THINK TANK
By Lalia Rach, Ed.D.,
Dean, Center for Hospitality,
Tourism, and Travel Administration,
New York University, New York, NY
Lyrics from a popular song of the fifties declared that the "…the future's not ours to see. What-ever will be will be." Such a statement did not recognize the complexity of change. Some 40 years later the only certainty, it seems, in life is change. Now the advent of a new millennium is serving as the catalyst for long-range planning at all levels of society. To better understand what lies ahead, the Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association
International (HSMAI) conducted a series of "think tanks" for the express purpose of:
- examining the current status of professionals in the field,
- envisioning the future of the profession, and
- defining the role of the association for the 21st century.
The role of associations in formulating the future of a profession is well documented in the literature and well accepted in society. Professions are expected to prepare for the future by maintaining pace with change. Whether the process is described as forecasting, visioning, or imagining, it requires a concerted, thoughtful undertaking that explores the transformations and trends in the workplace and home.
The think tanks were designed to determine what senior executives in hospitality and tourism sales and marketing think of present professionals and what they envision for the future. The goal of the sessions was to create a setting that would engender a free-flowing dialogue to analyze the current situation in terms of professional strengths and weaknesses and to develop a scenario or forecast of the profession in the year 2010.
APPROACH
The think tanks were conducted over a six-month period at four different locations across the United States. Forty-seven industry executives participated in five-hour sessions in Chicago, New York, Miami, and Los Angeles. Invitations to participate were sent to professionals who have attained leadership roles as defined by their longevity in the field or by the level of their positions (vice president, senior vice president, executive vice president, regional vice president, president, and CEO). Thirty percent of the participants were women, the size of the groups ranged from nine to 18, and the industry segments represented included Airlines (three, 6%), Convention and Visitors Bureaus/Government Office (six, 13%), Hotels (26, 55%), Suppliers (11, 23%), and Tour Operators (one, 2%).
The second and third activities were assessments of today's hospitality sales and marketing professional. Participants were asked to identify the strengths and weaknesses of individuals who currently hold the title of director of marketing, director of sales, sales or marketing manager and sales associate. The first step was the formation of individual lists of the key values, skills, and knowledge of an effective professional. This was followed by subgroup discussions to develop one list of agreed upon items. Each subgroup presented its findings to the entire group. Based on similarities from the subgroups a final list was generated. The same process was repeated for weaknesses with the task being defined as determining the shortcomings of today's hospitality sales and marketing professional. The results of such activities must always be tempered by the realization that the response of a senior group of professionals will be colored by personal bias. They will naturally judge today's practitioners against themselves, using the value judgements relevant to their time and not necessarily relevant today.
The final activity looked to the future. The subgroups were asked to envision the profession in the year 2010 with emphasis on the changes in technology, values, skills and knowledge. Again, this was followed by a presentation by each subgroup with discussion by the entire group.
RESULTS
Assessment of Current Hospitality Sales and Marketing Professionals
Recognizing that the roles, expectations, and goals of hospitality sales and marketing departments have evolved, the first task was to identify the current strengths of professionals in the field. Organized into values, skills, and abilities, this activity is fundamental to determining the future. Identifying the vital elements of the profession in the 90s provides a benchmark against the past for the skills and abilities that are likely to be drivers of hospitality sales and marketing success in the future. Among the vital elements of the profession are developing and maintaining contacts, creating multi-layered relationships with clients, negotiating agreements, utilizing a series of communication vehicles, maintaining informational databases, and evaluating the worth of business. Sales and marketing professionals are now expected to cope with competition that is more sophisticated, downsized management structures, technology infiltration, the evolving consumer, rising globalization, and finance-minded owners.
Strengths
Current strengths of hospitality sales and marketing professionals were provided in a framework of today versus yesterday. Contrasts and comparisons of the values, skills, and abilities of the past were indicated by the use of adverbs such as "more" or "very" to express a different quality or degree from the past. For the hospitality sales and marketing profession, values can be generally categorized, as a sense of integrity, an ethical awareness, and the manner in which business is conducted. There is a vast array of professional skills that hospitality sales and marketing professionals should possess in order to work effectively. Professional skills can be grouped into three subsets - knowledge, interpersonal, and communication. Knowledge skills are evidenced by an individual's command of the position, ability to establish and achieve priorities, and understanding of the external environment. Polished verbal and written communication, the capacity to search for and retrieve information from a variety of sources, and the capability to make and transmit decisions are direct indications of an individual's communication skills. Manifestations of interpersonal skills are reflected in an individual's aptitude for solving issues that arise while developing and maintaining relationships, capacity to work in a team, and to collaborate in a culturally diverse environment. Professional ability is displayed as competence, capability to perform, sales and marketing aptitude, and the mastery of sales and marketing techniques.
