Annotated Bib

¶ … American Hotel & Lodging Association - AH&LA." American Hotel & Lodging Association - AH&LA. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Nov. 2013. I have used this association's statistics for 2013, stating that there are 52,529 hotels in the U.S. There is some background information on the industry. Capizzi, Michael and Ferguson, Rick "Loyalty Trends for the twenty-first century" Journal of Consumer Marketing. Vol. 22 (2) 72-80. 2005. This paper discusses the current trends in loyalty marketing.

Ubiquity is found to be important; imagination is more powerful than technology as trends go, because technology is a baseline thing that everybody must have. Customer analytics are becoming bigger as companies amass larger data sets. Charania, Nazia "Hospitality Loyalty Program Effectiveness Evaluation Rubric" University of Nevada, Las Vegas This literature examines many types of loyalty program strategies. Many programs have lowered reward thresholds and increased program offerings. It also examines that almost all hotels offer similar types of rewards therefor the costumer doesn't stay loyal to one brand.

Enz, Cathy A., Linda Canina, and Daniel Palacios-Marques. "The Relationship between New Venture Entry Mode and Firm Performance." International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal Vol. 9 (2) 129-145. 2013. The basis of this research study is a comparison of hotels entering the United Kingdom hotel and hospitality market between the years of 2006 to 2010. The study found that a branded, franchised business led to greater levels of financial performance.

The franchise model was also responsible for a faster ramp of revenues in the first six months of operation and also led to a higher level of operational efficiency. What is interesting about this study is that the franchise value lasted just six months and after that, the company had comparable performance to independent hotels. The conclusion of the researchers is that brand affiliation reduces the initial risk of launching a new hotel yet over the long-term doesn't deliver a sustained competitive advantage.

Freed, Jason "Operators: Loyalty Benefits Trump Costs" Hotel and Motel Management 5 Aug 2010. Web. 2 December 2013. Loyalty programs vary widely in their outcomes, ranging from 2% to 65% at independent hotels. Most owners are "overwhelmingly satisfied with the programs." Loyalty programs also have a cost associated with them, such as the loyalty fund, which is a pool of funds around 5% that is used to reimburse members for redemptions. However, guest profiling can be so valuable that some employees are incentivized upwards of $75-$100 for converting guests to the loyalty program. Gillette, Bill.

"Going It Alone." Hotel & Motel Management 211.9 (1996): 22-23. Web. Studies the chances for success for independent hotels. I looked this for information about the differences between chains and independents. Hayes and.