SAN RAFAEL, Calif. � May 8, 2003 -- 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 this year.  Homewood Suites, JetBlue Airways and Enterprise Rent-A-Car ranked number one in the hotel, airline and rental car industry categories, respectively.  Homewood Suites� top ranking in the hotel category represents the first time an extended-stay hotel chain has taken first place.  JetBlue and Enterprise each had won the top spot in the third quarter of 2002. 

Among the winners by hotel category, two brands have won for three quarters in a row: Walt Disney World Resorts in the upscale hotel category and Bellagio in the upscale casino category.  Walt Disney World Resorts also scored the highest in customer loyalty, which is based on how likely its customers are to come back and to recommend the hotel.  Generally, however, casinos continue to dominate the category measuring the strength of hotel loyalty programs designed to garner repeat business. 

Trends Since 9/11

Customer satisfaction has nearly recovered from the events of September 11.  The pre-9/11 customer satisfaction score of 84 in Q3 2001 slumped to 81 in Q1 2002 but has slowly risen:  82 in Q2, Q3 and Q4 2002, and 83 in Q1 2003.

�As the only quarterly report of satisfaction in hospitality, MMHI is able to isolate emerging industry trends.  We detected the dip in satisfaction scores that followed September 11.  That event and the worsening economy forced the hotel industry to reduce costs, including staffing cutbacks and reductions in services and amenities, which exacted a toll on the guest experience,� said Jonathan Barsky, partner of Market Metrix.  �For the first time since 9/11, we have an increase in overall satisfaction in the first quarter of this year.�

Also since 9/11, leisure travelers represent a larger proportion of travelers (77 percent) compared to pre-9/11 levels (64 percent) and the average age of hotel guests has increased to 46 years old during this period. 
 
 

MMHI Top-Ranked Hospitality
Companies for Q1 2003
.

Hotel Homewood Suites Airline JetBlue Car Rental Enterprise Luxury Hotels Four Seasons Upscale Hotels Walt Disney World Resorts Upper Mid-Price Hotels SpringHill Suites

Mid-Price Hotels Country Inns & Suites By Carlson Economy Hotels Sleep Inn Extended-Stay Homewood Suites Casino Harrah�s Upscale Casino Bellagio

About MMHI
The Market Metrix Hospitality Index is a quarterly report of customer satisfaction with hotel, airline and car rental companies based on 30,000 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. 

The MMHI contains 135 hotel brands, 25 airlines and 11 car rental companies.  The wealth of data is presented in an easy-to-use format, enabling subscribers to quickly identify trends and find best practices.  Subscribers can measure their company�s stand-alone performance and dynamically benchmark their ratings against those of self-selected competitors and highly ranked companies within and across the other hospitality industries. 

In addition to standard measures of customer satisfaction, MMHI has pioneered several proprietary measures.  Hospitality companies that provide Loyalty Emotions -- select emotional experiences for customers, such as �pampered,� �relaxed� or �hip/cool,� depending on category and niche -- obtain higher rates and can increase prices with fewer defections.  Loyalty Program Strength measures the relative success of a company�s loyalty program compared to other programs in the industry.  The Secure Customer measures a customer�s intent to return and likelihood of recommending the hospitality company, important indicators of satisfaction. 

About Market Metrix
Market Metrix, LLC was founded in 1996 by partners Jonathan Barsky, Ph.D., and Lenny Nash 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.  Market Metrix also operates the Consumer Research Center, which provides focus group facilities, data entry services and a state-of-the-art specialty call center.  Based in San Rafael, Calif., Market Metrix is partner-owned and has 50 employees.  For more information, log onto www.marketmetrix.com or call 1-800-239-7515.