There were 23 strengths that were identified by at least three of the four groups. These 23 strengths were generally evenly distributed with seven (30%) values, seven (30%) skills, and nine (39%) abilities as indicated in the table below.
The professional values identified as current strengths by the think tank participants were a solid work ethic, ambition, an increased focus on the quality of one's life, high energy, passionate about industry, flexible, and committed to building relationships. Participants indicated current sales and marketing professionals tend to be strongest in the knowledge skills, identifying a better overall education which has given them a greater understanding of the structure of industry and business. Furthermore, their knowledge of the external environment is demonstrated in a greater global awareness and street smarts. Rounding out the skill area were the level of their verbal communication and their ability to manage conflict.
Participants agreed that current professionals possessed eight abilities: they are more technically adept; efficient; business minded; knowledgeable about the market, product and competition; responsive to market changes; performance driven; technologically smart; and results oriented.
Analysis of Current Strengths and Weaknesses
Many of the professional values identified as strengths are reflective of Generation X, individuals between the age of 22 and 35 who seek to combine success with a rich personal life, are determined to live in a global world and believe in relationships. Participants in the sessions remarked on numerous occasions that the increased focus on the quality of one's life was generally not part of their value system and at times this caused consternation and misunderstanding between the ranks. The majority of current sales and marketing professionals are members of Generation X and the executives are Baby Boomers (age 36-52) or older.
While this may be the case, it may also reflect the misinterpretations that occur between different generations. There is a significant body of literature that illustrates that the differences in value systems between Boomers and Gen X often result in the formulation of negative impressions. This situation may also be reflected in two values that participants classified as weaknesses (less willing to make an investment in their own personal development; more impatient, wanting it all now). When measured against the demands that Boomers accepted, this generation of managers and directors does not 'buy' the same set of promises for future returns. Given that many companies are not long term oriented in any area, current professionals realize the rules are different and loyalty has an adjusted definition.
Seemingly, in opposition to a stated strength (better educated), the participants indicated current professionals are poorly trained. However, there is a difference as training refers to specific aspects of the profession itself or as expressed by the participants, they are less savvy about how to be a good salesperson. The lack of training is demonstrated by an inability to master broad-based sales techniques. This perhaps is the cause of another weakness; the fact that current professionals are often viewed as less effective performers. Two reasons may explain such weaknesses: 1) the result of the downsizing of management has created an absence of mentors who in the past served as trainers and role models and 2) the recent good times have meant that even mediocre sales professionals can be successful.
By stating that today's directors and managers had a poor understanding of budgets and finance the participants acknowledged the skills of the professional have changed. Most likely education has not expanded its curriculum to reflect this new reality and industry is not providing the training to alleviate the problem.
While participants recognized the verbal strengths of current professionals, it was clear to them that writing and upward communication were tremendous deficiencies among today's sales and marketing practitioners. Categorizing present managers and directors as possessing weak product and customer knowledge demonstrates the ambivalence of the groups as they previously named product and customer knowledge as strengths. As weaknesses were identified, many of the groups recognized they were contradicting many of the strengths they had previously identified.
Yet, a normal outcome of an assessment is often the identification of contrary views that are logical and naturally coexist. This is clearly demonstrated in the values listed as strengths and those listed as weaknesses. Those currently in the profession display a passion about the industry while simultaneously exhibiting a poor attitude, a lack of commitment, a lack of enthusiasm, and are less loyal. One group described passion as the emotion that makes coming to work every day fun, but the ability to be effective and the skill level of the individual influences one's passion. Therefore, it is realistic to have both values exist within the profession, but it is due less to one's values and more directly connected to training and knowledge.
Participants identified three weaknesses; weak leadership skills, short-term thinking, and a lack of consistency, that are perpetuated and perhaps caused by inadequate training programs, a lack of mentors, and downsizing.
