Hospitality Abi PDF
Hospitality Abi PDF
Hospitality Abi PDF
(J^Jh^n
HOSPITALITY 2010
The Future of Hospitality and Travel
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Cetron, Marvin J.
Hospitality 2010: the future of hospitality and travel / Marvin Cetron, Fred
DeMicco, Owen Davies.—1st ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references,
ISBN 0-13-147579-7
1. Hospitality industry. 2. Tourism. I. DeMicco, Fred. II. Davies, Owen.
III. Title.
TX911.C42 2006
647.94-dc22
2004028354
Executive Editor: Vernon R. Anthony Manufacturing Manager: Ilene Sanford
Editorial Assistant: Beth Dyke Manufacturing Buyer: Cathleen Petersen
Senior Marketing Manager: Ryan DeGrote Creative Director: Cheryl Asherman
Senior Marketing Coordinator: Elizabeth Senior Design Coordinator: Miguel Ortiz
Farrell Cover Design: Joseph DePinho, dePINHO
Marketing Assistant: Les Roberts DESIGN
Director of Manufacturing and Production: Cover Image: Patricia De La Rosa, Getty
Bruce Johnson Images/Stone
Managing Editor: Mary Carnis Composition: Pine Tree Composition
Production Liaison: Jane Bonnell Printer/Binder: Phoenix Book Tech Park
Production Editor: Mike Remillard, Pine Tree Cover Printer: Phoenix Book Tech Park
Composition
Copyright ©2006 by Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, New Jersey, 07458.
Pearson Prentice Hall. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. This publication
is protected by Copyright and permission should be obtained from the publisher prior to any pro-
hibited reproduction, storage in a retrieval system, or transmission in any form or by any means,
electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or likewise. For information regarding permis-
sion(s), write to: Rights and Permissions Department.
Pearson Prentice Hall™ is a trademark of Pearson Education, Inc.
Pearson® is a registered trademark of Pearson pic
Prentice Hall® is a registered trademark of Pearson Education, Inc.
Pearson Education LTD.
Pearson Education Australia PTY, Limited
Pearson Education Singapore, Pte. Ltd.
Pearson Education North Asia Ltd.
Pearson Education Canada, Ltd.
Pearson Educación de Mexico, S.A. de C.V.
Pearson Education-Japan
Pearson Education Malaysia, Pte. Ltd.
1 0 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
ISBN 0 - 1 3 - m ? S 1 1 - 7
To our families.
We hope it will be a very hospitable future for them.
Foreword xi
Acknowledgments xvii
PART S Common Concerns for the Hospitality Industry
Chapter 1 Practical Prophecy for Beginners 3
Consulting the Oracle 4
Fictional Futures 5
If This Goes On . .. 6
National Stability 7
Looking Ahead 12
Chapter 2 Coming Global Growth Is Hospitable for Hospitality 22
Looking Up 23
Consumers Invite Caution 25
A Few Challenges 26
As We See It 28
World Tour 29
A Benevolent Cycle 34
Key Trends for the Economy 36
Chapter 3 "Bang, You're Dead!" Hospitality in the Age of Terror 47
In the Crosshairs 48
Weighing the Risk 51
Dangerous Ground 52
Future Shocks 54
Safety First 56
Identity Concerns 57
Site Safety 58
Key Trends for Security 60
vii
Contents
In a fast-changing world, there are a few enduring issues that people in any
business must focus on if they are to be successful. This book deals with one of
them. Here I want to consider another.
The first issue, and the subject of this volume, is change itself. When
today's senior executives were beginning their careers, we were just starting to
understand that something new was abroad in the world, a process of trans-
formation that our parents had not recognized and our grandparents had not
faced. After World War II, most people had expected things to go "back to nor-
mal" Twenty-five years later, many of us were still adapting to the idea that it
was not to be.
The process of constant change began earlier—arguably much earlier—but
it became a way of life in the 1950s, when American executives fanned out
across the world, spreading the gospel of capitalism; their students built Ger-
many, Japan, and other countries into mighty international competitors. Peo-
ple whose grandparents had been born, lived, and died on the family farm began
following their jobs from Nebraska to Texas to New York and Oregon. Tiny
restaurants specializing in hamburgers and fried chicken spawned vast chains
that transformed the world s eating habits. Hotels proliferated to meet the grow-
ing demand for accommodations. First airlines and then telecommunications
knitted the world together into one global economy. Hospitality companies were
born, grew, shrank, merged, and grew some more.
Somewhere along the way, we came to understand that change is now a
permanent part of our lives, and one that is moving faster every day. No one can
manage a business or plan a career without being able to anticipate where tech-
nology, demographics, and other transforming forces will lead us. Unfortu-
nately, making successful forecasts has been a difficult skill to learn, not only
because forecasting itself is challenging, but because few specific resources
have been available to help with the task.
xi
xii Foreword
of your own business, understanding what is necessary and doing it well. For
a restaurant, this can mean anything from providing quick and accurate service
at the drive-through to visiting the docks as the fishing boats arrive to select the
absolute best of the day's catch. The details vary with the business; only the
mandate is constant.
If there are problems, they need to be caught and fixed quickly. Left un-
attended, they will alienate customers and harm your reputation.
Finally, get to know your guests personally. Customers always come back
to a restaurant whose maitre d' addresses them by name and recalls what they
enjoyed a year earlier. Fortunately, computers now can bring this kind of per-
sonalized service within reach of hotel and restaurant staff even if they lack
such a remarkable memory themselves.
All this boils down to a single piece of advice: Be brilliant on the basics. It
requires no more than constant, almost obsessive, attention to detail from every
member of your staff.
2. Make every customer feel special.
Customers are individuals, and they should be treated as such. This means
giving them choices wherever possible, making them feel important, and build-
ing personal relationships with them. (See the previous rule.) Treat customers
like family, and they will keep coming back.
3. Have the courage to set bold goals.
It is no longer enough to be good at what you do. Continued success re-
quires constant improvement, and often the development of entirely new abil-
ities to meet your customers' changing needs.
This is a mandate for setting long-term goals. Make broad plans to meet
your customers' needs. Then choose concrete targets, begin work immediately
to achieve them, and make sure that your people have the tools they need to get
the job done.
It often helps to bring in someone from outside to provide a fresh per-
spective or to aid in accomplishing your objectives. Talk to people from other
departments. Recruit suppliers and vendors to help. Even work with competi-
tors when it will bring mutual benefit.
4. Simplify, simplify, simplify.
This is a powerful idea, and it reaches into all aspects of your business. Think
of the craftsmen of an earlier era. Their priorities were clear and few: Deal with
people plainly and honestly, and give customers what they want without needless
complications. And if some other rule or procedure gets in the way, bend it, break
it, or get rid of it entirely. Those priorities made things simple for the craftsman
and easy for his customer. They can do the same for your company today.
xiv Foreword
Make each decision pass a litmus test. Is this good for our people, cus-
tomers, and profits? If it's good for all three, then do it. If it's good for two, talk
about it. If it's good for one, you should probably skip it. And if it doesn't add
value, eliminate it.
That kind of simplicity will make your company more efficient and your
customers happier.
5. Make technology your servant.
In the 1980s and early 1990s, many executives seemed to think of tech-
nology as a kind of magic: Buy some computers, and your business would sud-
denly be more profitable. It did not work out that way.
Technology adds value only when it helps you meet the customer's needs.
It does so by gathering useful information—for example, customer feedback,
which should be collected and acted on within 24 hours—and routing it to the
people who can apply it. Make sure that technology is easy for your staff to
use—the people who will have to work with your IT system should help design
it—and transparent for your customers.
Used properly, technology can be a powerful ally in giving each customer
a highly personalized experience, and this can be one of your most valuable
tools in cultivating repeat business. This is one place where the authors' fore-
casts directly advance the quest for better service. Several of the chapters ahead
offer concrete suggestions for using technology to individualize your dealings
with customers.
6. Measure well, act fast.
One purpose of technology is to measure things so that you can act on
them. How close are you to meeting your goals? How satisfied are your cus-
tomers? What are their most important needs? If you don't know—and by that
I mean if you do not have sound quantitative data for analysis—you have little
hope of doing better. But with the data that technology provides, you can focus
your efforts on the areas that will do you and your customers the most good.
One critical area for measurement is customer ^satisfaction. Only about
5 percent of dissatisfied customers will actually complain about what bothers
them. However, seven out of ten will tell their friends what a bad job you did.
(Contrast that with the number who will tell their friends what a good job you
did: only 30 percent!) In the age of the Internet, those "friends" may be thou-
sands of people all over the world, and a single negative report on the right Web
site can deter motivated consumers for years.
Fortunately, measuring results quickly and accurately also makes it eas-
ier to deal with complaints fast, and to build personal relationships with your
customers. And their emotional response to that kind of service can turn them
into loyal visitors for years to come.
Foreword xv
improving the menu, listing calories and carb counts not only for the entrees
but for salad dressings and other options. New possibilities will arise daily, as
your customers' needs change and technology brings new ways to meet them.
The ideas above provide a framework for your efforts, and the chapters
ahead can help you to anticipate future needs. Yet in the end, your own atten-
tion to detail will be the most important factor in your company's success.
Marv Cetron tells of staying at a top-of-the-line hotel, part of a chain that
is well known for its devotion to quality and customer service. One of the chain's
customer-pleasing efforts was a money-back guarantee that room service would
deliver breakfast in ten minutes. While waiting for his breakfast one morning,
Marv happened to open the door to the hall—and there was the waiter, looking
at his watch and carefully counting down so that he could deliver the rapidly
cooling meal in exactly ten minutes, just as the company had promised!
No matter how hard you try, there is always some way to make your ser-
vice just a little bit better. Identifying that opportunity can be a challenge, but
your customers will appreciate the results. So will your bottom line.
Roger Dow
President and Chief Executive Officer
Travel Industry Association of America (T.I.A.A.)
Acknowledgments
That only the authors get to put their names on a book's cover is one of life's
great inequities. Invariably, there are many others whose contributions de-
serve equally public acclaim. Yet it falls to us to recognize their efforts here,
on an unjustly inconspicuous inner page. So be it. In no particular order, we
wish to thank:
Vernon R. Anthony, our skilled and patient editor at Prentice Hall, whose
guidance and encouragement were critical factors in bringing this effort
to fruition.
Beth Dyke, editorial assistant at Prentice Hall, without whose diligent ef-
forts Hospitality 2010 would still be in preparation.
Roger Dow, president and CEO of the Travel Industry Association of Amer-
ica. His generosity in sharing his unique insights into the hospitality in-
dustry, and in contributing a sterling Foreword, made this a far better and
more useful book.
Ilsa Whittemore, executive editor of HSMAI Marketing Review, for en-
couraging us to write the columns on which this work was based, and too
often for her patience while those columns were in the works.
Justin Cetron and Wayne Jackson, undergraduate and master's students,
respectively, with the University of Delaware hospitality program. Their
long hours of research provided most of Appendices C, D, and E and use-
ful data for other portions of the book.
And Mike Remillard and his colleagues at Pine Tree Composition, who
converted our manuscript to the printed page quickly, efficiently, and
without so much as a typo that we were able to find—an amazing
performance!
xvii
xviii Acknowledgments
No doubt many others should have been included here, and we apologize
for their omission. Our thanks to them all. They deserve much of the credit for
all that is good about Hospitality 2010.
Of course, the blame for any mistakes of fact or interpretation rests solely
with the authors.
HOSPITALITY 2010
The Future of Hospitality and Travel
Parti
Common Concerns
for the Hospitality Industry
Chapter
Practical Prophecy
for Beginners
Do you worry when attending meetings off the beaten path? Imagine being
taken hostage by terrorists while vacationing in the Middle East or visiting a
supplier in South America? Limit your options to jobs or investments in the
United States, because you never know what's going to happen in foreign lands,
even when they appear to be stable?
Who could blame you? Whether you are a student thinking about gradu-
ate school abroad or a business executive scoping out foreign competition,
national stability is one of the most important factors to consider in mak-
ing plans that involve other countries. It also can be one of the most difficult.
After all, stability is not a single factor, but a complicated vector sum of
economic conditions, demographic trends, political forces, religion, tech-
nology, personalities—an endless list of factors. If revolutions, coups, wars,
and weapons tests regularly take the CIA by surprise, how can you be ex-
pected to know what's brewing in far-away places with strange-sounding
names?
That reasoning applies just as well to a host of other problems you will in-
evitably face in a career in the hospitality industry. How will demographic
changes affect the food preferences of diners at mid-priced restaurants? How
will technology continue to change hotel management? What can you expect
from the economy over the next one, five, or ten years? You will encounter these
and many similar issues in the years ahead. And despite the CIA's problems,
you will be expected to assess them correctly.
We can help. In fact, that is the whole purpose of this book.
Over some five decades of work, Forecasting International (FI)—the firm
founded by one of the authors and long employing another—has spent much
of its time evaluating the stability of nations for clients ranging from the De-
partment of Defense to Fortune 500 companies to foreign governments. In the
3
4 Chapter i
FICTIONAL FUTURES
Another useful tool is the scenario. Webster's first definition of the word scenario
is "an outline or synopsis of a play." As descriptions borrowed from other fields
go, this one is not bad. Scenarios are portraits of alternative futures that might
conceivably develop from today's world. They are not forecasts in that we do not
expect tomorrow's reality to resemble them, save in limited and unpredictable
ways. A good scenario can make us see the evolution of a future we would
scarcely recognize if we were magically transported into the middle of it.
That is very much their purpose. Scenarios often are used in developing
forecasts, to help identify issues that need further research. They also can
broaden our imaginations, allowing us to envision a wider range of possible
futures. Sometimes we use them to broaden the imaginations of our clients,
enabling them to consider forecasts that they otherwise might find too "far out"
to be taken seriously.
Scenarios begin with drivers, a defined set of forces that we choose to ex-
amine. Will new technologies dominate future society? Will the capitalist eco-
nomic model continue to spread throughout the world? Will a sudden change
of heart sweep across the globe, so that environmentalism guides our decisions?
Scenarios can spin out any combination of postulates, each one leading to a dif-
ferent, yet convincing, future. The only limitation is that scenarios must be in-
ternally consistent. A scenario of economic decline, for example, is unlikely to
include full employment or a wealthy middle class; joblessness and privation are
the order of that future day.
One of the most commonly used scenarios, and one that has had a pow-
erful influence on the work of Forecasting International, is the 2050 Global
Normative Scenario, evolved by the United Nations Millennium Project. It
represents a consensus vision of the future compiled from the ideas of
over 1,000 participants in a continuing attempt to anticipate what is to come.
In the Millennium Project's scenario, the world of 2050 has changed in many
ways. Predictably, it is driven and dominated by science and technology. The
Internet, biotechnology, nanomachines, and space all have contributed to
this prosperous new world. In all, technology, global communications,
human development, and enlightened economic policies have worked together
to make the world a better place than seemed possible at the end of the 20th
century.
Another tool uses three scenarios: one optimistic, one pessimistic, and
one that deliberately parts company with most of the trends we see around us
today. These scenarios grew from the work of the Global Scenario Group of the
Stockholm Environmental Institute. Over the last few years, the Brookings
Institute, the Santa Fe Initiative, and FI all have employed them in a wide
6 Chapter i
NATIONAL STABILITY
In an age of terrorism, and for an industry that is exposed to risks all over the
world, one of the most important issues is the stability of foreign lands. Do
we dare to put a new hotel, resort, or restaurant in a given country? Should
27 Chapter i
we consider moving out of existing operations there? Can airlines and cruise
ships safely stop at its air and sea ports? We have seen all too often that a
country that appears stable today can erupt into violence almost without
warning.
And yet, there invariably are subtle warnings, if only we recognize them.
Identifying them, and figuring out what they mean, is one more job for
forecasting.
For this purpose, we supplement our trends with a series of indicators
that we collect for each country under study. These include a wide range of eco-
nomic, demographic, technological, and military data. Virtually all of them are
readily available. After half a century of working with classified information
under government contracts, we have found that at least 95 percent—and prob-
ably closer to 98 percent—of what you need to know comes from unclassified
sources.
Whenever possible, we like to find the same information from two or more
independent authorities, just for confirmation. We use the Bureau of Labor
Statistics and the U.S. Census for economic and demographic data, Jane's for
military data, the Worldwatch Institute for environmental data, and The Econ-
omist and Christian Science Monitor for a wide variety of information. Other use-
ful sources include Web sites operated by the United Nations, the World Bank,
and the International Monetary Fund. We read The Futurist as well, for in-
valuable background in thinking of things to come.
The indicators in Appendix B: Vital Signs for National Security have
proved to be extraordinarily useful and versatile. Not all indicators are impor-
tant for every nation. Each must be weighted according to the conditions in
the country at hand, and thus far that is largely a task for experience and human
judgment.
FI tracks more than forty indicators that can be valuable in evaluating the
stability of a nation, and for a definitive analysis we wish to include as many
of them as possible. Yet for a quicker, and still very good, investigation, the list
can be pared significantly. The accompanying tables give basic data for a num-
ber of important countries.
As they stand, these tables have important limitations. For a practical
study, we would have to fill in some gaps.
Only the most prominent countries in each category are included in each
table. The United States is listed in the tables for GDP and nuclear warheads,
for example, but its oil reserves and number of environmental treaties are omit-
ted, while Indonesia appears only in the tables of the opacity index and num-
ber of trouble-prone young men. For a real-world study, the missing data would
have to be added. Fortunately, nearly all these figures can be found readily on
the Internet.
Practical Prophecy for Beginners J i
In these tables, the countries are simply rank-ordered. The land with the
greatest supply of water per person, the largest GDP, or whatever stands in first
position, with the remainder trailing down the table. For practical work, we
would need to weight each indicator to reflect its significance to the countiy. For
example, the United States does not appear on the list of nations with the largest
oil reserves, yet that very lack of supply is extremely important to the economy.
Iceland has more fresh water per person than any other country on the planet,
but this asset has not given it prominence on the global stage.
Weighting these factors correctly sometimes requires practice, but sim-
ple logic will carry us through most studies. It helps not to view the data as a
mass of discrete facts but as elements in a complex network of mutual influ-
ences. You will get the hang of it.
Most importantly, the data presented here are single points. They present
a snapshot of each country, when a video would tell us much more. For any
study we carried out at FI, we would look not at GDP or military spending, but
at trends in those data. The whole point of forecasting is not to find out where
the subject stands, but where it is going.
For a better idea of how this works, let us take a country and see what we
can find out about it. We will look at Britain, which is globally significant and
is represented in many of the tables. On the way by, we will supplement the ta-
bles with data that is readily available online, and perhaps with some of our own
background information.
For a start, the United Kingdom has a GDP of $1.52 billion, making it the
seventh largest in the world. A quick look at the online edition of the CIA World
FactBook shows that this translates to a comfortable $25,500 per capita, which
places Britain at roughly the same level as France and Germany, a bit behind
Japan, and significantly behind the United States.
Britain is a major exporting country, sixth in the world, and ranks sixth in
the World Economic Forum's index of business competitiveness. When you
think about it, that is a remarkably good performance. Britain exports over 39
percent as much goods, in dollar terms, as the United States with less than 21
percent of the population. Of course, the other way to look at it is that the
United States is so large and prosperous that it can use most of its products at
home.
One other economic factor seems interesting. Britain still has not adopted
the euro, the currency of nearly all its partners in the European Union. This
means that its companies may face some risks from currency exchange even
when they trade within the EU. It also suggests that some people visiting the
continent from abroad may decide to stay there, rather than going through the
hassle of converting their money to pounds Sterling in order to see England,
while those who visit Britain may not travel further. This is not likely to be more
29 Chapter i
than a small handicap for the British hospitality industry, but it could be worth
looking into in a more thorough study.
In resources, the United Kingdom does not have enough oil or fresh water
to rank among the top ten in either table, and it is not among the ten largest ex-
porters of farm products. However, it does rank as the eleventh largest agricul-
tural exporter. This is an interesting accomplishment for a few small islands, and
for some studies we might want to look into that further. In addition, we re-
member that Britain once pumped quite a bit of oil from the North Sea, and an-
other check with the CIA World FactBook reveals that there are large reserves
of coal and natural gas as well as oil, so that primary energy production con-
tributes no less than 10 percent to the nations GDP; this is one of the highest
shares among the industrialized nations. It would be nice to know how long
that oil can be expected to last, but we will ignore that issue for now.
The United Kingdom has a solid base in technology. Its scientists have
won 47 Nobel prizes, compared with 137 for the United States and 49 for Ger-
many. It ranks eighth in the number of Internet users, despite a relative short-
age of personal computers. There have been news stories, too, in the last few
years that some American scientists are emigrating to Britain, where they can
experiment with cloning and perform stem-cell research without the restric-
tions placed on them in the United States. However, according to the table, in
the number of patents granted it falls somewhere behind Luxembourg and Fin-
land. This seems odd, and it might have something to do with patent law rather
than inventiveness. It might also be that whoever compiled the table just skipped
over the United Kingdom. Then again, it might not. Depending on the purpose
of our study, this could be worth more research.
Britain also may have the kind of social base that contributes to a stable,
economically successful society. With roughly two rooms per person, it ranks
in fourth place for its housing supply. However, the U.N. Human Development
Index does not seem to rate its quality of life among the top ten, and it lags in
the number of university students per 100,000 population. This data category
also may justify more study.
Militarily, the United Kingdom is the worlds third-largest spender; yet the
budget for its armed forces is barely more than one-tenth that of the United
States. It is the sixth-largest weapons exporter, though only 18 percent as large
in this market as the United States and 12 percent as large as Russia. And with
200 warheads, it owns a significant nuclear deterrent.
Diplomatically, Britain is a permanent member of the United Nations Se-
curity Council, which gives it much more power than mere size would suggest.
It also ranks fifth among the world's donors of foreign aid, which confers some
status of its own. It does not rank in the top nine signatories of environmental
treaties, but what that indicates will not be clear without further study.
Practical Prophecy for Beginners J i
Britain's opacity index is only 38, signifying that its business and political
operations are relatively open to public scrutiny. This tends to be a sign of basic
stability, as the governments of unstable countries seldom want anyone watch-
ing their actions too closely.
The table of young-male populations does not include the United King-
dom. (It is not a top-ten list, but a group of countries that interested us when
it was compiled.) However, the UN's World Population Prospects database
(http://esa.un.org/unpp/index.aspPpanelas2) reports that in 2000 there were 5.5
million males in the violence-prone ages between 15 and 29, or about 9.3 per-
cent of the total population. This is roughly the same as Egypt and India, which
are not the world's most stable places. This may be one country where the in-
dicator should be weighted less heavily than in other lands.
Culturally, data from the movie industry suggest that Britain consumes
the good-life fantasies of Hollywood more than it exports its own. It ranks sev-
enth in the number of movie tickets sold each year, third in the motion-picture
industry. However, it is not among the top ten producers of feature films.
Without going into depth, the data we have collected thus far paints a pic-
ture of the United Kingdom as a significant economic, military, and diplomatic
power in the world. It also suggests that we can expect Britain to remain eco-
nomically comfortable, stable, and influential for some time to come. In a for-
mal research project, we would collect much more data and try to fill in the
details of this quick impression.
However, even this brief—extremely brief—study raises some interesting
questions:
How long will that North Sea oil last? And how will the economy react
when it runs out? Will Britain's environment suffer if the country reverts to
burning coal? Will the United Kingdom become as dependent as the United
States on oil from the Middle East? We clearly have more work to do in this area.
How long can Britain remain a global economic leader? The world in-
creasingly depends on technology, and the United Kingdom does not seem to
be producing all that many college graduates. Can it maintain a strong tech-
nology base without them? Does Britain have some alternative way of training
engineers and technicians that does not show up on college data? Perhaps a
system of technical schools, possibly supplemented by on-the-job training? Or
does it rely on technologically sophisticated immigrants from India and other
lands? For a serious study, we would have to know.
And what does that large population of young males indicate? The well-
educated industrialized lands almost all have low birthrates. Does Britain have
an unusually large, fertile immigrant population? If so, where are they from?
Recent news reports have said that militant religious leaders in Britain may be
attracting young Muslims to the jihad against the West, and even against their
12 Chapter i
adopted homeland. How many of Britain's young men are potential converts to
Muslim extremism? Flag this area for much more research! It could be critical
to the economic and political stability of the United Kingdom, and to the safety
of the hospitality industry there.
We see in these questions the power of trend data. Some of them would
be answered if we were working with trends, rather than looking at single
data points. That issue of how long the North Sea oil will last is an obvious
example.
We see also the value offered by even a cursory look ahead. In a few min-
utes of thinking about the most basic data, we have identified several important
issues that must be examined further before we can feel confident that our
image of Britain will not change abruptly within just a few years. Forecasters
often carry out such preliminary studies to learn whether a subject merits
greater effort.
Most of us learn best by doing something, not by reading about it. So for
a more valuable introduction to forecasting, why not try this on your own? Pick
a country, and make your own forecast. Gather the necessary data, see what
the trends and indicators imply for it, and evaluate that nation's stability and
future. Then see how things are likely to evolve over the next ten years or so, and
try to figure out the merits of siting a new hotel or resort there. This exercise
will give you a far better sense of how much can be accomplished using pub-
licly available data and relatively simple methods of analysis.
If you want a really interesting challenge, try looking at India. It is a huge
country, with an extraordinarily varied population and culture, and it is chang-
ing rapidly in ways that are likely to be felt around the world. Compare India
with China, and you will have seen the future of one of the world's most im-
portant bilateral relationships, two of its largest and fastest growing markets,
and 40 percent of its population.
LOOKING AHEAD
In a fast-changing world, the cost of being unprepared seems to grow every
day. A glance at eight-track tapes or a beta-format VCR moldering in the attic,
or the memory of buying tech stocks just before the NASDAQ crash, should be
enough to convince anyone that we all need better information about the future.
It is available. With a little effort, we can diagnose the future as a doctor
diagnoses a patient. The vital signs are there to be read.
This chapter can provide only a brief sample of the ways in which fore-
casting methods such as our trends and indicators can be used to anticipate
developments affecting the hospitality industry, and in turn many aspects of
our own lives and careers. It should be a good place to start your own study of
Practical Prophecy for Beginners J i
the subjects that concern you, and a guide to the kind of reasoning that can
give you a leg up in many other fields as well.
"If only I had known then what I know today. . . How often have you
heard that said? How often have you said it yourself? Learn to look ahead as
forecasters do, and you may never say it again.
MILITARY INDICATORS
1 Russia $5.9
2 United States 3.9
3 France 1.6
4 China 0.8
5 Germany 0.7
6 United Kingdom 0.7
7 Italy 0.5
8 Canada 0.3
9 Ukraine 0.3
10 Netherlands 0.3
14 Chapter i
ECONOMIC INDICATORS
RESOURCE INDICATORS
TECHNOLOGY INDICATORS
'1901-2003
DIPLOMACY SNDiCATORS
1 Norway 26
2 Netherlands 25
3 Sweden 24
4 Denmark 23
5 Switzerland 22
6 Canada 21
7 Austria 20
8 Bulgaria 19
9 Luxembourg 19
10 Czech Republic 18
18 Chapter i
SOCIAL INDICATORS
1 Norway 0.5
2 Sweden 0.5
3 Canada 0.5
4 Belgium 0.5
5 Australia 0.5
6 United States 0.5
7 Iceland 0.6
8 Netherlands 0.6
9 Japan 0.6
10 Finland 0.6
CULTURAL INDICATORS
1 India 1,200
2 United States 543
3 Japan 293
4 France 200
5 Spain . 137
6 Italy 130
7 Germany 116
8 China 100
9 Philippines 97
10 Hong Kong 92
Singapore 29
Chile 36
United States 36
United Kingdom 38
Hong Kong 45
Italy 48
Mexico 48
Israel 53
Egypt 58
Peru 58
Colombia 60
Japan 60
South Africa 60
Argentina 61
Brazil 61
Taiwan 61
Pakistan 62
Venezuela 63
India 64
Thailand 67
South Korea 73
Turkey 74
Indonesia 75
Russia 84
China 87
Practical Prophecy for Beginners J i
percent between 2000 and 2002—before the dollar lost much of its value in
international currency markets—and by 25 percent in 2003. With the dollar
so weak and travel to other lands comparatively expensive for Americans in
2004, they expect that when the numbers are all in tourism will turn out to
have been down throughout Europe by 20 to 30 percent. Early in the year,
business at restaurants in major European tourist destinations was off by 40
to 50 percent. And when Americans do travel, they have been staying at cheap
hotels near the bus station, rather than pricey ones in the scenic districts,
and going to cafeterias instead of more expensive restaurants. Economic re-
covery in the United States should help to bring the tourists back. Prosper-
ity in other lands could turn the coming good years into an all-out boom for
the global hospitality industry.
LOOKING UP
In fact, the American recovery started quite a while ago. According to the Bu-
reau of Economic Analysis, the U.S. economy has been expanding continuously
since the fourth quarter of 2001. In 2003, it grew by 3.1 percent for the year,
peaking at a spectacular rate of 8.2 percent annually in the third quarter. In the
first three months of 2004, the GDP grew at an average annual rate of 3.9 per-
cent. For the year, growth is expected to come in at 4 percent or so, a level that
most economists believe can be sustained for several years.
Economic data through late spring and early summer confirmed that a
strong recovery is well under way in the United States:
a By early February 2004, the Standard & Poors Index was up 43 percent
in eleven months. By August, despite several down months in response
to the threat of higher interest rates, it retained more than three-fourths
of its gains. Investors, at least, expected the current economic growth to
continue for the next six months or more.
o Retail sales were up 0.7 percent in July 2004, a bit less than expected, but
marking 19 months of almost continuous growth since January 2003.
® Durable goods orders rose 1.7 percent in July, the best gain in four
months. This is strong evidence that the current economic expansion
can be expected to continue.
• The Institute for Supply Management Index, another respected measure
of manufacturing strength, came in at 62.0 in July 2004, slightly higher
than expected. Any reading over 50 signals growth in this crucial sector.
® Unemployment seems to have stabilized at 5.4 to 5.6 percent in the first
eight months of 2004—not the 4 percent seen at the height of the boom
in the 1990s, but typical of a healthy American economy.
Chapter 2
• Job growth, long lagging the rest of the economy, finally broke out in
March 2004, with a spectacular increase of 308,000 in nonfarm em-
ployment. Job growth has lagged since then, but remained positive
through August.
® Inflation, however, is beginning to cause concern. The Consumer Price
Index was up 0.5 percent in March 2004, for an annual inflation rate of
6 percent. Virtually all of this and later increases have come from the en-
ergy sector, owing to the Iraq war, OPEC policy decisions, and the Yukos
dispute in Russia. In response, the Federal Open Market Committee has
been gradually raising interest rates.
® The Conference Board's Index of Leading Indicators, which foretells fu-
ture economic growth, rose 0.3 percent in March 2004, its seventh in-
crease in six months. However, slight declines in June and July—the first
since March 2003—despite a spike in oil prices suggests that no major
inflation is news.
All this speaks of economic strength, both present and future. The con-
sensus among economists is that the recession of 2001 was the briefest, shal-
lowest on record, with just three quarters of consecutive decline, and that it is
unlikely to return. In this, the economists are clearly correct.
American consumers seem to agree, at least if we look at their behavior.
With the exception of the first three months of 2000, when the economy was still
growing, and September 2001, when the country was reeling from the terror-
ist attack on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, they have continued to
spend freely, a little more each month. Between April 2003 and July 2004, the
most recent data yet available, only September 2003 showed a decline in per-
sonal consumption spending, and the dip was more than made up by Novem-
ber. After a flat month in April 2004, consumer spending grew at a rate of about
4 percent in May and June, twice as fast as it had a year earlier. This is impor-
tant, because consumer spending makes up about two-thirds of the American
economy. It was consumers, not business, whose spending carried the country
through the recent recession.
When American consumers are asked how they feel about the economy,
the picture also was brighter in mid-2004 than it had been a year earlier. With
interruptions of no more than a month or two, the Conference Board's Con-
sumer Confidence Index declined from 120 in June 2001 to just over 60 in
March 2003. By July 2004, it was back to 105.7. The University of Michigan's
Index of Consumer Sentiment declined steadily from mid-1999 through early
2003 and then began to rise. In July 2004, it stood at 96.7, up nearly 25 points
from its low some 18 months earlier.
Corning Global Growth Is Hospitable for Hospitality 25
So happy days are here again. American tourists will hurry back to Euro-
pean hotels and restaurants, executives will make more business trips, and
cruise passengers will finally be willing to pay full fare for their sea-going va-
cations. Right?
did. In February, the number was back down to 21,000. It has remained erratic,
but generally lower than expected, ever since.
These hard, well-publicized numbers contrasted unfavorably with the an-
nual Economic Report of the President, which forecast that average payrolls in
2004 would be 2.6 million jobs larger than in 2003. Administration officials
quickly backed away from that prediction when skeptics pointed out that meet-
ing the target would require creating about 320,000 jobs per month for the rest
of the year.
In an election year, all this is big political news, and it has many working-
class Americans worried. What if the economy is not as strong as those GDP
numbers suggest? What if companies just don't need well-paid American work-
ers anymore to produce their goods? What if the government hasn't a clue how
to fix the situation? Hence February's decline in consumer confidence.
A FEW CHALLENGES
There are several issues to look at here, and we will take them in turn.
One is labor productivity. During the recession, companies maintained
profits by cutting payrolls, learning better ways to use all those computers they
bought in the 1990s, and pushing their remaining employees to turn out more
work per hour. Now that the recession is over, they are still pushing. Labor pro-
ductivity has risen almost uninterruptedly since 1990, and it rose almost twice
as fast between January 2000 and mid-2004 as it did in between 1992 (the base-
line year) and 1999. At the end of 2003, American workers turned out nearly 30
percent more goods and services per hour than they did in 1992. That means
companies need fewer employees to get their work done.
When economists know how fast the economy and productivity are grow-
ing, they can get a fairly good idea of how many new jobs the economy will
create. With GDP growth of 4.5 percent per year, cutting productivity growth to
1.5 percent per year would create 320,000 jobs per month and lead most con-
sumers to start thinking about their next vacation. Productivity growth of 2.7
percent would force employers to create 150,000 new jobs per month, or enough
to absorb the new workers coming into the labor market. In 2003, labor pro-
ductivity actually rose by 4.1 percent, and that allows room for hardly any new
hires at all. Productivity growth in 2004 seems likely to average about 3 per-
cent-it was 2.9 percent in the second quarter-leaving job creation to limp along
much as it did in December 2003 and January 2004.
