacts faced by the hotel industry,as well as responses. Additionally, economicsituations change rapidly and the improved eco-nomic situation might lead to some differentresults when looked at from the property leveltoday.

Finally, as the hotel industry is cyclicaland dependent on the current economic situa-tion, it would be recommended that a Delphistudy of this type be repeated at least every5 years. This would also provide a benchmarkfor the future and measurement of the previousimpacts.

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614 JOURNAL OF TRAVEL & TOURISM MARKETING

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SUBMITTED: June 8, 2010FINAL REVISION SUBMITTED:

May 23, 2011ACCEPTED: June 8, 2011

REFEREED ANONYMOUSLY

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