EVENT DETAIL
Hotel Internet Marketing Strategy Conference
Date: April 21, 2004 - April 21, 2004
Location: New York Hilton
HSMAI's second Hotel Internet Marketing Strategy Conference will be held in New York City following the Travel Commerce Expo. This program will focus on offensive and defensive strategies for protecting your brand online,
and strategies from HSMAI's Hotel Internet Marketing Committee. CLICK HERE to register for the HSMAI Internet Strategy Conference and TravelCom Expo.
Schedule of the Day
11:30-12:30pm – Opening Keynote – Hotel CEO panel discussion.
* Jay Witzel, president and CEO, Carlson Hotels Worldwide
* Thomas J Corcoran, Jr., president and CEO, FelCor Lodging Trust
* Thomas W LaTour, Chairman & CEO, Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants Group Incorporated
* Moderator: Henry H. Harteveldt, vice president of Travel Research, Forrester Research
12:30–1:30pm – Networking lunch and exhibition hall open (part of TravelComm event)
2:00–2:15pm – Welcome and introductions of Advisory Board; Strategy and Mission of the HSMAI Internet Marketing Committee:
* Maureen O'Hanlon, senior vice president, sales & marketing, Prime Hospitality (Chair of HSMAI Americas Region Board of Directors)
2:15–2:30pm - Recap of the first Hotel Internet Marketing Strategy Conference:
* Jens Thraenhart, director of Internet strategy, Fairmont Hotels & Resorts (Chair, Internet Marketing Committee & Co-Chair, Hotel Internet Marketing Advisory Board)
2:30-3:00 pm – This panel of brand, intermediary, and search engine leaders will discuss how current online marketing techniques can be leveraged to add value to the consumer and promote the brand to increase revenue.
* Sarah Jellen - Expedia
* Jane Butler - Head of Travel, Google
* Jens Thraenhart - Fairmont Hotels & Resorts
* Brian Barth, SideStep
* Moderator: Henry Harteveldt - Forrester Research
3:00-3:30pm – Defensive Strategies: Learn what some top hotel companies are doing to protect their brands online and how they avoid having customers specifically seeking their brand online from being diverted to other sites. Discuss topics will include: Trademark Protection, Domain Protection, Contracts/Agreements.
Roundtable Participants:
* Gino Giovannelli – Carlson Companies
* Euan Mitchell - Thistle Hotels
* Jim Zito – Affinia Hospitality
* DJ Vallauri - Prime Hospitality
* Moderator: Bill Carroll - Cornell University
3:30-3:45pm – What does this all mean? The trends in Search Marketing and Online Tradmark Protection.
* Henry Harteveldt - Forrester Research
3:45-4:15pm – Break and Networking (Supplier Showcase)
4:15-4:45pm – Offensive Strategies: After playing defense, learn what some hotel companies do to proactively drive customers to their site and convert those customers to bookers.
Roundtable Participants:
* Mara Hannula - Marriott International
* Michael Hayward - Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts
* Ashwin Kamlani - Sol Melia Hotels & Resorts
* Emily Schubert - Travelocity
* Moderator: Susan Black, Partner, Black & Wright Group
4:45-5:15pm – Presentation of first ever HSMAI Metrics Survey Results
* Bob Gilbert, President and CEO, HSMAI.
5:15-5:30pm – Wrap up
* Jens Thraenhart - Chair, HSMAI Internet Marketing Committee & Co-Chair, Hotel Internet Marketing Advisory Board
5:30-6:30pm – Networking Reception and Supplier Showcase
Registration:
HSMAI Members - $250
Non-members - $400 - fees include 1-year HSMAI membership
CLICK HERE for information on registration for the HSMAI Internet Strategy Conference and TravelCom Expo. For further information, contact Bob Gilbert at (703) 610-9024 or bgilbert@hsmai.org.
Thank You to Event Sponsor:
Speaker Bios
Susan Black
Partner, The Black & Wright Group
Susan Black has spent her entire career as a sales and marketing professional in the travel industry. Her previous posts include two years as the Chairman for eTravelWorld, ten years as the General Manager and Publisher of Thomas Travel Ventures (The Official Tour Directory and Vacationpackager.com), eight years as the National Advertising Director for Corporate Travel Magazine (Gralla Publications/Miller Freeman), and three years as Senior Editor for Meeting News Magazine. She is also a founding partner of the strategy consultancy, The Black and Wright Group. Her professional memberships include ATME, HSMAI, USTOA and ASTA.