Another issue is outsourcing. Increasingly, companies are cutting costs by
shipping jobs to low-wage countries like China, Russia, and especially India,
where universities graduate more English-speaking scientists, engineers, and
technicians than the rest of the world combined. Outsourcing is where many
of those lost factory jobs, the ones not displaced by computer-aided design and
Corning Global Growth Is Hospitable for Hospitality 27
manufacturing, have been going since the 1980s. Today the trend is being felt
in computers and information technology, telephone customer support, many
services, and even some professions. No fewer than one-third of American pro-
grammers and software engineers are expected to lose their jobs to outsourc-
ing in the next six years; in the most vulnerable segments of the industry, salaries
for the survivors have already fallen by nearly 10 percent.
There are few industries where outsourcing will not make itself felt. Ar-
chitects and consultants are safe; their customers like to be able to talk with
them in person. So are construction workers and auto mechanics. Relatively few
jobs will be lost from the hospitality industry; no one in Bangalore can clean a
hotel room in New York or cook a restaurant meal in Chicago. But not all physi-
cians have to see their patients, so a few hospitals already are e-mailing X-rays
to be read by Indian doctors. And a growing cadre of accountants is preparing
U.S. tax returns in India. Of the top 1,000 American companies, more than 400
will have at least pilot projects offshore before 2006 is over. A recent study at
the University of California at Berkeley found that 14 percent of all American
jobs could eventually migrate overseas.
This trend is spreading around the world. Germany and Britain have well-
established outsourcing movements, and the process is getting under way in
the Netherlands, Belgium, Sweden, and Switzerland. Even France is beginning
to experience outsourcing, despite some of the world's most restrictive labor
laws and powerful unions. In the future, India will begin outsourcing its labor
to former British colonies in Africa, where English is spoken and labor costs will
remain low. Ghana, South Africa, and Zimbabwe all are beginning to profit
from outsourcing. As outsourcing spreads in Europe, French-speaking Africa
will benefit from this trend as well.
A few economists deny that outsourcing has really cost significant num-
bers of American jobs. Some say it actually creates new employment. In Feb-
ruary, Gregory Mankiw, chairman of the President's Council of Economic
Advisors, found himself in hot water for publicly applauding the process. Out-
sourcing, he said, cuts costs, and that will make the economy stronger and
Americans more prosperous. In the long run, he was probably right, but it was
not what increasingly skittish consumers wanted to hear.
Finally, a few economists doubt that the country really is short of jobs at
all. The federal Bureau of Labor Statistics performs two different surveys in an
effort to track the nation's employment status. The one we all hear about each
month comes from payroll records at 400,000 companies, and it shows that the
country has lost 716,000 jobs since the bottom of the recession in November
2001. The other survey, much less publicized, asks 60,000 households about
their employment. This study says that the economy has not lost jobs after all;
it actually has created 2.2 million jobs since the end of 2001, 496,000 in Janu-
ary alone! This obvious conflict puzzles many economists.
28 Chapter i
AS WE SEE IT
Here is how Forecasting International makes sense of all this:
The American economy really is growing at a rate that should average
about 4 percent in 2004. That represents a solid, sustainable expansion that
should continue for several years.
In any previous recovery, it would have resulted in the rehiring of laid-off
workers and the creation of more than enough jobs to employ all the new work-
ers who enter the labor force each month. New hiring was delayed because ser-
vices are now automating their processes, much as manufacturing has been doing
for 20 years, and because outsourcing truly is draining jobs from the United States.
We do not fully understand why official unemployment rates have re-
mained so much lower than many economists would have expected. In part, it
is because people who lost their jobs in the last few years eventually gave up
looking for work and are no longer counted in the official government figures.
However, the Bureau of Labor Statistics puts the number of "discouraged work-
ers" at only 514,000, compared with 8.4 million unemployed persons in March
2004. This is not enough to raise the unemployment figure significantly.
Some of the unemployed have found work of sorts—there really are more
jobs than the payroll survey shows—but it is not always the kind of work anyone
can be happy about. Perhaps one-third of displaced manufacturing workers and
engineers have had to settle for service jobs that pay much less than they were ac-
customed to and provide no health insurance or other benefits. Many of those jobs
are part time, and many are off the books. Increasingly, workers get paid in cash
and employers bury the cost in other parts of the balance sheet. These jobs are
uncounted and untaxed. They explain much of the difference, between the BLS
payroll survey and the household survey. In fact, BLS reports that fully 97 per-
cent of the jobs added to the household survey between March and June 2004
were part-time. This does not qualify as a major recovery in employment.
It also is true that outsourcing will strengthen the American economy, and
the economies of many European nations as well. Cutting costs makes busi-
ness more efficient and reduces the price that consumers pay for goods and
services, and the money saved is eventually reinvested, creating new jobs. How-
ever, that is a process for the long run. At the moment, there simply aren't
enough white-collar and factory jobs to go around. That means the retraining
programs some politicians have suggested will not work; there is no point in
training the unemployed for jobs that do not, and will not, exist. Many dis-
placed workers have had their lives permanently changed for the worse. Until
job creation catches up with labor supply, many workers will have to settle for
jobs far below their talent, skill, and ambition.
And yet, in the long run outsourcing may not be quite as disruptive as it now
seems. Many employers have found that moving their operations offshore does
Corning Global Growth Is Hospitable for Hospitality 29
not work out as well as they once hoped. Dell, for example, found so many cus-
tomers were dissatisfied by the support work done at a Bangalore call center
that it shifted the operation back to Texas and Tennessee. Others have found
that offshore support costs were more than they expected, and their numbers are
likely to grow quickly. Salaries for Indian programmers already are beginning to
rise, even as American wages decline. In five years, IT workers in Bangalore and
Hyderabad will receive not 10 percent of American salaries, but 40 percent, and
that will remove much of the incentive to send jobs there. China, however, will
remain an extremely low-cost alternative to American workers. Current esti-
mates say that outsourcing will leach 3 to 10 million jobs from the American
economy over the next ten years. At FT, we believe the number will be near the
lower end of that range. This will be painful for the individuals whose jobs move
overseas, but the dislocation will not be as severe as many now fear.
In September 2004, the economy seems to be at a turning point. The
healthy employment growth seen from March through May suddenly dipped to
only 78,000 new jobs in June and 32,000 in July. Until June's employment
numbers came in, it appeared that the expansion had finally become self-
sustaining-at least until the next downturn. August's preliminary figure of
144,000 new jobs is not really enough to confirm that better times are ahead.
Yet on balance the outlook still seems positive. If this proves correct, we can ex-
pect to see continuing expansion in jobs, improved consumer confidence, and
better times ahead for the hospitality industry.
As the economy labors to put the finishing touches on its somewhat flawed
recovery, both the U.S. and the world's hospitality industry are receiving valuable
help from around the globe. Japan, China, India, and significant parts of Europe
all are enjoying prosperity of their own, which in some cases has been a long time
coming. Its arrival just when America can most benefit from vital trading partners
promises widespread economic growth that should continue at least for several
years. Current estimates put world GDP growth in 2004 and 2005 at about 4 per-
cent, a bit better than average, and we expect this expansion to continue for some
time. This means that travel and tourism, and all the industries that depend on
them, should enjoy good times through 2008 and perhaps beyond.
WORLD TOUR
Let us look at some of the major contributors to the coming global wave of
well-being.
China The world s largest country also is one of the fastest growing. Over
the last twenty years, this largely rural nation has transformed itself into the
fourth-biggest industrial producer, after the U.S., Japan, and Germany. It man-
ufactures more than half of the world's cameras, 20 to 25 percent of its major
Chapter 2
India The world's second most populous country once was viewed as a
perpetual beggar-land. Today, it fairly radiates economic health. India's GDP in
2003 expanded by about 8 percent, after years of growth in the range of 4 to 6
percent; not even the so-called "Asian flu" that decimated economies through-
out the region in the late 1990s did much to slow India's economy. Goldman
Sachs, a leading American investment bank with a good record of prescience,
forecasts that India's GDP will continue to grow by an average of 5 percent
Corning Global Growth Is Hospitable for Hospitality 31
annually for the next half century. According to the report, the Indian economy
will be bigger than Japan's by 2032. By 2050, the country's per capita income
will grow by 3500 percent!
To achieve this fantastic success, India needs to meet several challenges.
It must continue to strip away the protectionist trade barriers and bureaucratic
red tape that long stifled its economy, eliminate the corruption traditionally en-
demic in both industry and government, diversify the economy, slow its popu-
lation growth, bring its massive government debt under control, clean up the
environment, and provide education for its young people, nearly 20 percent of
whom receive no schooling at all. It also needs to make peace in Kashmir.
For a day or two, that process seemed endargered by the stunning upset
that returned the Congress Party to power in the 2004 general election. After all,
the Congress Party, under the Nehru family's leadership, created the socialist sys-
tem that stifled India's economic growth for decades. However, the appoint-
ment of Manmohan Singh as the new prime minister went a long way to relieve
those worries; it was Dr. Singh, an Oxford-trained economist, who formulated
the economic reform plan responsible for India's current prosperity. Thus far,
he has made no significant changes in the economic policies he established in
the early 1990s and the former BJP government followed later on.
None of India's problems will be easy to solve, but after carrying out a
year-long study of India recently we believe that India will succeed. The gov-
ernment's Central Vigilance Commission already has cleaned up most of the
country's banking system, a good start on a long and difficult process. Wireless
Internet is bringing classes to rural areas and beginning to cut the rate of illit-
eracy, which is estimated at 35 percent. And because education gives women
more control over their reproductive lives, the birthrate is beginning to fall.
With these issues in hand, it becomes possible to conquer the rest.
With 4,000 years of civilization behind it, India is a paradise of exotic
travel destinations. The holy Ganges, the Taj Mahal, and the old city of Bom-
bay hardly begin the list of cultural attractions now being developed and pro-
moted for tourism. Even Kashmir, one of the most beautiful parts of the
subcontinent, is beginning to draw visitors now that peace with Pakistan seems
to be a realistic possibility.
As the Indian economy expands, the country's middle class—now esti-
mated at about 300 million people—is growing even larger and more prosper-
ous. Thus, India also will become one of the largest sources of tourists to Europe
and America. For the world's hospitality industry, the rise of India will be one
of the most important trends of the next 30 years.
economy grew at a yearly rate of 7.3 percent in the fourth quarter of 2003 and
6.1 percent in the first quarter of 2004. (This compares to an average of only 0.4
percent per year from 1998 through 2002!) Exports surged by 17.9 percent an-
nualized in 2003, yet foreign demand added only 1.6 percentage points to fourth-
quarter growth. The remainder came from domestic consumption and
corporate capital spending, a strong hint that both consumers and companies
are beginning to anticipate a brighter future. The Conference Boards leading
index for the country suggests that they may be right; by August 2004 it had been
rising almost continuously for 16 months and was headed up at a rate of 3 to
5 percent annually.
Europe The entire region did poorly throughout 2002, with just 0.9 percent
GDP growth for the year, and 2003, which came in at only 0.4 percent. Business
and consumer confidence for most of the period were weak, thanks largely to the
Iraq war and to the cheap dollar, which has cut demand for relatively expensive
European exports throughout much of the world. Germany, Italy, and the Nether-
lands were officially in recession in the first half of 2003, while the French econ-
omy shrank owing to widespread strikes. The region actually lost jobs for the first
time since 1994, which also hurt consumer spending.
In 2004, those problems are largely past. The decline in Europe bottomed
out in the second half of 2003, sentiment indicators improved, and retail sales
began to pick up throughout most of Europe in August and September. Even
manufacturing, which had lagged other segments of the continental economy,
began to pick up toward the end of the year.
Several policy changes should keep the recovery going. Toward the end of
2004, the United States has begun to raise its interest rates, and while German
economics minister Wolfgang Clement is pushing the European central bank to
bring theirs down, from 2 percent to 1 percent. This will raise the price of the dol-
lar on currency markets, while lowering the value of the euro. These changes will
effectively reduce the cost of European exports and of foreign travel to the con-
tinent, improving the balance of trade and bringing a lot more American tourists
back to Europe. It helps also that the European Union has already decided to
suspend limits on budget deficits in member countries, allowing national gov-
ernments to spend more on stimulating their economies. All these developments
point to a slow but steady recovery, which now seems well under way.
In the long run, one more change should help the EU. This is the addition
of ten new member states in April 2004. Those countries, most of them formerly
belonging to the Warsaw Pact, are much less prosperous than existing mem-
bers. Yet they still represent the markets and productive capacity of 75 million
people. Over the next ten years, those new resources will make themselves felt.
France Economic growth was weak or nonexistent through most of 2002
and the beginning of 2003, thanks in part to the Iraq war, oil worries, and labor
Corning Global Growth Is Hospitable for Hospitality 33
unrest. Things turned up in the fourth quarter, which delivered 2.5 percent
growth, and another 3.1 percent in the first quarter of 2004. Yet consumer
spending remains weak, thanks to unemployment of over 9 percent.
Nonetheless, by January 2004 the Conference Board's leading index for
France had been rising solidly for five straight months; it did not show an ac-
tual decline until May-even then the decrease was a mere 0.1 percent-and it
began to rise again almost immediately. In 2004 the second-largest economy in
the "euro zone" is projecting GDP growth of 2 to 3 percent in anticipation of
more business investment and a bit of new hiring in the second half of the year.
A rise in tourism as the American economy continues to rebound should go a
long way toward restoring prosperity to France. A general recovery in Europe
will help as well; 60 percent of French foreign trade is within the continent.
And perhaps best of all, in these relatively promising times France is dusting off
its dormant plans to privatize some government holdings. Air France and at
least some of the state's 97-percent holding in Aerospatiale are slated to go on
the auction block. This can only make the French economy more efficient and
improve the nation s chances of achieving sustained growth.
Germany Europe's largest economy, and the world's fifth-largest, has been
sluggish since 2002, with little or no growth last year and unemployment hov-
ering around 10 percent. Blame this on a combination of high taxes, high-priced
labor, copious red tape, the continuing cost of absorbing the former East Ger-
many (about $70 billion per year), and—again—the weakness of the dollar,
which here as elsewhere discourages both exports and tourism.
However, since mid-2003, both consumer and industrial demand have
been improving gradually. Growth in 2004 now is expected to come in at a mod-
est 1.6 percent, and 1.75 percent in 2005. Again, that could be improved by a
stronger dollar, but any significant benefit is unlikely to be felt before the sec-
ond quarter of 2005.
United Kingdom Britain has outperformed both the United States and the
rest of Europe since the high-tech bubble burst at the end of the 1990s: It barely
avoided recession. Yet the slowdown in global financial services has hurt. Fi-
nance is a major part of London's economy, and that accounts for 17.5 percent
of the nation's GDP. Productivity growth is declining as well, and it seems that
the economy—like that of the United States in 2002 and 2003—has been held
up only by consumer spending.
However, it appears that things are looking up. The index of leading indi-
cators was rising at 3 to 5 percent annually as of May, held even in June, and
dipped only slightly in July. Corporate investment and net exports are beginning
to quicken, and household spending is still rising gradually. Unemployment has
hovered in the neighborhood of 5 percent, and inflation has remained under
34 Chapter i
control. All these point to future GDP growth, most likely close to 3 percent in
2004 and 2005.
Russia Three weeks before his expected coronation in the election of
March .14, 2004, Vladimir Putin fired his prime minister and the entire cabinet.
At the time, it seemed little more than a Soviet-style power grab, intended pri-
marily to get rid of Prime Minister Mikhail Kasayanov, a Yeltsin holdover.
Kasayanov's replacement turned out to be the relatively little-known Mikhail
Fradkov, a Soviet-era trade minister and later chief of the tax police who had
been serving as Russia's minister to the European Union. In addition to taking
the blame for future cuts in subsidies for housing, education, and healthcare,
Fradkov is expected to build closer ties between Russia and Western Europe,
particularly in the areas of trade and tourism.
Economically, Russia has been doing pretty well of late. Since the collapse
in 1998, the country's GDP has grown rapidly—more than 6 percent per year in
1999, 2000, and 2001; 4.2 percent in 2002; a claim of 7 percent in 2003; and an
expected 4.5 percent in 2004 and 4.2 percent in 2005.
That is not good enough, however. Much of that growth comes from the
strength of the worlds oil and gas markets; Russia owes roughly one-fourth of its
GDP to petroleum. And the unstable price of a commodity, even oil, is a fragile
basis for the prosperity of one of the worlds largest countries. (It has been made
even less stable by Putin's war on Yukos, the country's second largest oil producer,
but in late September it appears that this long-running conflict is at last being
settled.) Add in metals and timber, and raw materials account for 80 percent of
Russian exports. Even in these relatively comfortable times, 25 percent of the na-
tion's population live below the local poverty line; 53 percent earn less than $4 per
day. In a general downturn, the economic situation would be grim indeed; in
1999, 40 percent of the population was considered impoverished.
Putin's cure for instability is to diversify the economy, and his chosen tool
is tourism. Most tourists visit only St. Petersburg and Moscow. In the future, he
hopes foreign visitors will fan out across the country, taking trains and river
barges, and visiting less well-known destinations. In the process, those tourists
will employ Russian citizens and earn foreign currency in a field not directly de-
pendent on the price of oil and gas. At the same time, the new attractions will
provide investment and marketing opportunities for hospitality concerns
throughout the world.
A BENEVOLENT CYCLE
In all these countries, we see the results of a cycle that has existed since World War
II. When the American economy declines, economies around the world follow;
when it recovers, the rest have at least the chance to grow. In the next few years,
Corning Global Growth Is Hospitable for Hospitality 35
prosperity in each country will create new affluence for all its trading partners,
which will generate still more wealth at home. Though some displaced white-
collar workers will miss out on the coming good times, as laid-off manufacturing
workers did in the boom of the 1990s, we are entering a period of growing afflu-
ence that should last for at least four or five years. It could endure longer than that.
This promises new prosperity for the hospitality industry around the
world. Wealthy people have continued to travel throughout the recession; the
slowdown had little effect on their disposable income. This is why the most ex-
pensive resorts remained full and Cunard had so little trouble marketing rooms
on the Queen Mary 2. It was the middle class that had to cut back during the re-
cent downturn. As the nascent expansion continues to develop, those vaca-
tioners, probably feeling a bit deprived, will loosen their purse strings.
Americans who now visit Orlando will return to Europe, and those who have
still been traveling abroad will find their way back to city-center hotels and
restaurants with better food and more pleasant surroundings than cafeterias can
offer. European tourists, though, may stay closer to home as the dollar gains in
value and American vacations again become more costly.
The new prosperity is likely to have one more effect as well. Global eco-
nomic expansion has brought new wealth to many developing countries whose
economies depend heavily on mining and trade in raw materials. Some of the
profits will be invested to develop new tourist destinations, which serve as more
stable sources of foreign currency. Expect to see new resorts and exotic-tour
possibilities opening up throughout Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.
Although we at FI are optimistic about the course of economic events in
the next few years, it is important to note that at least three factors could de-
rail this optimistic scenario.
In early May 2004, China experienced its first death from SARS since the
epidemic of 2002 ended. Another outbreak of SARS, an epidemic of bird flu
among humans, or some other contagion in Asia would trigger a rerun of the
chaos in 2003. This would hit the regions hospitality sector hard and cause
milder damage to other industries. Yet it is difficult to see this having a major
impact outside Asia. It might even help some regions in the United States and
Europe if international meetings scheduled for Asia had to be hastily relocated.
In the long run, failure to control growing deficits in the United States
could have a greater impact. Eventually, America's creditors abroad will grow
tired of buying U.S. debt and defending their export markets; Japan spent an
estimated $80 billion to prop up the dollar in January 2004 alone! When that
happens, the Federal Reserve Board will have to raise interest rates significantly
to attract overseas bond buyers. That in turn will raise the rate of inflation, rein
in the stock market, and reduce the capital available for future growth. Fur-
ther cuts in federal spending will do relatively little good; there just isn't that
much left to cut, with defense, Social Security, and interest payments essentially
36 Chapter i
off limits. That leaves raising taxes to bring down the deficit, and this again
could slow the nation's economic growth.
Finally, and most threateningly, another major terrorist incident could be
catastrophic, particularly if it caused another round of American retrenchment.
The September U attack cost the U.S. economy an estimated $100 billion
in immediate property losses, repairs, and lost productivity. Add in the loss
of stock-market wealth, and the cost of the event was probably closer to $2
trillion—and this does not include the ancillary costs of the war in Afghanistan.
Before September 11, no one was quite certain the United States had entered
a recession; after September 11, no one doubted it. Another such attack could
easily trigger a major downturn and eat up much of the capital that otherwise
would power the next expansion.
However, these potential disasters are significant only because their impact
would be so bad, not because they are at all likely. The most probable scenario
is the one we have described above. For the next few years, global prosperity
should ensure growth of travel and tourism. The good times should last at least
through 2008, and very possibly into the years beyond.
competence is mandatory. This is one major trend raising the level of education
required for a productive role in todays workforce. For many workers, the oppor-
tunity for training is becoming one of the most desirable benefits any job can offer.
New technologies create new industries, jobs, and career paths, which can
bring new income to developing countries. An example is the transfer of func-
tions such as technical support in the computer industry to Asian divisions and
service firms.
For some developing countries, computer skills are making it faster and
easier to create wealth than a traditional manufacturing economy ever could.
India, for example, is rapidly growing a middle class, largely on the strength of
its computer and telecom industries. Many other lands will follow its example.
4. The global economy is growing more Integrated.
Summary: The Internet is reshaping sourcing and distribution networks
in many industries by making it practical for companies to farm out secondary
functions to suppliers, service firms, and consultants, which increasingly are lo-
cated in other countries. At the same time, relaxation of border and capital con-
trols in the European Union, and the use of a common currency and uniform
products standards there, are making it still easier for companies to distribute
products and support functions throughout the continent. NAFTA has had a
similar, but much less sweeping, effect in the Americas.
Implications for the Economy: The growth of commerce on the Internet
makes it possible to shop globally for raw materials and supplies, thus reduc-
ing the cost of doing business. In niche markets, the Internet also makes it
possible for small companies to compete with giants worldwide with relatively
little investment.
Demand for personnel in distant countries will increase the need for foreign-
language training, employee incentives suited to other cultures, aid to executives
going overseas, and the many other aspects of doing business in other countries.
As eastern Europe integrates more fully with the European Union, a major in-
vestment in personnel development will be needed over the next few years.
In the wake of the "Asian flu/' Western companies may have to accept that
proprietary information will be shared, not just with their immediate partners
in Asian joint ventures, but with other members of the partners' trading con-
glomerates. In high technology and aerospace, that may expose companies to
extra scrutiny due to national-security concerns.
5. Societal values are changing rapidly.
Summary: Industrialization raises educational levels, changes attitudes
toward authority, reduces fertility, alters gender roles, and encourages broader
political participation. This process is just beginning throughout the develop-
ing world. The future will be dominated by the materialistic values of Genera-
tions X and Dot-com.
Corning Global Growth Is Hospitable for Hospitality 39
Implications for the Economy: Narrow, extremist views of the left and right
will slowly lose their popularity in the developed lands. This should bring more
pragmatic government that will bring consumers greater security, and thereby
promote economic growth.
Growing demand for quality and convenience is creating many new niche
markets. This will be a prime field for entrepreneurs over the next ten years, in
hospitality and many other industries.
The demand for greater accountability and transparency in business will
be crucial, not only in the United States business community, but also for coun-
tries that wish to attract international investors.
Reaction against changing values is one of the prime motives of cultural
extremism, particularly in the Muslim world and in parts of India. As values
change in those lands, terrorism is likely to proliferate, slowing economic
growth and raising the cost of doing business.
6. Young people place increasing importance on economic success,
which they have come to expect.
Summary: This is characteristic of Generations X and Dot-com through-
out the world. These are the most entrepreneurial generations in history, pre-
ferring to found their own business rather than to become a political leader or
high-level executive at a major corporation. In the United States especially,
most young people have high aspirations, but many lack the education to
achieve them.
Implications for the Economy: Gen-X and dot-com entrepreneurs are largely
responsible for the current economic growth in India and China, where they are
becoming a major force in the Communist party. In India, the younger genera-
tions dress and think like their American counterparts, not their parents.
If younger-generation workers find their ambitions thwarted, they will
create growing pressure for economic reform and deregulation. If reforms do
not come fast enough in the developing world, disappointed expectations will
raise the number of young people who emigrate to the developed lands.
Disappointment also will drive underemployed young men in the de-
veloping world into fringe political and religious movements. This could
cause a new wave of terrorism and instability in the years after 2005 or so,
with profound effects on the economies of the United States and other tar-
get countries.
7. Tourism, vacationing, and travel (especially international) will con-
tinue to grow in the next decade, as they did throughout the 1990s.
Summary: Once current worries over the threat of terrorism recede, Amer-
ican tourism will resume its traditional 5% annual growth. Other countries—
particularly China and India—are contributing to this demand, as their economies
grow and their citizens become more free to travel. Tourism will benefit as
Chapter 2
lost 111 the developed countries, especially the United States, but many are rel-
atively unskilled and poorly paid, and often part time.
Implications for the Economy: Services are now beginning to compete glob-
ally, just as manufacturing industries have done over the last twenty years. By
creating competitive pressure on wages in the industrialized lands, this trend
will help to keep inflation in check.
The growth of international business will act as a stabilizing force in world
affairs, as most countries find that conflict is unacceptably hard on the bottom line.
16. Generations X and Dot-com will have major effects on the future.
Summary: Members of generation X—roughly, the 30-plus cohort—and
especially of generation Dot-com, now in their 20s, have more in common with
their peers throughout the world than with their parents' generation. They are
entrepreneurial, well educated, and predominately English-speaking. Virtually
all are materialistic, many are economically conservative, and they care for lit-
tle but the bottom line—their own bottom line. Independent to a fault, they
have no loyalty to employers at all.
Implications for the Economy: Younger consumers tend to be extremely
well informed about their product choices, thanks in large part to their comfort
with the Internet. Net-sawy travel marketers have a strong advantage in reach-
ing this market.
Marketing to generations X and Dot-com requires a light hand, with strong
emphasis on information and quality. Brands credibly positioned as "afford-
able luxury" will prosper.
Any perceived inadequacy of service will send them to a competitor. Under-
40 customers make few allowances for other peoples problems.
However, they are relatively tolerant of impersonal service. What they care
most about is efficiency.
These generations also will be industry's future employees. The good news
is that they are well equipped to work in an increasingly high-tech world. The
bad is that they have little interest in their employer's needs and no job loyalty
at all. They also have a powerful urge to do things their own way.
17. lime is becoming the world's most precious commodity.
Summary: Computers and other technologies are making national and in-
ternational economies much more competitive. As a result, Americans have
lost an average of 140 hours per year of leisure time. European executives and
nonunionized workers face the same trend. In Britain, workers have lost an av-
erage of 100 hours per year of nonworking time.
Implications for the Economy: Stress-related problems affecting employee
morale and wellness will continue to grow. Companies must help employees
balance their time at work with their family lives and need for leisure. This may
reduce short-term profits but will aid profitability in the long run.
Corning Global Growth Is Hospitable for Hospitality 45
is particularly true of the United States. The impact would be greatest if the at-
tack discouraged travel, as the hijacking of airliners to attack the World Trade
Center and Pentagon did in 2001 and 2002.
The U.S. economy is being affected already by American antiterrorism
measures. Since Washington began to photograph incoming travelers and re-
quired more extensive identification from them, tourism to America is off by
some 30 percent. The number of foreign students coming to American univer-
sities has declined by a similar amount.
20. Institutions are undergoing a bimodal distribution: The big get
bigger, the small survive, and the midsized are squeezed out.
Summary: For at least 20 years, economies of scale have allowed the largest
companies to buy their smaller competitors or drive them out of business. At
the same time, thousands of tiny, agile companies are prospering in niche mar-
kets. We see this pattern among automakers, computer companies, airlines,
banks, and many other industries.
Implications for the Economy: Thus far, industries dominated by small, re-
gional, often family-owned companies have been relatively exempt from the
consolidation now transforming many other businesses. Takeovers are likely
even in these industries in the next decade.
This consolidation will extend increasingly to Internet-based businesses,
where well-financed companies are trying to absorb or outcompete tiny online
startups, much as they have done in the brick-and-mortar world.
No company is too large to be a takeover target if it dominates a profitable
market or has other features attractive to profit-hungry investors.
Chapter 3
® sa H®m ®
The world has lived with terrorism for decades, but in recent years things have
changed. Attacks now often are carried out by international groups with sweep-
ing cultural agendas, rather than national organizations with local goals. They
are bloodier, intended more to cause mass casualties than to win support for a
political cause. And it seems that the number of major attacks has grown since
the Iraq war began. These are worrisome trends, and they threaten the hospi-
tality industry more than any other sector of society.
Although the best known terrorist attacks are those with the highest death
tolls-the September 11 assault on the World Trade Center and the slaughter of
school children in Beslon, Russia, in September 2004-many of the most de-
structive incidents have struck at hospitality, tourism, and travel. Just since the
invasion of Iraq, these have included:
® the car bombing of the Mount Lebanon Hotel in Baghdad, with at least
seven dead—estimates ran as high as 28—and more than 40 injured;
• the bombing of the Marriott Hotel in Jakarta, where at least 13 people
died and 149 were injured;
• a series of bombings in Morocco, with targets that included the Safir
Hotel and the Casa de Espana restaurant, where 15 people died;
® the bombing of the Moscow subway by Chechnyan separatists, which
killed 39 people and wounded more than 130;
® and, of course, the railway bombings in Spain, with 202 fatalities.
These attacks are part of a continuing wave of violence that began with Al
Qaeda but is now being carried on independently by sympathizers around the
world. They differ from the terrorism of the 1970s and 1980s in a number of key
47
48 Chapter 5
ways: They aim less to promote specific political goals than to wage a cultural
war of Muslim extremists against, well, anyone who attracts their attention,
but especially the United States and its allies. They no longer aim for limited de-
struction that makes a point and allows the terrorists to fight another day; in-
stead, they are designed for mass blood-letting, to intimidate and destroy the
terrorists' chosen enemies, even when that means "martyrdom" for the perpe-
trators. And, government targets being increasingly well defended, they very
often aim at places where civilians congregate.
This is important for hospitality providers, not just because of the threat
itself, but because of the effect it has had on many of the industry's customers.
In late 2003, a poll asked more than 2,300 tourists in Southern California what
factors were most important in planning a vacation or convention. On a scale
of 1 to 10, with 10 being the most significant, domestic visitors gave safety an
average rating of 8.9. No fewer than two-thirds of international visitors said
that safety was their single most important concern. In choosing a hotel, 62
percent of domestic visitors and two-thirds of international travelers put safety
and security at the head of the list.
Under the circumstances, it seems necessary to weigh the industry's vul-
nerabilities and figure out what can be done about them.
IN THE CROSSHAIRS
Terrorists are targeting the hospitality industry for sound tactical reasons. Peo-
ple gather with their guard down at hotels and restaurants in every city in the
world. They pack into trains and planes. Often, they segregate themselves into
convenient groups, American military personnel in this restaurant, Western
tourists in that hotel, and no devout Muslims at all in the local bars and night
clubs. And with the exception of airlines, and to some extent cruise ships, se-
curity measures at potential targets tends to be lax or nonexistent. No other sec-
tor of business offers more easy and conspicuous victims than hospitality.
Here are some of the more obvious vulnerabilities:
® Hotels are popular targets, for good reason.
There are just so many points of access, and each one offers opportunities
for attack. Their lobbies are large, open spaces with multiple entrances and
hundreds of people moving through them every day. Driveways make it easy to
bring a car bomb right up to the door. Loading docks, garages, delivery vehicles,
and luggage storage areas all present risks of their own. Ventilation systems
and water supply also are vulnerable. And few hotel operators really want to pro-
vide effective security, for fear that airport-style lines and metal detectors will
put off customers even more than the fear of terrorism does.
"Bang! You're Dead!" Hospitality in the Age of Terror 49
in any form. But high levels of unemployment among young men create a reser-
voir of potential troublemakers ready to be exploited by unscrupulous leaders.
The situation is even more volatile where those young men have a good ed-
ucation. The poor and illiterate know they are likely to remain poor; they may
consider this unjust, but they have grown up with limited expectations and gen-
erally have come to accept them. But throughout the Middle East, and in some
other areas, there are hundreds of thousands of young men who were educated
for a middle-class life that is no longer available to them. Without prospects
and deeply embittered, they are the most ready of all to take up arms against a
world they feel has closed them out. In the most terror-prone countries, large
numbers of literate, unemployed young men face a life of poverty.
• How large and influential is the Muslim community?
It goes against the grain to single out any religion as a source of trouble.
Yet it has been clear for years that the Muslim lands face major problems with
religious extremists who are dedicated to advancing their political, social, and
doctrinal views by any means necessary. In our 1994 study of terrorism, the
spread of militant Islam was the single most obvious factor we found that would
increase both the frequency and the intensity of terrorist violence in the years
ahead. With deep reluctance, we gave in and added this to FI's list of major
trends shortly before the September 11 attacks.
Islam has never undergone the equivalent of the Protestant Reformation
or the Jewish Reform movement; thus the clergy remains the ultimate author-
ity in all matters, civil as well as religious. Thanks to the apparently liberal tenet
that Muslims can disagree in matters of dogma, yet remain true to the faith so
long as they subscribe to a few core tenets, there is no religious doctrine or au-
thority to weed out leaders whom other faiths would reject as vicious lunatics.
And the idea of jihad—religious war against "enemies of Islam"—remains strong
in the Muslim world.
This combination of factors—the availability of young men to act as foot
soldiers, the disappointed expectations of a middle class that has lost its future,
an untempered tradition of zealotry and religious war, and unscrupulous lead-
ers willing to exploit them—is the primary source of terrorism in the world
today. The most unstable, and often dangerous, countries in the years ahead
will combine all these factors. They are easy to identify, and steer clear of, for
anyone willing to do a little research when making long-term plans.
FUTURE SHOCKS
Terrorism is evolving in at least three ways: It is gaining a wider base of support,
it is becoming decentralized, and it is aiming increasingly at civilian targets. In
the years ahead, these trends will increase the terrorist threat to the hospital-
ity industry throughout the world.
"Bang! You're Dead!" Hospitality in the Age of Terror 55
Whatever else the Iraq war has accomplished, it has been a godsend for
the cause of terrorism. Iraq today is playing much the same role that
Afghanistan did in the 1980s. It is an inspiration, a recruiting tool, and a train-
ing ground for the terrorists of the future.
The occupation of Afghanistan by the Soviet Union was a cause that rad-
ical Islamists could rally around. All over the Muvslim world, extremists picked
themselves up and hurried to the front, where fellow Islamists trained them in
the ways of terrorism and the CIA provided weapons and supplies that are being
used against the West to this day. This is where both Osama bin Laden and the
Taliban's Mullah Omar got their start.