THE FUTURE OF THE HOSPITALITY SALES AND MARKETING PROFESSION
The 90's have been an uneven decade for the hospitality sales and marketing profession as internal expectations, personal aspirations and external realities have created an era of intense scrutiny, criticism and apprehension. The first part of the decade is best characterized as a sales nightmare, whereas the later part has been a marketer's dream. Recent indications signal considerable change is occurring in the very structure of the industry. A combination of economic, technological, and societal events and forces are creating a new reality where sales and marketing departments are being asked to justify their very existence and purpose.
Change is and will continue to be the most consistent aspect of the hospitality industry. This undeniable fact is impacting every segment - hotels, airlines, tour operators, car rental companies, and convention and visitors bureaus. And as a result, sales and marketing departments are experiencing a change that is singular in nature. It signals the approach of a new era that is uncharted, exciting, and at the same time threatening. In fact, the scope of the change has placed hospitality sales and marketing at a crossroads. Situations exist that would have been impossible to imagine just a few years ago:
- Traditionally the value of a sales person was determined by efforts outside of the office. Time spent in-house was considered a waste as the 'go getter' was always busy traveling. Wining and dining the client (with an emphasis on wining) was the best way to make the sale. Tracking productivity was a simple science based on the number of calls made each day. Quality of the visit, effectiveness of the pitch, and value of the business were of little importance.
- Hospitality has become a development and financial enterprise with many presidents and CEOs of hotel companies coming from outside the industry. The hospitality industry, once a very undisciplined industry, now marches to the return on investment (ROI) drumbeat. This is a structural and cultural change that has and will have very definite internal consequences. It has created a dramatic shift in the area of accountability. In the past, the sales and marketing professional was expected to create and nurture personal relationships and now the predominant obligation is to develop statistical and analytical links. The value of the professional is measured by the ability to produce short-term return on investment, not the ability to sustain long-term relationships. The complexity of the job has increased exponentially fueled by the ever-increasing expectations of clients and owners.
The responses to the final task, envisioning the profession in the year 2010, developed a natural rhythm as each group contemplated what changes would occur in the industry and how consumers would evolve before turning to the transformations that may effect the profession. The groups began by considering how different or similar the industry would be in the 21st century.
Industry
By 2010, the industry will be in the "post-consolidation stage". This scenario envisages a hospitality industry characterized by brand mania, altered definitions, customized solutions, inverse relationships, and technology domination.
Brand Mania
- Partnerships and alliances will transcend today's interpretation, especially in the area of branding. Like product placement in movies, branding within the property itself will become pervasive.
- Conference centers will partner with Sony for all technology, audio/visual and electronic aspects.
- Bathroom amenities will carry the Procter and Gamble seal.
- Guestrooms will prominently feature brand names for specific products including bedding, furniture and entertainment systems.
- Brand loyalty will continue to erode. Confusion in the marketplace will not be eliminated but compounded by the expanding commodization of products and services.
Altered Definitions
- Conceivably the most challenging aspect of the future for the industry will be to change what managers and leaders identify as valuable work.
- Home-based and part-time sales representatives will be the norm, which will require different parameters for the definition of a workweek and what it means to be at work. What constitutes a 'good days' work must evolve from a set number of hours and days, as the fluidity with which people will be able to conduct business will extend beyond current measures.
- Performance will replace the traditional measure of number of hours worked to determine compensation. The concept of time will be retired and a results-driven system will develop.
- All areas of the industry will employ older employees in prominent front of house positions. Formerly considered to have reached retirement age, individuals in their sixties and seventies will continue to function in the all-important customer service positions. Such individuals bring to their positions a rising degree of professionalism, experience in handling customers, solving problems, and making decisions.
- The quality of the customer will be evaluated over the short and long term to determine in absolute dollars the return on effort (ROE). It will not be the number of clients or groups booked but rather it will be measured against the amount of time and resources expended to secure the business in conjunction with the value of the group or individual over the next decade, and the level of effort necessary to maintain them.
Customized Solutions
- By 2010, the concept of customized solutions rather than generalized choice will be a reality. Guestrooms will be customized for each individual stay.
- The TV will be tuned to the guest's preferred channels rather than offering more and more choices; the guest's favorite exercise equipment, snacks and bath amenities will be in the room.