Jane Butler
Head of Travel, Google
As Head of Travel at Google, Jane Butler is responsible for driving the strategy for both sales and product development for the travel category. Jane joined Google in March of 2003 following a year as President of LastMinuteTravel.com® where she led global sales and marketing for the company in its turn-around year. Jane has spent more than six years in online travel marketing including more than four years as Publisher of DoubleClick’s Travel Network. She is also author of the 2002 PhoCusWright report, “Online Travel Advertising: Success Factors and Recommendations for Improved Effectiveness.”
Thomas J Corcoran, Jr.
President & CEO, FelCor Lodging Trust Incorporated
Mr. Corcoran co-founded FelCor, Inc. in 1991 with Hervey Feldman. In 1994, the Company went public with six hotels and a market capitalization of approximately $120 million as a hotel real estate investment trust (REIT) on the Nasdaq national market under the name FelCor Suite Hotels, Inc. (FelCor) and in 1996 listed on the New York Stock Exchange as FCH. Mr. Corcoran has served since its formation as President and Chief Executive Officer of FelCor. In July 1998, the company changed its name to FelCor Lodging Trust Incorporated.
FelCor is the nation’s second largest lodging REIT and the nation’s largest owner of full service, all-suite hotels. FelCor’s portfolio is comprised of 157 hotels, located in 33 states and Canada. FelCor owns 71 upscale, all-suite hotels, and is the owner of the greatest number of Embassy Suites Hotels® and Doubletree Guest Suites® hotels. FelCor’s portfolio also includes 74 hotels in the upscale and full service segments. FelCor has a current market capitalization of approximately $3.0 billion. Additional information can be found on the Company’s Web site at www.felcor.com.
Mr. Corcoran’s long history of management in the lodging and foodservice industry began with Brock Hotel Corporation in Topeka, KS. During his 11 years with Brock, Mr. Corcoran’s roles in the company included President and Chief Executive Officer and a member of the board of directors for Chuck E. Cheese Entertainment, Inc. (formerly ShowBiz Pizza Time, Inc.).
Mr. Corcoran’s board appointments include: National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts’ Board of Governors; the University of North Texas’ Board of Governors School of Merchandising and Hospitality Management; Board of Trustees for the American Hotel Foundation, the American Hotel & Lodging Association’s Industry Real Estate Financing Advisory Council and Vice Chair of the Political Action Committee; Chairman of Embassy Suites’ Advisory Council to Hilton Hotels; International Association of Holiday Inns and the Real Estate Council of Dallas.
Robert A. Gilbert
PRESIDENT & CEO, HSMAI
As President and Chief Executive Officer of the Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International, Robert A. Gilbert, CHME, CHA, has been guiding HSMAI through an exciting period of change in order to re-establish the 5,000-plus member organization as the definitive hospitality and travel marketing association in the world.
During Gilbert's tenure, HSMAI has achieved tremendous success with a number of initiatives. More specifically, the Association has revitalized European membership and established new chapters worldwide; it continually seeks out beneficial affinity programs for members; it has negotiated a number of alliances which build member benefit value, and it has re-affirmed its commitment to industry-specific education through the creation of segment specific programs, such as a series of sales and marketing seminars for general managers, and the launch of an innovative Executive T.H.I.N.K. series for top level executives.
Notable achievements under Gilbert’s leadership include the expansion of marketplace events through the establishment of Affordable Meetings West and Affordable Meetings Mid-America (added to initial Affordable Meetings National), which along with the seven-city HSMAI Meetings Quest, makes it is the largest operator of trade shows for the meetings industry. Also of great significance is the recent launch of the HSMAI Foundation’s new Corporate Membership program, dedicated to conducting sales and marketing specific research studies for the hospitality, travel and tourism industry.
Prior to joining HSMAI in 1995 (in an executive capacity), Gilbert was the vice president of marketing for Richfield Hospitality Services, Inc., the largest hotel management company in the world, where he oversaw the corporate marketing support for all Richfield hotels, which included product from every price tier in the industry.
Gilbert holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the School of Hotel Administration at Cornell University in Ithaca, NY, and has been a member of HSMAI since joining the student chapter at Cornell. He is a frequent guest lecturer at the School and is on the adjunct faculty of the summer executive education program. Recently, Gilbert was appointed to the Board of Trustees for the World Tourism Foundation and to the Travel and Tourism Coalition of the Travel Industry Association of America. He is also a member of the HITEC Advisory Board for the Hospitality Finance and Technology Professionals, the Board of Directors for the Convention Industry Council, and the Board of Directors of the AH&LA.