Afghanistan gave terrorists another useful tool as well, a global popu-
lation of sympathizers willing to look the other way as they go about spread-
ing fear and death. For every Muslim who went to Afghanistan, many others
could not make that commitment, yet were sufficiently radicalized to view the
terrorists as heroes, even when they continued bombing after the original
cause was won.
Post-Afghanistan, bin Laden concerned himself with three issues: the pres-
ence of "infidel" troops in the religiously important Arab land of Saudi Arabia;
the West's failure to deal effectively with the ethnic cleansing of Muslims in
Bosnia, Croatia, and Kosovo; and the bombing of Iraq by the United States and
its allies in the original Gulf War. These grievances resonated widely enough to
bring Al Qaeda an estimated 5,000 members worldwide.
A dozen years later, American troops remain in Saudi Arabia, the United
States has occupied Iraq, and in April 2004 American forces attacked a mosque
in Fallujah, which the Shia consider a holy city. This second Iraq war is in-
spiring a new generation of terrorists, just as Afghanistan and the Gulf War
did. It may be training and equipping them as well, given reports that foreign
fighters are entering Iraq through Iran and Syria and that resistance fighters are
using weapons the Americans supplied to the Iraqi police. We saw the result in
the Madrid bombing, even before the Sadrist uprising. Terrorists inspired and
trained by the American presence in Iraq will be responsible for many of the at-
tacks that afflict the world in the next ten years.
Those incidents will be harder to prevent, because the structure of the ter-
rorist community is changing. When Al Qaeda and its associated groups were
still largely unchallenged, there was at least some recognizable organization to
it. The 1998 attack by American cruise missiles on an al Qaeda compound in
Afghanistan may have failed, but at least it had an identifiable target. Security
officials still monitor 30 to 40 groups affiliated with Al Qaeda in Southeast and
Central Asia, the Caucasus, North Africa, and Europe. Yet those groups are los-
ing their significance. More and more, terrorists take inspiration from bin
Laden, but specific incidents are carried out more or less spontaneously by
small groups of like-minded individuals, who may have known each other for
56 Chapter 5
years. These cells are difficult to detect before it is too late, and virtually im-
possible to infiltrate.
In addition, terrorist groups that once focused on local goals, such as un-
dermining the stability of oppressive governments, are heeding the call to jihad.
The Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba used to concern itself only with "liberating"
Muslim Kashmir from India. Late in 2003, Australian authorities arrested a
member of the group believed to have been scouting out targets for attacks
down under. And since the Iraq war began, the radical Ansar al-Islam has spread
out from its base in the northern part of that country into parts of Europe,
where members are believed to be recruiting suicide bombers for attacks not
only in Iraq but on the continent. The group s founder, Mullah Krekar, now lives
in Norway and is believed to have been involved in the bombings in both Mo-
rocco and Madrid. This change too will make it more difficult to combat in-
ternational terrorism. For antiterrorism specialists, the world is becoming more
complicated every day.
However, the third development is taking place in part because govern-
ment security efforts have become a lot more vigorous in recent years. They
have had reason to. In 1996, a truck bomb at the Khobar Towers, in Riyadh,
Saudi Arabia, killed 19 American peacekeepers attached to the United Nations
and wounded 372 others. In 1998, terrorists associated with Al Qaeda used
truck bombs to destroy the American embassies in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania,
and Nairobi, Kenya. In 2000, another Al Qaeda team killed 17 American sailors
and damaged the USS Cole in the harbor at Aden, Yemen. Though it took too
long, the lessons of those events have been learned.
Military bases and other government installations today are much harder
to attack than they were in the 1990s. As a result, would-be terrorists have been
forced to seek out civilian targets. With the exception of some pipeline bomb-
ings in South America, nearly all of the facilities attacked in the last six years
have belonged to the hospitality industry. Hotels, restaurants, and transporta-
tion systems are likely to remain in the crosshairs for as long as the battle
against terrorism continues.
SAFETY FIRST
Despite the horrifying headlines that regularly arrive from around the world,
many companies seem to have shrugged off the risk of a terrorist attack. Ac-
cording to a recent survey by the Business Roundtable, 85 percent of American
firms have increased their spending on security since the terrorist attacks of
September 11, 2001. Yet their budgets for this purpose have risen by only 10 per-
cent, on average, in nearly three years. Even in this time of relatively stable
prices, about half of that increase has gone just to keep up with inflation.
"Bang! You're Dead!" Hospitality in the Age of Terror 57
The situation is little better in the hospitality industry. Though some ho-
tels have added security cameras to their lobbies and installed electronic locks
on guestroom doors, many more have done nothing at all. A recent survey of
hotels in the volatile Pacific Rim, locale of the bombings in Jakarta and Bali,
found that only 25 percent had made any effort to bolster security.
That really is not good enough. Small facilities such as independent hotels
and restaurants, which cannot afford to set up their own security operation,
will find it increasingly necessary to hire a competent security firm to do the job
for them.
While that mandate applies to everyone in the hospitality industry, there
are places where it is particularly important. Las Vegas almost goes out of its
way to offend the sensibilities of fundamentalist Islam, which bans gambling,
alcohol, and any form of sexual activity by women that is not rigidly controlled
by their husbands. If terrorists strike at the hospitality industry inside the United
States, they are likely to hit Las Vegas first.
A hint at what even a small terrorist attack could accomplish there came
in April 2004, when a power line failed at the Bellagio Hotel & Casino, causing
a cascade of problems that eventually burned several thousand feet of cable. The
resort was shut down for more than three days at a cost of about S3 million
per day in lost revenue. A deliberate attack, calculated to cause as much dam-
age as possible, could have been far worse.
IDENTITY CONCERNS
Security begins with people. This is especially true for the hospitality industry,
where large numbers of workers are needed to serve even larger numbers of
guests. Being absolutely certain who all those people are is the first step in de-
fending against terrorism.
For any business, the most likely security threats come from disgruntled
employees and former employees. Before people are hired, they should be
screened thoroughly, not only to confirm their identity but to weed out those
with significant criminal records, suspicious associations, or other potential
risks. The screening procedure should be as rigorous at a hotel or restaurant as
it is at an airport or airline. This will be particularly difficult for companies that
hire large numbers of noncitizens, and particularly undocumented workers. Yet
no company that skimps on this process can hope to be safe from attack.
In a world of terrorism, this requirement extends not only to the firm's
own employees, but to those of suppliers, builders, and service contractors.
Someone who comes to repair the air conditioning could also release anthrax
into the system, and no one would find it easier to contaminate food than the
people who deliver it. Suppliers and contractors who cannot guarantee that
58 Chapter 5
their employees have been screened as rigorously as the facility's own workers
should be replaced by firms that can.
Having once screened their new hires, large-scale employers need to make
certain each day that someone presenting an employee ID really is that worker
and not an imposte.r. Even photographic identity cards can be tampered with,
so something more secure is required.
That probably means biometrics, the use of automated systems to match
people with their known physical attributes. Available technologies include fin-
gerprint and retinal scanners, facial recognition software, and pen-sized ac-
celerometers that can measure the precise hand movements used to sign one s
name—data far more difficult to disguise than the signature itself. These tech-
niques have undergone rapid development since 9/11, and many are now
deemed reliable enough for practical application. Installing a biometric iden-
tity system and training security personnel to use it is expensive. Yet it is by far
the best guarantee now available that someone who appears to be an employee
really is who he claims to be.
Identifying guests with any certainty is still more difficult. For restau-
rants and other businesses where customer turnover is extremely rapid, it
may be impractical or impossible. However, hotels, resorts, and conference
centers all need to be certain who is staying with them. This will be simpler
now that most foreign visitors need machine-read visas, fingerprints, and
photo IDs to enter the country. A national identity card, if one is ever issued
in the United States, could make the process easier still. These changes will
be especially welcome for international meetings, where asking guests for fin-
gerprints or other reliable identification has been an especially frequent and
difficult challenge.
On an industry-wide level in the United States, there is one other change
that could help to ease the process of "people security/' This is to work with the
Department of Homeland Security to identify potential problems. The Bureau
of Citizenship and Immigration Services (formerly the Immigration and Na-
tionalization Service), U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and U.S.
Customs and Border Protection all can provide valuable information about se-
curity threats such as known terrorists who are believed to have entered the
country. Developing close working relationships with these agencies should be
a priority for the Travel Industry Association, the American Hotel & Lodging As-
sociation, and other leading industry groups.
SITE SAFETY
Ideally, no one could enter a hotel, restaurant, plane, or train before his identity
had been confirmed and he had passed through a metal detector. Then security
guards would monitor all public spaces to make certain that no one had slipped
"Bang! You're Dead!" Hospitality in the Age of Terror 59
through inappropriately. That will never happen, of course, but most hospital-
ity locations could do a lot better protecting their premises than they do today.
We can see evidence of this in the amount that hospitality venues spend on
security. With all that they have to protect, average American hotels spend just 1
to 2 percent of their payroll on their security force. Contrast this with hotels in
Israel, which spend, on average, about 8 percent of payroll on the security force.
In Israeli hotels, there is none of the chaos typical of hotels elsewhere.
Guests are processed in an orderly, efficient, and highly security-conscious man-
ner. They are likely to enter through a single lobby entrance that is protected by
an airport-style metal detector. Guards patrol inside and out. At the most
security-conscious hotels in Israel, identity checks are performed outside the
hotel itself, and no one other than guests is allowed in at all.
Yet when it comes to hotel security, American casinos probably set the
standard. At the state-of-the-art Borgata, in Atlantic City, more than 2,000 video
cameras constantly watch the 125,000 square-foot casino floor, 70,000 square
feet of event space, a 50,000 square-foot spa, a 7,100-car parking lot, employee
areas, and access routes to more than 2,000 guest rooms. There even is an au-
tomatic face-recognition system to screen for known cheats—and to identify
VIP guests so that they can be quickly targeted for special service. If the gov-
ernment ever provides a database of terrorist photographs, which has been sug-
gested but not yet acted on, the system might be able to identify them as well.
At the Venetian, in Las Vegas, uniformed guards patrol the public areas,
while others are stationed at the entrances and at a security booth in the lobby.
Even before a major expansion, there were more than 200 guards in all, at least
40 on duty at any time; since then, both the number of rooms—now about
4,000—and the number of guards have doubled.
Place metal detectors at each entrance, and these casinos would be ready
to face the worst that the age of terror is likely to throw at them.
It is easy to argue against that kind of security. Setting up the systems re-
quires a big investment, and operating them involves substantial continuing
costs. Guests at a luxury hotel might be more put off by the presence of armed
guards and metal detectors than they are by lax security.
And there have been occasional excesses. For a time, the Bellagio Hotel
and Casino, in Las Vegas, reportedly blocked driveway access with a vehicle
parked across a blind corner. When guests stopped their cars, aggressive secu-
rity guards dressed in black and without visible identification approached and
demanded to look in their car trunks. Those who refused were rudely turned
away. It was a bad mistake, and it lives on in harshly negative customer satis-
faction reports that are widely available on the Internet.
Yet hospitality security need not be taken to extremes to accomplish its
purpose. It just has to be good enough to send would-be terrorists in search of
softer targets. That, at least, is possible. And there is every reason to believe that
60 Chapter 5
most guests would be willing to put up with a little inconvenience in return for the
knowledge that they are as safe as they can be in an increasingly unsafe world.
This widespread prosperity should feed upon itself, with each trading na-
tion helping to generate the continued well-being of its partners.
by 217 percent. In contrast, the developed nations will fall from 23 percent of
the total world population in 1950 and about 14 percent in 2000 to only 10 per-
cent in 2050. In 10 years or so, the workforce in Japan and much of Europe will
be shrinking by 1 percent per year.
Implications for Security: Rapid population growth will reinforce Ameri-
can domination of the global economy, as the European Union falls to third
place behind the United States and China. Among the poor nations, this will fos-
ter still more resentment of the worlds most prosperous land.
Unfortunately, when populations grow faster than resources do, the gen-
eral quality of life inevitably declines. Since the wealthy are largely immune to
this loss, the poor and middle class not only suffer, but see that their rulers do
not. And because political leaders the world over find it convenient to blame
their problems on others, much of the resulting hostility will be aimed at the
wealthy industrialized lands, who will be reviled as exploiters of the developing
countries. Terrorist movements are one expression of the unrest that can be ex-
pected to grow as the world population does.
Barring enactment of strict immigration controls, rapid migration will
continue from the Southern Hemisphere to the North, and especially from for-
mer colonies to Europe. Culture clashes between natives and immigrants are
likely to destabilize societies throughout the developed world. Germany, Britain,
and other lands traditionally welcoming to refugees and other migrants already
are experiencing strong backlashes against asylum-seekers.
3. Militant Islam is spreading and gaining power.
Summary: It has been clear for years that the Muslim lands face major
problems with religious extremists dedicated to advancing their political, social,
and doctrinal views by any means necessary. Those problems often have spilled
over into the rest of the world. They will do so again. By 2020, a strong major-
ity of the world's twenty-five or so most important Muslim lands could be in the
hands of extremist religious governments. The United States massively forti-
fied the Muslim extremist infrastructure by supplying it with arms and train-
ing during its proxy war with the Soviet Union in Afghanistan. It is, in effect,
repeating this mistake in Iraq.
Implications for Security: Virtually all of the Muslim lands face an uncer-
tain, and very possibly bleak, future of political instability and growing vio-
lence. The exceptions are the oil states, where money can still buy relative peace,
at least for now.
The West, and particularly the United States, is likely to face more, and
more violent, acts of terrorism for at least the next 20 years.
Both Europe and the United States ultimately may face homegrown Mus-
lim extremist movements. Thanks largely to waves of immigration during the
1980s and 1990s, Islam is the fastest-growing religion in both regions. There are
Chapter 3
and host to American troops, some of them female. This is a recipe for terror-
ism and revolution. Recent attacks linked to Al Qaeda are likely to be only the
first in a long and bloody series.
6. Technology increasingly dominates both the economy and society.
Summary: In all fields, the previous state of the art is being replaced by new
high-tech developments at an ever faster rate. Computers and telecommunica-
tions have become an ordinary part of our environment, rather than just tools
we use for specific tasks. Biotechnology, and eventually nanotechnology, may
do so as well. These developments provide dozens of new opportunities to cre-
ate businesses and jobs, but they often require a higher level of education and
training to use them effectively.
Implications for Security: As technology brings extra productivity, it re-
tards job creation. We have seen the effects in the slow recovery of employment
in the United States from 2002 through early 2004. Other developed countries
are likely to feel the same effect in the future. This will increase the number of
disaffected people who feel they have no place in society. In rigidly conservative
countries, and in immigrant communities in more liberal industrialized na-
tions, resentment toward the prosperous will grow.
New technologies often require a higher level of education and training to
use them effectively. This too will limit opportunities for the unprepared.
Technology brings vulnerabilities of its own. Dependence on computer
data systems and telecommunications networks means that a single virus or
hacker attack can cost one company many hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The Melissa virus in March 1999 reportedly shut down the computer systems
of between ten and twenty-five Fortune 500 companies. There is no widely ac-
cepted way to measure the cost of virus attacks, but at least one estimate sug-
gests that computer viruses cost up to $18 billion in 2000 alone.
However, new technology is one of the most valuable tools against ter-
rorism. Improved detectors for metal and explosives will make it increasingly
difficult to plant bombs on aircraft and ships and in government buildings.
7. Generations X and Dot-com will have major effects in the future.
Summary: Members of Generation X—roughly, the 30-plus cohort—and
especially of Generation Dot-com, now in their 20s, have more in common with
their peers throughout the world than with their parents' generation. They are
entrepreneurial, well educated, and predominately English-speaking. Virtually
all are materialistic, many are economically conservative, and they care for lit-
tle but the bottom line—their own bottom line. Independent to a fault, they
have no loyalty to employers at all.
Implications for Security: Radical conservatives in the Muslim and Hindu
worlds view the materialism of younger generations as proof that the West is
Chapter 3
contaminating, and degrading, their society. The backlash against this perceived
influence is one of the most powerful tools that unscrupulous leaders can use
to motivate potential terrorists to "defend their faith" by attacking Westerners.
8. International exposure includes a greater risk of terrorist attack.
Summary: State-sponsored terrorism appears to be on the decline, as
tougher sanctions make it more trouble than it is worth. However, nothing
will prevent small, local political organizations and special-interest groups
from using terror to promote their causes. And as the United States learned
on September 11, the most dangerous terrorist groups are no longer moti-
vated by specific political goals, but by generalized, virulent hatred based on
religion and culture. On balance, the amount of terrorist activity in the world
is likely to go up, not down, in the next ten years.
Implications for Security: The growth of international business brings new
opportunities and targets for terrorism. The presence of Western-owned facil-
ities in Muslim lands also provides some extra motivation for terrorism. This
is particularly important for resorts and night clubs, where men and women
mingle in ways not approved by radical Islam.
Western corporations may have to devote more of their resources to self-
defense, while accepting smaller-than-expected profits from operations in the
developing countries.
Like the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, and the Amer-
ican embassies in Kenya and Tanzania before them, any attacks on major cor-
porate facilities are likely to be designed for maximum destruction and
casualties. Bloodshed for bloodshed's sake has become a characteristic of mod-
ern terrorism.
Where terrorism is most common, countries will find it impossible to at-
tract foreign investment, no matter how attractive their resources.
Though Islamic terrorists form only a tiny part of the Muslim commu-
nity, they have a large potential for disruption throughout the region from
Turkey to the Philippines.
The economies of the industrialized nations could be thrown into reces-
sion at any time by another terrorist event on the scale of September 11. This
is particularly true of the United States. The impact would be greatest if the at-
tack discouraged travel, as the hijacking of airliners to attack the World Trade
Center and Pentagon did in 2001 and 2002.
The U.S. economy is being affected already by American antiterrorism
measures. Since Washington began to photograph incoming travelers and re-
quired more extensive identification from them, tourism to America is off by
some 30 percent. The number of foreign students coming to American univer-
sities has declined by a similar amount.
Part II
Sector Forecasts
J
_L
Chapter 4
The global market for tourism has just doubled, for many practical purposes.
And that is only one of the changes that the tourist industry will be absorbing
over the next ten to twenty years.
Around the world, the cost of travel is falling, while the middle class is be-
coming more prosperous and eager to go places. At the same time, demographic
trends, changing values, and other developments are helping to bring some
highly profitable turmoil to this segment of the hospitality industry.
Two long-standing trends will remain unchanged as far into the future as
we can see: growth and globalization. Tourism is expanding rapidly, with more
travelers every year and a wider variety of destinations and activities.
EXPANDING TRAVEL
The world's travel and tourism industry has gone through some grim times of
late. First, air travel crashed after the September 11 terrorist attacks in the
United States; in 2002, the number of passengers on international flights was
down for the first time in more than ten years. Then SARS—severe acute res-
piratory distress syndrome—made Asia all but off limits to international visi-
tors; Asian carriers lost half of their passengers. The invasion of Iraq cut
transatlantic air travel by another 25 percent from the previous bad year; Amer-
ican domestic air travel was down by 15 percent. And no sooner was that worry
past than the dollar collapsed on international currency markets, causing Amer-
ican tourists to stay home in droves. Orlando prospered, but Europe lost an es-
timated 20 to 30 percent of its tourist trade. In all, the industry has yet to regain
the high-water mark it set in 2000.
Fortunately, bad times never last, and these seem to be just about over. In
the United States, 2004 forecasts call for a rise in travel and tourism revenues
67
68 Chapter 5
to about $568 billion, nearing the $570.5 billion seen four years ago. Globally,
the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) predicts that all components of
the travel market will turn out to have grown in 2004. Spending on travel and
tourism, they estimate, will be up by 5.9 percent over 2003, to $5.5 trillion. The
industry will create 3.3 million jobs worldwide.
That is important not just to the industry, but to the world economy. Travel
and tourism is adding more than $1.5 trillion to the global GDP in 2004 and pro-
viding jobs for nearly 73.7 million people—and that is just the industry's direct
impact. Add in suppliers and other industries that depend on travel and tourism,
and the total impact is closer to $4.2 trillion—over 10 percent of the worlds
GDP—and 214.7 million jobs, or more than 8 percent of global employment.
Those numbers will be rising rapidly in the years ahead, just as they have
for most of the last half-century. Over the next ten years, travel and tourism are
expected to grow by an average of 4.5 percent annually. By 2014, that will
amount to a market of more than $9.5 trillion, adding nearly $7 trillion to the
world's GDP. Direct employment will not grow quite as quickly, but it will be up
1.7 percent annually, to nearly 87.5 million jobs, while indirect employment
will account for some 260 million jobs around the world.
Looked at another way, in 1950 the travel industry recorded just 25 mil-
lion international arrivals. (That includes both business and vacation travel,
but personal travel regularly makes up about 80 percent of the total.) In 2001,
arrivals were up to 693 million—and even that is just the beginning. By 2020,
forecasters predict that there will be 1.5 billion, a solid majority of them vaca-
tioners. And the grimness of 2001 will be long forgotten.
fares, have opened elite destinations to less wealthy tourists. Where Fiji, Tahiti,
and—for more adventurous tourists—the Antarctic, once were playgrounds of
the rich, merely-comfortable vacationers are now flocking to them. Cruise lines,
too, are seeking middle-class customers, with great success. At the same time,
relatively untraveled lands are fast building tourist industries. Nepal, Vietnam,
Malaysia, Dubai, and South Africa all are drawing visitors, especially from
within their own regions.
This same ability to spend has inspired a host of new tourism products
aimed at the relatively well-off. "Theme" and "total immersion" travel experi-
ences aim to provide guests with a complete escape from their daily routines.
Old-fashioned dude ranches have been joined by French cooking classes in
French chateaux, so-called "adrenaline vacations" like race-car driving schools
and bungee jumping in New Zealand, sailing on a clipper ship, and research ex-
peditions to tropical rainforests. One of the hottest markets is for "destination
weddings," where the entire wedding party flies to Mexico or the Caribbean for
an all-expenses-paid marriage celebration. With American weddings now av-
eraging $22,000, a three-day marriage weekend for $2,500—guests pay their
own way—can be awfully attractive.
TRAVEL MARKETS
Not all regions are benefiting from these trends equally. Europe and America
remain the world's favorite travel destinations, while Africa is at best an also-
ran. Here is a brief look at prospects for major regions of the world.
North America. Not long ago, industry imagined that travel in this region
would follow its accustomed patterns. Nearly half of all international tourism
would occur between the United States and either Canada or Mexico, while
most of the rest would be made up by a steady flow of American tourists to Eu-
rope and Europeans to the United States. North America would remain secure
in its place as the second-largest travel destination in the world.
It has not worked out that way. Travel to and from the United States has
remained depressed by the fear of terrorism and by the high cost of going to Eu-
rope when the dollar does not buy nearly as much as it once did. Recent de-
mands by American security officials have further suppressed travel to the
United States. Entry rules now require that most visitors submit to being pho-
tographed and fingerprinted; eventually most also will have to carry a "bio-
metric" passport that includes copies of their fingerprints and iris patterns.
Since American authorities made it harder to enter the country, tourist arrivals
have fallen to a level 30 percent from 2001.
This too shall pass. Growing prosperity in the United States, Canada, and
Mexico will sustain the expansion of travel within North America at about 3
percent per year. Eventually, the United States will find its way out of the morass
70 Chapter 5
of Iraq, the dollar will regain its exchange value, and tourists will find their way
between North America, Europe, and points East. Overall, international travel
will grow by a bit less than 4 percent per year in this region, somewhat below
the global average. Yet the United States will continue to lead the world in
spending on and earnings from travel.
Europe. The continent too is in for slower growth than its tourist indus-
try has been accustomed to. Overall, tourist arrivals are expected to expand by
only 3 percent per year, bringing 717 million arrivals in 2020. Many of those vis-
itors will bypass Western Europe, the traditional leader destination of choice.
Both Northern and Southern Europe also are in for faster-than-average growth,
as Asian tourists flock to Germany and Scandinavia, while others seek out the
beaches of the Mediterranean. However, the fastest growth will be in travel to
and from Central and Eastern Europe, where Soviet domination crippled
economies and kept travel demand bottled-up for more than 40 years. By 2020,
both Russia and the Czech Republic will join the world's top ten destinations
for international tourism.
The Caribbean makes up only a small piece of the travel market, with just
3 percent of international tourist arrivals. Yet it is the overwhelming leader
among cruise destinations, receiving nearly half of all cruises taken in the world.
Credit this to balmy weather, spectacular beaches, a highly competitive travel
industry, and proximity to the United States, which provides no fewer than 80
percent of all cruise passengers. None of these factors is likely to change, so
tourist arrivals in the Caribbean should double between 1997 and 2010, and
may nearly double again by 2020. However, there are natural limits to how
many tourists can be packed into relatively small islands. Sustaining this growth
rate will require the speedy development of resorts on relatively untapped is-
lands. In the end, this could homogenize the Caribbean experience and send va-
cationers looking for less heavily traveled waters.
Central and South America, recognizing the economic benefits of greater
tourism, have been positioning themselves as the natural destination for eco-
tourists. This strategy will serve the region well in the next 20 years. From the
lush rainforests of Costa Rica to the Amazon River Basin to the preserves of sea
elephants, seals, and penguins of Tierra del Fuego, South America offers won-
ders to delight nature-minded vacationers. Cultural attractions also abound in
pre-Colombian ruins and Andean villages far off the beaten path.
Developing these resources will not be easy, however. This regions at-
tractions have survived to be worth visiting largely because they are so hard to
reach, and many of them will be unable to accommodate large numbers of
tourists without being changed in essential ways. Nonetheless, tourism to South
America can be expected to grow by nearly 5 percent per year through 2020.
The Middle East does remarkably well on the international tourist market
for an area with such a reputation for volatility and danger. Among all the
If This is Tuesday, it Must Be Kuala Lumpur 71
world's regions, it was the second fastest growing tourist destination through-
out the late 1990s. It will continue to grow in the years ahead, from 19 million
tourist arrivals in 2000 to roughly 69 million in 2020.
Part of this growth can be attributed to the development of new attractions,
like the spectacular Bibliothèque in Alexandria and the Al Arab Hotel in Dubai,
where the seafood restaurant is reached by submarine. And even European
tourists have begun to make their way to resorts on the Red Sea. However, the
single biggest asset the region has to offer is Islam. Around the world, 1.3 bil-
lion Muslims look to the Middle East for inspiration and spiritual leadership.
Many of them are beginning to look there for luxury vacations as well. In 2001,
some 42,000 Indonesian tourists visited Qatar, Yemen, and other destinations
in the region, and the flow of Indonesian tourists to the Gulf states is expected
to grow by about 7 percent per year.
Africa south of the Sahara has it all—all but tourists, that is. Sun-baked,
surrounded by beaches, with a continent Ml of exotic wildlife, Africa still man-
ages to attract only 4 percent of the world's international tourists, and nets just
2.5 percent of the profits—and more than a third of these go to the desert lands
of Morocco, Tunisia, and Algeria in North Africa, not the lush southern region.
Even with natural resources to recommend them, the combination of deep
poverty and political instability is a hard sell.
This will be slow to change. Kenya recently received approval from Bei-
jing as a destination for Chinese tour groups, and South Africa's Sun City is
building a market among Asian tourists seeking a resort vacation closer to home
than more traditional destinations. Yet overall growth in tourism to Africa will
average about 5.5 percent over the next 15 years, according to the World Trade
Organization, and nearly all of that will occur north of the Sahara, where growth
rates are in double digits. So far as we can find, no one even bothers to estimate
the growth of tourism in equatorial and southern Africa.
Trade Organization, an army of 100 million Chinese will fan out across the
globe, replacing Americans, Japanese, and Germans as the worlds most nu-
merous travelers. That same year, 50 million Indians are expected to tour
overseas.
Nor is all this travel one-way. China soon will be not only the world s largest
source of tourists, but the most popular destination as well, with 130 million ar-
rivals in 2020. The 2008 Olympics in Beijing will hasten this trend, but they are
only part of a massive effort to improve China s attractions and infrastructure.
Both the government and many private tour operators are working to develop
scenic, cultural, historical, and religious sites as tourist destinations, and Bei-
jing has announced a plan to train 100,000 tourism specialists over the next
ten years. The reward for all this effort will be an estimated 40 million new jobs
in the tourist industry.
Yet it is Chinese and Indian vacationers who are beginning to reshape the
map of world tourism. Although Europe remains the planets favorite travel
destination, and the top draw for Asian tourists with time on their hands, those
out for a quick shopping trip or just a few days off are heading for places much
closer to home.
In Europe, castles, the Autobahn, and snow are clearly big draws for many
Chinese tourists. Scandinavia is hosting waves of tourists from the PRC, and
Chinese vacationers racked up some 600,000 overnight stays in Germany in
2003, a number that is expected to double by 2008. Nearly all belonged to ap-
proved tour groups; individual tourists still were not allowed there without a
personal invitation and a German visa.
Indian tourists are spreading out a bit further. Shopping holidays in Dubai,
which is duty-free, and packaged tours to Paris, London, Switzerland, and Aus-
tria all are attracting visitors from the subcontinent in large numbers.
However, many more Asians are spending their vacations within the re-
gion. More than 7 million mainland Chinese sought R & R in Hong Kong last
year, roughly as many people as the territory's native population, and that prob-
ably is just the beginning. This year, 1 million Chinese tourists are expected to
visit Thailand, while 900,000 will travel to Malaysia and 700,000 will go to
Vietnam. For Indian tourists, Hong Kong, Singapore (again duty-free), and
Malaysia all offer shopping and quick getaways. Nepal has been a major draw
for cultural tourism, though the expanding communist insurgency has begun
to discourage travel there. Recently Sri Lanka has gained popularity for inex-
pensive beach vacations.
With so much tourist business at stake, many countries are working hard
to attract the new Asian travelers. All of the Scandinavian countries have
opened tourist offices in China, and Cuba has recently negotiated a memo-
randum of understanding that allows Chinese tour groups to visit. South
74 Chapter 5
Africa is marketing Sun City and other resorts to Indian customers. Nepal is
promoting no fewer than five new destinations in India. And the Australia
and New Zealand tourist offices have mounted campaigns to draw visitors
from both India and China.
This is a trend seen throughout the world. As travel and tourism expand,
new destinations and new attractions are opening up rapidly all over the world.
From small villages in Bolivia to five-star resorts on the beach in Morocco, the
world's tourists will have a growing smorgasbord of destinations to visit. In the
years ahead, not even the most experienced and jaded travelers will be able to
feel they have seen it all.
easy. However, keeping prices high requires a unity of purpose that member
countries have never been able to sustain for very long. The cost of raising a bar-
rel of oil from the ground in this region is around one-tenth the wholesale price.
New oil supplies coming on line in the former Soviet Union, China, and other
parts of the world will make it even more difficult to sustain prices at artifi-
cially high levels. Prices above $28 per barrel are simply unsustainable.
Implication for Tourism: One of the major costs of tourism should remain
generally under control, with oil prices falling to their normal range by 2006.
This will make it possible for travel companies to earn acceptable profits while
keeping prices relatively affordable.
6. People around the world are becoming increasingly sensitive to
environmental issues such as air pollution as the consequences of neglect,
indifference, and ignorance become ever more apparent.
Summary: The World Health Organization estimates that 3 million people
die each year from the effects of air pollution, about 5 percent of the total deaths
annually. The European Parliament estimates that 70 percent of the Continent's
drinking water contains dangerous concentrations of nitrate pollution. Though
government policies in some developing countries—and the United States, at the
moment—rate industrial growth as more important than dealing with envi-
ronmental problems, many others are working to clean up the air and water,
save rainforests, and protect endangered species. Overall, the trend is clearly to-
ward a cleaner, healthier environment.
Implications for Tourism: Demands for still more environmental controls
are inevitable, especially in relatively pristine regions. Many of the more pop-
ular or fragile destinations may limit the number of tourists allowed to visit
them each year.
Ecotourism will continue to be one of the fastest growing areas in the
tourism industry.
China is being forced to build new resorts where Western tourists will not
be exposed to power lines and cell-phone towers. Other developing countries
will face the same imperative.
Destinations and tour operators with access to rainforests, wilderness
areas, the ocean, and other unpolluted regions will find this trend highly
profitable.
Environmental science tours and research projects with working scien-
tists will continue to be a growing niche market.
7. Technology increasingly dominates both the economy and society.
Summary: In all fields, the previous state of the art is being replaced by new
high-tech developments at an ever faster rate. Computers and telecommunica-
tions have become an ordinary part of our environment, rather than just tools
we use for specific tasks. Biotechnology, and eventually nanotechnology, may
97 Chapter 5
Anything destinations and tour operators can do to save time for their
customers will encourage repeat visits.
10. International exposure includes a greater risk of terrorist attack.
Summary: State-sponsored terrorism appears to be on the decline, as
tougher sanctions make it more trouble than it is worth. However, nothing will
prevent small, local political organizations and special-interest groups from
using terror to promote their causes. And as the United States learned on Sep-
tember 11, the most dangerous terrorist groups are no longer motivated by spe-
cific political goals, but by generalized, virulent hatred based on religion and
culture. On balance, the amount of terrorist activity in the world is likely to go
up, not down, in the next ten years.
Implications for Tourism: Until the terrorist problem is brought under
control—probably not soon—tourism to the more volatile parts of the Middle
East will be a relatively hard sell for Western vacationers, despite the appeal of
historic places.
This stigma is likely to spread almost instantaneously to any destination
that suffers a major terrorist incident. That threat is likely to be one of the great
unpredictable risks of the international tourist industry for at least the next ten
years. It could last much longer.
Terrorist hazards are not limited to Muslim lands. The communist insur-
gency in Nepal already is inhibiting vacation travel from China and India.
American-owned facilities, and those where Americans congregate, will
have to devote more of their budgets to security.
Some of the most important security measures will be invisible to cus-
tomers, but highly intrusive for staff. These may include comprehensive back-
ground checks for new hires, much as airports need to screen such
behind-the-scenes personnel as baggage handlers and fuel-truck drivers.
Disgruntled employees and former employees are the single greatest threat,
because they are familiar with security procedures and weaknesses. Those re-
cently fired are a frequent source of problems.
Chapter 5
Away M on Business:
T h e MICE Market
that still counts as doing business. All of these functions are becoming more im-
portant as technology raises the pressure to increase productivity and strips
away opportunities for human interaction. Contrary to early fears, high tech
makes "high touch" even more necessary, not less so.
Yet technology has its downside as well. Meetings, conventions, and ex-
positions remain important for building new relationships, but the business
world's growing reliance on e-mail has markedly reduced the need for personal
contact in maintaining those associations. Thus, one primary impetus for meet-
ings and expositions may have begun to wane.
