HSMAI Marketing Review August 2009 - 32

No Matter What the State of the Economy, Today’s Travelers Demand a Good Night’s Sleep [ C AT H L E E N M c C A R T H Y ] WE LIVE IN A SLEEP-DEPRIVED WORLD. Forty percent of adults claim they’re so tired during the day, it interferes with their daily activities. Experts claim sleep deprivation is costing $45 billion a year in lost productivity, increased healthcare bills, and traffic accidents. Add the stress of business travel and you have a lot of hotel guests desperate for sleep. Here’s what some hotels are doing to attract and retain customers by all but guaranteeing a good night’s sleep. E ntering the lobby of the Westin Dragonara in Malta at dinnertime, guests are met with a soothing jazz soundtrack, a sea of flickering candles, and shukoru games arranged on tables for them to play. This is part of Westin’s Unwind program, one of many hotel marketing efforts aimed at relaxing harried travelers. The promise implied behind such campaigns is simple but elusive: a good night’s sleep on the road. Westin’s Unwind program is less about the actual act of sleeping than the early stage of relaxation that begins after work. It’s also a ploy to get guests to dine and, especially, drink in the HSMAI MARKETING REVIEW • AUGUST 2009 86281273/JOSE LUIS PELAEZ/GETTY IMAGES 32

HSMAI Marketing Review August 2009

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of HSMAI Marketing Review August 2009