Gino Giovannelli
Vice President, e-Business Solutions, Carlson Companies
Gino Giovannelli is currently Vice President of e-Business Solutions at Carlson Companies. In this role, he has been responsible for establishing and implementing effective e-business strategy for the Carlson Companies’ hotel division (Radisson Hotels & Resorts, Country Inn & Suites, Park Inn, Park Plaza, and Regent Hotels International), cruise division (Radisson Seven Seas Cruises) and restaurant division (TGI Fridays and Pick up Stix). Prior to this position, he served as Director e-Business Strategy for Carlson Consumer group, and joined Carlson as Director of e-Commerce at Radisson Hotels & Resorts in 1999.
He has a rich background of business experience, especially in the areas of Information Systems, Electronic Commerce and Marketing. Out of college, Giovannelli held various positions in sales and marketing in the plant automation field prior to jumping on the bandwagon in 1997 to "do the dot com thing" by serving as Vice President of Business Development with a Minneapolis-based startup e.Media Group, a firm specialized in the development of interactive Web sites and multimedia CD-ROMs.
Giovannelli received a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Bucknell University in 1990, and also attended the Institute for European Studies in Vienna, Austria in 1990. He is also a 1996 graduate of the MBA Program at the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota, and completed the Carlson Companies Executive Leadership Program in the Executive Development Center of the Carlson School in 2000.
Henry H Harteveldt
Vice President, Travel Research, Forrester Research
Henry joined Forrester in January, 2000 to lead its worldwide travel industry practice. He analyzes and projects how consumer and business adoption of new technologies will impact the sale and purchase of travel services. Through both industry surveys and Technographics® research -- the largest continuous survey effort of technology behaviors in the world -- Henry discovers and advises Forrester clients on both industry and consumer trends that raise challenges or present opportunities to the travel industry, so they can stay ahead of rapidly evolving needs and preferences.
In addition to network and local television and radio stations and the Associated Press, CNET, CNN, USA Today, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Business Travel News, Travel Weekly, Computer World, and Advertising Age regularly consult him for comment on industry and consumer trends. Henry is also on the Advisory Board of Travel Distribution Report, a board member of the Association of Travel Marketing Executives (ATME), and co-chairs the annual Travel Commerce and Expo –TravelCom – travel industry conference. He is also a Board member of the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, a not-for-profit social service agency.
Henry’s strong marketing and planning background has been forged in the senior-level roles he has held at firms like GetThere, CKS Partners, Fairmont Hotels, The Trump Organization, Continental Airlines, TWA, and Bozell & Jacobs Advertising. He was also cofounder and vice president of Sierra Expressway Airlines, a regional airline based at Oakland International Airport in California.
Henry is based in Forrester’s San Francisco Research Center.
Mark V. Lomanno
Mr. Lomanno is President of Smith Travel Research, the leading authority on current trends in occupancy, room rate and supply/demand data for the U.S. and global lodging industries. Each month, STR obtains data from over 20,000 properties worldwide, accounting for over 3.0 million rooms. In addition, STR collects daily performance data from over 10,000 U. S. hotels as part of its daySTAR program.
STR tracks market share performance for virtually every major global hotel chain and most major management companies through its various STAR programs. Clients include Starwood Lodging, Bass Hotels & Resorts, Hilton Hotels, Cendant, Choice International, Sol Melia, Marriott Corporation, Hyatt Hotels, Accor, Radisson Hotels, and La Quinta Motor Inns.
STR also tracks operating data for the lodging industry through the Hotel Operating Statistics (HOST) program. The HOST program provides operating data pertaining to revenues and expenses on an amount per available room, amount per occupied room night, and on a ratio to revenue basis. This program includes most of the major chains and represents the largest survey of hotel operating data ever compiled. The national, market and segment data derived from the HOST program is published in The HOST Study.
STR also publishes Lodging Outlook, a monthly newsletter endorsed by the American Hotel & Motel Association that tracks occupancy and room rates for the U.S., all fifty states, and the top 25 metropolitan markets. Data from Lodging Outlook has been published in Hotel & Motel Management, Hotels, Lodging Hospitality, Lodging, The Cornell Quarterly, and The Wall Street Journal. STR data is also used as the source of lodging statistics for the U.S. Travel Data Center's Travel Printout and by a variety of convention and visitors bureaus, state tourism departments and government entities.
Mr. Lomanno serves on the advisory boards of the HSMAI Foundation, Travel Industry of America and Priceline.com. Mr. Lomanno is frequently quoted in national and industry publications on lodging trends and statistics. Mr. Lomanno makes numerous speeches at industry meetings and seminars. He is also a frequent guest lecturer at the Hotel and Restaurant School at Cornell University. He has an MS degree in Marketing from LaSalle University and an MBA in Marketing Research from Temple University.