Until recently, another major reason for industry expositions was the in-
troduction of new products. By compressing the product cycle, technology is
displacing that function as well. In high tech especially, manufacturers who fi-
nalize a new product in January can no longer afford to delay its introduction
for a major trade show that may not take place until June; by then, it probably
will be obsolete. For this function, smaller, task-specific meetings are displac-
ing the giant industry blowouts that once hosted product announcements. This
may help to explain the sense of emptiness reported by attendees at recent edi-
tions of COMDEX, a meeting once renowned for sardine-can congestion.
However, attendee shortages are a problem at many large gatherings these
days, points out Skip Cox, president of Exhibit Surveys, in Red Bank, New Jer-
sey. Although meeting organizers have traditionally earned 70 percent of their
revenue from selling floor space to exhibitors, he comments, "Meetings live and
die by attendees, and they were in significant decline even before the terrorist
attacks of September 11 made people less willing to travel. In fact, traffic den-
sity has been falling for most of ten years, because people have been a lot more
successful at selling display space than at getting people to attend. As a result,
exhibitors are finding it a lot more difficult to compete for attention, and they
get fewer contacts for their effort. The industry is going to have to refocus its at-
tention on attracting people to meetings. We may see some 'right-sizing' as well."
This process is already under way, if the results of two polls are any indi-
cation. In one, Meeting Professionals International found that meeting plan-
ners in North America and Europe expected to see about 1 percent more
meetings in 2003 than were held in 2002; yet meeting budgets were shrinking
by more than 1 percent overall. At the same time, hospitality industry executives
were expecting an increase of 6 percent in both the number of meetings and in
revenue from the meetings they would host. This may have spelled disap-
pointment for some hotels, resorts, and conference centers.
According to the second survey, carried out by Jacobs Jenner & Kent Mar-
ket Research, 34 percent of the exhibition and convention executives re-
sponding expected fewer exhibitors at their meetings in 2003, 30 percent
had sold less square footage, and 28 percent expected fewer attendees. This
Away on Business: The M ÍCE Market 83
shrinkage was far from universal, however. Some 46 percent expected more ex-
hibitors, 41 percent had sold more square footage, and 39 percent expected
more attendees.
More recent reports have cited a gain in bookings at destinations near
major cities, particularly if they are flexible on price or can offer activities for
the families of meeting attendees.
The MICE market faces some challenges, which may help to explain the
differences uncovered by these polls.
Wall Street has been a continuing problem for meeting organizers. Its re-
lentless focus on earnings per share, and its refusal to look farther into the fu-
ture than the next business quarter, have forced corporate executives to cut
corners wherever they can, even if it means eliminating functions that could
have been profitable in the longer term. Often, it is meetings that get the ax.
Mergers and acquisitions are another major factor driven in part by in-
vestor expectations. As a result of mergers, the hardware industry now is dom-
inated by just five major companies. Forecasting International has long predicted
that there soon will be only three major airlines in the United States, a target date
that now seems likely to be met by 2006. And when two companies become one,
there are fewer potential exhibitors for the next meeting in that industry. Merg-
ing companies also tend to shed employees in the duplicated functions, and
thereby reduce the number of possible attendees for future meetings.
This is one aspect of a trend that FI calls "the bimodal distribution of in-
stitutions." As large companies merge and drive midsized competitors out of
business, thanks to their economies of scale, small "boutique" participants are
cropping up to serve niche markets in almost every industry. Working to attract
more exhibitors and attendees from among these micro-scale competitors may
be one way to make up for the losses at the top end of the corporate food chain.
Another trend that makes life harder for meeting managers is key account
selling. When companies focus their attention on the 20 percent of customers
who provide 80 percent of their sales, they are in daily contact with the clients
who matter to them most. Inevitably, they feel less need to see them in person
at large industry gatherings. This too has worked to slow the growth of demand
for meetings and expositions.
It also has helped to promote the growth of another important trend: Pri-
vate events are quickly eroding the market for industry trade shows. Not only
for key accounts, but for potential customers, companies increasingly prefer
to meet their contacts in seclusion, where they need not battle competitors for
attention. Some of these closed meetings are enormous, and they will continue
to make up a growing part of the total market for meetings and expositions.
Though most meetings count on the local market for their success—an
estimated 40 percent of attendees come from within 400 miles of the meeting
84 Chapter 5
PROSPERITY REBOUNDS
The slow, tentative recovery of the American economy is now looking remark-
ably solid, with more than a year of positive economic growth tallied six months
into 2004, including the spectacular 8.2 percent rise in the third quarter of 2003.
Forecasts now call for growth in the range of 4 percent or better for 2004. Sim-
ilar gains are being seen in much of Europe, and even Japan s long-sickly econ-
omy appears finally to have entered a growth period.
This new prosperity is already being felt in the meetings-and-expositions
market. Bookings reportedly are up from 25 percent to 50 percent for 2004,
thanks in large part to the economic recovery. (Repeat business and relationship
selling also come in for some of the credit.) Small meetings—100 guests and
under—still book only a month or so ahead, but larger meetings are beginning
to plan six months to a year ahead. Larger meetings are becoming just a bit
more common than they were at the bottom of the slump.
Away on Business: The M ÍCE Market 85
All this is a long way from the boom days of the 1990s, and even then the
market for meetings and expositions was tightening as companies tried to
squeeze more return from every dollar of investment. Yet steady economic
growth will ensure that major corporations and business organizations provide
steady demand for meeting space.
The growing unification of the world into a single market will bring fur-
ther demand for international meetings and expositions. Hotels and resorts
with good connections to the largest international managers of meetings and
expositions will be especially well positioned to benefit from this trend.
Destinations in some developing countries also will benefit from govern-
ment efforts to build international trade and from the "trendiness" of exotic lo-
cales. However, they will have to reassure meeting managers about issues such
as local manpower, equipment availability, and the financial risks of doing busi-
ness under an unfamiliar legal system.
However, the threat of international terrorism will be a concern for inter-
national meetings for many years to come—and especially while American
forces remain in Iraq, providing extra motivation for Muslim extremists. This
will require hotels and resorts in many areas to take extra care in arranging se-
curity for meetings. It also will slow the growth in international meetings sig-
nificantly below the pace it might otherwise attain.
One question yet to be answered is how much impact SARS—severe acute
respiratory syndrome—and avian flu will have on meetings and expositions in
Asia. In 2003, fear of SARS slashed attendance at industry gatherings in China,
Taiwan, Japan, Singapore, and Hong Kong. If we see a new round of SARS out-
breaks or the few cases of avian flu recently worrying doctors turn into another
unexpected epidemic, it may not matter how the global economy performs.
Asia could be off-limits to meetings and exhibitions for as long as it takes doc-
tors to develop vaccines against these diseases. The first SARS death of the year
was recorded in China in early May.
GROWING OLDER
Throughout the developed world, the retirement-age population is growing at
an astonishing rate. For example, the over-65 cohort will rise from 12.4 per-
cent of the American population in 2000 to more than 16 percent in 2020. The
same trend is seen in Europe, Japan, and even in some developing countries.
Indias over-60 population is expanding from 56 million in 1991 to 137 million
in 2021 and 340 million in 2051.
For destinations that host meetings and expositions, this offers one of the
most vibrant markets that will be available in the next twenty years, as recent
data shows. In 2002, attendance at trade shows overall shrank by 4.3 percent.
By contrast, according to Tradeshow Weekly, professional attendance at medical
86 Chapter 5
and healthcare shows rose no less than 8.2 percent. And in a tight economic cli-
mate, the number of companies exhibiting increased by 1.8 percent.
This market can only grow in the years ahead. A wide range of new
goods and services will cater to the needs of the elderly, and particularly for
healthy, active seniors throughout the developed world. At the same time,
the health care industry will continue to grow rapidly to meet the medical
needs of less fortunate seniors. The need to introduce these products and
services and keep them before the public will provide a fast-expanding mar-
ket for meeting and exposition space. Exhibitions will also be used to test-
market products redesigned for older consumers, another active niche market
for the hospitality industry.
At the same time, workers in the traditional retirement years represent
the fastest growing employment pool in many developed countries. It has yet
to be fully or efficiently tapped. Retirement-age workers are especially well
suited to the hospitality industry, because they are generally polite, well spoken,
and available for part-time work.
investing in new hardware, and wireless Internet service is not even a strong
competitive advantage. But the lack of it is an increasingly serious handicap
when it comes to winning in the meeting market.
All this connectivity also has begun to change the way the hospitality in-
dustry does business. Potential customers now routinely shop for destinations,
begin negotiations, register for meetings, and book their rooms on the Internet.
This has forced hotel and conference-center executives to change their ways, but
has made for more efficient marketing.
The downside of telecommunications—particularly e-mail, business TV,
and computerized conferences—is that it has become easier for executives to
maintain contact with their customers and colleagues without actually meeting
them in person. These "virtual meetings" have begun to replace travel and face-
to-face meetings. This is especially true of trips by one or two executives from
site to site within big companies, which account for an estimated 80 percent of
business travel. However, virtual meetings also are having an impact on con-
ferences, where people used to reinforce their existing relationships. Now they
can meet someone in person for the first time and "meet" them online when-
ever they have business to discuss. So-called "face time" remains important,
but to some executives it seems no longer quite as important as it once was. This
is particularly true for the younger generations, who grew up with computers
and may have had close online friends whom they never actually met in the
real world.
All this has helped to drain business from many large trade shows. For
example, attendance at the giant COMDEX in Las Vegas peaked at 200,000 in
2000; two years later, it had slipped to less than 125,000 and parent company
Key3Media Group soon filed for Chapter 11. (Of course, the general high-tech
slump also contributed to COMDEX'S troubles; exhibitors were off from 2,337
in 2000 to barely 1,000 in 2002.) Online conferences will not replace real-world
events, but they will compete with hotels and resorts for the chance to deliver
information to busy executives. In the long term, a lot of business that still hap-
pens in person today will migrate to the Internet.
Technology is having another effect as well. Thanks to developments such
as computer-aided design and manufacturing, the product cycle is becoming
increasingly compressed. As recently as World War II, it took thirty years to go
from theoretical idea to the release of competing products in an established
market; in computing, it now takes eighteen months or less. Competition
among service providers is essentially instantaneous. Companies can no longer
afford to wait for giant, industry-wide trade shows to introduce new products,
so they are mounting their own smaller, highly focused events. These gather-
ings offer another hot market for destinations able to target corporate meet-
ing planners.
88 Chapter 5
TOURISM EXPANDS
The hospitality industry will continue to grow by at least 5 percent per year for the
foreseeable future, just as it has done for the last decade. Perhaps a bit ironically,
this growth is likely to make the hospitality industry itself the largest single user of
meeting and exposition services, both to promote its own offerings to consumers
and to handle the industry's own increasingly large and frequent gatherings.
Away on Business: The M ÍCE Market 89
The downside of this trend is crowding, as many resort areas become in-
creasingly packed with tourists. It will be harder for these destinations to attract
major meetings, and the sardine effect will degrade the attendees' experience
during leisure time at the meeting. This increasingly will send meeting planners
to smaller hotels and resorts in out-of-the-way locations. It also will open new
business for destinations that until recently might have found it more difficult
to attract meetings and expositions.
However, taking advantage of these opportunities may require some diffi-
cult adjustments. Lawson Hockrnan, of the Foundation for International Meetings,
points out that managers of small gatherings often have to work on a tight bud-
get and thus are extremely reluctant to commit to paying for rooms that may not
be filled. To gain their business, destinations may have to take on the liability of
setting aside rooms for people who may never arrive. Hotels and resorts willing
to accept that risk will have a big negotiating advantage over those that are not.
WE TRAVEL FASTER
By air and by sea, passengers are getting from one place to another at higher
speeds, at lower prices, and with greater efficiency. As a result, by 2010, air
travel for both business and pleasure will reach triple the 1985 rate. Larger car
pacity aircraft, such as the Airbus Industries A380 and Boeing 787, will con-
tribute to this trend. The new Airbus plane is so large that companies will be
able to hold onboard meetings while still on their way to meetings, just as they
do on cruise ships today.
Going faster, cheaper means going farther in the same time and at the
same price. Thus, more distant destinations become more attractive for meet-
ings. This trend should bring more business for hotels and resorts in develop-
ing lands with spectacular scenery and other unique attractions.
Faster, more convenient travel options also will reduce the lead time
needed to arrange smaller corporate meetings and other short-notice gatherings.
It will be more difficult to tap into the market to host these hasty assemblies,
and hotels and resorts that can build relationships directly with companies,
rather than with meeting managers, will have a significant advantage over their
less well-connected competitors.
SPECIALIZATION IS SPREADING
For doctors, lawyers, engineers, and other professionals, the size of the body of
knowledge required to excel in a particular area precludes excellence across all
areas. The same principle applies to artisans. Witness the rise of post-and-beam
homebuilders, old-house restorers, automobile electronics technicians, and
90 Chapter 5
responding in a Louis Harris poll said they work because it "gives a feeling of
real accomplishment." Fifty-five percent of the top executives interviewed in
that survey say that erosion of the work ethic will have a major negative effect
on corporate performance in the future.
For the moment, this trend may be changing. In May 2003, the number of
unemployed in the United States hit its highest point in twenty years. (Note
that this is a raw number; as a percentage, the rate of unemployment remained
under control.) And there is nothing like a bad job market to make people more
interested in working harder to keep the paycheck they have. However, this is
likely to prove a temporary reversal in a long-term trend.
The motivated self-starters on whom this industry depends will be in-
creasingly hard to find. So will employees capable of working reliably on their
own with meeting planners far from home. Finding them, grooming them for
greater responsibility, and keeping them on staff will be among the hospitality
industry's greatest management concerns of the next twenty years.
with colleagues they have never met in the real world. They may feel less need
for in-person gatherings, and this could partially offset the expected growth in
demand for meeting space.
One more new-generation attitude is likely to have a major effect on meet-
ings: For all their hard-nosed attention to the bottom line, Generations X and
Dot-com have a lot less interest in their careers than their Baby-Boom elders.
To these younger workers, a job is just a means to an end. What really matters
to them is friends, family, and fun. They are not likely to be much interested in
attending meetings unless they can bring their families and put in some qual-
ity time in leisure activities.
SECONDS COUNT
As we have seen in previous chapters, time is rapidly becoming the world's
rarest, most precious commodity. Like many other trends, this is reducing de-
mand for large, general-purpose industry gatherings that may not repay the
days, not to mention money, invested in attending them. However, it is in-
creasing the need for small corporate retreats and other low-stress, high-
productivity gatherings. These are likely to be one of the fastest-growing
segments of the market for meeting space.
This offers opportunities for smaller destinations with unique attractions.
In meetings of any size, many clients will appreciate cost-efficient, novel op-
portunities to relax in the leisure hours of their gatherings. Destinations that can
supply them will have a significant marketing advantage over competitors
whose primary appeal is the ability to accommodate a crowd.
BUSINESSES SHRINK
Thanks to computerized information systems, a typical large business in 2010
will have fewer than half the management levels of its counterpart in 1990, and
about one-third the number of managers. That will bring at least some good for
the hospitality industry, because it means lower management expenses, though
at the cost of having fewer promotion opportunities for career-minded workers.
However, like many of these trends, it is a mixed blessing for the meetings and
expositions market.
One reason there are fewer managers is that the work they oversaw is now
being contracted out. This offers new opportunities for the firms that now han-
dle those chores. It should translate into new growth for a variety of service in-
dustries, which will need space for new meetings and their attendees.
Away on Business: The M ÍCE Market 93
One function that many companies are likely to farm out is the organi-
zation of MICE. This should make it easier for destinations to compete for
business at those firms. Instead of trying to sell to one hard-to-identify man-
ager who may handle meetings only for his division or department—and who
could leave for another employer the following week—hospitality executives
may be able to build a continuing relationship with a professional meeting
manager who can speak for everyone at a major client firm, or for several
smaller companies.
Yet overall, the trends suggest that the market for meeting space will grow
even more challenging in the years ahead. As Francis J. Friedman, president of
Time & Place Strategies, in New York City, points out, "Trade shows are the
only medium where the customer pays to hear sales presentations." As the busi-
ness world demands ever leaner and more efficient operations, that idea is los-
ing its appeal. And as we have seen, smaller corporate meetings face challenges
of their own. Thus questions arise: How will meeting organizers continue to
flourish in this increasingly difficult environment? And how can destinations
help them to succeed, and thus compete successfully for their future business?
An obvious starting point is to know what really matters to organizers
charged with making their meetings a success. At FI, where we have occasion-
ally run meetings of up to several hundred participants, we concentrate on four
rewards that make it worth someone's while to attend a business gathering.'
Call them the "four Cs," if you want; we think of them as "C4," an explosive
combination that makes meetings work. These are contacts, contracts, certifi-
cation, and clarification.
Contacts, of course, are the people you meet. Can you impress enough of
them so that they will call or e-mail you later? For most attendees, and especially
for exhibitors, this is the real return on their investment in the meeting. Mak-
ing first contact also is the one function of meetings that is most difficult to re-
place by e-mail and teleconferencing.
For the most successful attendees, who do impress potential new cus-
tomers, or whose potential suppliers impress them, those contacts can result in
contracts. Thus, large industry trade shows can have a measurable impact on
the bottom line.
Certification comes from those workshops held at many association meet-
ings. They provide a base of common knowledge that improves the efficiency
of any industry. This is particularly important in highly technical fields, such as
health care, where any deficiency in professional skills may cost lives.
Clarification can take many forms. It may be just a matter of asking the
right question of an expert you would not have met outside the meeting. Clar-
ification also can be more tangible: It's one thing to see a video of new equip-
ment, but quite another to touch and see and hear it working in person.
113 Chapter 5
Skip Cox, president of Exhibit Surveys, may not use exactly those terms,
but he clearly has these issues in mind when he states that successful exhibitions
or conventions adhere to just two basic principles: They deliver "highly valued in-
formation to all parties attending' and they provide "an environment that fosters
and promotes personal interaction for the effective exchange of information."
In their recent survey, Jacobs, Jenner & Kent asked participants to cite
the two most difficult challenges facing their events. More than forty problems
made the list, and many echoed Mr. Cox's concerns. The single most common
problem cited by respondents was "keeping the show relevant—aimed prop-
erly at the proper marketplace." Closely allied with this were issues such as
convincing companies to market themselves at shows independent of the or-
ganizer's efforts, anticipating the next most effective elements in a constantly
evolving effort to reposition their event, keeping attendees on the show floor, and
providing enough value so that exhibitors and attendees would find it worth-
while participating in the gathering.
To maintain relevance, Skip Cox believes at least part of the answer may
be downsizing. "The highly successful exhibitions and conventions of the fu-
ture," he advises, "will be more focused, vertical trades shows that are rich in
content, both of formal education and of exhibitors relevant to the attendees'
interests. It will be easier to deliver high value information for a narrow field,
discipline, industry segment, or area of technology." Attendees rate private cor-
porate events as being particularly useful, Cox notes, specifically because they
provide high value and specific information to meet the needs of "a very verti-
cal audience."
Large industry gatherings also can be successful by imitating small ones,
Cox adds: "Organizers will need to create well-defined vertical segments of their
events and support each segment with rich content, a good representation of ex-
hibitors relevant to each segment, and they must make it easy for attendees to
'consume' their segments of interest." An ideal mix includes large exhibitors
who have a really good grasp of their field; smaller participants with diverse,
highly specific viewpoints; and one or two top-notch speakers from outside the
field, who can set industry developments into their broader perspective. This
also is a good formula for panel discussions.
It may be an increasingly difficult ideal to meet, according to Francis
Friedman. She divides meeting exhibitors into three categories: the largest com-
panies with the biggest budgets, which make up about 10 percent of accounts;
intermediate-sized companies, which represent about 40 percent of partici-
pants; and small companies with relatively small budgets, which are fully half
of the meeting market. Ms. Friedman believes the importance of these groups
to trade shows will be evolving rapidly during the remainder of this decade.
This change may be important to destinations that host smaller meetings as
well as the large trade shows.
Away on Business: The M ÍCE Market 95
times. However, they will still take place, and they will need hotels, resorts, and
conference centers to accommodate them.
There are not only challenges ahead, but opportunities and rewards—
and for savvy participants in this industry, the opportunities will be very re-
warding indeed.
Implications for MICE: Health services for the elderly are one of the fastest
growing fields in business throughout the industrialized world. They also are
the fastest growing market for meetings and expositions.
Growth in this field will continue through at least 2020, when the Baby
Boom generation will finally be vanishing from the global stage.
However, this is subject to change. Any dramatic breakthrough in late-lift
"wellness" could reduce demand for geriatric services and medical care and de-
prive MICE of its most promising market.
3. The growth of the information industries is creating a knowledge-
dependent global society.
Summary: Information is the primary commodity of more and more in-
dustries. As a result, 80 percent of companies worldwide expect to have em-
ployees who work at home by 2005, up from 54 percent in 2003. By 2007, 83
percent of American management personnel will be knowledge workers, and
Europe and Japan are not far behind. Computer competence is rapidly ap-
proaching 100 percent in these countries. The Internet makes it possible for
small businesses throughout the world to compete for market share on an even
footing with industry leaders.
Implications for MICE: Executives find it easier to attend meetings and
other events, because e-mail and instant messaging make it easier to keep in
touch with their office and customers.
"Virtual meetings" online are beginning to replace quick business trips by one
or two executives. This trend is likely to accelerate as executives from Generations
X and Dot-com take over from their less net-sawy Baby Boom predecessors.
CAD/CAM and other forms of high-tech streamlining have so hastened
product development that no one can wait for the next trade show to roll out
new products. This is eroding the market for major expositions, but may gen-
erate smaller, special-purpose meetings.
Smaller destinations find it increasingly easy to reach potential customers
worldwide.
Faster travel and the chance to choose among more destinations also re-
duces the lead time required to schedule a meeting.
Destinations that can market directly to customers will have a further ad-
vantage over those who must work through third parties.
4. Growing acceptance of cultural diversity, aided by the unifying ef-
fect of mass media, is promoting the growth of a truly integrated global
society. However, this is subject to local interruptions and reversals.
Summary: Information technologies promote long-distance communica-
tion as people hook up with the same commercial databases and computer net-
works, and above all with the Internet. Business travel, migration, intermarriage,
and other forces also are mixing global cultures geographically, ethnically, socially,
117 Chapter 5
.S. ECONOMY
Nothing is as important to the cruise industry as the American economy. No
less than 80 percent of cruise tickets are sold to Americans. According to one
recent study, only 13 percent of Americans have taken a cruise, but half dream
of doing so. Many of these potential customers may at least consider taking a
cruise when they feel economically secure. But in bad economic times, the
American cruise market shrinks, and it takes radical price cuts and other in-
ducements to fill berths.
So this comes as good news: The American economy has regained a lot of
its strength. In the first two quarters of 2004, GDP expanded at a bit more than
4 percent annually. This marks 12 quarters of continuous growth since the bot-
tom of the downturn in 2001. While the Conference Board's Index of Leading
Indicators dipped in June and July 2004, these were only slight decreases after
eleven months of nearly continuous growth. After long delay, in March 2004
the economy even began to add more than enough jobs to employ all the new
manpower that enters the workforce each month. Between March and June,
more than 1 million new jobs appeared in the United States with a few more
opening up in July and August.
We now believe that the economy has begun a new period of stable ex-
pansion that should see GDP growth in the area of 3 to 4 percent for at least the
next year. This is important news for cruise lines whose potential customers
have been finding it hard to commit themselves to a costly vacation. This is one
case where a rising tide floats all cruise ships.
104 Chapter 5
AGING POPULATION
Throughout the developed world, people are living longer and, on average,
growing older. (Demographically, one does not necessarily imply the other.)
Life expectancy in Australia, Japan, and Switzerland is now over 75 years
for men and over 80 for women. In the United States, every generation has
lived three years longer than the previous one. An 80-year-old in 1950 could
expect 6.5 more years of life; today's 80-year-olds are likely to survive 8.5
more years.
As a result, and because birthrates are declining throughout most of the
industrialized world, older people now make up more of the population than
they used to. Their numbers will continue to grow. People over 65 were only
8 percent of the population in the developed world in 1950, but 15 percent
in 2000, and will grow to 27 percent in the next half-century, according to the
Center for Strategic and International Studies. In Germany, people of re-
tirement age will climb from under 16 percent of the population in 2000 to
nearly 19 percent in 2010 and 31 percent in 2050. Japan's over-65 popula-
tion, 17 percent of the total in 2000, will rise to 22 percent in 2010 and nearly
37 percent in 2050.
This is important because older people are now the wealthiest segment of
society, and the most likely to have the time for an extended cruise. According
to the 2000 Market Profile Study conducted by the Cruise Line International As-
sociation, Baby Boomers now make up the largest market for cruises; 42 per-
cent of those polled had taken a cruise, compared with only 32 percent in the
over-60 group. However, well-to-do seniors generally take the longest and most
luxurious cruises. Unlike younger, family- and budget-minded passengers, they
tend to prefer smaller ships, giving up tennis courts and ping pong tables in re-
turn for all-out pampering. As the giant Baby Boom generation ages, the upper
end of the cruise market can only grow rapidly,
Seabourn Cruise Line has hitched its ocean-going wagons to a younger
market. Yet in the process, it has poised itself to benefit from the aging trend.
"Over the last two years, the year-round average age of our guests has
fallen from around 59 to about 55 years," says Richard Meadows, vice president
of sales and marketing. The line is attracting younger customers in part by of-
fering one-week Mediterranean cruises for mid-career Baby Boomers. "At the
same time, we balance the product for our other customers by making the one-
week cruises combinable for two, three, or even up to five weeks with a differ-
ent port content," Mr. Meadows adds. When Seabourn's 50-something
passengers reach their leisure years, they will have built considerable brand
loyalty to their accustomed hosts.
The growth of the over-65 market will moderate the habitual seasonality
of tourism, because retirees can travel off-season, and prefer to do so when it
Water, Water Everywhere: The Cruise industry 105
can save them some money. This should help to even out the cash flow of cruise
operators.
To serve these demanding customers, some cruise lines have adapted their
ships to the needs of older passengers. Others should follow their lead. Obvious
features for the elderly include safety handholds in bathrooms and showers,
larger signs with easy-to-read type, and large, levered door handles for arthritic
hands. Older cruisers also need special services such as help in moving their be-
longings and information about the physical demands of side trips. Such ameni-
ties will be increasingly important in the years ahead.
TOURISM GROWS
The number of Americans traveling to foreign countries (excluding Canada and
Mexico) grew by 5 percent per year from 1981 through 1996. It will continue
for the foreseeable future. For many vacationers, cruises are one of the most de-
sirable forms of international travel.
Those American tourists soon will be joined by the growing middle classes
of India and China. By 2010, China is expected to be the single largest source
of international tourists in the world, displacing Americans, Japanese, and Ger-
mans as the planets busiest travelers. Already, more than 85 million Chinese are
believed to be able to afford international vacations. By 2020, 100 million Chi-
nese tourists will fan out across the globe. If just 1 percent of them take a cruise
each year, they will more than double the cruise market. Long before that, cruise
lines will begin to offer cruises and on-board amenities suited to Chinese and
Indian tastes, while native Chinese and Indian cruise lines will appear to serve
their local market.
Recently, short-distance activities have added to the bottom line of flexi-
ble, market-savvy cruise operators. These include shipboard meetings, brief
"cruises to nowhere," scenic cruises during fall foliage season, and trips to
nearby destinations—for example, from the Gulf coasts of Florida and Texas to
Mexico. We expect similar cruise operations to appear in the Indian, Asian, and
Japanese markets.
One more source of change is the growing number of destinations for
cruises. In addition to new resorts and adventure experiences, many passen-
gers will be attracted by unique facilities such as the extraordinarily beauti-
ful Bibliotheque, a recreation of the fabled Library of Alexandria, whose
exterior walls are covered in passages from the Rosetta Stone. Another spec-
tacular new destination is the Al Arab Hotel, a literally ship-shape 60-story
edifice in Dubai where diners travel to the underwater, glass-ceilinged seafood
restaurant by submarine. Word has it that in 2004 there are 100 new hotels
106 Chapter 5
under construction in Dubai, one of them nearly 100 feet under water and
accessible only by elevator. Serving these profitable niche markets will re-
quire small, luxurious ships suited to shallow ports and discerning cruisers.
ECONOMICAL ENERGY
Cruise ships will never be cheap to run, but at least they will not be burdened
by high oil prices—though this is a difficult claim to make in September 2004,
when crude oil prices are nearing $50 per barrel for the first time in history. De-
spite its best efforts, OPEC has been hard pressed to keep petroleum from falling
below its target of $25 per barrel ever since the United States announced its
decision to invade Iraq. New oil supplies coming on line in the former Soviet
Union, China, and other parts of the world will make it even more difficult to
sustain prices at artificially high levels. So will the return of Iraqi oil to the
global marketplace, under American control. In all, oil will generally remain
between $25 and $28 per barrel for the foreseeable future. This is one factor that
will not bleed profits from cruise operators.
CLEANING UP
Several years ago, a research vessel crossed the middle of the Atlantic, taking
samples of what it found. When they reached land, the scientists told of pack-
aging materials, clumps of tar, and even human waste, floating hundreds of
miles from land. The report made headlines in newspapers and magazines
across the United States.
Gone are the days when vessels could casually dump their wastes near
land. Yet it does happen. Ten years ago, Regency cruises was fined for dump-
ing plastic bags 30 miles off Florida, something banned by U.S. law anywhere
at sea. More recently, Royal Caribbean, Norwegian Cruise Line, and Carnival all
have been fined—in one case up to $27 million—for dumping oily bilge water,
plastic trash, raw sewage, and even toxic chemicals. Crystal Cruises' Crystal
Harmony was banned from Monterey Bay after dumping sewage and bilge water
in October 2002.
Many cruise lines have gone a long way to clean up their act. Royal
Caribbean now processes all its bilge water on trips to Alaska and carries an en-
vironmental compliance officer on each trip there. Crystal Cruises switched to
more expensive, less polluting fuel several years ago and voluntarily reported
the Monterey Bay incident. Modern cruise ships are equipped with extensive
treatment plants for bilge water and sewage and with storage facilities for other
wastes. Yet there is clearly room for improvement.
Those enhancements will be mandatory. U.S. regulations now ban dis-
carding raw sewage and food wastes within three miles of shore and limit the
amount of oil in dumped bilge water to just 15 parts per million, but allow gray
water to be discharged anywhere. FI believes these rules will be tightened
drastically. Those rules will be enforced by satellite surveillance and other
108 Chapter 5
technologies. In the future, alarms will sound if wastes are dumped near land,
and discharge of raw sewage and other noxious substances will be banned
anywhere at sea. New ships may require double hulls in critical sections to pre-
vent loss of toxic materials in a collision.
CYBER-CRUISING
These days, you can take it with you, and pretty much have to. The Internet, that
is. It's a rare user of e-mail who can stand to be away from his in-box for more
than a day or two at a time, and many cruise passengers love being able to share
vacations with friends and relatives almost as they happen. Hotels unable to
Water, Water Everywhere: The Cruise industry !! I
offer 24/7 Internet access for guests already are losing revenues to those that can.
There will be over 1 trillion Net users in the world by 2005, including a sub-
stantial majority of cruisers.
In response to this trend, many lines are providing more convenient Net
access for their guests. Europa offers 24-hour Internet access free in every state-
room. Silversea is phasing stateroom Internet access into all its ships. Several
ships have added Internet cafes, where passengers can surf while they graze.
Five years from now, expanded Internet access will be standard fare on nearly
all cruise lines.
IBM's Jerry Leeman points out that guests will also expect to be able to
communicate through their PDA or cell phone to the onboard ship customer in-
formation system. They will want to be able to check dinner reservations and
plan activities anywhere aboard ship at any time. Cruise ships soon will require
a "virtual concierge" to supplement their human staff.
The exponential growth of the Internet has one more implication for
cruise operators, one that some cruise executives we have talked with are re-
luctant to accept.
The Internet is revolutionizing the travel industry. An estimated 93 percent
of travelers with Internet access now seek travel information online—and ac-
cording to The Unofficial Guided to Cruises 2003 the amount of travel informa-
tion available through the Internet has grown by 1,000 percent in just two years.
The Travel Industry Association of America says that 39 million travelers actu-
ally booked their trips over the Internet in 2002, up 25 percent from the previ-
ous year. Of those customers, 77 percent bought plane tickets, while 57 percent
made hotel reservations and 37 percent booked rental cars.
This has had a big impact on some companies, especially in the airline
market. Southwest Airlines reports that about 37 percent of its bookings are
now made over the Internet. British Airways expected 50 percent of its book-
ings to arrive over the Internet this year. In Europe, about 90 percent of bud-
get airline bookings now come through the Internet.
According to Forrester Research, the number of households arranging
leisure travel online will grow by at least 32 percent through 2007. At that point,
Internet bookings will be worth nearly $50 billion.
Thus far, the cruise industry has lagged well behind this trend. Some 95
percent of cruise bookings are made through travel agents, and many industry
executives expect that to continue. In announcing the recent promotion of Car-
nival president Bob Dickinson to CEO, the company used the opportunity to
stress his close relationship with and commitment to travel agents. (He does ad-
vise them to put in more time on weekends, when customer calls are five times
more common than during the business week.) Princess executive Dean Brown
declares in the newsletter Cruise Week that "Cruise lines booking direct is one
of the most distracting things that a retailer can look at." Only 5 percent of the
110 Chapter 5
company's business is booked direct, he adds, and travel agents provide at least
one-fifth of new growth. Virtually every cruise line has a Web site, but many are
little more than billboards designed to hone the corporate image.
It cannot last. Internet users are accustomed to the convenience of shop-
ping online. They expect the companies they do business with to provide the in-
formation they need on the Net, where it can be browsed at will, 24/7. And as
cyber-wary seniors begin to leave the market, they will be replaced by Net-sawy
Gen-Xers and Dot-coms who have little patience with the stately pace of offline
sales. The transition to Net-based marketing will largely bypass the luxury mar-
ket, where customers prefer to have others do the tedious work of putting the
travel package together. Two-earner families, those on a budget, and habitually
informed consumers already have begun to take much more of the cruise shop-
ping process into their own hands.
Ultimately, it may be that there are too few travel agents to meet the cruise
lines' needs. The number of agents dropped from 35,000 to 26,000 in just the
eighteen months ending in June 2002—and that was before airlines eliminated
commissions for sales on most domestic flights. Cruise lines cannot support
all the world's travel agents on their own, and it seems that no one else has
much interest in doing so.