- Customer reward and recognition will be the key to loyalty and will feature immediate benefits, of a customized, personalized and immediate nature.
- Customers will have ability to call one number and assess an entire destination's inventory.
- To avoid the commodization of the experience, the industry will move from mass rewards to the development of a customer acquisition and retention strategy, which will be based on the recognition of the current and future value of a client's business.
- Efficiency will rule. Every thing will be done in the most efficient manner possible, from the way business is conducted to how training is conducted.
Technology Domination
- By 2010, the transition from the database orientation of sales and marketing organizations of today to a network orientation will be complete. The industry as a whole will employ networks as the vehicle of intermediation between hotel inventories and availability on one side and customers needs on the other.
- The conventional sales function of matching up customer's needs with available inventory will be replaced. Network distribution will create a seamless access to inventory that will reduce turnaround time.
- The size of sales staffs will decline as unassisted sales become the rule rather than the exception. Sales centers will evolve into reservations centers as direct electronic booking dominates the distribution channel.
- 'First contact' will not occur until the individual arrives at the destination. All preliminary information exchanges will take place electronically - brochure requests, the RFP process, and site inspections will occur without any direct human interaction. Pricing will be systematic. Using established parameters (historical demand, group history, value of business) a computer program will determine all prices.
Inverse Relationships
- Due to expanding technology infiltration, in the future there will be an even greater need for human interaction.
- Result in increased number of meetings, but with a twist. Delivery will be different with a greater, more immediate return expected. Meetings will be more efficient, requiring less travel, allowing people to stay in their own environment. Old ideas and concepts will be recycled based on new technology.
The Profession and the Individual
Participants anticipate that the future will bring fundamental changes to the profession itself, brought about by the driving forces of technology, globalization and rising consumer sophistication. Among the changes that resonated across the groups were the merging of positions and responsibilities, and the transformation of skill and abilities.
Merging of Positions and Responsibilities
- The general manager and the sales and marketing director positions will merge as transactional based systems eliminate the need for management, but not the need for sales and marketing.
- Conference or convention services managers will replace sales personnel as the first point of contact.
- The inefficiencies of having individual directors and staffs at each business outlet will result in a complete reorganization of the profession into regional staffs that are responsible for a geographic area.
- The dual human resource problem, quality and quantity, will validate unconventional solutions. The outsourcing of the entire sales function will be a common situation as will the endorsement of job-sharing so that part-time sales associates can form the basis of the staff.
- The scope of duties for on-property personnel will shift with a greater focus on service.
- Whatever the primary product, the professional will be expected to fully understand the entire destination so that, similar to a cruise package, transportation, transfers, and entertainment are incorporated in the sales process.
Transformed Skills and Abilities
- Both the director of marketing (DOM) and the director of sales (DOS) will include a revenue management function. Sales and marketing revenue managers will be responsible for creating a brand marketing and advertising system that works in concert with a given inventory to maximize revenue. This transition is currently in its early stages but by the year 2010 will be an elementary aspect of the position.
- Managing time spent with clients will dominate the salesperson's reality. Known as 'time investments' it will extend throughout the entire relationship with the client.
- Instead of selling and making contacts, sales professionals will own a set of customers and the pay-off will be a long-term relationship that like the stock market has bull and bear cycles. The challenge will be in having the right mix of customers that will maintain a positive return, hedging against extreme peaks and valleys.
- Information will be "the" success driver as consumer demands for an individualized, unique, personalized, and integrated relationship increases exponentially. The individual hospitality sales and marketing professional will be completely dependent on the ability to obtain, manage and analyze information of both a qualitative and quantitative nature.
- The professional will be expected to have a comprehensive understanding of the macro or global aspects of business and society. It will be commonplace to track consumers by region, knowing what percentage of business comes from the Asian market or the European market, so when problems occur shifting resources to more promising markets will be automatic.
- Information will be highly detailed creating precise customer profiles that describe both business and leisure needs, indicate when and how to market and sell to the individual, and explain what individual services are appealing. Today customer profiles tend to be lists rather than an organized, related dossier.
- Overall, the individual will make fewer sales calls but they will be of a higher quality culminating in greater return on the sales investment.
- In the future two skill areas will dominate: technology and interpersonal.
- The technology skills identified (data gathering capability, data mining) reinforce the need for an understanding of how to research and analyze information.
