With the start of 2010, hoteliers across the world were braced for another year of extraordinary challenges.  Current economic conditions and forecasts provide no relief from the pressure of reduced demand and ruinous pricing.  Improvement can’t be clearly seen at this point. We as individuals and as an industry are in uncharted and dangerous waters. We must examine and change our thinking and strategies.  

Capturing local market share has been the hotelier's mantra for decades.  We’ve invested in our properties and poured over market intelligence and competitive rate strategy in a concentrated effort to elevate our hotels above the competition. How many fellow hoteliers tell you their RevPAR yield is above 100 percent? My guess is almost every single one.  But what are we to do when the decision is not between our hotel and another, but whether to travel at all?

Last year at this time, the prevalent advice was to do whatever was necessary to survive while waiting out the storm: Cut costs, drop prices, layoff staff, eliminate capex, turn your inventory over to the OTAs, reduce hours...and also don't forget to beat up on your neighboring hotels and steal their clients, too.  That advice wears thin, and as we near 18 months of dismal performance these actions have produced a downward spiral of rates, lower quality, dispirited staff, hotels that are wearing out and cash flow that can’t sustain an individual hotel or the industry.  

Some hoped the major brands would to come to the rescue.  Surely they could do something to drive revenue higher and turn demand around.  They’ve all tried, but no one brand can do much more than move share around.  We pay fees to help them accomplish this but it doesn’t change the paradigm.  And while the thought of a white knight might be comforting, reality makes it impossible for even the world's largest brands.  Some hoteliers have even hoped for a government bailout.  They were dreaming for certain.

It's Time to Change the Conversation
One of the great lessons of 2009 has been that falling into old patterns is destructive. We’re watching the cash flow and value of our industry become more damaged every day. If, in 2010, we continue the same practices and hope for a miracle we’ll continue the path towards financial disaster and the harm done to our employees and the many stakeholders in our industry.

What if we directed our collective focus away from chasing market share and toward changing travel demand?  Is this possible?  Could we act together as an industry?  Could we together make the difference that sets us on a path of improvement?  Can the brands collaborate and coordinate a message that would work?  If we don't try, we’ll never know.

What if the entire industry joined together to act as a unified trade association and provide consumers with compelling reasons to travel?  The effect of even an incremental change in travel patterns would be powerful.

Who Should Lead the Charge?
We are fortunate to have powerful and effective associations in our corner, including AH&LA and the USTA.  We have very strong franchise owner groups like the IAHI, AAHOA and the many others that work with Choice, Marriott, Hilton, Starwood, Wyndham and others. These organizations should join together and rally the industry to the challenge of increasing demand rather than fighting over the existing pie. If hoteliers were willing to invest an incremental amount annually, we would be able to generate tens of millions of dollars for an effective advertising and public affairs campaign.  We could develop a campaign that would concentrate on the benefits of traveling, without reference to any brand or property.  

There is certainly precedent for this type of campaign.  "Got Milk?" has become a part of the popular culture lexicon and raised consumption of the product, without reference to brand.  Other product associations have done likewise by banding together and extolling the virtues of their products in clever and effective ways.  With creativity and funding, there is no reason to believe the same can’t be accomplished for the travel industry.  

Nothing short of an industry-wide coalition can create the demand that will bring our industry out of this recession.   Rather than battle over the crumbs of current market share, let's redirect our efforts to expanding the size of the pie.  

After all, Americans love to travel.  Let's help them remember why.

Mark Carrier is the current chairman of IAHI, the owners' association for IHG-brand hotels and senior vice president of the B. F. Saul Hotel Division.