Prior to joining STR, Mr. Lomanno was National Director of Research for Laventhol & Horwath and has twenty years experience in lodging industry research.
Maureen O'Hanlon
Senior Vice President, Marketing & Sales, Prime Hospitality
Maureen O’Hanlon is a twenty-five year veteran of the travel and hospitality industry. She is currently Senior Vice President of Marketing and Sales for Prime Hospitality Corp. In this role she is responsible for all Marketing Services, National Sales, E-Commerce and Public Relations. In addition she also oversees the Central Reservation Office that Prime opened last year. Prior to joining the Prime team, O’Hanlon was with Marketing Arts Organization, a consulting firm for major companies in the travel industry as well as internet and e-commerce ventures. Her area of expertise is marketing with an emphasis on Customer Relationship Marketing (CRM), as well as branding, distribution management and interactive marketing.
O’Hanlon served with Carlson Companies for 16 years, most recently as Senior Vice President with the Loyalty division of Carlson Marketing Group, a world leader in CRM. In this role, she served as a consultant for companies interested in establishing customer relationship strategies and executing complicated data warehouse solutions. Prior to joining the Marketing Group, O’Hanlon was with the Hospitality Group for Carlson Companies, serving as Executive Vice President of Marketing and Sales for Radisson Hotels Worldwide. In this capacity she oversaw the company’s brand marketing strategies and sales initiatives to insure high quality customer delivery and build value in the Radisson brand worldwide. She also served as President of the Radisson Marketing Association, the franchise board for the company and as Chair of the Global Brand Council. The positions of vice president of marketing and vice president of sales reported to O’Hanlon.
O’Hanlon also served as Vice President of Marketing with overall responsibility for the companies marketing programs. In prior experience, she served as Senior Director of Distribution Channel Marketing. She also opened and directed Radisson’s National Sales office in New York City.
O’Hanlon, who was named in 1996, 1997, 1998 and 1999, as one of the most powerful women in America’s travel industry by the national publication TRAVEL AGENT, has earned numerous awards and recognition in the travel industry. She was also named to TRAVEL AGENT magazine’s "Winner’s Circle" in the hotel category in 1998. She completed the Institute for Certified Travel Agents (ICTA) executive program, earning her "Certified Travel Counselor" (CTC) designation in less than one year. She has been named by TOUR & TRAVEL NEWS as one of the 25 most influential industry executives and was honored in 1993 as a Carlson Fellow, the highest achievement award given by Radisson’s parent company, Carlson Companies, Inc. She was also awarded the ATLAS award for Marketing in 1999 by the Association of Traveling Marketing Executives.
O’Hanlon is currently serving as Chair of the HSMAI board and is a past president of the New York Chapter. She has been instrumental in setting up the highly successful Senior Executive Think programs for HSMAI. She was formerly serving as Vice-chair for the HSMAI Foundation, the research and education arm of the organization. She also serves on the Board of Directors of Synnikan, a women’s networking and mentoring organization. In addition, she sits on the Board of Advisors for Irma S. Mann Strategic marketing, Inc. O’Hanlon earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Colorado and attended the University of Bordeaux in France for one year. She also graduated from the Minnesota Executive Program from the University of Minnesota. She and her husband Ken have two daughters.
Jens Thraenhart
Director of Internet Strategy, Fairmont Hotels & Resorts
As Director of Internet Strategy, Jens is responsible for setting, communicating, and executing Fairmont's overall direction on the Internet, including the company’s websites, online marketing, search engine optimization, web distribution, and trademark protection in order to increase revenues and brand awareness.
Under his direction, Fairmont.com has won awards from HSMAI (2003 Golden Click Award), ATME (2003 Gold Award - Most Effective Travel Website) and the World Travel Award (2003 World’s Leading Hotel Website, voted by over 80,000 Travel Agencies world-wide), HotelRooms.com (2004 Best Hotel Website), and was a finalist for the Webby Business Awards (Travel Category).
During 2002, bookings via www.fairmont.com increased by 165 percent, which according to TravelClick’s eTrak study of over 30 industry websites is over twice the growth experienced by the average hotel brand or chain. In October 2003, his team made significant enhancements to Fairmont.com in order to improve the booking process and the general usability of the site, and bookings have increased significantly. In 2004, TravelClick recognized Fairmont Hotels & Resorts as the Hotel Brand eMarketer of the year.
