Letters

NAACP Report

Your December 2000 issue contained a brief summary of the NAACP's report card, issued in October, rating the lodging industry. The writer erroneously suggests the "treatment" of employees and customers was assessed. In fact, customer relations was not part of the survey instrument, and the employee component was limited to quantifying managers versus nonmanagers.

The NAACP's economic reciprocity initiative evaluated hotels in the following five areas: employment, vendor development/procurement opportunities, equity and ownership, advertising and marketing, and philanthropy.

Even the NAACP's press release states the report card is part of their economic reciprocity initiative that has monitored the diversity and minority business development performance of the lodging industry. They've also surveyed other industries, including telecommunications and banking.

As the third-largest retailer in the country and the supporter of 7.8 million jobs, the lodging industry has made great strides in creating a diverse workforce. The hotel industry has been working with the NAACP since 1997 (the original issue date of the survey) and will continue to do so.



Bill Fisher

AH&MA President & CEO



MPI Workshop Inspired by SM Cover Story

I wanted to thank you for the insightful article you wrote about Hotel Mergers ("Caught in the Tide") in your June 2000 issue. This article served as the basis for a workshop at the recent MPI conference in New Orleans. I served as moderator, but the stars were the panelists, who represented the best and brightest from the hotel world, including Dave Scypinski from Starwood; Bill Reed from Fairmont; Mark Sherwin with Marriott; Steve Armitage from Hilton; Joanne Kurtz-Ahlers with Ritz-Carlton; and Evagrio Sanchez with Sol Meliá.

The discussion was highly interactive, with the audience providing questions that included: "To what extent is account information shared across brands owned by the same company?" "How does the representation of several brands impact the relationship of the planner with their national sales reps?" "How enforceable is a contract with a hotel that changes flags before the meeting takes place?" [See "News," page 23, for the panelists' responses to that question.]

There were few definitive answers, but what we heard was that the torrent of mergers and acquisitions is slowing down, that the national sales representatives are approaching their jobs differently and hopefully more productively after a period of adjustment, and that the intent of the hotel companies is to keep their brands highly distinctive and focused on specific market segments.



Terri Breining, CMP, CMM

President

Concepts Worldwide, Inc.

San Diego, CA



Web site Update

March 2000