- High tech versus high touch, which are currently seen as opposing concepts, will merge, enabling deeper, stronger relations with clients. Rather than a continuation of the current growing strain between the technocrats and salespeople, the commingling of the human relationship oriented sales approach with the immediacy of reliable information will differentiate the top salesperson from the average. The tech-touch sales approach will strengthen the credibility of the seller and increase the trust of the buyer because it will be based on immediacy of information, efficiency of service, and acknowledgement of value.
- The subjective basis of sales today will be diminished by technology. Using a program that blends revenue management, customer profiles, and forecasts, the sales professional will know pricing, areas and levels of negotiation, projected revenue and will be prompted to sell other features based on past history.
- Working with a diverse clientele and workforce will be an ordinary aspect of business.
- The customer will determine what the salesperson looks like, whether older, non- white, or international in citizenship.
- An extensive base of cultural knowledge will be necessary since professionals will be required to sell the world to the world. Global marketing and sales skills will depend on one's ability to translate culture so consumers can be persuaded and captured. One area of uncertainty is whether increased language skills will be needed or if technology will solve this problem.
Points of Contention
- Participants were not always in agreement, as the future is a controversial subject. But while differing on certain issues, they did find common ground in the notion that the future will bring a series of disagreements or 'points of contention' between companies, customers and managers. Extremes will prevail. The industry will consist of:
- Boutique hotels that are smaller but not necessarily branded properties.
- Larger, branded hotels which will be seen as destinations combining various entertainment and educational opportunities.
- The subject of consumer brand loyalty brought great disagreement within and between the groups. Some supported the idea that the future of brand loyalty was dismal. This group used terms such as eroding, limited, and minimal to describe the future of brand loyalty. On the other hand, many participants supported the predominance of brands in terms of loyalty.
- Companies, for return on investment (ROI) purposes, will want to more narrowly define customer points of contact while many customers will cling to the old way of maintaining a relationship, with multiple points of contact before, during and after the sale.
- Customers desire to know the seller will continue to drive purchases no matter how far technology advances. The process of the business transaction will change but the need to trust and relate to the business will only increase. A different channel of communication may develop that completely integrates sales and distribution but customers will still desire the face-to-face sales process.
- The groups were not in agreement as to whether the sales manager position would be completely commission or fee based, a combination of commission and fees, or in fact would require higher salaries and more attractive benefits to attract and retain highly talented individuals.
- The disagreement is likely reflective of the current situation where sales stars are highly sought after and like major league baseball, the star becomes a free agent and is offered tremendous salary packages for moving to another team. Now it is rare for sales and marketing stars to stay with one hospitality organization for most of their careers. This fact will be compounded in the future by consolidation and smaller sales staffs, where the need for more sophisticated skills sets places an even greater premium on those individuals who are capable of handling the entire packaging and selling process.
- More professionals with non-hospitality sales experience will be leading the industry. The impact of 'outsiders' is viewed as positive for it will influence the manner in which business is conducted by placing greater emphasis on the customer rather than the product. Ultimately, it will improve the way society views the profession.
- The debate over high touch versus high tech did not end with a distinct winner. Participants were very divided on the subject, arguing that 2010 winners will be those hospitality companies who believe high touch will differentiate the top from average. The high tech believers had equal support.
- Whether the negative image of the profession, often described by participants as "the Rodney Dangerfield" of the industry, remains in 2010 is an area of uncertainty. Many participants pointed to the influence of education, technology, and increased revenue responsibilities as having a positive effect on how society and the rest of the industry view the field. Yet, a strong contingent expressed concern that the negative image will only increase as new leaders have little or no understanding of the field. As new organizational structures develop, they could cause the field to be overlooked and displaced.
INDICATIONS
- Educational curriculum must expand and include finance and revenue management courses in the sales and marketing fields of study.
- On-going training must be a commonplace activity emphasizing time management techniques, leadership development, product updates, and communication methods.
- Companies should develop mentor pools to alleviate the effects of downsized management ranks.
- Communication skills (verbal, written and interpersonal) will be the critical sales and marketing characteristics.
- Technology skills must be balanced with finely developed service skills.
- Senior executives must keep pace with changes in generations so differences are not misconstrued as weaknesses.