This transition will be gradual, but it is inevitable. Five years from now,
travel agents will be much less important to the cruise lines, while the Internet
will account for a significant and growing portion of bookings. Only the extreme
luxury market will be immune to this trend, as wealthy seniors continue to pre-
fer the pleasure of being waited on by travel agents to the efficiency of online
cruise shopping. Outside that niche, the only question is which lines will be early
adopters of Internet sales and which will find themselves playing catch-up.
TIME IS PRECIOUS
Two-earner households just don't have much of it. Neither do affluent singles.
In the United States, workers spend about 10 percent more time on the job than
they did a decade ago, and the number is still rising. European executives and
nonunionized workers face the same trend.
In this high-pressure environment, consumers are increasingly desperate
for any product or service that offers a taste of luxury—and many of them can
afford to pay for it. There is no luxury tastier than a cruise.
Catering to this market will require some obvious adaptations: more short
cruises, more three-day "cruises to nowhere," more departures from ports within
driving range of their homes, still more attention to children's activities and fa-
cilities for the families of young, harried parents. (The average age of first-time
Water, Water Everywhere: The Cruise industry !! I
cruise passengers is now under 40.) Given that Carnival Cruise Lines carried
more than 300,000 children in 2001, while cruise ships are now being docked at
lesser ports from Norfolk to Boston, it seems these changes are well in hand.
Time has another aspect, which also presents opportunities for cruise
operators. Older passengers often are concerned with "life milestones"—
anniversaries, birthdays, and other opportunities for family gatherings. This
is a clear market for brief, relatively inexpensive cruises. It is likely to grow
as the economy improves and the retirement-age population grows.
In the years ahead, cruise operators will be forced to tighten security even
beyond current standards. They will have to screen not only passengers, but
everyone who has contact with the vessel—food loaders, baggage handlers, port
pilots, and their own disgruntled employees and former employees. One thing
they will not have to do is screen baggage, a job too expensive to handle at in-
dividual ships. That will be taken care of as people enter the dock, either by
government employees or by private security firms under contract to the De-
partment of Home Security or to industry associations. Already, some cruise
lines have stopped the age-old practice of putting name tags on at the airport
for fear that would-be terrorists will slip a bomb or hazardous material into a
bag before it ever reached the ship.
Security is as important for small inland cruises as it is for ocean-going lin-
ers. On the Potomac, tour boats glide past within striking distance of the
Kennedy Center, where a bomb could endanger 40,000 people. Many ships that
cruise down the Mississippi and other waterways also pass within easy reach
of populous, vulnerable targets. Tourists on these vessels undergo no security
checks at all, but that is about to change. Coast Guard regulations now require
the screening of tour boat passengers. Ships entering major ports are searched
by the Coast Guard, while Navy SEALs examine the hull for explosives, and
further security procedures now stretch leaving the ship into an ordeal that can
last for hours.
All this represents a difficult adjustment for both cruise passengers and the
companies that cany them. There is something about being treated as a po-
tential hijacker that conflicts fundamentally with the sense of luxury and pam-
pering that cruisers signed up for and cruise operators aim to provide.
We will just have to get used to it. From now on, boarding a ship is going
to look more and more like running the gauntlet at a busy airport. The alter-
native is even worse.
S A W y CONSUMERS
A networked society is a consumerist society. Shoppers today can search the In-
ternet for information about pricing, services, delivery time, and peer reviews
of all manner of goods and services. Already, the monthly Internet newsletter
CruiseReports delivers reviews of cruise ships, complete with passenger com-
ments, directly to the reader's e-mail box. Over the next few years, this trend will
sweep through the cruise industry as well. Disappoint one passenger, and thou-
sands of potential customers will hear about it.
Norwegian Cruise Line showed how not to handle problems in April 2003,
when ice in the Gulf of Finland forced Norwegian Dream to cancel stops at
Helsinki, Tallinn, and—unforgivably—St. Petersburg, the high point of the trip.
Passengers learned of the changes only when they checked in at Dover, and they
Water, Water Everywhere: The Cruise industry !! I
were offered compensation of only $100 to $200 each, amounts that sent irate
cruisers on stage to harangue fellow passengers in a near-revolt. As one dis-
mayed agent commented, "They've come a long way to see St. Petersburg, and
$150 ain't going to cut it." The Internet earned that tale around the world, no
doubt in the words of the angriest customers.
A world of savvy, demanding, networked consumers requires still greater
effort to give passengers the best possible cruise. It may be even more impor-
tant to soothe their frustrations when something goes wrong.
Carnival set out to make the world's most luxurious cruising ship. The re-
sult, built at a cost of $780 million, is likely to provoke shock and "aah"s. Even
its smallest staterooms offer 194 square feet of sumptuous appointments, its
largest—two Grand Duplex apartments at the stern—can be combined with the
penthouses above to create a single apartment with an unprecedented 8,288
square feet of floor space. Even the most modest accommodations, to what-
ever extent the concept of modesty applies to any part of this vessel, is equipped
with a 20-inch television and attached computer keyboard providing digital
video, music, and audio books on demand, with 24-hour e-mail access. There
are fourteen bars, ten restaurants, five swimming pools, a gymnasium, and a spa
with twenty-four treatment rooms, and even a putting green.
In the words of one observer, "This is the ship God would have made if he
had the cash flow." Carnival does, thanks to its firm hold on both the mass mar-
ket and luxury ends of the cruise industry.
However, QM2 will not be the world's largest cruise ship for long. In fact,
Royal Caribbean's new Mariner of the Seas already carries more passengers,
3,114, and the line has a 1,114-foot long, 3,600 passenger ship named Ultra Voy-
ager scheduled for launch some time in 2006.
As this business grows more competitive, large and successful cruise lines
increasingly will follow one of these models. Some will cater to relatively un-
sophisticated first-time passengers. Others will aim for discriminating cruise en-
thusiasts who can pay to be pampered. Smaller players will specialize in niche
markets such as coastal cruises or expedition, nature, or adventure excursions.
Midsized, midrange operators will slowly disappear. That is just the way things
are in the global economy.
COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE
At both ends of the spectrum, the battle for market share will grow ever more
challenging. That too is in the nature of worldwide competition. There are
several tools and offerings that cruise lines will use to make it in this difficult
environment.
One is specialized attractions for niche markets. Theme cruises already are
popular. There have been highly successful trips specializing in adventure
themes, astronomy, bridge, chess, computer science, education, film festivals,
gays and lesbians, murder mysteries, and nudism. We will see many more such
enticements in the future. In fact, the future itself could be a marketable theme,
with lectures covering technology, medicine, economics, social issues, and other
important, fast-changing fields.
Well-known celebrities, entertainers, and guest lecturers fall into this same
category. Whenever someone writes a bestseiling book, acts on a hit television
show, or sings a pop song, they create a niche market for cruise lines. We would
Water, Water Everywhere: The Cruise industry !! I
not be surprised to learn that the winners from American Idol already are
booked on Carnival or one of its mass-market competitors.
YIELD MANAGEMENT
A key marketing technique just being adopted by the cruise industry is yield
management. The basic idea is simple. Companies keep careful track of how
their products are selling. If time is growing short and something needs to be
moved out the door, it is discounted and advertised heavily until it sells.
This is basic marketing, computerized, turbocharged, and driven up-to-the-
minute sales and inventory statistics. It can work remarkably well. In one typ-
ical case, after the SARS epidemic broke out in Asia, Crystal Harmony was
abruptly repositioned to Los Angeles. Bookings were heavily discounted and
sold out in just five days.
Yield marketing cries out for the Internet, where prices can be changed
around the world at the touch of a few keys. Predictably, some of its most ef-
fective practitioners in the travel industry are online discounters such as Ex-
pedía, Travelocity, and Orbitz. However, profit-minded cruise lines will want to
bring this in~house, to route cash flow to their own balance sheets. This means
that a dramatic expansion of Web sites and the adoption of Internet-oriented
sales techniques are all but inevitable. In five to seven years, cruise operators
will be every bit as dependent on Internet sales as the airline industry.
TEN TRENDS
In his feature, Budget Travel, Arthur Frommer recently surveyed developments
in the cruise industry. He found ten trends, many of which paralleled Fore-
casting Internationals observations. Here is his list:
Carnival set out to make the worlds most luxurious cruising ship. The re-
sult, built at a cost of $780 million, is likely to provoke shock and "aah"s. Even
its smallest staterooms offer 194 square feet of sumptuous appointments, its
largest—two Grand Duplex apartments at the stern—can be combined with the
penthouses above to create a single apartment with an unprecedented 8,288
square feet of floor space. Even the most modest accommodations, to what-
ever extent the concept of modesty applies to any part of this vessel, is equipped
with a 20-inch television and attached computer keyboard providing digital
video, music, and audio books on demand, with 24-hour e-mail access. There
are fourteen bars, ten restaurants, five swimming pools, a gymnasium, and a spa
with twenty-four treatment rooms, and even a putting green.
In the words of one observer, "This is the ship God would have made if he
had the cash flow." Carnival does, thanks to its firm hold on both the mass mar-
ket and luxury ends of the cruise industry.
However, QM2 will not be the world's largest cruise ship for long. In fact,
Royal Caribbean's new Mariner of the Seas already carries more passengers,
3,114, and the line has a 1,114-foot long, 3,600 passenger ship named Ultra Voy-
ager scheduled for launch some time in 2006.
As this business grows more competitive, large and successful cruise lines
increasingly will follow one of these models. Some will cater to relatively un-
sophisticated first-time passengers. Others will aim for discriminating cruise en-
thusiasts who can pay to be pampered. Smaller players will specialize in niche
markets such as coastal cruises or expedition, nature, or adventure excursions.
Midsized, midrange operators will slowly disappear. That is just the way things
are in the global economy.
COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE
At both ends of the spectrum, the battle for market share will grow ever more
challenging. That too is in the nature of worldwide competition. There are
several tools and offerings that cruise lines will use to make it in this difficult
environment.
One is specialized attractions for niche markets. Theme cruises already are
popular. There have been highly successful trips specializing in adventure
themes, astronomy, bridge, chess, computer science, education, film festivals,
gays and lesbians, murder mysteries, and nudism. We will see many more such
enticements in the future. In fact, the future itself could be a marketable theme,
with lectures covering technology, medicine, economics, social issues, and other
important, fast-changing fields.
Well-known celebrities, entertainers, and guest lecturers fall into this same
category. Whenever someone writes a bestselling book, acts on a hit television
show, or sings a pop song, they create a niche market for cruise lines. We would
Water, Water Everywhere: The Cruise industry !! I
not be surprised to learn that the winners from American Idol already are
booked on Carnival or one of its mass-market competitors.
YIELD MANAGEMENT
A key marketing technique just being adopted by the cruise industry is yield
management. The basic idea is simple. Companies keep careful track of how
their products are selling. If time is growing short and something needs to be
moved out the door, it is discounted and advertised heavily until it sells.
This is basic marketing, computerized, turbocharged, and driven up-to-the-
minute sales and inventory statistics. It can work remarkably well. In one typ-
ical case, after the SARS epidemic broke out in Asia, Crystal Harmony was
abruptly repositioned to Los Angeles. Bookings were heavily discounted and
sold out in just five days.
Yield marketing cries out for the Internet, where prices can be changed
around the world at the touch of a few keys. Predictably, some of its most ef-
fective practitioners in the travel industry are online discounters such as Ex-
pedia, Travelocity, and Orbitz. However, profit-minded cruise lines will want to
bring this in-house, to route cash flow to their own balance sheets. This means
that a dramatic expansion of Web sites and the adoption of Internet-oriented
sales techniques are all but inevitable. In five to seven years, cruise operators
will be every bit as dependent on Internet sales as the airline industry.
TEN TRENDS
In his feature, Budget Travel, Arthur Frommer recently surveyed developments
in the cruise industry. He found ten trends, many of which paralleled Fore-
casting Internationals observations. Here is his list:
s More theme cruises for fans of music, history, murder mysteries, haute
cuisine, and other specialized interests. This July, Norwegian Dawn will
even carry what is being billed as "the first gay cruise with family val-
ues," led by former talk-show hostess Rosie O'Donnell.
® Many more cruises by luxurious sailing ship, a relaxed and relatively in-
expensive alternative to traditional motor vessels.
• A wider variety of cruise lengths, with voyages stretching from three to
seven nights up to fourteen or fifteen, appealing to older travelers with
plentiful free time.
• If cruising is hot, the Antarctic may be the hottest destination of all De-
mand is so strong that vessels carrying up to 800 passengers are now
plying this trade.
• Batteries, and a lot of other things, not included. Amenities from meals
to miniature golf are being paid for separately, a trend that is sure to
continue.
THROUGH 2010
It should be a good time for efficient, market-sawy cruise lines. Carnival CEO
Bob Dickson reports that early in 2004 he had already seen a significant uptick
in bookings from the lows of the recent recession. "Obscenely low pricing will
not last," he predicts. "As demand rebuilds, pricing will go up." Forecasting In-
ternational agrees.
Some of our other forecasts here may be more controversial. Yet if some
of FI's views about the future of cruise lines appear to be radically different
from current industry practices, most are simple extensions of current trends.
They all grow directly from the market forces we see operating today.
Tomorrow's cruise lines will be even more flexible, even more in tune with
the needs of their changing, and growing, markets. As a result, we believe they
will be some of the most dynamic and profitable companies in the world.
Similar improvements are being seen around the world. Many of the Eu-
ropean economies are emerging from years of stagnation, while Japan is see-
ing its first significant expansion in a decade. India and China are achieving
GDP growth that averages 6 percent or better each year.
Barring another terrorist incident on the scale of 9/11, or some equivalent
shock, this widespread prosperity should feed upon itself, with each trading
nation helping to generate the continued well-being of its partners. It can be sus-
tained for some years to come.
Implications for Cruise Lines: People take cruises when they feel econom-
ically secure and take less expensive vacations when they do not. In the next few
years, many more people will feel they can afford to take a cruise.
This is relieving the price pressure on cruise lines, so that fewer tickets
will be discounted. This should improve profitability for the next several years.
2. The population of the developed world is living longer.
Summary: Each generation lives longer and remains healthier than the
last. Life expectancy in Australia, Japan, and Switzerland is now over 75 years
for men and over 80 for women, and it is growing throughout the developed
world. As a result, the retirement-age population also is growing rapidly. It may
expand even more quickly than official forecasts anticipate, because they as-
sume that life expectancy will grow more slowly in the future. In fact, it is more
likely that new medical technologies will lengthen our lives still more rapidly
in the near future, and bring a better quality of life in the process.
Implications for Cruise Lines: Older people make up a growing segment of
the cruise market.
Because they form the wealthiest segment of industrialized societies, re-
tirement-age consumers also are the most likely to take cruise vacations, par-
ticularly for the longest and most luxurious cruises.
Younger travelers form a profitable market for family-oriented cruises.
However, one of the biggest advantages of catering to them is the opportunity
to build brand loyalty for their later lives, when they will be the most profitable
cruisers.
Retired people are free to take trips when they wish, rather than when it
suits an employer. They are beginning to even out the traditional seasonality of
travel.
Older passengers need amenities suited to their physical limitations. Ex-
amples include signs with larger type, lever door handles rather than knobs,
safety grips in bathrooms and showers, and extra help with their luggage.
3. The growth of the information industries is creating a knowledge-
dependent global society.
Summary: Information is the primary commodity of more and more indus-
tries. As a result, 80 percent of companies worldwide expect to have employees
il S Chapter 6
needs are increasingly being written into laws and regulations, which are gen-
erally enforced.
Implications for Cruise Lines: This is one more force behind the disinter-
mediation of travel. The cruise industry cannot resist this process permanently.
Net-savvy consumers will expect to find much more information online
about ship facilities, prices, options, and port attractions, so they can compare
possible cruising choices when planning a vacation.
Disappointed cruisers will voice their complaints online, where a single
negative report can influence the choices of future consumers for years.
6. Oil prices are stable at $25 to $28 per barrel; they rise above that
level only in times of trouble.
Summary: In autumn 2004, OPEC's aim is to hold the price of oil at rel-
atively high levels, and the instability in the Middle East is making this rel-
atively easy. However, keeping prices high requires a unity of purpose that
member countries have never been able to sustain for very long. The cost of
raising a barrel of oil from the ground in this region is around one-tenth the
wholesale price. New oil supplies coming on line in the former Soviet Union,
China, and other parts of the world will make it even more difficult to sus-
tain prices at artificially high levels. Prices above $28 per barrel are simply
unsustainable.
Implications for Cruise Lines: The single greatest "disposable" expense of
running a cruise ship should remain under control, with oil prices falling back
to their normal range by 2006. This will help to keep tickets affordable and
profits acceptable.
7. People around the world are becoming increasingly sensitive to
environmental issues such as air pollution as the consequences of neglect,
indifference, and ignorance become ever more apparent.
Summary: The World Health Organization estimates that 3 million people
die each year from the effects of air pollution, about 5 percent of the total deaths
annually. The European Parliament estimates that 70 percent of the continent's
drinking water contains dangerous concentrations of nitrate pollution. Though
government policies in some developing countries—and the United States, at the
moment—rate industrial growth more important than dealing with environ-
mental problems, many others are working to clean up the air and water, save
rainforests, and protect endangered species. Over all, the trend is clearly to-
ward a cleaner, healthier environment.
Implications for Cruise Lines: Restrictions on dumping of refuse and
waste will become much tighter in the years ahead, and will be much more
strictly enforced.
Ships will be forced to use more, and more capable, antipollution tech-
nologies. These will be a significant new expense for cruise lines.
Chapter 6
What many of them cannot afford is time. Growing numbers will take
brief "cruises to nowhere," long-weekend coastal cruises, and short segments of
longer cruises, preferably leaving from regional ports near their homes.
11. International exposure includes a greater risk of terrorist attack.
Summary: State-sponsored terrorism appears to be on the decline, as
tougher sanctions make it more trouble than it is worth. However, nothing will
prevent small, local political organizations and special-interest groups from
using terror to promote their causes. And as the United States learned on Sep-
tember 11, the most dangerous terrorist groups are no longer motivated by spe-
cific political goals, but by generalized, virulent hatred based on religion and
culture. On balance, the amount of terrorist activity in the world is likely to go
up, not down, in the next 10 years.
Implications for Cruise Lines: Cruise ships are an ideal target for terrorists
willing to sacrifice themselves so long as they can take large numbers of peo-
ple with them. This represents a significant risk to the industry, particularly as
government facilities and land-locked attractions become harder to attack.
Government mandates are likely to require even tighter security precau-
tions on cruise ships.
A successful attack on a cruise ship could stifle the industry's growth for
several years.
The Biblical four horsemen of the Apocalypse were War, Famine, Pestilence,
and Death. Since 2001, the airline industry has faced three of them—all four, if
you count the recent absence of meals on many long-distance flights. It has not
been a good way to begin a century.
We have a reputation as optimists who can see the bright side in most sit-
uations. This is undeserved; we simply go where the data lead, without the emo-
tional and philosophical biases that make habitual pessimists of some other
forecasters. But in the case of the airline industry, there is no getting around it:
The recent past has been grim, and the future offers only modest improvements.
Before looking ahead, we need to measure just how far the airlines must
go simply to recover from recent catastrophes. The events themselves are fa-
miliar; the magnitude of their impact may not be.
carriers reduced flights by 17.5 percent from a year earlier. Before 2001 was
over, the American airline industry shed some 79,000 jobs, one in ten of the
people it had employed before September 11. Other countries saw similar de-
clines. Airlines belonging to the International Air Transport Association (IATA)
carried 1.35 billion scheduled passengers in 2001, more than 3 percent fewer
than in 2000, the first year-on-year decline since 1991.
The effects of 9/11 continued on far into 2002. American air carriers alone
lost an estimated $10 billion that year, up from $7.7 billion in 2001. Globally,
industry losses in 2001 and 2002 amounted to $25 billion, according to IATA Di-
rector General Giovanni Bisignani.
By early 2003, it had begun to seem that the worst might be over. Then
Pestilence appeared, as doctors recognized that a new and virulent disease was
spreading rapidly in much of the Far East. For a time, severe acute respiratory
syndrome, or SARS, inhibited travel even more than the threat of terrorism
had done. IATA estimates that in May 2003 SARS cut international passenger
traffic 21 percent below the level seen 12 months earlier, when post-9/11 anxi-
ety was still near its peak. The effect was worse by far among Asian carriers,
which lost nearly 51 percent of their passengers during the worst of the period.
Travel to Singapore and Hong Kong plummeted to just 10 percent of the pre-
vious year's level. Air traffic also declined more than 20 percent in North Amer-
ica during the outbreak and 5.5 percent in Europe.
No sooner was SARS under control than War arrived in the form of America s
invasion of Iraq. Worries that terrorists might attack more planes in response to
the invasion again kept many potential travelers on the ground. Transatlantic traf-
fic in April 2003 was down just over 25 percent, while American domestic flights
were off by 15 percent. At the same time, crude oil prices soared, carrying jet fuel
to $1.05 per gallon that May; it had been only $0.62 per gallon in January 2002.
The result was predictable: Soon after 9/11, Sabena went out of business,
while Swissair survived only with a government bailout. In the United States,
Midway Airlines filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection; U.S. Airways en-
tered bankruptcy, restructured, and has emerged; and United Airlines filed for
bankruptcy in December 2002. Other airlines filing for bankruptcy protection
or the equivalent since the 2001 terrorist attack include Avianca, Air Canada, Na-
tional, and TWA. When asked what other airlines might go under, one travel
analyst replied, "Almost any of them."
CURRENT STATUS
All these unexpected developments have been catastrophic for the world's air-
lines. In the two years following September 11, carriers in the United States
lost every penny they made between 1995 and 2000. They have had to take on
Chapter 6
so much debt just to survive that they will need $20 billion by 2007 to restore
their balance sheets to the levels seen in 1999. The situation has been little bet-
ter elsewhere.
"Our industry has lost at least three years of growth and development/'
comments lATA's Bisignani. "This year [2003], we can expect to lose almost five
billion U.S. dollars on international services. If we include domestic traffic,
losses could approach ten billion. Effectively, every round-trip international
passenger was given twenty-five dollars by the airlines in 2003."
The situation has been hardest in the United States, which accounts for 40
percent of the world's air traffic. In 2003, only 600 million people flew on Amer-
ican carriers, compared with 634 million forecast before 9/11; that number is not
expected to reach the level seen in 2000 until at least 2006. Ten of 16 airlines
surveyed by the federal Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) ran in the red
in the first quarter of the year. Before 2003 was over, the airlines were expected
to lose yet another $8 billion. In midsummer, 2,000 jets—about 13 percent of the
fleet—were parked in the Mojave Desert as carriers abandoned flights in order
to boost their load factor, the percentage of seats with passengers in them.
In June 2004, the situation looks better in some ways, worse in others.
Passengers are coming back to the airlines in substantial numbers. In January,
Ulrich Schulte-Strathus, head of the Association of European Airlines, predicted
that passenger numbers would rise by 7.5 percent in 2004, compared with a
negligible 1 percent the previous year. In February, revenue passenger miles for
U.S. airlines were up for the seventh month in a row, while passenger traffic
grew by 10 percent. Airlines have actually been retrieving some of those moth-
balled aircraft—mostly smaller planes—from the desert to handle the demand.
In the Asia-Pacific sector, passenger traffic is expected to grow no less than 14
percent in 2004, bouncing back neatly from the SARS-induced slump in 2003.
At the same time, carriers throughout the world have cut costs and im-
proved their efficiency. Some 400,000 jobs have been squeezed from the in-
dustry, including a total of 100,000 in the United States, and those lucky enough
to remain at work have had to endure widespread pay cuts. Capacity is down
as well, because the airlines have cut flights, especially from overserved routes.
To make up for this, many airlines have formed alliances in which earners
can renumber planes, market flights, book seats, and share profits on aircraft ac-
tually operated by someone else. This also allows smaller airlines to offer service
to destinations they could not otherwise reach. For example, the Sky Team al-
liance, dominated by Air France and Delta, gives partners like Aero Mexico, Al-
italia, Czech Airlines, and Korean Air access to 512 airports in 114 countries.
For U.S. air carriers, these changes have brought load factors to nearly 80
percent in April and May 2004, the best they have been in years. European air-
lines are running with load factors of 70 to 75 percent, while most Asian carri-
ers are just below 70 percent.
Clipped Wings: Troubled Times for the Airlines 125
However, all these improvements have been more than offset by a cata-
strophic rise in the cost of fuel, due to a combination of Iraq war worries, lim-
ited refining capacity in the United States, and OPEC policies that have driven
the cost of crude oil above $40 per gallon for the first time in history. Every
penny per gallon increase in the price of jet fuel costs American air carriers
$ 180 million, according to John Heimlich, chief economist of the Air Transport
Association. There have been a lot of extra pennies. In the United States, jet
fuel averaged 90 cents per gallon in 2003, $1.10 in January 2004, and $1.30 in
March. Prior to the rise, U.S. airlines had been expected to score their first
break-even year in recent memory. By May, they were facing a loss of at least
$2 billion and perhaps as much as $3 billion—roughly the increase in their fuel
bills. Carriers in Europe and Asia were not doing any better.
Post-9/11 security improvements also have added to the cost of doing busi-
ness. Airlines in the United States had paid out over $500 billion for security up-
grades by early 2004, and Federal authorities believed the carriers' share of the
cost should have been more than $700 billion—and were seeking to bill the air-
lines for the extra cost.
And there is a growing fear that Pestilence may return to inhibit the travel
market, as it did in 2003. By June 2004, there had been only a few cases of
SARS since the last outbreak, all in China, which was acting vigorously to con-
trol the disease. However, a new strain of bird flu had killed at least 12 people
in ten Asian countries. All confirmed cases appeared to have been contracted
directly from infected birds, but virologists worry that the disease could soon
gain the ability to pass from one human patient to another. Bird flu has a much
higher mortality rate than SARS, so human-to-human transmission could pro-
duce an epidemic that would kill millions. In the process, it could kill air travel
in the affected region for years.
It is against this background that some long-standing trends and a few
new developments will play themselves out. What follows are some of the most
critical issues the airline industry must deal with in the years ahead. They add
up to very mixed prospects for the future.
MONEY MATTERS
Like other sectors of the travel and hospitality industry, airlines are exquisitely
sensitive to their economic environment. Would-be tourists with empty pock-
ets tend to stay at home, and businesses facing lean times view travel budgets
as fat ripe for the trimming.
So it comes as good news that the American economy is looking health-
ier than it has in several years. In the first two quarters of 2004, the U.S. gross
domestic product rose at an annual rate of about 4 percent. In March, new jobs
Chapter 6
finally started to appear in significant numbers for the first time in more than
two years—353,000 in March and just over 1 million in all by the end of June.
It takes just 150,000 new jobs each month to absorb the new workers coming
into the labor market, so it looks like some of the people laid off during the
downturn were finally going back to work.
According to the Conference Boards Index of Leading Economic Indica-
tors, this new strength is likely to be with us for some time. It rose by 0.3 per-
cent in May for its ninth increase in ten months and incurred only a tiny decline
in June. Burgeoning federal debt—not something we generally welcome—has
kept the U.S. dollar down on international currency markets, making American
exports more attractive to foreign buyers; this is one more reason to hope for
a brighter economic future.
Elsewhere, economic news is mixed. Growth has been sluggish to nonex-
istent in Europe since 2002. In 2003, the European Unions growth rate came
in at just 0.4 percent. Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands were in recession
during the first six months of the year, and widespread strikes put the French
growth rate in negative numbers as well.
This may be changing. France and Germany cut taxes in 2003, and there
are signs that the powerful German labor unions have lost some of their clout.
Both these developments have led economists to hope that the sluggish French
and German economies are due for better times.
Their wishes appear to be coming true. In France, the GDP had been
shrinking by 0.6 percent or more since 2002, and consumer spending has re-
mained sluggish, thanks to unemployment in the range of 9 percent. Yet the
economy turned in unexpectedly positive growth of 2.5 percent annually in
the fourth quarter of 2003 and 3.1 percent in the first quarter of 2004. By April,
the Conference Board's leading index for France had been positive or break-
even for nine consecutive months, sagging only slightly in May. In 2004, the
French GDP is expected to grow by 2 to 3 percent.
The German economy—the largest in Europe—also has been in decline for
several quarters, but appeared to bottom out in September 2003. In the second
half of the year, GDP growth averaged 0.9 percent. It is not clear how long or
strong the recovery will be. The Conference Board's leading index for Germany
actually declined in January and February 2004, thanks in part to a substantial
drop in residential construction. However, the most recent forecasts still call for
a growth rate of 1.6 percent in 2004 and 1.75 percent in 2005.
Elsewhere in Europe, economies are stable to improving. In Britain,
growth is steady at around 1.9 percent per year, with 3 percent expansion fore-
cast for 2004 and 2005. In Italy, a stagnant GDP is expected to rise by 1.8 per-
cent in 2004. In all, the European economy as a whole grew by 0.4 percent in
2003, and slightly better performance can be expected in 2004.
Clipped Wings: Troubled Times for the Airlines 127
In the years ahead, one more economic factor will work to the airlines'
benefit. This is the expansion of the European Union, which gained ten new
members in April 2004. Opening these economies to free trade will give the
wealthy countries of western Europe new markets and a source of relatively
cheap skilled labor, while companies in eastern Europe will get access to pros-
perous western consumers. This should bring new growth in travel between
the two halves of the continent and open some profitable new routes to Euro-
pean airlines. The average distance between the EU capital in Brussels and the
capitals of the ten new member countries is 1,400 km.
In all, the next few years hold considerable promise for European air car-
riers. If they cannot look forward to boom times, they can at least hope that the
economic turbulence of 2001 and 2002 is finally behind them.
The three giant economies of Asia deserve special note. Japan was in reces-
sion, or near it, for more than a decade, but that seems to have changed. GDP
growth, which had struggled to reach 1 percent through most of 2003, shot all the
way up to 7.3 percent in the fourth quarter and 6.1 percent in the first quarter of
2004. Exports surged as well, but most of the growth appeared to be in the do-
mestic market, a solid indication that the future should be brighter than the past.
The Conference Board's leading index for Japan had been up for ten straight
months by February 2004, but it leveled off in March and declined slightly in May.
GDP growth seems to be slowing as well. In June, it still is not clear how Japan's
economy will perform in the remainder of the year, much less in 2005. However,
it now seems there is little danger that Japan will slip back into recession.
The Chinese economy had no need to recover from a slump. The Chinese
economy grew by 9.1 percent in 2003, 9.9 percent in the fourth quarter of the
year, and an astounding 10.7 percent in the first quarter of 2004. By spring
2004, the economy was showing signs of being seriously overheated, and Chi-
nese officials had raised interest rates twice in an effort to keep things under
control. The country was running a trade deficit with most of the world—the
United States being a prominent exception—because it was forced to import raw
materials in order to keep its factories running fast enough to keep up with de-
mand. Chinese economic planners hope to bring that back to 7 percent, with-
out triggering a sharper slowdown. Thus, a dip to 9.6 percent growth in the
second quarter of 2004 actually came as good news: It seems that the Chinese
economy may be slowing gently to a growth rate it can sustain, rather than col-
lapsing into a recession as some economists had feared. Together with the coun-
try's enormous population, broad expanse, and growing ties with the rest of the
world, this astonishing economic success will make China one of the biggest
growth areas for both internal and external air travel for years to come.
The third Asian powerhouse is India, home to one-sixth of the world's peo-
ple. In 2001, FI spent nearly a year studying India for a major corporate client.
128 Chapter 5
At that time, we concluded that the Indian economy would grow at an average
rate of 6.5 percent per year at least through 2005, and probably through 2010.
This was 2 percent higher than consensus estimates, and thus far it is proving
to be too conservative. The Indian economy expanded by 8 percent in 2003,
and economists predict a growth rate as high as 7.3 percent in 2004. India's
middle class is growing by an estimated 30 percent per year. Over the decade
ending in 2007, the middle class is expected to triple in size, while the wealth-
iest class will expand by a factor of six. Demand for air travel in this region can
only grow in proportion.
TOMORROW'S PASSENGERS
India and China are poster children for our second trend. The world's popu-
lation is well on the way to doubling in forty years. Among the industrial-
ized countries, America is growing by far the fastest, thanks to high birthrates
among Hispanic immigrants and religious conservatives. However, the
fastest population growth is in the developing and undeveloped countries.
In Niger and the Palestinian Territories, populations will more than double
between 2000 and 2050. In Yemen, Angola, and Congo, they will expand by
over 160 percent.
Yet for the airline industry, the most important growth regions will be
China, India, and the Muslim lands. According to the U.N., China is on track
to grow by some 260 million people between 1995 and 2025, bringing its pop-
ulation to nearly 1.5 billion; the total could be much greater if the birthrate
turns out to be even slightly higher than the extremely conservative as-
sumptions used to form the estimate. India still has a high birthrate; its pop-
ulation is expected to pass 1.3 billion in 2021, up nearly one-third in twenty
years. By 2050, there could be more than 2 billion people living in India.
Growth rates in the Muslim lands vary widely. In Pakistan, it is about 2.6
percent per year, enough to bring its population from 130 million in 2000 to
220 million in 2020. Indonesia is growing at only half that rate. At the cur-
rent rate of growth, by 2050 Pakistan could be the third most populous coun-
try in the world.
This matters to the airlines, because population growth represents new
passengers. It matters even more because the Indian subcontinent is the prime
source of guest workers for the Middle East, and most of them travel by air. In
addition, more than 1 million people annually fly to Saudi Arabia for the Haj,
the once-in-a-lifetime visit to Mecca required of all Muslim faithful. These mar-
kets will grow rapidly in the years ahead.
It matters still more because population growth is fastest in the cities of
the developing world. Between 2000 and 2030, the global population will grow
Clipped Wings: Troubled Times for the Airlines 150
by ari estimated 2.2 billion. Of this, 2.1 billion people will be added to the
world's cities, primarily in places like India, China, and Indonesia. In 1950,
there were just eight megacities, with populations over 5 million, in the world.
(Newer definitions put the minimum population for a megacity at 10 million.)
By 2015, there will be 59 megacities, 48 of them in less developed countries.
Of these, 23 will have populations over 10 million, all but four in the devel-
oping lands. These vast concentrations of people—places like Delhi, Mumbai,
Sao Paolo, and Dhaka—are likely to be among the fastest growing aviation
markets in the world.
by 60 percent.
More efficient burning means that fuel economy should rise as well.
