Hospitality industry has always tended to be reactive, rather than current, to changes in the economy. After all, hotels don’t create travel, they serve it. There is little hotels can do to induce people to travel. People don’t travel for the purpose of staying in hotels, they stay in our hotels because our hotels are located where they want or need to be.

When people travel, they will continue to choose a hotel based upon whether or not its location, facilities, and amenities present the best value in the market. The question is how well will hotels compete for a larger piece of a shrinking travel pie. There are business people, all over the country, devising ways to reduce travel in 2009 and leisure travelers will, no doubt, follow suit.

Before you decide to sit it out by drastically reducing expenses, consider the bad consequences which are caused by lowering service levels. Sure, there is always some fat which can be cut-off without causing a negative impact on service, but caution, there is rarely any fat contained in your marketing program. Cuts in marketing should be done as a last resort only.

The Travel Pie is Getting Smaller, Will Your Slice Shrink Too?

There’s no doubt that the competition picture heats up during a downturn. Upper-scale hotels will compete with mid-scale hotels, mid-scale with limited service hotels, and so on. That upscale hotel down the street will now be after your business. Can your hotel compete? Are you ready to join the battle?

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