Hilton

Travel Industry Take Note: Chinese Tourists Are Here

Published September 5, 2013 | By Clark Norton

Chinese tourists are arriving in big numbers. Photo from Reuters

If you start to see Chinese-style rice porridge appearing in your hotel’s breakfast buffet, don’t be surprised — it just means that hotels are catching on to the skyrocketing spending power of the sheer numbers of Chinese tourists now washing over American (and other) shores.

According to the United Nations World Tourism Organization, Chinese tourists spent more than $100 billion worldwide last year, up by more than third since 2011, during the course of some 83 million trips out of China. That’s more than any other nationality.

While the bulk of those statistics reflect travel within other parts of Asia, the U.S. is also seeing an influx of Chinese visitors — some 1.5 million of them in 2012, spending nearly $9 billion here. That’s an average of $6,000 spent per trip — also more than any other nationality.

The rise… Continue reading →

Posted in Countries, Hotels, Marketing | Tagged baby boomer marketing strategies, California, China, Chinese tourists, Hilton, Marriott, Michigan, New York, Pure Michigan, shopping, Starwood, travel, travel marketing, traveling baby boomers | 6 Comments

Is Hotel Room Service On the Way Out?

Published June 4, 2013 | By Clark Norton

No More Room Service in This Room — photo from Hilton

The news that New York City’s largest hotel — the New York Hilton Midtown, with 2,000 rooms occupying a prime piece of real estate on 6th Avenue between W. 53rd and 54th streets — will soon drop room service has created a bit of a stir in the hospitality industry.

No longer will guests be able to call down for meals to be brought to their rooms; instead, if they wish to eat in the hotel at all, they’ll be forced to grab something at the Hilton’s casual Herb n’ Kitchen restaurant, which opens this month in the lobby. Or, of course, they could head to the nearest diner or Starbucks. Either way, they’ll have to get dressed before gobbling their breakfasts.

Hilton says it made the move after surveying thousands of its guests. “We decided to reinvent… Continue reading →

Posted in Baby boomer travel, Hotels | Tagged baby boomer travel, baby boomer travelers, Hilton, hotels, New York City, room service, travel | 2 Comments

According to government and private surveys:

Leading-edge baby boomers (born between 1946 and 1955) and seniors account for four out of every five dollars spent on luxury travel today.
Roughly half the consumer spending money in the U.S.--more than $2 trillion--is in the hands of leading-edge baby boomers and seniors.
Baby boomers (born 1946-1964) travel more than any other age group.
When asked what they would most like to spend their money on, baby boomers answered “travel” more than any other category, including improving their health or finances.