CONCLUSION
All organizations are a blend of positives and negatives; it is the management of the issues that determines the overall success of the enterprise. The primary activity of the organization's leadership is the determination of the positive issues that must be maintained for the long term and the negative issues that must be neutralized or rectified. The selection of issues should be governed by the desire of the organization to fully participate in the development of the profession. Crucial to the realization of this goal is the identification of the skills and knowledge necessary to shape the future of the profession and the capability to take advantage of unexpected opportunities. This activity presents a blueprint for subsequent activities that will assist the association in more clearly defining its purpose and in clarifying the role of the sales and marketing professional in the evolving hospitality industry. By identifying the skills, knowledge and abilities that are necessary for success, the association is able to target areas of opportunity. The path to worthwhile ventures and events is more solidly delineated while the chance for immobility brought on by the fear of change or the misplaced desire to cling to tradition is lessened.
- Paul D. Astleford
President & CEO
Chicago Convention and Tourism Bureau - Hoyt Bacon,
CHME, ISHC
President
Allpoints Communications - Chris Baum
Vice President, Sales & Marketing
Sonesta International Hotels Corporation - Warren J. Breaux
Vice President of Business Development
Hyatt Hotels Corporation - Ed Brill
Vice President, North America
SRS World Hotels - Phillip Burgess
Senior Vice President
MMG Worldwide - Allen Chastanet
Vice President of Sales & Marketing
Air Jamaica - Cam Cooper
Vice President Worldwide Sales
Bass Hotels & Resorts - Joseph P. Crimmins
Director of Sales & Marketing
Doral Arrowwood - Donna Sue Davis
Director of Resort Sales and Service
Disneyland Resort - Jonathon Day
Regional Director
The Americas Queensland Tourist and Travel - William Q. Dowling
President
Dowmarket - Jim Dunn
President
Dunn Enterprises - Patricia Ecke
Managing Director
New York Times - Daniel Engle
Director, Sales and Revenue Management
Interstate Hotels Corporation - David R. Evans
VP & General Sales Manager
Westin Hotels & Resorts - Michael Fiorentino
CHME Senior Vice President, Sales & Marketing
New York Convention and Visitors Bureau - Robert E. Gallagher
System Manager - Leisure Sales
Delta Airlines Inc. - Joel B. Grossman
President
Country Tours - Michael Grossman
Vice President of Sales
Adam's Mark Hotels & Resorts - Chuck Harper
Director of Marketing
Ritz Carlton Laguna Niguel - Kay Heder
Vice President & Dir Natl Corp Mtg Sales
Sheraton Corporation - Aloha Knaefler
Vice President Sales
ANA Hotels International - Mack Koonce
Executive Vice President, Marketing & Strategic Planning
Wyndham Hotels & Resorts - Flo Lugli
Vice President, Sales & Marketing
Cendant Hotel Division - Mary Mahoney
President
Howard Johnson International, Inc - Felicia R. Marockie
Regional Vice President, Sales & Marketing
Loews Hotels - John F. Metcalf
CHME President
Associated Luxury Hotels, Inc. - Peter Miller
President & CEO
Strategic Database Research, Inc. - Cindy Novotny
President
Master Connection Associates - Tom O'Toole
Vice President of Marketing
Hyatt Hotels Corporation - John S. Parke
Vice President, National Accounts
Marriott National Accounts - John D. Pyle
Principal
Pyle Marketing Group - Lesly Rehaut
Manager, Meetings & Conventions
NE Region Continental Airlines - Clayton Reid
President
MMG Worldwide - Pamela Richardson,
CHME Area Manager, South & Latin America
Bahamas Tourist Office - Chris A. Riga
Senior Vice President, Marketing
Swissotel
Lalia Rach, Ed. D., dean of the Center for Hospitality, Tourism, and Travel Administration at New York University in New York City, is a nationally recognized tourism industry leader. She consults with organizations in the U.S. and abroad and is a highly skilled and successful facilitator, a well-known speaker, and an expert in curriculum development in hospitality, tourism, and higher education. She delivers keynote addresses, presents seminars and workshops, and conducts research. Rach is a columnist for Lodging Hospitality magazine and writes extensively. She serves on the boards of the Travel and Tourism Research Association (TTRA) and the New York Convention and Visitors Bureau and is a member of the Business Round-table and New York Hospitality Council. Rach also serves as a Fellow of the Educational Institute of the American Hotel & Motel Association.