Jens Thraenhart is a native of Germany with over 15 years of international hospitality experience in hospitality consulting, hotel and restaurant operations, revenue management, sales & marketing, e-business, and strategic planning with companies such as Four Seasons, Fairmont, Marriott, Kempinski, and Ian Schrager Hotels. His career started with founding and operating a successful food catering company, leveraging years of restaurant management experience, and managing an independent luxury golf resort in Germany. Prior to joining Fairmont, Jens acted as Co-Founder and Executive Vice President of Marketing & Strategic Business Development at MyLeisureTime.com, Inc, a New York City-based Internet company focused on upscale leisure travel.
He holds an MBA-accredited Masters of Management in Hospitality from the School of Hotel Administration at Cornell University, and a joint Bachelor of Science in International Hospitality Management from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and the University Center ‘Cesar Ritz’ at Brig, Switzerland. Jens is the founder and president of the "Cesar Ritz" Network Society, a Swiss-based alumni association of hospitality professionals worldwide, and is also President of the Cornell Hotel Society Toronto Chapter.
Jens initiated and acts as the global chair of the HSMAI Internet Marketing Committee, is a member of the advisory board of the Canadian Code of Practice for Consumer Protection in Electronic Commerce, sits on the advisory board of the TravelCom Conference, conceived the concept of WOWtravels where he acts as chair of the advisory board, was recognized as one of the travel industry's top 100 rising stars by Travel Agent Magazine in 2003, and is listed as one of the ’25 Most Extraordinary Sales and Marketing Minds in Hospitality and Travel’ by HSMAI.
Jay Witzel
President & CEO, Carlson Hotels Worldwide
Jay S. Witzel, president and CEO of Carlson Hotels Worldwide, leads the global strategies and growth of all of Carlson's hotel operations, which currently includes over 880 locations in 67 countries. The five brands of Carlson Hotels Worldwide encompass the major segments of the hotel industry and include Regent International Hotels, Radisson Hotels & Resorts, Park Plaza Hotels & Resorts, Country Inns & Suites By Carlson and Park Inn hotels. The executive leaders of the company’s global structure report to Witzel, who is responsible for the development and implementation of overall strategies and guiding the organization's resources to support the success of the individual brands.
Witzel, who reports to Curtis Nelson, president and COO of Carlson Companies, is credited with recently leading a major realignment of Carlson Hotels Worldwide to maximize leadership talent and integrate the platform of services to its lodging brands. The new structure is designed to align the resources of the hotel group to best serve its customers while integrating with customer relationships across all of Carlson's consumer business operations.
Witzel has also led the development of a new global organizational structure. This structure aligns Carlson Hotels Worldwide with the world's three major economic markets: the America's; Europe/Middle East/Africa (EMEA); and Asia Pacific. The presidents of Carlson Hotels Worldwide, The Americas and Carlson Hotels Worldwide, Asia Pacific report to Witzel. He also serves on the board of directors of Rezidor SAS Hospitality, the company’s primary partner in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and serves as the key contact for business development and relations with Rezidor.
Faced with today's challenging business environment, accelerated industry consolidation and changing customer expectations, Witzel is leading Carlson's hotel group with a bold new vision and new business model, based on global structure and integrated services to provide efficient, effective support to all of Carlson's hotel brands.
With over ten years experience in senior management positions with Carlson Hotels Worldwide and its Radisson hotel brand, Witzel most recently served as the executive vice president of Carlson Hotels Worldwide. Prior to that, he held the position of president and COO of Radisson Hotels & Resorts.
Witzel began his career at Radisson in 1987 when he joined the company as vice president of operations. In 1989, he was promoted to executive vice president of operations and in 1995 he was named president and chief operating officer.
In other experience, he served a 24-month tenure as Chief Operating Officer at Extended Stay America, where he was responsible for leading the company in an ambitious growth program from 70 locations to 357 locations with 30 additional properties under construction. During that period he was responsible for the investment of $1.8 billion in new assets for the company. Witzel began his career in the hospitality industry with Hyatt Hotels Corporation as a trainee and rose through the ranks of operations and management. He served in a variety of property management positions, including general manager of several Hyatt locations during his 12-year career with the company. From 1983-1987 he held senior operational management positions with JP Hotels, a division of W.B. Johnson Properties, of Atlanta, Ga. and the Landmark Hotel Group of San Mateo, Calif.
Witzel earned a BS degree in Business Administration and a BA in Economics from Norwich University, Northfield, Vermont, in 1970. He also completed the Minnesota Executive Program through the University of Minnesota Executive Leadership Center.