Today's jets burn an average of about 3.5 liters of fuel per 100 passenger-
kilometers. This makes them 70 percent more fuel efficient than the airliners
of forty years ago, but that is only the beginning. Airbus says that per-seat fuel
consumption of its A380, scheduled to enter service in 2006, will be around 13
percent lower than a Boeing 747, with total expenses per-seat mile 15 percent
lower. Boeing's 787, planned for 2008, is intended to cut fuel use by 15 to 20 per-
cent, thanks to the use of highly efficient engines and much lightweight com-
posite in its airframe.
Noise is another important environmental issue for the aviation industry,
particularly in Europe, where 7 percent of the population lives within the sound
130 Chapter 5
"footprint" of a commercial airport and standards are much tighter than in the
United States. Today's jet aircraft are typically 20 dB—75 percent quieter than
the jets of 1960. That is just the beginning. Researchers hope to bring aircraft
noise down another 6 dB by 2010 and perhaps 10 dB by 2020.
However, these are incremental advances. Some of the most sweeping
changes are likely to appear not in the aircraft themselves, but in the sys-
tems that guide them from one place to another. These days, the global po-
sitioning system (GPS) keeps hikers from getting lost in the wilderness and
guides drivers of luxury cars to the nearest gas station. It also enables pilots
to fix their positions within a few feet of latitude, longitude, and altitude.
Far more is possible.
In North America, most commercial aircraft make their way over long dis-
tances via designated air lanes, like drivers following a freeway. Straight-line
flights from one point to another are relatively uncommon. This is in contrast
to the situation in Europe, where most flights take the direct route and few of
them are longer than 90 minutes.
In large part, the American system grew out of technological limitations
that no longer apply. Before GPS, air traffic controllers just found it easier to
keep track of planes that moved along easily predicted paths. It has worked
fairly well for the liub-and-spokes traffic system, which routes tens or hundreds
of flights per day through a few major airports.
However, there are serious disadvantages to this practice. The standard
airways have limited traffic capacity, and many of them are getting crowded.
And it takes more time and fuel to slip into the system and follow the airways
to your destination than it would to fly in a straight line.
GPS makes the airways pretty much obsolete. The combination of satel-
lite navigation and air traffic computers can fix any number of airplanes within
a few feet of their actual positions, making sure that two aircraft never try to
occupy the same space. This makes it practical to fly point-to-point, even over
the longest routes to the busiest airports.
It also becomes possible to pack more airplanes together safely into less
altitude, and the FAA now plans to cut the vertical separation required between
airplanes from 2,000 feet to only 1,000. Thus twice as many airliners will be
able to take advantage of the most efficient flight levels, saving both fuel and
travel time.
Nav Canada, which provides air traffic control north of the border as the
FAA does within the United States, believes that satellite navigation will allow
unlimited free flight in its region by 2010. At that point, planes will fly directly
to their destinations by the quickest, most convenient route, taking advantage
of favorable winds. This will save still more fuel and open space for many more
aircraft in the system. It could also further a reshaping of the airline industry
that began more than twenty years ago.
Clipped Wings: Troubled Times for the Airlines 131
Discount airlines also have achieved steady growth in Europe, where some
500 routes are now served by 20 discount airlines. According to one estimate,
low-fare carriers now handle 40 percent of passenger traffic within Britain and
between Britain and the continent. By 2010, low-fare and no-frills airlines such
as Ryanair and easy Jet are expected to capture at least 25 percent of the mar-
ket throughout the European Union,
Despite the jammed seating and food choices that top out at a small bag
of pretzels, low-cost carriers are winning passengers for more reasons than
cheap travel. The Airline Quality Ratings, compiled by professors at Wichita
State University and the Wichita State Aviation Institute, rate fourteen airlines
that carry at least 1 percent of American domestic passengers. Criteria mea-
sured in the survey include on-time performance, staff courtesy, baggage han-
dling, and the number of customer complaints. The 2003 survey ranked fourteen
airlines. JetBlue came in first, with low-fare carriers taking three of the top four
places.
In the United States, the discounters have one more advantage as well.
United, US Airways, and the other giants exist to serve as many cities as possi-
ble. They do this by collecting passengers from smaller cities and consolidating
them at about thirty major hub airports for long-distance travel. Running a
hub-and-spokes system is not cheap, and it drives costs up for the major carri-
ers by an estimated 15 percent. Discount airlines specialize in flying between
cities that offer enough traffic to fill their planes and avoid the expense of hub
operations.
Executives at the giant airlines argue that the hub-and-spokes model is
the only way air travel can work in the United States. Of the 30,000 city-pair
markets where air service is available, only 5 percent have enough traffic to
support nonstop, point-to-point flights. For example, Syracuse, New York, of-
fers 43 departures each day. Flights run nonstop to 11 hub cities and provide
one-stop access to more than 175 destinations. Flying point-to-point, if it takes
75 passengers to justify running an airplane for them, Syracuse could support
only one flight per day to each of seven destinations.
Discount airlines can offer cheap fares in part because they serve only
markets that can fill planes for point-to-point travel. And the top 5 percent of
city-pairs that give the discount airlines their living account for 73 percent of
all passengers flying in the United States.
However, this picture is changing. The major airlines have not just been cut-
ting prices—by up to 77 percent on some routes!—to compete with the leaner,
meaner discounters. They have been eliminating service and starting their own
low-fare operations. Non-hub airports have lost 19 percent of their air service
since 1998; short-haul flights by the "Big Six" airlines have declined 43 percent
since late 2001, and about two-dozen cities have lost all service by the major air-
lines. Fully half of the aircraft flown by the traditional airlines early in 2004 are
Clipped Wings: Troubled Times for the Airlines 133
smaller regional jets with no first-class seats. Most of the "Big Six" carriers have
reduced flights to some of their hubs and pulled out of some smaller commu-
nities. None of them flies to Africa any more, nor to the Middle East (other than
Israel), Eastern Europe, Indochina, Scandinavia, nor any of the states of the for-
mer Soviet Union, save for a single flight to Moscow. It is getting harder and
harder to tell the difference between the major airlines and the discounters, save
that their seats cost up to 30 percent more, even on the same routes.
At the same time, local populations are growing. Demand for air travel
grows with them, so many more markets should be able to fill planes each day.
And with satellite navigation, it becomes a lot easier for the air traffic control
system to handle that kind of flight schedule. Point-to-point air travel may be
destined to make the hub system obsolete, except for the longest routes. That
would open a lot more U.S. markets to discount service. This is not good news
for the major airlines.
Some aviation experts are convinced, others not. Boeing is betting the
store on direct-route air travel. Airbus clearly is just as convinced that the hub-
and-spokes system is here to stay. We can see this in the new models the two
companies are bringing to market.
The Boeing 787 is a midsized, long-range carrier. Though details are yet
to be fixed, it is expected to come in somewhere around 225 passengers, and the
company says it will definitely be capable of 8,000 miles in a single hop. This
plane clearly aims to provide nonstop service between midsized cities that today
would be linked by a hub. Boeing is so sure that point-to-point travel will take
over the market that it has committed to the project with only a couple of mod-
est orders from Nippon Airways and Japan Air Lines. It will be the first time the
company has built a new plane without major support from a domestic airline.
In contrast, the Airbus A380 will be a double-decker giant with seating for
555 passengers, plus a lounge and walking-around room of a kind not seen
since airlines dumped the 747 piano bar to make room for more seats, It makes
sense only in a hub-and-spokes system, where it can serve as the long-haul car-
rier for passengers with a variety of origins and destinations.
The two firms have put hard numbers to their visions of the future. Boe-
ing believes that about 24,000 new airliners will be sold in the world over the
next twenty years, not counting the smallest planes suited only to regional ser-
vice. Of those, it says that 68 percent will be midsized single-aisle aircraft like
its 787; only 3 percent will be mass movers larger than the current 747. Airbus
puts the market closer to 15,000 new jets, plus 3,000 planes being refurbished
to like-new standards. It believes that 52 percent of sales will be in the 787 cat-
egory and 11 percent will be vast hub-to-hub airplanes like its A380, which thus
far is the only model destined for its intended class.
At FI, it seems to us that both companies may be half-right, in principal
if not in their exact numbers. It will be a long time before the hub-and-spokes
134 Chapter 5
system disappears completely. Too many small cities cannot support direct ser-
vice, and even some medium-sized communities must combine their passenger
loads to support international flights. Yet both technology and population
growth clearly point toward more point-to-point service, at the expense of the
hub-and-spokes carriers.
Nearly all of the American full-fare airlines have tacitly accepted the point-
to-point model by setting up their own discount operations. The European air-
lines will make this transition soon, though it will not be easy for them. In late
2003, Cranfield (U.KL) University's Air Transport Group warned that excess seat-
ing capacity already could drive some of Europe's low-cost air carriers out of
business. At this point, we expect both Boeing and Airbus to find markets for
their new models—but there are likely to be a lot more 787s than A380s in the
air twenty years from now.
it impossible to inflate the price of crude oil for very long. We will be surprised
if there is not a significant break in time for the American presidential elec-
tions in November 2004.
We assume also that there will be no major outbreak of bird flu, nor an epi-
demic of SARS that lasts for more than a few months. Bird flu in particular
has the potential to halt most international air travel for a year or more. We as-
sume that it will not only because there is, as yet, no evidence that the virus
has learned to leap from one human patient to another.
The third assumption may be the weakest link in our forecast; it could go
not merely wrong, but horribly wrong. We assume that there will be no repeti-
tion of the September 11 terrorist hijackings. Another spectacle in which air-
liners full of terrified passengers slam into buildings with thousands of
occupants, or die in some equally spectacular way, could put the global airline
industry into a depression from which it would not emerge for years. And, in
May 2004, there have been disquieting rumors for months that Al Qaeda has an
encore performance already in the works.
The Asia-Pacific markets, particularly India and China, will grow much
more quickly than demand in North America and Europe.
2. The world's population will grow to 9 billion by 2050.
Summary: The greatest fertility is found in those countries least able to
support their existing populations. Populations in many developing countries
will double between 2000 and 2050; in the Palestinian Territories, they will rise
by 217 percent. In contrast, the developed nations will fall from 23 percent of
the total world population in 1950 and about 14 percent in 2000 to only 10 per-
cent in 2050. In 10 years or so, the workforce in Japan and much of Europe will
be shrinking by 1 percent per year.
Implications for the Airlines: Demand for air travel will grow at least as
quickly as the world's population.
3. Oil prices are stable at $25 to $28 per barrel; they rise above that
level only in times of trouble.
Summary: In autumn 2004, OPECs aim is to hold the price of oil at rela-
tively high levels, and the instability in the Middle East is making this relatively
easy. However, keeping prices high requires a unity of purpose that member
countries have never been able to sustain for very long. The cost of raising a bar-
rel of oil from the ground in this region is around one-tenth the wholesale price.
New oil supplies coming on line in the former Soviet Union, China, and other
parts of the world will make it even more difficult to sustain prices at artifi-
cially high levels. Prices above $28 per barrel are simply unsustainable.
Implications for the Airlines: For so long as jet fuel remains overpriced,
the full-service airlines have no hope of becoming profitable. This problem
should ease when oil prices return to their normal range, most likely by 2006.
Full-service airlines eventually will be forced to enact a ticked surcharge
to cover the cost of fuel. However, doing so will drive still more of their pas-
sengers to the discount carriers.
4. People around the world are becoming increasingly sensitive to
environmental issues such as air pollution as the consequences of neglect,
indifference, and ignorance become ever more apparent.
Summary: The World Health Organization estimates that 3 million people
die each year from the effects of air pollution, about 5 percent of the total deaths
annually. The European Parliament estimates that 70 percent of the continent's
drinking water contains dangerous concentrations of nitrate pollution. Though
government policies in some developing countries—and the United States, at the
moment—rate industrial growth more important than dealing with environ-
mental problems, many others are working to clean up the air and water, save
rainforests, and protect endangered species. Overall, the trend is clearly toward
a cleaner, healthier environment.
Clipped Wings: Troubled Times for the Airlines 137
In Japan, hungry customers pack into Tokyo's Friendly Cajún Café. In Europe,
gourmet restaurants are doing much less business than usual, but American
hamburger chains are blamed for soaring rates of obesity on the continent. And
in the United States, those same fast-food restaurants are adding low-carb,
high-nutrition menu items for health-conscious consumers who will no longer
eat french fries. Around the world, the restaurant business is changing.
Inevitably, many changes are driven by economics. The details vary from
country to country, but throughout the developed world we are seeing a com-
mon theme of nascent recovery after some difficult years. Restaurants are ex-
pected to benefit from this welcome development.
In the United States, the threat of a "double-dip" recession seems to have
passed. After two difficult years, the economy finally expanded by 3.1 percent
in 2003 and in May 2004 seems on track for about 4 percent growth this year.
Retail sales, factory orders, and the Index of Leading Indicators all have been
rising consistently, often more strongly than economists anticipated. Even job
growth, which consistently underperformed forecasts by a wide margin
throughout the early stages of the recovery, began to rebound strongly in March
and April 2004; by June, more than 1 million new jobs had been added to the
economy. All this augurs well for the nation's restaurants.
Europe also is beginning to recover from the economic sluggishness of
recent years. Growth on the continent ran at just 0.9 percent in 2002 and 0.4 per-
cent in 2003. In substantial part, this was due to the weakness of the dollar on
international currency markets, which discouraged American tourism and cut
demand for relatively expensive European exports. Now retail sales, sentiment
indicators, and even manufacturing have begun to pick up. France turned in 2.5
percent growth in the fourth quarter of 2003, its first positive showing in two
years, and 3.1 percent in the first quarter of 2005. The Conference Board's index
139
Chapter 6
of leading indicators for the country is pointing solidly up. In Germany, both
consumer and industrial demand are rising, and the economy is expected to
grow by 1.6 percent in 2004 and 1.75 percent in 2005. Britain managed to avoid
a recession during the recent downturn, despite a severe drought in London's
critical financial sector, and the GDP is expected to grow by about 3 percent an-
nually in 2004 and 2005. Unemployment remains high in parts of Europe—
around 9 percent in France and 10 percent in Germany—but things are clearly
looking up.
China had a remarkable economic boom in 2003, with GDP growth aver-
aging 9.1 percent for the year and 9.9 percent in the fourth quarter. In the first
thee months of 2004, the economy grew by an unsustainable 10.7 percent, a
rate so hot that Chinese economic officials were trying to slow its growth so as
to avoid an outbreak of inflation. In the second quarter, growth declined to
"only" 9.6 percent, and economists were breathing a sigh of relief, as it ap-
peared that China might be settling back to a growth rate that it can sustain.
Even Japan is growing solidly for the first time in a dozen years. The econ-
omy expanded by a satisfying 7 percent in late 2003, this after more than four
years in which the growth rate averaged just 0.3 percent. By April 2004, the
Conference Board's index of leading indicators for Japan had been up no less
than twelve months in a row.
All this spells good times for the world's restaurants, which prosper when
people feel they can afford to splurge. Restaurant sales in the United States
are expected to grow by 4.4 percent this year, to a record $440.1 billion. Ad-
justed for inflation, the growth rate will be about 2 percent, up from 1.3 per-
cent in 2003.
In Japan, restaurant sales are growing rapidly as the economy improves.
Some 65 percent of consumers eat out at least once a week, and an estimated
75 million restaurant meals are served daily.
In China, both full-service and quick-service restaurants have been en-
joying a boom, as affluent, but busy customers flock to eat out. McDonalds,
KFC, Pizza Hut, and local quick-service operators such as the Hulian Super-
market Chain, Xiao Fai Yang, and Beijing Quanqude all have been growing
rapidly. Chinese quick-service sales are expected to grow by 5.5 percent per year
for the foreseeable future. Much of this expansion is being driven by government
policy, which encourages the Chinese people to spend their money rather than
saving it in order to generate further growth.
As the dollar regains some of its strength in currency markets, American
tourists should return to Europe and Japan, and head back to more upscale
accommodations. Restaurants in tourist destinations, where sales have been
off by up to 50 percent from previous years, should find it much less of a
struggle just to survive. This will be even better news in London, where a wave
Tasty Trends for the Restaurant Industry 14*
Even more intense flavors lie ahead as well. Aging baby boomers will need
them to maintain their feeling of novelty and excitement as their taste buds
lose their sensitivity.
As the boomers grow older, other changes are in store. Already, retirees
struggling with fixed incomes are competing with young people for restaurant
jobs. This should help to minimize tightness in the labor market owing to the
relatively small size of the current generations and may provide a more stable,
reliable pool of workers in a traditionally volatile industry. Farther ahead, any
restaurants are likely to find that a major part of their business consists of de-
livering take-out meals to local retirement communities.
around the world need to lose weight, and 312 million are obese—at least 30
pounds over their maximum recommended weight. About 36 percent of chil-
dren in Italy, 30 percent in Spain, and 22 percent in Britain are now overweight
or obese. Only the poorest nations of Africa are immune to this trend. As a re-
sult, the incidence of diseases such as type 2 diabetes, hypertension, coronary
heart disease, osteoarthritis, and several types of cancer is skyrocketing through-
out the world. So are death rates.
Figures like these—no pun intended—are bringing new power to the health
movement that began in the United States more than 20 years ago. In the in-
dustrialized West, growing numbers of consumers are changing the way they
eat and care for themselves, not only at home but when dining out. This trend
is being felt in restaurants throughout the United States and is beginning to
appear overseas.
Smoking also is in decline. Only 21 percent of Americans smoked ciga-
rettes as of January 2000, down from 30 percent in 1983. Early in 2004, Ire-
land even banned smoking in its pubs; this was the first sign that smoking may
be going out of favor in Europe as well as the United States. The number of
smokers is rising rapidly in much of Asia, but we expect this trend to be re-
versed as the true cost of this habit makes itself clear in rising rates of cancer,
heart disease, emphysema, and other ills.
Restaurants in the United States are working hard to adapt to the health
concerns of their guests. Even before the low-carb fad took off, 71 percent of
Americans reported that they were trying to include more fruit and vegetables
in their diets, rather than meats and baked goods. Now the low-carb Atkins and
South Beach diets are the hottest things in the fat-fighting market. TGI Fridays
reports that 19 percent of its frequent casual-dining customers are following the
Atkins plan. Beef producers report that not even the discovery of mad cow dis-
ease in December 2003 could slow meat sales within the United States; carb-
conscious dieters kept beef prices near record highs.
Menus are being adapted to fit this trend, with high-protein meals dis-
placing some choices that are stronger in carbohydrates and fats. TGI Friday's
and Ruby Tuesday both have introduced series of low-carb items to their
menus. Pit Stop Pasta, in Escondido, California, has even come out with a low-
carb "pizza in a bucket," delivering all the toppings but none of the crust. (FI
does not expect this to be a big hit with customers.) In the United States, at
least, we will see similar menu changes with every diet fad that manages to re-
main popular for more than a few months. Europe probably is ten years be-
hind in this trend.
Restaurants not actually changing their menus are counting carbs and
promoting Atkins-friendly choices. Many say this has helped them to keep cus-
tomers who might otherwise have been lost. We expect it to become standard
practice in many casual-dining establishments.
Tasty Trends for the Restaurant Industry 14*
Salad entrees are rapidly becoming more popular, particularly in the ca-
sual dining restaurants, while both casual-dining and fine-dining restaurants re-
port a market increase in sales of seafood. These trends are likely to continue
for several more years.
Mediterranean cuisine also is gaining popularity in the United States, even
as its appeal wanes in Europe, thanks largely to medical studies that have
praised it as heart-healthy food.
Health-minded consumers are demanding more nutrition information,
even in restaurants. Calorie and content details are likely to begin appearing on
American menus to supplement heart-healthy symbols.
This trend has proved hard on quick-service chains, which are struggling
to overcome a long-standing reputation for heart-unhealthy fare. A 2001 Har-
ris Poll showed that about one-third of Americans ate at fast-food restaurants
less often than a year before, citing health reasons. As a result, many chains
are adding salads, low-carb dishes, and other diet choices to their menus. How-
ever, hamburgers remain the dominant item on fast-food menus and are likely
to remain so for many years to come.
Supersizing is out, smaller portions in—for the moment. This has all the
earmarks of a short-lived fad.
Consumers also are shunning desserts, with sales down some 2 percent in
2003 alone. This is in part a money-saving measure in a tight economy, but
weight-watching is clearly important. Restaurants increasingly are responding
by offering smaller, lighter, cheaper desserts, reducing selection, and focusing
on other parts of the meal.
CONSUMERISM COMPOUNDS
The Internet has brought shoppers vast new sources of information about prod-
uct quality, pricing, delivery time, and store services. At the same time, advocacy
groups and regulations have been promoting better content labels, nutrition
data, and other consumer-oriented requirements. This continuing growth of
consumerism is inevitably making itself felt in the world's restaurants.
Savvy consumers demand high quality at the best possible price, and in
good economic times quality is more important. In this, consumers in the
United States and Europe are following the lead of their peers in Japan, where
only the freshest and highest quality foods are salable. Their concern for qual-
ity is pushing the entire restaurant industry to improve its performance in this
critical area.
This gives restaurant chains one more advantage over their single-site
competitors. The ability to market a brand will remain a powerful tool in at-
tracting quality-conscious consumers. However, the sterile uniformity of the
146 Chapter 5
keep a skilled employee than to provide training and benefits for a new hire. In
the long run, retaining practiced workers lowers costs and increases guest sat-
isfaction. This trend is growing faster in the full-service restaurants than in
quick-service extablishments.
XS AND DOTS
Though the Baby Boomers still dominate Western culture, their children and
grandchildren are a growing force in society. They are influencing the restau-
rant business in a number of ways.
Members of the post-boomer generations have more in common with their
peers throughout the world than with their parents. They share values, fashion
sense, and a host of other factors that mark them as something new and dif-
ferent. They are materialistic; individualistic, yet cooperative in groups; tech-
sawy; and given to extremely short attention spans.
They also are relatively rare. Generation X, roughly the 30-plus cohort;
the Dot-coms, now in their 20s; and their younger siblings, yet to be authori-
tatively nicknamed, are far smaller than the 40-plus age group. Though there
are more entry-level workers today than there were just five years ago, there still
are fewer than employers need. In the United States, more than half of restau-
rant operators say they are finding it increasingly hard to hire enough workers,
and particularly hourly workers. The shortage is tightest among cooks, but this
problem is felt in all positions.
The worker shortage affects quick-service restaurants more severely than
full-service locations. One-third of American quick-service operators report that
recruiting and retaining employees is a major challenge, compared with only
14 percent of full-service operators with average check sizes over $8. This prob-
lem can only grow more difficult in the near future.
Generation X should be renamed "Generation E," for entrepreneurial.
Throughout the world, they are starting new businesses at an unprecedented rate.
The Dot-coms are proving to be even more business-oriented, caring for
little but the bottom line. Twice as many say they would prefer to own a busi-
ness rather than be a top executive. Five times more would prefer to own a
business rather than hold a key position in politics or government.
If this sounds like good news for business, it's not. The bottom line these
generations care about is their own, not their employers. They have grown up
to expect affluence, and even wealth; just how they will achieve it is not clear,
given that many in the United States are undereducated even for most working-
class jobs. But the Xs and Dot-coms also watched their parents remain loyal to
their employers, only to be downsized out of work. The lesson was not lost on
them. They will quit and move across the country at even the hint of a job that
148 Chapter 5
offers better pay or opportunities for training. The data are not readily available,
but we strongly suspect that this is as true in the other developed countries as
it is in the United States.
The generations now entering the job market are likely to be even less re-
liable than their older peers. Turnover rates have declined slightly among both
hourly and salaried workers in the current tight job market. They are likely to
rise sharply now that the economy is finally beginning to create enough new jobs
to go around.
If this sounds like the work ethic is in trouble, you are catching on. For
younger employees, work is only a means to their ends: money, fun, and leisure.
In this, Americans are just catching up with a trend that swept Europe when
government pensions and labor laws guaranteed workers there free time and
much greater security. Tardiness is increasing, sick-leave abuse is common, and
job security and high pay just aren't the motivators they once were. Fifty-five
percent of the top executives interviewed recently say that erosion of the work
ethic will have a major negative effect on corporate performance in the future.
To meet their need for reliable workers, restaurants will have to adopt all
the standard recruiting techniques: raise starting salaries, provide better ben-
efits, and expand training programs.
For today's entry-level workers, training for future jobs is a key issue;
they simply do not believe in traditional careers and long-term employment,
even if the restaurant industry were in a position to offer enough satisfying,
well-paid positions to go around. So an essential factor in retaining young
workers is to position restaurant jobs and training very clearly as stepping-
stones to more desirable positions in other industries later in the recruit's
working life.
Better training programs also will be needed to ensure a high quality of ser-
vice from generations not basically inclined to pay attention to detail.
In this context, displaced baby-boom workers and post-retirement job
seekers become even more important as a source of reliable employees.
One more effect of this change will be to drive restaurants to implement
robots and artificial intelligence to run and maintain a smooth flow of pro-
duction in the restaurant. Many of the skills required to maintain smooth op-
eration will be conducted remotely at a central or regional location. Intelligent
machines, in-store real-time video, and network connectivity will allow one
manager to control several locations.
CLOCK-WATCHING
Computers, electronic communications, the Internet, and other technologies
all are making national and international economies much more competitive.
Labor productivity has been skyrocketing in recent years, partly because of
Tasty Trends for the Restaurant Industry 14*
these new technologies, but also because companies are driving their employ-
ees to do more faster. American workers accomplished nearly 30 percent more
work per hour at the end of 2003 than they did in 1992. They also spent about
10 percent more time on the job than they did a decade ago. European execu-
tives and nonunionized workers face the same trend.
In this high-pressure environment, dining out is becoming ever more im-
portant, both as a convenience to harried workers and as an opportunity to
relax and enjoy life after the stresses of work. In a study by the National Restau-
rant Association, 79 percent of American diners said that eating out was a bet-
ter use of their leisure time than cooking and cleaning up. Those workers will
continue to expand the market for casual and higher-end dining.
"The multi-unit operators will continue research to ensure that their menu
price points will drive the time-conscious harried workers to their restaurants,"
comments Paul Wise, dean emeritus and former head of the hospitality pro-
gram at the University of Delaware. "The frequency of returning customers
is a growing important element of success in an increasingly competitive
environment."
The need to save time is one driver for the spread of American-style fam-
ily restaurants in Japan. By 2006, their numbers will have nearly doubled in
ten years.
However, the greatest beneficiaries will be quick-service restaurants that
can provide tasty, nutritious fast food in a pleasant environment.
One growing market is the "grab-and-go" breakfast. Though 77 percent
of breakfasts are still eaten in the home, that number is likely to decline as
working lives become ever more demanding. Many potential customers will
opt for a donut or energy bar and coffee in the car. Others will stop at their pre-
ferred quick-service restaurant for something more substantial.
GOVERNMENT WATCHDOGS
Since the U. S. Congress passed regulatory reform laws in 1996, more than
14,000 new regulations have been enacted. Not one proposed regulation was re-
jected during this period. The Federal Register, where proposed and enacted
regulations are published, was nearly 50 percent larger in 1998 than it had been
just ten years earlier—50,000 pages in all.
In Brussels, officials of the European Union are churning out new regu-
lations at an even faster pace, creating more uniform consumer and workplace
regulations throughout the continent.
Predictably, this growing burden of legal requirements is falling at least
as heavily on the restaurant industry as it does on other businesses. In addi-
tion to all the general work-related rules, laws proposed in the United States
350 Chapter 5
and Europe would provide nutritional data to consumers in real time, even in
restaurants where menus are based upon local fresh produce and meats.
To keep up with the competition, corporate computer networks will be re-
quired to access data that may be required to run a restaurant in the future.
They will automatically check on changes in corporate and industry standards,
government regulations for food safety, and other information critical to busi-
ness planning.
Beyond that, there really is not much to be said about the spread of gov-
ernment regulations. Restaurant operators will have to spend a growing frac-
tion of their time coping with them, just as their peers in other industries do.
It's just one more cost of doing business.
IN ALL . . .
These trends spell interesting times for the world's restaurant operators—and
according to popular tradition, the wish that someone live in interesting times
is an old Chinese curse, not a blessing. Yet at FI we are optimistic about the fu-
ture of the restaurant industry.
There are some difficult challenges ahead, particularly with regard to
staffing and overhead. Yet the restaurant industry has both a decades-long
record of success and all the assets it requires to build a bright future. In pros-
perous, growing, and increasingly stressful nations, it supplies two of the basic
necessities of life: food and comfort. And if 90 percent of independent restau-
rants go out of business in their first year, well-run chains and the best inde-
pendent operators have always looked forward to a long and productive future.
So it is today.
The restaurant industry's unique market—every man, woman, and child
in every country—is huge and receptive, and its challenges are manageable.
For the world s restaurant operators, a bright and prosperous future appears to
be all but assured.
creation lagged far behind GDP growth, but it too appears to have begun a sub-
stantial recovery.
Similar improvements are being seen around the world. Many of the Eu-
ropean economies are emerging from years of stagnation, while Japan is see-
ing its first significant expansion in a decade. India and China are achieving
GDP growth that averages 6 percent or better each year.
Barring another terrorist incident on the scale of 9/11, or some equivalent
shock, this widespread prosperity should feed upon itself, with each trading
nation helping to generate the continued well-being of its partners. It can be sus-
tained for some years to come.
Implications for Restaurants; Restaurant sales will grow at least as quickly
as economies in general, and probably a bit faster. This should bring good times
for restaurant operators throughout the industrialized world.
Upscale restaurants will benefit from the growing prosperity of their cus-
tomers, as patrons who might have dined slightly down-market feel able to
spend a bit more for a meal.
However, quick-service chains also will benefit as hard-pressed workers
with only a few minutes to spare choose to "grab and go," rather than spend
time preparing their own meals.
2. The population of the developed world is living longer.
Summary: Each generation lives longer and remains healthier than the
last. Life expectancy in Australia, Japan, and Switzerland is now over 75 years
for men and over 80 for women, and it is growing throughout the developed
world. As a result, the retirement-age population also is growing rapidly. It may
expand even more quickly than official forecasts anticipate, because they as-
sume that life expectancy will grow more slowly in the future. In fact, it is more
likely that new medical technologies will lengthen our lives still more rapidly
in the near future, and bring a better quality of life in the process.
Implications for Restaurants: Older diners will make up a growing portion
of restaurant clientele.
Older workers also will be available to make up the slack left by the small
size of younger generations.
Older diners will seek out stronger flavors to make up for the declining sen-
sitivity of their taste buds.
3. Tourism, vacationing, and travel (especially international) will con-
tinue to grow in the next decade, as they did throughout the 1990s.
Summary: Once current worries over the threat of terrorism recede,
American tourism will resume its traditional 5 percent annual growth. Other
countries—particularly China and India—are contributing to this demand, as
their economies grow and their citizens become more free to travel. Tourism
will benefit as Internet "virtual" tours replace printed brochures in promoting
Chapter 6
and leisure. Top executives say this will reduce corporate performance in the fu-
ture, but many show no greater ethical standards, as seen at Enron, WorldCom,
and other major companies.
Implications for Restaurants: Productivity is likely to suffer as Baby-Boom
executives are replaced by their Generation X and Dot-com successors.
7. Generations X and dot-com will have major effects in the future.
Summary: Members of Generation X—roughly, the 30-plus cohort—and
especially of Generation Dot-com, now in their 20s, have more in common with
their peers throughout the world than with their parents' generation. They are
entrepreneurial, well educated, and predominately English-speaking. Virtually
all are materialistic, many are economically conservative, and they care for lit-
tle but the bottom line—their own bottom line. Independent to a fault, they
have no loyalty to employers at all.
Implications for Restaurants: Higher salaries, better benefits, and oppor-
tunities for training all will be increasingly important in motivating and re-
taining younger workers.
Younger workers will require a more "hands-off" management style than
previous generations have been willing to accept.
Post-retirement workers will be needed, both to make up for the short-
fall in the younger generations and to ensure that some employees, at least, will
be motivated and reliable.
8. Time is becoming the world's most precious commodity.
Summary: Computers and other technologies are making national and in-
ternational economies much more competitive. As a result, Americans have
lost an average of 140 hours per year of leisure time. European executives and
nonunionized workers face the same trend. In Britain, workers have lost an av-
erage of 100 hours per year of nonworking time.
Implications for Restaurants: Dining out is becoming ever more desirable,
both as an escape from our increasingly pressured working lives and as a bet-
ter use of time than cooking and cleaning up after meals.
Harried workers with only a few minutes to spare will continue to pa-
tronize quick-service restaurants. However, they will favor outlets with the tasti-
est food and most pleasant, relaxing environments.
Fast-casual restaurant chains will continue to prosper as cheap, conve-
nient, more comfortable alternatives to quick-service meals.
9. International exposure includes a greater risk of terrorist attack.
Summary: State-sponsored terrorism appears to be on the decline, as
tougher sanctions make it more trouble than it is worth. However, nothing will
prevent small, local political organizations and special-interest groups from
using terror to promote their causes. And as the United States learned on Sep-
tember 11, the most dangerous terrorist groups are no longer motivated by
Chapter 6
specific political goals, but by generalized, virulent hatred based on religion and
culture. On balance, the amount of terrorist activity in the world is likely to go
up, not down, in the next ten years.
Implications for Restaurants: Today, virtually every establishment has "in-
ternational" exposure, because borders are relatively porous, even in the post-
9/11 environment. This is particularly true in the European Union, where
anyone who enters one member country has unimpeded access to all the rest.
Restaurants are a prime target for terrorist attack, because they host large
numbers of relaxed, unsuspecting victims, and because people watching news
reports—the real targets of the attack—can easily picture themselves happily en-
joying a meal when the attack occurred.
Contamination of food with toxins or pathogens is a serious risk, and one
that is difficult to protect against.
Restaurants and chains unable to maintain their own security depart-
ments will need consultants to identify risks, design security programs, and
screen possible new hires.
10. Institutions are undergoing a bimodal distribution: The big get
bigger, the small survive, and the midsized are squeezed out.
Summary: For at least twenty years, economies of scale have allowed the
largest companies to buy their smaller competitors or drive them out of busi-
ness. At the same time, thousands of tiny, agile companies are prospering in
niche markets. We see this pattern among automakers, computer companies,
airlines, banks, and many other industries.
Implications for Restaurants: Mid-priced, family-oriented restaurants will
continue to face difficult times as large, value-oriented chains outcompete them
at one end of the scale and high-quality, high-luxury establishments capture
their customers on the other.
The fast-casual segment will continue to grow at a comfortable rate for at
least several years.
As chains proliferate and target a relatively fixed population of diners, it
will be increasingly difficult to maintain customer loyalty.
Picture your next vacation as it might be in 2075. In early July, you and your
family ride the space elevator to a port terminal 62,000 miles over the equator.
