Market Metrix Announces First Quarter 2006 Hospitality Index Results
Drury Inns, Jet Blue Airlines and Enterprise Rent-A-Car Take Top Industry CategoriesHotel loyalty pr
SAN RAFAEL, CA, Market Metrix, LLC, the leading provider of market research services for the hospitality industry, today announced results of the Market Metrix Hospitality Index (MMHI) for the first quarter of 2006. Drury Inns, JetBlue Airways and Enterprise Rent-a-Car ranked number one in hotel, airline and rental car industry customer satisfaction, respectively.
This is the first time that Drury Inns has won top honors in customer satisfaction for the hotel industry. The chain, established in 1973 by the Drury family, is one of the only hotel chains to build, own, and operate all its hotels. Incredibly, the Drury family still runs the company -- and it shows. With higher satisfaction scores than much pricier hotels, guests rave about the personal treatment they experience with such comments as "the front desk clerk remembered me by name, and that was a great feeling" and "they called me sir even though I was wearing blue jeans and a flannel shirt." But most important, a Drury hotel experience creates responses like, "we will return to that room every time we stay in Shawnee Kansas...LOVE IT!"
Importance of Loyalty Programs
One of the key measures used by Market Metrix to evaluate brand loyalty is called Loyalty Program Effectiveness. This measure identifies the amount of influence a loyalty program exerts in hotel selection. Some guests will go to great lengths to stay at a hotel that contributes to their member benefits while other programs are less effective in their mission to persuade guests and change behavior.
Evaluating annual results for this measure shows that it is grown in importance over the last several years. In 2002, 32% of guests said that the loyalty program was a key factor in deciding where to stay; in 2005, 34% of guests said that it was a key factor. The most effective program in the industry, and the most improved, is Hilton HHonors. HHonors program effectiveness has grown from 34% in 2002 to 39% in 2005. Marriott has the next highest effectiveness at 38%. Cendant's program has seen the largest decline (7%) over the same period.
The top ten brand programs are all part of just three hotel companies: Hilton Hotels Corp. (Hilton HHonors), Marriott International (Marriott Rewards) and Choice Hotels International (Choice Privileges). Homewood Suites, a Hilton brand, ranked first in Program Effectiveness with 40.5%. This indicates that 40.5% of Homewood Suites loyalty club members said their membership was "Very important" in selecting where to stay. Hilton Garden Inn was second and Fairfield Inn by Marriott was third.
MMHI Top-Hospitality Rankings Q1 2006
Hotel - Overall
Drury Inns
Airline
JetBlue
Car Rental
Enterprise
Luxury Hotels
Ritz-Carlton
Upper Upscale
Walt Disney World Resorts
Upscale Hotels
SpringHill Suites
Midscale w/ F&B
Holiday Inn Select
Midscale w/o F&B
Drury Inns
Economy Hotels
Microtel Inns & Suites
Extended-Stay Hotels
Homewood Suites
Timeshare Accommodations
Disney Vacation Club
Upscale Casino
Bellagio
Casino
Rio
Hotel Reservations Website - Hotel Brand
Courtyard by Marriott
Hotel Reservations Website - Travel
Hotwire
(w/o F&B = without food & beverage)
About MMHI
The Market Metrix Hospitality Index is a quarterly report of customer satisfaction with hotel, airline and car rental companies based on 35,000 in-depth consumer interviews. The MMHI ranks top hospitality brands by industry and, for hotels, by categories such as luxury, mid-price and economy. Detailed, in-depth and customized reports are available for subscribers. No other customer satisfaction index offers MMHI's reporting frequency, volume of customer interviews, cross-industry results or innovative satisfaction measures.
About Market Metrix
Market Metrix, LLC was founded in 1996 to provide the hospitality industry with better customer and employee satisfaction measurement programs and management tools. In addition to MMHI, Market Metrix provides clients with award-winning survey systems and strategic services. For more information, log onto www.marketmetrix.com or call 1-800-239-7515.
Contact:
Mike Pharis
Market Metrix
tel 415-721-1300
fax 415-721-1314
http://www.marketmetrix.com
Marriott International, Inc. (NASDAQ: MAR) is a global leading lodging company based in Bethesda,Maryland, USA, with more than 4,200 properties in 80 countries and territories. Marriott International reported revenues of nearly $14 billion in fiscal year 2014. The company operates and franchises hotels and licenses vacation ownership resorts under 19 brands, including: The Ritz-Carlton®, BVlgari®, EDITION®, JW Marriott®, Autograph Collection® Hotels, Renaissance® Hotels, Marriott Hotels®, Delta Hotels and Resorts®, Marriott Executive Apartments®, Marriott Vacation Club®, Gaylord Hotels®, AC Hotels by Marriott®, Courtyard®, Residence Inn®, SpringHill Suites®, Fairfield Inn & Suites®, TownePlace Suites®, Protea Hotels® and MoxyHotels®. Marriott has been consistently recognized as a top employer and for its superior business ethics. The company also manages the award-winning guest loyalty program, Marriott Rewards® and The Ritz-Carlton Rewards® program, which together surpass 50 million members. For more information or reservations, please visit our website at 