There you join nearly 2,000 other budget-conscious tourists on an interstellar
cruiser the size of an ocean liner. After a stately embarkation, you sail out
through interplanetary space, past the giant storms of Jupiter, close enough to
Saturn to walk on its rings, and on into the inky blackness beyond. Just four lux-
urious days later, you arrive at alpha Centauri, the star closest to our own sun,
tour a small but spectacular system of planets, and get out at...
Er, well, probably at a theme park in Orlando, where the whole journey
took place in a few hours of virtual reality. Alas, the smart money in physics is
still betting that Einstein was right about never going faster than the speed of
light. We will never travel to the stars unless we learn to hibernate and spend
centuries en route. E = mc ; Its not just a good idea, its the law.
2
2010
Invisible idiot. That is how one early language-translation program, con-
verting from English to Russian and back again, interpreted the phrase, "Out
of sight, out of mind/' The software available online today does not do much
better, as anyone who has tried to read foreign-language e-mail can attest. But
within a few years, well-equipped tourists will be carrying pocket computers ca-
pable of translating idiomatic speech from any of half a dozen major languages
into any of the others, in real time. Just talk into the box, and that Parisian
waiter will know exactly what you want. Whether he likes your accent well
enough to bring it is another matter.
Who Are You? In the age of terrorism, governments want to know for
sure. During this period, probably by 2012, passports and visas will be replaced
by biométrie identity cards that carry records of your fingerprints, retinal blood
vessels, and other permanent, unique proof that you are really you.
Watch the Birdie. Or not. If you can see it, the tiny digital camera built into
your sunglasses will capture it for your friends back home. Expect basic VGA
resolution by 2008, higher-quality snaps a couple of years later.
Condo Cruising. The first cruise ship with apartments owned by the pas-
sengers (price tags from about $900,000) is already sailing from one luxury des-
tination to another, with stops at the Olympics and other major tourist events
planned. How quickly other ships follow its lead depends on the global econ-
omy, but FI expects that half a dozen of these ultimate RVs will take to the water
by 2012.
Superclothes. For adventurous vacationers headed to deserts, moun-
tains, and other hostile areas—one of the hottest areas in tourism, sometimes
literally—industrial-strength couturiers are developing "active" attire that
cools or warms the wearer, as needed, and collects and stores solar energy to
keep your GPS going without heavy batteries. Look for them at trendy out-
fitters around 2010.
Going, Going, Almost Gone. Travel agents, that is. They already are an en-
dangered species, their numbers down from 35,000 in the United States at the
end of 2000 to only 26,000 by mid-2002. That is the latest number we have seen,
but if there are more than 20,000 agents left today, we would be amazed. Only
the cruise industry still relies on travel agents for their bookings, a throwback
to the days when cruises were reserved for the wealthy elite. Though some
prominent executives are reluctant to accept the obvious, their patronage is not
The Past Is Prologue 3 63
enough to support even those agents who have survived this long. Neither can
their distaste for online booking and other agentless forms of customer service
long offset the economies and efficiencies of direct sales. By 2015, tourists could
visit travel agencies as they would tour the back country of New Guinea, to see
a vanishing way of life.
Altered Airports. Those self-service ticket kiosks appearing in major air-
ports will proliferate rapidly and spread to train stations, sports arenas, concert
venues, and other transportation hubs and destinations. As a result, airport per-
sonnel rosters will shrink by 20 percent no later than 2010. At the same time,
radio ID tags will guarantee that luggage arrives where its owners do. And to
compensate for the loss of ticket agents, who now act as a first screen for pos-
sible terrorists, airport security departments will grow by 10 percent.
See the World—From Above. The X~Prize competition is offering $10 mil-
lion to the first private team that sends three people on a suborbital junket into
space and manages to repeat the feat within two weeks. At least three entrants
have made atmospheric test flights, and one is almost certain to make near-
space flight practical within the next five years. After that, it will take less than
a decade to build the first large-scale space tourism industry. Seats will sell for
a lot less than the $20 million paid by Dennis Tito and Mark Shuttleworth to visit
the International Space Station. The hardest part is likely to be getting insur-
ance for the flights.
Generations of Entrepreneurs. Throughout the world, people age 40 and
under are starting businesses at a record rate. Among the younger dot-coms,
twice as many say they would prefer to own a business rather than be a top ex-
ecutive, and five times more would prefer to own a business rather than hold
a key position in politics or government. Many of the companies they start will
be in the hospitality industry. Expect a huge wave of new resorts, restaurants,
tour operators, and other travel services in the next two decades.
End of Immigration. Travel, and almost every land will open its arms to
you. Threaten to stay, and you'll be as welcome as a two-cent tip. Throughout
the industrialized world, native citizens complain that guest workers and other
immigrants are taking jobs, soaking up public resources, and refusing to inte-
grate into the local culture. And though many of those jobs are positions that
no one else would willingly accept, there is enough truth in the other com-
plaints to make this movement a powerful political force. Add post-9/11 secu-
rity concerns, and it's all but inevitable. Under tomorrow's immigration policies,
"your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free" can
darned well stay home.
160 Chapter 5
2020
Faster Than a Speeding Bullet Train. The world's fastest trains today oper-
ate at a paltry 200 mph or so, though magnetic lévitation trains running on
closed courses have topped 300 mph. By 2020, the first 500-mph maglev trains
will finally carry tourists around Japan, from Los Angeles to Las Vegas, and
along other flat, high-density routes. The technology should be available by
2010 or so, but economic and political problems will stall its use for years.
Build It, and They Will Come. A host of tourist attractions have proved it
in recent years. These include the sixty-story Burj Al Arab Hotel in Dubai, with
a seafood restaurant submerged in the Red Sea; the fabulous new Bibliotheque
in Alexandria; the ice hotels rebuilt each winter in Greenland and Swedish La-
pland; and the spectacularly popular London Eye. By 2020, we expect to see at
least sixty new destinations built. Most will have some unique appeal, but six
of the world's major cities will erect their own versions of the London Eye.
China already is developing thirteen tourist destinations outside the few—such
as Beijing and the Great Wall—that Westerners are familiar with.
How do You Spell Kaopectate in Russian? Point your camera at a sign or
label, and it will tell you what is written there. IBM already is working on the
technology to translate text written in Cyrillic, Arabic, Hebrew, and Chinese
characters into Western languages. Suddenly, we won't have to speak the local
language to identify the drugstore and find what we need. By 2010, automatic
translators for written material, probably built into cameras and other digital
hardware, will be standard cargo for well-equipped tourists.
Vacation Offer you Can't Refuse. It's a way of life in Europe. Cities empty
in the summer as workers head off for a month of R & R that is guaranteed by
law. The day will come when American workers also enjoy shorter work weeks
and mandatory vacations, despite the objections of politically influential em-
ployers. The reason: the jobs lost from manufacturing in recent years are just
the beginning. Automation and global competition will continue to squeeze
jobs from the American economy until, in the long run, it becomes impossible
to create useful work for all who need it. The only answer will be to cut the
work week, add time off, and open new jobs to fill in for vacationing workers.
The result will be a burst of growth in tourism like nothing the industry has
ever seen.
Note that this is the most "iffy" forecast in this report. A combination of
dramatically reduced birthrates, limited immigration, much better public ed-
ucation, rapid economic growth, and other changes might conceivably fore-
stall a job crisis indefinitely. Yet what we are experiencing is high immigration,
The Past Is Prologue 3 63
Jt's a Gas, Gas, Gas. Technologically, hydrogen-powered cars are just over
the horizon. Economically and societally, they will not make the grade until
some environmentally minded government mandates a change to hydrogen
power. Once that happens, industry will ramp up hydrogen production and put
fueling stations in every community. Then bigger things will happen. By 2025,
ecotourists visiting the Arctic, Antarctic, and other pristine destinations will
arrive by hydrogen-powered jets that emit only water as their exhaust and avoid
contaminating sensitive environments.
2030
Beanstalk to the Stars. The science fiction scenario that began this chap-
ter contained one bit of future reality: the space elevator. First envisioned some
forty years ago, the elevator will climb an enormous cable, like Jack up the
beanstalk, to a terminal where passengers and cargo can board spacecraft for
the trip further out. Until recently, this was just a fantasy; there were no mate-
rials strong enough to build the cable. Today, so-called carbon nanotubes up to
twenty times stronger than steel are approaching mass production, and engi-
neers say a space elevator could be completed within fifteen years. Unfortu-
nately, economic and political factors probably will double that lead time.
According to current estimates, the first space elevator could be built for about
$10 billion. The cost for a trip to space would be $200 per pound or less, com-
pared with $40,000 per pound for the Space Shuttle. At that price, the space el-
evator will make space tourism routine.
2040
Room Service? Today, there is only one hotel under the sea, the two-
bedroom Jules Underwater Resort in Key Largo, Florida, and just two restaurants.
Four decades ahead, underwater hotels and restaurants will be almost com-
mon. Most will appear in shallow water, where sunlight penetrates to illuminate
abundant life; the most spectacular will be located on Australia s Great Barrier
Reef. However, at least one small, spartan, and incredibly expensive hotel will
provide accommodations more than five miles down, where guests can see
forests of giant tube worms, "volcanoes" of hot, mineral-rich water, and lumi-
nescent fish swimming past the tiny, foot-thick portholes.
Think It, and They May Not Come After AH. Scientists have dreamed for
years of building computers that understand our thoughts and send data di-
rectly into our brains. But that means a kind of artificial telepathy. Think into
your computer in San Francisco, and someone in Bangalore will "hear" the
thought over the Internet. And that offers the ultimate virtual reality. If one per-
son swims in the sea, walks on the moon, or runs a three-minute mile, the rest
of us can share the experience from the comfort of our own living rooms. It
brings up the obvious question, why leave home at all? One answer is snob ap-
peal. Virtual reality will be good enough for many, but the rich will display their
wealth by taking the time, and spending the money, to go in person.
You Too Can Be the Man in the Moon. Or at least on it. The first permanent
moon base is likely to appear in the 2030s. A decade later, it will be capable of
accommodating up to 350 people, including 50 tourists. Thanks to a growing
The Past Is Prologue 3 63
array of space elevators circling Earth's equator, a lunar jaunt will even be rel-
atively affordable. As demand grows, a space elevator on the moon will bring
the price within reach of solidly middle-class families.
2050
One World After All. Five decades ahead, the dollar and euro will be sup-
planted by a single world monetary unit, ending exchange problems forever.
Biometric identity cards will be issued soon after birth, and the data stored in
banks accessible by any government. This will make it nearly impossible for
terrorists and other criminals to move around undetected, but routine tracking
of our daily movements will further erode what little is left of the old-fashioned
concept of privacy.
Universal English. Those automatic translators will be useful for only forty
years or so. English already is the de facto language of business, as French once
was the language of diplomacy. By 2050, 90 percent of the people in the world
will speak English, at least as a second language. In major tourist destinations,
the number will be even higher.
2060
Jobs Aplenty. Today, an estimated 14 percent of the world's people work
in the hospitality industry. Tomorrow, it will be 25 percent. In part, we will owe
this dramatic growth to the explosion of leisure time when shorter work weeks
and forced vacations spread from Europe to the rest of the world. But this also
is in the nature of the industry. Sixty years from now, personal service could be
the only job category that still requires human workers.
Meet and Greet. With a global Internet, lifelike virtual reality, and even
computerized telepathy available to all, who needs in-person meetings? Nearly
everyone, as it turns out. Full-contact telecommunications will do for routine
conversations, but to meet new business associates, conduct difficult negotia-
tions, or just build relationships over a round of golf, people will need to "press
the flesh" for many decades to come. The meetings and expositions segment will
continue to struggle with economic, social, and technological issues as far into
the future as the eye can see. But there will be more corporate and industry-wide
meetings in 2060 than in 2006.
164 Chapter 5
2075
Water, Water Everywhere. At least in the low places of the world. At the
rate things are going, global warming will raise the seas by two to three feet in
the next 75 years. That will mean hard times for lands like Bangladesh and the
Louisiana lowlands, which are barely above sea level even now and are sinking
even as the water rises. It will also modify our travel habits, as temperatures and
rainfall patterns change. Expect what is left of Florida to turn into baking jun-
gle, while crops bloom in parts of Canada and Siberia that today hold little
more than ice.
Atoms in Space. Nuclear power is banned from space by international
treaty. Nonetheless, by 2075 long-range space tugs powered by nuclear reac-
tors will be ferrying cargo and very patient tourists out to Mars, the asteroid belt,
and even beyond. Travel time: about 3 months each way for Mars, more than a
year for Jupiter.
Oldies but Goodies. Some of the hottest destinations tomorrow would
probably be familiar to today's travel agents. As we have seen, fast, over-
whelming technological change will bring a host of new options for tourism.
However, it also will strengthen our taste for old, familiar things and our need
to reconnect with the past. Crowds will still surround the Taj Mahal, the Great
Wall of China, and the pyramids; visit the Grand Canyon and Old Faithful; tour
the fjords, the Yangtze River dam, and the Amazon; and throng the halls of the
Hermitage and the Acropolis.
Old Friends As Well. Whatever other changes buffet the hospitality in-
dustry, it will still need the same fundamental services that all industries need:
somewhere to gather to make contacts and win contracts, someone to provide
job-related education, common standards, and certification. These are the
province of industry associations, which can bring competitors together on
common ground. In 2075, hospitality associations, many of them well known
today, will be helping their members to manage one of the largest industries in
the world.
For some four decades, Forecasting International has conducted an ongoing
study of the forces changing our world. Over the last decade, our expectations
have proved to be gratifyingly accurate. We believed that the economy of the de-
veloped world would be much more vibrant than most commentators imag-
ined possible, and so it has been. We also foresaw many of the political and
social problems brought about by the changing population. In all, no fewer
than 95 percent of our projections have proved correct.
This new edition updates our 2001 report on the implications of 52 major
trends now shaping the future. Whatever your concern, some of these trends will
have a very direct impact upon it. Others will help to form the general envi-
ronment in which we live and work. They all merit attention from anyone who
must prepare for what lies ahead.
in the fourth quarter of 2003 and 6.1 percent in early 2004. Exports
surged by 17.9 percent annualized, yet foreign demand added only 1.6
percentage points to fourth-quarter growth. The remainder came from
domestic consumption and corporate capital spending. By August, the
Conference Board's leading index for the country had been up almost
continuously for 16 month's running. This would make Japan a much
healthier trading partner for the West.
® China's economy grew by a spectacular 9.1 percent in 2003 and was ac-
celerating toward years end. Word that growth had slowed to "only" 9.2
percent in the second quarter of 2004, after reaching 10.7 percent in the
first, actually came as good news; onlookers viewed it as evidence that
China will achieve a "soft landing" and stabilize at sustainable growth
rates, rather than falling into recession. Chinese exports grew by 50 per-
cent in the five years ending in 2002 and are still growing by 20 percent
annually. In the United States, cheap Chinese imports have reduced the
price of consumer goods by several percent. At the same time, the cheap
dollar helped American exports to China grow by nearly 27 percent in
2003, to $28.4 billion.
® New growth among all these trading partners should create a "benevo-
lent cycle," in which the health of each partner helps to ensure the con-
tinued health of the rest for at least the next several years.
® Many nations of the former Soviet Union are bringing order to their
economies, proving themselves viable markets for goods from western
Europe. Recently, even Russia appears to be stabilizing its economy,
long the weakest link in its region. The discovery of oil in Kazakhstan
and new interest in the other "stans" as potential partners in the war on
terrorism should further this process.
• Worldwide, improved manufacturing technology will continue to boost
productivity and reduce the unit cost of goods. At the same time, work-
ers who remain on the job longer will offset slow growth in the labor
force, while the globalization of business will keep pressure on salaries
in the developed countries. Thus, both prices and wages should remain
under control.
Labor markets will remain tight, particularly in skilled fields. This calls for
new creativity in recruiting, benefits, and perks, especially profit sharing. This
hypercompetitive business environment demands new emphasis on rewarding
speed, creativity, and innovation within the workforce.
The growing concentration of wealth among the elderly, who as a group
already are comparatively well off, creates an equal deprivation among the
young and the poorer old. This implies a loss of purchasing power among
much of the population; in time, it could partially offset the forces promoting
economic growth.
2. The world's population will grow to 9 billion by 2050.
® Early versions of this report said that the world s population would dou-
ble by 2050. Since then, population growth has proceeded almost ex-
actly "on schedule."
® The greatest fertility is found in those countries least able to support
their existing populations. Countries with the largest population in-
creases between 2000 and 2050 include Palestinian Territory (217 per-
cent), Niger (205 percent), Yemen (168 percent), Angola (162 percent),
the Democratic Republic of Congo (161 percent), and Uganda (133
percent).
® Even these estimates may be much too low. According to the Center for
Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), most official projections un-
derestimate both fertility and future gains in longevity.
® In contrast to the developing world, many industrialized countries will
see fertility rates below the replacement level and hence significant de-
clines in populations, excluding the effects of immigration. This means
that the population of the developed nations will fall from 23 percent of
the total world population in 1950 and about 14 percent in 2000 to only
10 percent in 2050.
® In ten years or so, the workforce in Japan and much of Europe will be
shrinking by 1 percent per year. By the 2030s, it will contract by 1.5 per-
cent annually.
Implications: Rapid population growth will reinforce American domina-
tion of the global economy, as the European Union falls to third place behind
the United States and China.
To meet human nutritional needs over the next forty years, global agri-
culture will have to supply as much food as has been produced during all of
human history.
Unless fertility in the developed lands climbs dramatically, either would-be
retirees will have to remain on the job, or the industrialized nations will have
52 Trends Now Shaping the Future 2 \ 3
to encourage even more immigration from the developing world. The third al-
ternative is a sharp economic contraction and loss of living standards.
Barring enactment of strict immigration controls, rapid migration will con-
tinue from the southern hemisphere to the north, and especially from former
colonies to Europe. A growing percentage of job applicants in the United States
and Europe will be recent immigrants from developing countries.
Culture clashes between natives and immigrants are likely to destabilize so-
cieties throughout the developed world. Germany, Britain, and other lands tra-
ditionally welcoming to refugees and other migrants already are experiencing
strong backlashes against asylum-seekers
3. The population of the developed world is living longer.
• Each generation lives longer and remains healthier than the last. Since
the beginning of the twentieth century, every generation in the United
States has lived three years longer than the previous one. An 80-year-old
in 1950 could expect 6.5 more years of life; todays 80-year-olds are likely
to survive 8.5 more years.
® Life expectancy in Australia, Japan, and Switzerland is now over 75
years for males and over 80 for females.
® A major reason is the development of new pharmaceuticals and medical
technologies, which are making it possible to prevent or cure diseases
that would have been fatal to earlier generations. In many developed
countries, credit also goes to government health programs, which have
made these treatments available to many or all residents. In the devel-
oping lands, a primary cause is the availability of generic drugs, which
cut the cost of care and make health affordable even for the poor.
® These figures are much too conservative because they assume that life
expectancy will grow more slowly in the future, argues the Center for
Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).
• Medical advances that slow the fundamental process of aging now seem
to be within reach. They could well help today's middle-aged baby
boomers to live far longer than even CSIS anticipates today.
• Any practical extension of the human life span will prolong health as
well and will reduce the incidence of late-life disorders such as cancer,
heart disease, arthritis, and possibly Alzheimer's disease.
Implications: Global demand for products and services aimed at the el-
derly can only grow quickly in the coming decades.
Developed countries may face social instability as a result of competition for
resources between retirement-age boomers and their working-age children and
grandchildren. In the United States and other developed countries, public
S66 Appendix A
The nursing shortage is another problem that is severe today and will grow
much worse as the senior population expands. In all, the United States will be
short 515,000 nurses by 2020, just as senior baby boomers begin to flood the
health-care system. State health-care agencies will be forced to take the lead in
recruiting new workers to this critical field.
5. The growth of the information industries is creating a knowledge-
dependent global society.
® Information is the primary commodity of more and more industries.
* By 2007, 83 percent of American management personnel will be knowl-
edge workers. Europe and Japan are not far behind.
® The number of telecommuters in the United States grew 63.2 percent be-
tween 1999 and 2003. The number of telecommuters working for the
federal government more than doubled—to only 106,000—between 2001
and 2003. By 2005, 80 percent of companies worldwide expect to have
employees who work at home, up from 54 percent in 2003.
® The Internet makes it possible for small businesses throughout the world
to compete for market share on an even footing with industry leaders.
® In the United States, the "digital divide" seems to be disappearing. In
early 2000, a poll found that where half of white households owned com-
puters, so did fully 43 percent of African American households, and their
numbers were growing rapidly. Hispanic households continued to lag be-
hind, but their rate of computer ownership was expanding as well.
® By 2005, the average PC workstation will include a computer, a fax, a pic-
ture phone, and a duplicator—possibly in one unit—for less than $2,500
(in 1995 dollars). By 2006 or so, these systems will include a flat screen
of 20 by 30 inches and real-time voice translation, so that conversations
originating in one of seven or eight common languages can be heard in
any of the others.
® Computer competence will approach 100 percent in U.S. urban areas by
2005. Cities in Europe and Japan will achieve universal computer "lit-
eracy" shortly thereafter.
Implications: Knowledge workers are generally better paid than less-
skilled workers, and their proliferation is raising overall prosperity.
Even entry-level workers and those in formerly unskilled positions require
a growing level of education. For a good career in almost any field, computer
competence is mandatory. This is one major trend raising the level of educa-
tion required for a productive role in today's workforce. For many workers,
the opportunity for training is becoming one of the most desirable benefits
any job can offer.
S66 Appendix A
New technologies create new industries, jobs, and career paths, which can
bring new income to developing countries. An example is the transfer of func-
tions such as technical support in the computer industry to Asian divisions and
service firms.
For some developing countries, computer skills are making it faster and
easier to create wealth than a traditional manufacturing economy ever could.
India, for example, is rapidly growing a middle class, largely on the strength
of its computer and telecom industries. Many other lands will follow its
example.
6. Mass migration is redistributing the world's population.
• Immigration is quickly changing the ethnic composition of the Ameri-
can population. In 2000, Latinos made up 12.6 percent of the U.S. pop-
ulation, up from only 6 percent in 1980. By 2010, they will account for
15.5 percent of all Americans, and 24.5 percent—103 million people—
by 2050. There were some 11.2 million Asians in the United States in
2000. Their numbers will reach an estimated 19.6 million by 2020 and
33 million—8 percent of the population—by 2050.
® This trend is accelerated by the relatively high fertility of the Latino pop-
ulation. As of 2002, women in the United States produced about two
children during their lives, just enough to maintain the population.
Among Hispanics, the average was more than 2.7 births per woman.
Among Mexican immigrants, it was nearly 2.9.
• Immigration to Western Europe from Eastern Europe, North Africa,
the Middle East, and the Indian subcontinent continues.
• More than 400,000 legal immigrants from Central Europe now live and
work in Western Europe. Between 3 million and 4 million more mi-
grants are expected to join them in the next twenty-five years.
® In China, 98 million people have moved from rural areas to cities in re-
cent years, without ever leaving the country.
® There are about 80 million international migrant workers in the world,
according to the United Nations. About half settle in Europe; the rest are
divided evenly between North America and Asia.
implications: Impoverished migrants will place a growing strain on Social
Security systems in the industrialized countries of Europe and North America.
Similar problems will afflict the urban infrastructures of China and India.
Remittances from migrants to their native countries are helping to relieve
poverty in many developing countries. These payments are expected to exceed
$100 billion in 2004.
Significant backlashes against foreign migrants, such as the skinhead move-
ment in Europe, will be seen more frequently in the years ahead.
52 Trends Now Shaping the Future 2 \ 3
Backlashes will be seen even in the most peaceful lands. For example, in
Scandinavia, resentment against foreign workers is strong, in part because they
can return to their native lands after three years of employment and collect a
pension equal to the minimum wage for the rest of their lives.
7. Growing acceptance of cultural diversity, aided by the unifying effect
of mass media, is promoting the growth of a truly integrated global so-
ciety. However, this is subject to local interruptions and reversals.
• Migration is mixing disparate peoples and forcing them to find ways to
coexist peacefully and productively.
® Information technologies promote long-distance communication as peo-
ple hook up with the same commercial databases and computer net-
works, and above all with the Internet.
« Television is even more homogenizing, as it encourages the spread of
standard accents and language patterns, particularly in the United
States.
® Within the United States and Europe, regional differences, attitudes, in-
comes, and lifestyles are blurring as business carries people from one
area to another.
« Intermarriage also continues to mix cultures geographically, ethnically,
socially, and economically.
® Minorities are beginning to exert more influence over national agendas
as the growing number of African Americans, Hispanics, and Asians in
the United States is mirrored by the expanding population of refugees
and former "guest workers" throughout Europe.
• In the United Kingdom, 21 percent of young adults answering a recent
poll viewed themselves as primarily European, rather than British. Some
31 percent of French Gen Xers, 36 percent of Germans, and 42 percent
of Italians also said they thought of themselves as primarily European.
• However, in many countries there are powerful reactions against these
changes. The growth of the German neo-Nazi movement is one obvi-
ous example.
Companies will hire ever more minority workers and will be expected to
adapt to their values and needs. Much of the burden of accommodating
foreign-born residents will continue to fall on employers, who must make room
for their languages and cultures in the workplace.
However, the greatest responsibility will continue to fall on two public insti-
tutions, schools and libraries. Primary concerns for schools include providing
all students with a solid grounding in English, our only common language, and
finding ways to recruit and reward the best teachers and weed out the least ef-
fective. Public libraries act as sites for after-hours learning, reference facilities,
sources of Net access for those who do not have it at home and bad-weather
shelters for the homeless. They, too, require greater support.
8. The global economy is growing more integrated.
® Rather than paying salaries and benefits for activities that do not con-
tribute directly to the bottom line, companies are farming out secondary
function to suppliers, service firms, and consultants, which increasingly
are located in other countries.
• They also are "outsourcing" management and service jobs to low-wage
countries. An estimated 3.3 million American jobs are expected to mi-
grate to India and China by 2015. Jobs from Western Europe are mi-
grating to Eastern Europe, the former Soviet Union, and the English-
and French-speaking former colonies of Africa. Even India has begun to
ship jobs to even lower-cost countries in Africa.
® In the European Union, relaxation of border and capital controls and the
adoption of a common currency and uniform product standards are
making it still easier for companies to distribute products and support
functions throughout the continent.
® Standardization of product standards throughout Europe is even more
beneficial.
® NAFTA has had a similar, though much less sweeping, effect in the
Americas.
® The Internet and cable-TV home shopping channels have brought re-
tailers and manufacturers closer to distant customers, who had been
out of reach. This is reshaping distribution patterns in many retail
industries.
® New procurement regulations and standards promise to open the gov-
ernment market to suppliers who previously found the bidding process
too difficult, costly, or just confusing.
Implications: The growth of commerce on the Internet makes it possible
to shop globally for raw materials and supplies, thus reducing the cost of doing
52 Trends Now Shaping the Future 2 \ 3
business. In niche markets, the Internet also makes it possible for small com-
panies to compete with giants worldwide with relatively little investment.
Demand for personnel in distant countries will increase the need for
foreign-language training, employee incentives suited to other cultures, aid to
executives going overseas, and the many other aspects of doing business in
other countries. As eastern Europe integrates more fully with the European
Union, a major investment in personnel development will be needed over the
next few years.
Western companies may have to accept that proprietary information will be
shared, not just with their immediate partners in Asian joint ventures, but with
other members of the partners' trading conglomerates. In high technology
and aerospace, that may expose companies to extra scrutiny, due to national-
security concerns.
thinking for most of four decades. This will tend to homogenize basic
attitudes throughout the world, because Gen Xers and especially Dot-
coms around the globe have more in common with each other than with
their parents.
© In the future, both self-reliance and cooperation will be valued—
self-reliance because we will no longer be able to fall back on Social
Security, pensions, and other benefits; cooperation because group action
often is the best way to optimize the use of scarce resources, such as re-
tirement savings.
® Post-September 11 worry over terrorist attacks have led Americans to
accept almost without comment security measures that their vaunted
love of privacy once would have made intolerable. This continues a long-
established tendency in the United States to prefer a greater sense of
safety at the cost of increased government surveillance and interven-
tion in their lives.
• Once national security issues lose their immediacy, family issues will
again dominate American society, at least through 2008: long-term
health care, day care, early childhood education, antidrug campaigns,
and the environment.
• Narrow, extremist views of either the left or the right will slowly lose
their popularity. Moderate Republicans and conservative Democrats will
lead their respective parties. This trend has been reinforced by the ex-
perience of recent presidential elections in which third-party candidates
siphoned votes from less-extreme main-party candidates. Many voters,
feeling that a vote for an alternative candidate is tantamount to a vote
for the major opposition, are likely to accept less doctrinal purity in
their party's representatives.
cashed in on the boom. This will make it an important industry for still more
developing countries.
The number of people whose jobs depend on tourism will approach 14 per-
cent of the global workforce.
Cruise ships such as the giant, 2,600-passenger Queen Mary 2 will continue
to grow larger.
13. The physical-culture and personal-health movements will remain
strong, but far from universal.
® Emphasis on preventive medicine continues to grow. In recent years,
most insurance carriers in the United States have expanded coverage
or reduced premiums for policyholders with healthy lifestyles. By 2007,
90 percent of insurers will offer such benefits.
• A 2001 Harris Poll showed that about one-third of Americans ate at fast-
food restaurants less often than a year before, citing health reasons.
® In another 2001 poll, 75 percent of Canadians reported having changed
their diets in the previous year in order to improve or maintain their
health. Some 20 percent had reduced fat consumption, 18 percent had
cut back on sweets, and 11 percent had trimmed red meat.
® The low-carb weight-loss fad trumps other health concerns. Though
Japan and Korea closed their doors to American beef after one case of
mad cow disease was discovered in December 2003, demand in the
United States never faltered. Carb-crazed dieters kept beef prices near
record highs well into 2004.
® This trend has not yet had a similar impact on Europe, and people in
many countries of the developing world still worry more about eating
enough than eating well.
® U.S. consumers are purchasing less distilled liquor. Exception: Younger
generations have revived the once passe taste for mixed drinks, but
have proved to be uncommonly responsible drinkers. Most limit them-
selves to one or two drinks with a meal, and designated drivers are stan-
dard practice.
® Smoking also is in general decline in the United States. Only 21 percent
of Americans smoked cigarettes as of January 2000, down from 30 per-
cent in 1983. Financial disincentives such as higher taxes on cigarettes
should produce further declines of 10 percent.
® It appears that the antismoking movement is finally making its way to
Europe. Ireland banned smoking from its pubs in April 2004.
implications: Better health in later life will make us still more conscious
of our appearance and physical condition. Thus, health clubs will continue to
52 Trends Now Shaping the Future 2 \ 3
boom, and some will specialize in the needs of older fitness buffs. Diet, fitness,
stress control, and wellness programs will prosper.
Like tobacco companies, producers of snack foods, liquor, and other med-
ically dubious products will increasingly target markets in developing coun-
tries, where this trend has yet to be felt.
The cost of health care for U.S. baby boomers and their children could be
much lower in later life than is now believed. However, Asia faces an epidemic
of cancer, heart disease, emphysema, and other chronic and fatal illnesses re-
lated to health habits.
As the nutrition and wellness movements spread, they will further improve
the health of the elderly. The market for cosmetic surgery and Botox treat-
ments—which may be more about appearing than being healthy—will continue
to expand quickly.
14. Consumerism is still growing rapidly.
® A networked society facilitates a consumerist society. Shoppers in-
creasingly have access to information about pricing, services, delivery
time, and customer reviews on the Internet. Marketers, of course, can
also check the competition's offerings. This may gradually halt the de-
cline of prices and shift competition increasingly to improvements in ser-
vice and salesmanship.
* Consumer advocacy agencies and organizations will continue to prolif-
erate, promoting better information—unit pricing, improved content
labels, warning notices, nutrition data, and the like—on packaging, TV,
and the Internet.
« Discount stores such as Home Depot and Wal-Mart, factory outlets, and
food clubs will continue to grow in the United States, a trend that has
just begun to spread to Europe and Japan.
Implications: In the next twenty years, Europe and Japan can expect to un-
dergo the same revolution in marketing that has replaced America's neighbor-
hood stores with cost-cutting warehouse operations and "category killers." This
will inspire social unrest in countries where farmers and owners of small shops
have strong cultural or political positions.
This trend also will spread to China, though it will run several years behind
developments in Europe and Japan.
As prices fall to commodity levels and online stores can list virtually every
product and brand in their industry without significant overhead, service
is the only field left in which marketers on and off the Net can compete
effectively.
S66 Appendix A
Branded items with good reputations are even more important for develop-
ing repeat business.
15. The women's equality movement is beginning to lose its significance,
thanks largely to past successes.
® Generations X and Dot-com are virtually gender-blind in the workplace,
compared with older generations. This is true even in societies such as
India and Japan, which have long been male-dominated, though not yet
in conservative Muslim lands.
® Fully 57 percent of American college students are women. Among mi-
norities, the number is even higher: 60 percent of Hispanic and two-
thirds of African American college students are women.
® Women's increasing entrepreneurialism will allow the formation of en-
trenched "old girl" networks comparable to the men's relationships that
once dominated business.
® An infrastructure is evolving that allows women to make more decisions
and to exercise political power, especially where both spouses work. One
indication of growing dependence on the wife: Life insurance companies
are selling more policies to women than to men.
® More women are entering the professions, politics, and the judiciary.
As we have seen in Iraq, they also are finding roles as combat soldiers.
Implications: Whatever careers remain relatively closed to women will
open wide in the years ahead.
Demand for child care and other family-oriented services will continue to
grow, particularly in the United States, where national services have yet to de-
velop. Over the next twenty years, this may force American companies to
compete on a more even footing with their counterparts in Europe, whose
taxes pay for national daycare programs and other social services the United
States lacks.
In the long run, the need to work with female executives from the developed
countries will begin to erode the restrictions placed on women's careers in some
developing regions.
16. Family structures are becoming more diverse.
® In periods of economic difficulty, children and grandchildren move back
in with parents and grandparents to save on living expenses. In the
United States, one-third of Gen Xers have returned home at some point
in their early lives.
® Growing numbers of grandparents are raising their grandchildren, be-
cause drugs and AIDS have left the middle generation either unable or
52 Trends Now Shaping the Future 2 \ 3
Implications: Tax and welfare policies need adjustment to cope with fam-
ilies in which heads of households are retired or unable to work.
Policies also need to be adjusted for those who receive Social Security and
are forced to work to support an extended family.
In the United States, the debates over homosexuality and the "decline of the
family"—temporarily displaced from attention by the antiterrorist campaign—
will regain their status as hot-button issues for at least two more election cycles.
Concern for other "family values" will return as well, but this time the debate
will be shaped by the real-world needs of diverse families rather than the agen-
das of religious conservatives.
ENERGY TRENDS
17. Despite all the calls to develop alternative sources of energy, oil con-
sumption is still rising rapidly.
® The world used only 57 million barrels of oil per day in 1973, when the
first major price shock hit. By 2004, it was using nearly 82 million bar-
rels daily, according to the International Energy Agency. Consumption
is expected to reach 110 million barrels daily by 2020.
S66 Appendix A
19. Oil prices are stable at; $25 to $28 per barrel; they rise above that
range only in times of trouble.
® Prices above $45 per barrel seen in 2004 result from uncertainty in Iraq,
the Yukos conflict in Russia, and other short-term problems.
S66 Appendix A
• Despite claims that OPEC would prefer to keep crude affordable, the
organizations current aim is to hold the price of oil no lower than $30
per barrel. Yet doing so requires a unity of purpose that member coun-
tries have never been able to sustain for very long.
© The vulnerability of oil prices was reinforced in the months after Sep-
tember 11, when they fell to just $19.88 despite severe worries about
possible instability in the Middle East.
• New oil supplies coming on line in the former Soviet Union, China, and
other parts of the world will make it even more difficult to sustain prices
at artificially high levels.
® The twenty most industrialized countries all have at least three-month
supplies of oil in tankers and underground storage. Most have an-
other three months' worth in "strategic reserves." In times of high oil
prices, customer nations can afford to stop buying until the costs come
down.
implications: High oil prices cannot be sustained. They are likely to fall
below $30 per barrel by 2006 as non-OPEC oil sources come on line and Amer-
ican refineries expand their capacity.
In response to high (by American standards) gas prices, the U.S. government
will probably boost domestic oil production and refining to increase the re-
serve of gasoline and heating oil. This stockpile would be ready for immediate
use in case of future price hikes, as in the winter 2000 release from, strategic re-
serves. This will make it easier to negotiate with OPEC.
The United States almost certainly will drill for oil in the Arctic National
Wildlife Reserve. To minimize environmental damage, drilling will take place
only in the winter, when the tundra is rock hard, slant drilling will be used to
minimize the number of wells required, and the oil will be shipped through a
double-walled pipeline.
One upward pressure on the price of American gasoline: the Environmental
Protection Agency's "Tier 2" regulations, which aim to reduce dramatically emis-
sions of sulfur and nitrogen oxides and particulates, are scheduled to take ef-
fect between 2004 and 2006. Production of super-low sulfur fuels mandated
under the plan is expected to add about 4 cents per gallon to the cost of gas
and 6 cents per gallon to the price of diesel fuel.
The one development that could change this scenario is the establishment
of a Muslim extremist government in Saudi Arabia following the death of
King Fahd, leading to a ban on oil sales to the United States and its allies. A
religious takeover of Saudi Arabia is highly likely. An oil boycott against the
U.S. seems less so, as the new rulers will need the income as urgently as the
Saud monarchy did.
52 Trends Now Shaping the Future 2 \ 3
20. Growing competition from other energy sources also will help to limit
the price of oil.
® Solar, geothermal, wind, and wave energy will ease power problems
where these resources are most readily available, though they will sup-
ply only a very small fraction of the world's energy in the foreseeable
future.
® Global energy production from renewable sources such as geothermal
wells, wind turbines, and solar generators grew from 151.64 billion kWh
in 1990 to 274.04 billion kWh in 2002.
® During the same period, nuclear electric output grew from 648.89 bil-
lion kWh to 860.29 kWh, while hydroelectric power generation declined
from 606.46 billion kWh to 595.06 billion kWh, having peaked at 727.62
billion kWh in 1996.
® Worldwide wind-power generating capacity grew by 6,500 megawatts in
2001 alone, the fastest rate of growth yet recorded and 50 percent more
than the previous year. Photovoltaic solar energy production has been
growing at a steady 25 percent per year since 1980.
® Natural gas burns cleanly, and there is enough of it available to supply
the world's total energy demand for the next 200 years. Consumption of
natural gas is growing by 3.3 percent annually, compared with 1.8 per-
cent for oil.
® According to the Energy Information Agency at the U.S. Department of
Energy, shifting 20 percent of America's energy supply to renewable re-
sources by 2020 would have almost no impact on the total cost of power.
At present, less than 5 percent of the energy used in the United States
comes from renewable resources.
• A new technique called muon-catalyzed fusion reportedly could pro-
duce commercially useful quantities of energy by 2020.
Implications: Though oil will remain the world's most important energy
resource for years to come, two or three decades forward it should be less of a
choke point in the global economy.
Declining reliance on oil eventually could help to reduce air and water pol-
lution, at least in the developed world. By 2060, a costly but pollution-free hy-
drogen economy may at last become practical.
In the interim, nuclear power will supply a growing portion of the world's
energy needs. Nuclear plants will supply 16 percent of the energy in Russia
and Eastern Europe by 2010. In early 2004, China had only nine operating
nuclear power plants. It plans to build 30 more by 2020, bringing nuclear
energy consumption from 16 billion kWh in 2000 to 66 billion kWh in 2010
S66 Appendix A
and 142 billion kWh in 2020, By 2020, Russia will consume 129 billion kWh
of nuclear energy per year, while Canada will use 118 billion kWh.
ENVIRONMENTAL TRENDS
21. People around the world are becoming increasingly sensitive to
environmental issues such as air pollution as the consequences of
neglect, indifference, and ignorance become ever more apparent.
© Soot and other particulates are coming under greater scrutiny as threats
more dangerous to human health than sulfur dioxide and other gaseous
pollutants. In the United States alone, medical researchers estimate that
some 64,000 people each year die from cardiopulmonary disease as a re-
sult of breathing particulates. In sub-Saharan Africa, the toll is between
300,000 and 500,000 deaths per year, and in Asia, between 500,000 and
1 million people annually die of particulate exposure.
® A 2004 report for the U.S. Environmental Protection Administration es-
timated that pollution by American power plants causes 23,600 needless
deaths per year.
• In all, the World Health Organization estimates that 3 million people
die each year from the effects of air pollution, about 5 percent of the
total deaths annually.
• The European Parliament estimates that 70 percent of the continent's
drinking water contains dangerous concentrations of nitrate pollu-
tion. In the United States, there is growing concern that pollutants
such as perchlorate, the gasoline additive MTBE, and even the chlo-
rine used to kill water-borne pathogens may represent significant
health concerns.
• Though some debate remains about the cause, the fact of global warm-
ing has become undeniable. At Palmer Station on Anvers Island, Antarc-
tica, for example, the average annual temperature has risen by 3 to 4
degrees since the 1940s, and by an amazing 7 to 9 degrees in June—
early winter in that hemisphere. Recent analyses say there is a 90 per-
cent chance that the planet's average annual temperature will rise
between 3 and 9 degrees over the next century.
® Governments are taking more active measures to protect the environ-
ment. For instance, after years of ineffective gestures, Costa Rica has
incorporated about 25 percent of its land into protected areas, such as
national parks. Cambodia has protected a million-acre forest. Gabon, in
Africa, has set aside 10 percent of its land for parks. And Liberia is pro-
tecting 155,000 acres of forest in an effort to safeguard endangered west-
ern chimpanzees.
52 Trends Now Shaping the Future 2 \ 3
Implications: By 2040, at least 3.5 billion people will run short of water,
almost ten times as many as in 1995. By 2050, fully two-thirds of the world's
population could be living in regions with chronic, widespread shortages of
water.
Water wars, predicted for more than a decade, are an imminent threat in
places like the Kashmir: Much of Pakistan's supply comes from areas of Kash-
mir now controlled by India. Such problems as periodic famine and desertifi-
cation also can be expected to grow more frequent and severe in coming
decades.
Other present and future water conflicts involve Turkey, Syria, and Iraq over
the Tigris and Euphrates; Israel, Jordan, Syria, and Palestine over water from
the Jordan River and the aquifers under the Golan Heights; India and
Bangladesh, over the Ganges and Brahmaputra; China, Indochina, and Thai-
land, over the Mekong; Kyrghyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan over the Oxus
and Jaxartes rivers; and Ethiopia, Sudan, and at least six East African coun-
tries, including Egypt, which share the Nile.
Impurities in water will become an even greater problem as the population
ages and becomes more susceptible to infectious diseases.
In the United States, repair of decayed water systems is likely to be a
major priority for older cities such as New York, Boston, and Atlanta. Cost
estimates for necessary replacement and repair of water mains range up to
$1 trillion.
Water providers in the United States will face more new regulations in the
next five years than have been adopted since the Safe Drinking Water Act was
signed in 1974.
52 Trends Now Shaping the Future 2 \ 3
23. Recycling has delayed the "garbage glut" that threatened to overflow
the world's landfills, but the threat has not passed simply because it
has not yet arrived.
® Americans now produce about 4.4 pounds of trash per person per day,
twice as much as they threw away a generation ago.
® In June 2002, New York City abandoned its 14-year-old recycling effort
for glass, plastic, and beverage cartons, which city authorities held was
not cost-effective. This cut recycling from about 21 percent of waste to
an estimated 10 percent and sent an extra 1,200 tons of litter to landfills
each day. By contrast, Seattle recycles about half of its solid waste.
• Seventy percent of U.S. landfills will be full by 2025, according to the EPA.
® In London and the surrounding region, landfills will run out of room by
2012. For household trash, landfill space will be exhausted by 2007.
® In some other regions, simply collecting the trash is a major problem.
Brazil produces an estimated 240,000 tons of garbage daily, but only 70
percent reaches landfills. The rest accumulates in city streets, where it
helps to spread disease.
® Recycling and waste-to-energy plants are a viable alternative to simply
dumping garbage. The United States has more than 2,200 landfills. Eu-
rope, where recycling and energy conversion are much more common,
gets by with 175.
Implications: Expect a wave of new regulations, recycling, waste-to-
energy projects, and waste management programs in an effort to stem the tide
of trash. It will, of course, begin in California.
Existing regulations will be tightened and disposal prices raised in Pennsyl-
vania, South Carolina, Louisiana, and other places that accept much of the
trash from major garbage producers such as New York.
24. Industrial development trumps environmental concerns in many
parts of the world.
® In 1999, Samachar, an Internet newspaper from India, asked its readers
what significant problems face their country. Despite rampant defor-
estation, widespread air and water pollution, loss of biodiversity, and
many other such problems, environmental degradation came in next to
last among ten issues, cited by only 1 percent of the respondents,
® "A deep and abiding distrust of environmental imperatives has been cul-
tivated in large segments of South Africa's population," due to years of
apartheid-era restrictions that were often justified as environmental
measures, according to a study of environmental business opportunities
by Industry Canada.
S66 Appendix A
TECHNOLOGY TRENDS
Automation will continue to cut the cost of many services and products, mak-
ing it possible to reduce prices while still improving profits. This will be criti-
cal to business survival as the Internet continues to push the price of many
products to the commodity level.
New technology also will make it easier for industry to minimize and cap-
ture its effluent. This will be a crucial ability in the environmentally con-
scious future.
® Jobs created by high-tech exports are more than replacing those lost to
competition under the North American Free Trade Agreement and sim-
ilar agreements, providing a net gain in employment in the United
States. Some 2.9 million American jobs are now supported by exports
to NAFTA countries, more than double the number of jobs believed to
have been lost from low-tech manufacturing industries. Canada and
Mexico report proportionally greater gains.
implications: The demand for scientists, engineers, and technicians will
continue to grow, particularly in fields where research promises an immediate
business payoff.
Low-wage countries such as China will continue to take low-wage jobs from
advanced industrialized countries such as the United States, but those jobs will
be replaced by higher-paid jobs in technology and service industries.
Countries like India, China, and Russia may continue to suffer a "brain drain"
as those with high-tech skills emigrate to high-demand, high-wage destinations.
However, there is evidence that growing numbers of technology students and
professionals are spending time in the West to learn cutting-edge skills, and
then returning to their native lands to work, start companies, and teach. This
trend may promote the growth of some developing countries while reducing
the competitive advantages of the developed world.
By inhibiting stem-cell research, the United States has made itself a less
attractive place for cutting-edge biomedical scientists. The United Kingdom
is capitalizing on this to become the world's leader in stem-cell research.
In the process, it is reversing the "brain drain" that once deprived it of top
scientists.
Washington's neglect of basic science is being felt in the declining fraction
of patents, Nobel prizes, and other awards going to American scientists. As
other countries become more skilled in critical high-tech fields, the United
States is fast losing its edge. If this trend is not reversed, it will begin to un-
dermine the American economy and shift both economic and political power
to other lands.
29. Advances in transportation technology will make travel and shipping
faster, cheaper, and safer by land, sea, and air.
• By 2010, New York, Tokyo, and Frankfurt will emerge as transfer points
for passengers of high-speed, large-capacity supersonic planes.
® Airline crashes will decline, and will involve fewer fatalities, thanks to
such technical advances as safer seat design and flash-resistant fuels.
® Following European practice, the U.S. airline industry will begin to re-
place the spokes of its existing hub-and-spokes system with high-speed
trains for journeys of 100 to 150 miles.
S66 Appendix A
• There are more than 500 million cars in the world, and the number is
growing quickly.
• The average life of a car in the United States is approaching 22
years.
• Advances in automobile technology such as road-condition sensors, con-
tinuously variable transmissions, automated traffic management sys-
tems, night-vision systems, and smart seats that tailor airbag inflation
to the passenger's weight will all be in common use by 2010.
® The first commercial hybrid gas-electric cars are available already. New
models will begin to win market share from traditional gas guzzlers be-
tween 2005 and 2010.
® To reduce the number and severity of traffic accidents, trucks on the
most heavily used highways will be exiled to car-free lanes, and the sep-
aration will be enforced.
Both management and employees must get used to the idea of lifelong learn-
ing. It will become a significant part of work life at all levels.
As the digital divide is erased and minority and low-income households buy
computers and log onto the Internet, groups now disadvantaged will be in-
creasingly able to educate and train themselves for high-tech careers.
34. Specialization is spreading throughout industry and the professions.
• For doctors, lawyers, engineers, and other professionals, the size of the
body of knowledge required to excel in any one area precludes excel-
lence across all areas.
® The same principle applies to artisans. Witness the rise of post-and-
beam homebuilders, old-house restorers, automobile electronics tech-
nicians, and mechanics trained to work on only one brand of car.
® The information-based organization depends on its teams of task-
focused specialists.
® Globalization of the economy calls for the more independent specialists.
For hundreds of tasks, corporations will turn to consultants and con-
tractors who specialize more and more narrowly as markets globalize
and technologies differentiate.
computer-related service jobs pay much more than the minimum for
those with sound education and training.
® Some of the fastest growth is in some of the least-skilled occupations,
such as cashiers and retail salespersons.
Implications: Services are now beginning to compete globally, just as man-
ufacturing industries have done over the last twenty years. By creating com-
petitive pressure on wages in the industrialized lands, this trend will help to
keep inflation in check.
The growth of international business will act as a stabilizing force in world af-
fairs, as most countries find that conflict is unacceptably hard on the bottom line.
36. Women's salaries are approaching equality with men's—but very
slowly.
• Women's salaries have been rising faster than men's since 1975. However,
there still is a long way to go. Nationally, average earnings for a man
employed full time and year-round reported in the 2000 Census was
about $8,000—$10,000 more than for a woman working a comparable
job. Women doctors make only 58 percent as much as their male
colleagues.
® On average, American men make $38,000 per year in a full-time, year-
round job; for similar jobs, women average only $28,000.
® Women's salaries have reached parity with men's in only five fields,
nearly all of them areas where women have broken into trades long
dominated by men: hazardous material removal workers, telecommu-
nications line installers and repairers, meeting and convention plan-
ners, dining room or cafeteria workers, and construction trade helpers.
® Similar statistics are found elsewhere. In the United Kingdom, govern-
ment statistics report that women earn 19 percent less than men for com-
parable jobs. PayFinder.com, a Web site specializing in salary comparisons,
says the gap is actually 24 percent and, in some regions, rising.
® However, women's average income could exceed men's within a gener-
ation. College graduates enjoy a significant advantage in earnings over
peers whose education ended with high school. Today, some 64 percent
of young American women enroll in college, compared with only 60 per-
cent of young men.
® To the extent that experience translates as prestige and corporate
value, older women should find it easier to reach upper-management
positions. They will strengthen the nascent "old-girl" networks, which
will help to raise the pay scale of women still climbing the corporate
ladder.
S66 Appendix A
Implications: The fact that women's salaries are lagging despite higher
academic achievement than men suggests that many college-educated women
may be underemployed.
More new hires will be women, and they will expect both pay and opportu-
nities equal to those of men.
Competition for top executive positions, once effectively limited to men, will
intensify even as the corporate ladder loses many of its rungs.
The glass ceiling has been broken. One-fourth of upper executives today, and
nearly 20 percent of corporate board members, are women. While this is still
too few, it is far more than in any previous generation, and their numbers can
only grow. Generations X and Dot-com are gender-blind in the workplace, and
there are more women than men among college graduates. As more women
reach decision-making levels in business and government, being a "sister" could
become a career advantage.
Two-career couples can afford to eat out often, take frequent short vacations,
and buy new cars and other such goods. And they feel they deserve whatever
time-savers and outright luxuries they can afford. This is quickly expanding the
market for consumer goods and services, travel, and leisure activities.
This also promotes self-employment and entrepreneurialism, as one family
members salary can tide them over while the other works to establish a new
business.
Look for families that usually have two incomes, but have frequent intervals
in which one member takes a sabbatical or goes back to school to prepare for
another career. As information technologies render former occupations obso-
lete, this will become the new norm.
42. Generations X and Dot-com will have major effects in the future.
• Members of Generation X—roughly, the 30-plus cohort—and espe-
cially of Generation Dot-com, now in their 20s, have more in com-
mon with their peers throughout the world than with their parents'
generation.
• There are approximately 50 million people in Europe between the ages
of 15 and 24; 30 million more are between 25 and 29. The under-30 co-
hort represents about 22 percent of the European population.
® The under-20 cohort is remaining in school longer and taking longer to
enter the workforce than before.
• Generation X should be renamed "Generation E," for entrepreneurial.
Throughout the world, they are starting new businesses at an unprece-
dented rate.
® The younger Dot-com generation is proving to be even more business-
oriented, caring for little but the bottom line. Twice as many say they
would prefer to own a business rather than be a top executive. Five times
more would prefer to own a business rather than hold a key position in
politics or government.
® Many in Generation X are economically conservative. On average, those
who can do so begin saving much earlier in life than their parents did
in order to protect themselves against unexpected adversity. They made
money in the stock market boom of the 1990s, then lost it in the "dot-
bomb" contraction, but have left their money in the market. For Gen-
erations X and Dot-com, time is still on their side.
implications: Employers will have to adjust virtually all of their policies
and practices to the values of these new and different generations, including
finding new ways to motivate and reward them. Generations X and Dot-com
thrive on challenge, opportunity, and training—whatever will best prepare them
for their next career move. Cash is just the beginning of what they expect.
52 Trends Now Shaping the Future 2\3
For these generations, lifelong learning is nothing new; it's just the way life
is. Companies that can provide diverse, cutting-edge training will have a strong
recruiting advantage over competitors that offer fewer opportunities to improve
their skills, and knowledge base.
Generations X and Dot-com are well equipped for work in an increasingly
high-tech world, but have little interest in their employers' needs. They also
have a powerful urge to do things their way.
As both customers and employees, they will demand even more advanced
telecommunications and Net-based transactions.
43. lime is becoming the world's most precious commodity.
® Computers, electronic communications, the Internet, and other tech-
nologies are making national and international economies much more
competitive,
• in the United States, workers spend about 10 percent more time on the
job than they did a decade ago. European executives and nonunionized
workers face the same trend.
® In this high-pressure environment, single workers and two-income
couples are increasingly desperate for any product that offers to sim-
plify their lives or grant them a taste of luxury—and they can afford to
buy it.
MANAGEMENT TRENDS
INSTITUTIONAL TRENDS
48. Multinational corporations are uniting the world, and growing more
exposed to its risks.
• By 2005, parts for well over half of the products built in the United States
will originate in other countries.
« Multinational corporations that rely on indigenous workers may be hin-
dered by the increasing number of AIDS cases in Africa and around the
world. Up to 90 percent of the population in parts of sub-Saharan Africa
reportedly tests positive for the HIV virus in some surveys. Thailand is
equally stricken, and many other parts of Asia show signs that the AIDS
epidemic is spreading among their populations.
• The continuing fragmentation of the post-Cold War world has reduced
the stability of some lands where government formerly could guarantee
a favorable—or at least predictable—business environment. The cur-
rent unrest in Indonesia is one example.
® One risk now declining is the threat of currency fluctuations. In Eu-
rope, at least, the adoption of the euro is making for a more stable eco-
nomic environment.
Implications: It is becoming ever more difficult for business to be confi-
dent that decisions about plant location, marketing, and other critical issues will
continue to appear wise even five years into the future. All long-term plans must
include an even greater margin for risk management. This will encourage out-
sourcing rather than investment in offshore facilities that could be endangered
by sudden changes in business conditions.
Countries that can demonstrate a significant likelihood of stability will enjoy
a strong competitive advantage over neighbors that cannot. Witness the rapid
growth of investment in India now that deregulation and privatization have
general political support, compared with other Asian lands where conditions are
less predictable.
Major corporations also can help to moderate some risks in unstable coun-
tries, such as by threatening to take their business elsewhere.
49. International exposure includes a greater risk of terrorist attack.
® State-sponsored terrorism appears to be on the decline, as tougher sanc-
tions make it more trouble than it is worth. However, some rogue states
may still provide logistical or technological support for independent ter-
rorist organizations when opportunities present themselves.
® Until recently, attacks on American companies were limited to rock-
throwing at the local McDonalds, occasional bombings of bank
S66 Appendix A
the current wave of business scandals and the controversy over child
abuse within the Catholic Church.
© The wave of support for government since the September 11 terrorist at-
tacks has made Americans willing to accept greater transparency—that
is, less privacy—in their personal lives.
• At the same time, the nationalist response to September 11 temporar-
ily muted most demands for transparency in the American government.
In mid-2004, this reluctance to question Washington appears to be evap-
orating in the wake of the torture scandal in Iraq.
• Wars against terrorism, drug trafficking, and money laundering are
opening the world's money conduits to greater scrutiny. It is also open-
ing up the operations of nongovernmental organizations that function
primarily as charitable and social service agencies but are linked to ter-
rorism as well.
ECONOMIC INDICATORS
TECHNOLOGY INDICATORS
® Number of automobiles
® A high rate of automobile ownership suggests at least moderate general
prosperity and the existence of a well-developed infrastructure to main-
tain and supply the cars and roads; both these implications suggest po-
litical and economic stability.
« Availability of modern communications facilities
® General access to information-related technologies suggests the exis-
tence of a high-tech infrastructure to manufacture, operate, and main-
tain the equipment; a population both sufficiently well educated to have
use for telephones, computers, and the like and wealthy enough to buy
them; and a government that trusts its citizens with information and
with access to the world at large. Specific indicators include:
Number of cell phones per capita
Number of regular telephones per capita
Number of computers per capita
Number of printers per capita
S66 Appendix A
MILITARY INDICATORS
® Percentage of military
o In a stable country, the military usually employs a small fraction of the
population and forms a minor segment of the economy.
® Military salaries
o Military pay scales substantially above those of the population at large
may indicate a nation with little social cohesion.
® Numbers of palace guard or "elite" guard
® The existence of a strong elite guard indicates that leaders cannot trust
even their own military.
® Changes in salary of palace guard per year
® A sudden, substantial pay raise for an elite guard is often an attempt to
buy loyalty where none is otherwise available and is a clear sign of im-
pending unrest.
® This was one of the most important symptoms of social and political in-
stability in Iran in the years before the fundamentalist revolution in 1980.
More than any other single factor, it allowed Forecasting International to
warn its clients of impending trouble fully two years before the event.
® Role of military in politics
° Relatively few governments remain stable for long unless the military is
subservient to civilian rule.
® Nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons capabilities
® There is little impetus for nations to develop weapons of mass destruc-
tion in the face of international sanctions unless they perceive some im-
minent threat to their sovereignty or are planning future aggression.
® Use of underground tunnels or laboratories
® The felt need to hide weapons development and other such military
preparations are a clear warning that war is contemplated.
Appendix C
Hospitality Associations
and Publications
LISTING OF ASSOCIATIONS
American Correctional Foodservice Association
304 West Liberty Street, Suite 301
Louisville, KY 40202
Tel: 502-583-3783
Fax: 502-589-3502
Website: www.acfsa.com
American Culinary Federation
P.O. Box 3466
St. Augustine, FL 32085
Tel: 904-824-4468
Fax: 904-825-4758
Website: www.acfchefs.org
American Dietetic Association
216 West Jackson Boulevard, Suite 800
Chicago, IL 60606-6995
Tel: 312-899-0040
Fax: 312-899-1758
Website: www.eatright.org
American Hotel & Lodging Association
1201 New York Avenue NW, #600
Washington, DC 20005-3931
Tel: 202-289-3100
Fax: 202-289-3199
Website: www.ahma.com
225
S66 Appendix A
Tel: 212-921-0066
Fax: 212-921-0549
Website: www.cruising.org
Dietary Managers Association
400 East 22nd Street
Lombard, IL 60148
Tel: 708-932-1444
Fax: 708-932-1482
Website: www.dmaonline.org
Education Foundation of the National Restaurant Association
250 South Wacker Drive, Suite 1400
Chicago, IL 60606
Tel: 312-715-1010
Fax: 312-715-0807
Website: www.rcfws.com
Foodservice Consultants Society International
304 West Liberty Street, Suite 301
Louisville, KY 40202
Fax: 502-589-3602
Website: www.fcsi.org
Healthcare Food Service Management Association
204 E Street NE
Washington, DC 20002
Tel: 202-546-7236
Fax: 202-547-3648
Website: www.hfm.org
Inflight Foodservice Association
304 West Liberty Street, Suite 301
Louisville, KY 40202
Tel: 502-583-3783
Fax: 502-589-3602
Website: www.ifsanet.com
International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions
1448 Duke Street
Alexandria, VA 22314
Tel: 703-836-4800
Fax: 703-836-4801
Website: www.iaapa.org
228 Appendix F .
Tel: 908-354-5117
Fax: 908-354-8804
National Association of College University Foodservice
Michigan State University
1405 South Harrison Road, Suite 103
East Lansing, MI 48824
Tel: 517-332-2494
Fax: 517-332-8144
Website: www.nacufs.org
National Association of Concessionaires
35 East Wacker Drive, Suite 1545
Chicago, IL 60601
Tel: 312-236-3585
Fax:312-236-7807
Website: www.naconline.org
National Association of Food Equipment Manufacturers
401 North Michigan Avenue
Chicago, IL 60611
Tel: 312-644-6610
Fax: 312-321-6869
Website: www.nafem.org
National Automatic Merchandising Association
20 North Wacker Drive, Suite 3500
Chicago, IL 60606-3102
Tel: 312-346-0370
Fax: 312-704-4140
Website: www.vending.org
National Club Association
3050 K Street N, Suite 330
Washington, DC 20007
Tel: 202-625-2080
Fax: 202-625-9044
Website: mvw.natlclub.org
National Restaurant Association
1200 17th Street NW
Washington, DC 20036-3097
Tel: 800-424-5156
Fax: 202-289-3199
Website: www.restaurant.org
230 Appendix F.
Food Executive
International Food Service Executive Association
1100 South State Road 7 #103
Margate, FL 33068
Tel: 305-977-0767
Website: www.ifsea.org
Food Institute
One Broadway
Elmwood Park, NJ 07407
Tel: (201) 791-5570
Fax: (201) 791-5222
Website: www.foodinstitute.com
Food Management
Penton Publishing
1100 Superior Avenue
Cleveland, OH 44114
Tel: 800-659-5251
Food Technology
Institute of Food Technologists
Subscription Department
221 North LaSalle Street, Suite 300
Chicago, IL 60601
Tel: 312-782-8424
Website: www.ift.org
Foodservice Consultants Society International
304 West Liberty Street, Suite 301
Louisville, KY 40202
Tel: 502-583-3783
Website: www.fcsi.org
Foodservice Research International
Food and Nutrition Press
6527 Main Street
Trumbull, CT 06611
Tel: 203-261-8587
Fax: 203-261-9724
Website: www.foodscipress.com
Hospitality Associations and Publications 233
Foodservice Director
Bill Communications, Inc.
355 Park Avenue South
New York, NY 10010
Tel: 212-592-6530
Health Care Management Review
Aspen Publishers, Inc.
7201 McKinney Circle
Frederick, MD 21701
Tel: 800-234-1660
HOTELS
2000 Clearwater Drive
Oak Brook, IL 60544-8809
Tel: 630-288-8260
Fax: 630-288-8265
Website: www.hotelsmag.com
Journal of the American Dietetic Association
American Dietetic Association
216 West Jackson Boulevard, Suite 800
Chicago, IL 60606-6995
Tel: 312-899-0040
Website: www.eatright.org
Journal of Child Nutrition and Management (online)
School Nutrition Association
(formerly ASFSA)
700 South Washington Street, Suite 300
Alexandria, VA 22314
Tel: 800-877-8822
Fax: 703-739-3915
Website: www.schoolnutrition.org
Journal of Food Protection
Margaret Marble
502 East Lincoln Way
Ames, IA 50010-6666
Tel: 515-232-6699
Website: www.foodprotection.org
234 Appendix F.
College Programs
in Hospitality
Academie Internationale de Management (AIM)—Hotel Management—Paris,
France
http://www.academy.fr
Academy of Travel and Tourism—New York, NY
http://www.naf.org/theacademies/travel
Alexandria Technical College—Hotel & Restaurant Management Program—
Alexandria, MN
http://www.alextech.org/hotelrestaurant
Arkansas Tech University—Hospitality Administration—Russellville, AR
http://www.atu. edu
Art Institutes International Minnesota—Culinary Arts—Minneapolis, MN
h ttp://www. aim. artinstitutes. edu
Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College—Dept. of Hospitality Edu-
cation—Asheville, NC
http ://www. asheville .cc. nc .us/bh/hospitality/Default. asp
Blue Mountains Hotel School—Tourism & Hospitality Management—Leura,
Australia
http ://www.hotelschool. com. au
Borough of Manhattan Community College—New York, NY
http://www.bmcc.cuny.edu
Boston University—School of Hospitality Administration—Boston, MA
http://www.bu.edu/hospitality/
236
College Programs in Hospitality 24 i
CRUISE LINES
Carnival News. Carnival Launches New On-Line Embarkation Portal.
Carnival News. 23 December 2003
<http://www. carnival. com/CCLNews/NewsD esk. asp?page=2 & type=
cclnews>.
246
Annotated Bibliography 247
GENERAL TRENDS
Blair, A.R., Nachtmann, R., Saaty, T.L., & Whitaker, R. "Forecasting the resur-
gence of the US economy in 2001: An expert judgment approach."
Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, 36.2, (2002), 77-91.
< http://www. sciencedirect. com/science ?_ob=MImg&J.magekey=B 6V6Y-
44B2232-3-3&_cdi=5827&_orig=search&_coverDate=06%2F30%2F2002
&_sk=999639997&vie w=c&wchp=dGLb Vzz-zSkzk& acct=C000015498
m
&_version=l&_userid=260508&md5=600a67fa94a93f6d9fe252d994805a
24&ie=f.pdf>.
This paper, written early in 2001, describes a forecast of the date for the
resumption of growth of the U.S. economy. It uses an expert judgment
approach within the framework of decision theory, the Analytic Hierar-
chy Process, as well as its generalization to dependence and feedback,
the Analytic Network Process. Though its conclusions were invalidated
by the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the study provides a valu-
able example of the forecasting techniques.
"Bush Deficit Reduction Plan Criticized." Associated Press. 18 December 2003
<http://wwwioxnews.com/story/0,2933,106122,00.html>.
President Bushs goal of halving 2003's projected $500 billion deficit by
2009 distracts from the more serious crunch the government faces later
as the huge Baby Boom generation ages, critics say.
Mohammad, A. "Urbanization by implosion." Habitat International, 28.1
(2004), 1-12.
<http ://www. sciencedirect. com/science?_ob=MImg&_imagekey=B6V9H-
49DFBKH-l-7&„cdi=5899&„orig=search&„coverDate=03%2F31%2
F2004&_sk=999719998&view=c&wchp=dGLbVlb-zSkWb&„acct=
C000015498&_version= 1 &_userid=260508&md5=e5b 1 Id3cecf8846ba3c
4a823flb6d623&ie=f.pdf>.
Rural parts of the Third World are becoming urbanized through in-
place growth of population producing densities that equal or surpass
the urban threshold of 400 persons per km . This level of density may or
2
TECHNOLOGY
Ayres, R.U., & Williams, E. "The digital economy: Where do we stand?"
Technological Forecasting and Social Change, in press. 14 January 2004
chttp : //www. sciencedirect. com/science ?__ob=MImg&Jmagekey6V71 -
4BFVRP7-1 -1 &_cdi=5829&_orig=search&_coverDate=01%2F14%2
F2004&_sk=999999999&view=c&wchp=dGLbVlb-zSkzV&_acct=
C000015498&„version=l&_userid=260508«&md5=de389c8436bdea25
b2b7c74d 1 a964e5d&ie=f.pdf>.
This article surveys the converging innovations that produced the digital
economy and looks ahead to the new "killer apps" that could stimulate a
new round of growth. Possibilities include interactive video-on-demand
and telecalls/teleconferencing. However, providing such high-bandwidth
services will probably require new networking protocols and changes in
the economic model of information transfer via the Net.
Credé, M., & Sniezek, J.A. "Group judgment processes and outcomes in
video-conferencing versus face-to-face groups." international Journal of
Human-Computer Studies, 59.6 (2003), 875-897.
<http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=MImg&„imagekey=B6WGR
-49RCDPY-2-2K&_cdi=6829&„orig-search&;„coverDate=12%2F31%2
F2003&__sk=999409993&view=c&wchp=dGLb Vzz~zSkWW&_acct=
C000015498&_version-l&„userid=260508&md5=ea37b4el6cb6889650
78971 lfdddf775&ie=f.pdf>.
A sizable experiment found that small-group decisions made by video-
conferencing were objectively as good as those made in face-to-face dis-
cussions, but left the participants feeling less confident about them.
Implications for the design and application of advanced systems for
decision-making support and research are discussed.
Annotated Bibliography 251
Wilde, S.J., Kelly, S.J., & Scott, D. "An exploratory investigation into e-tail
image attributes important to repeat, Internet savvy customers." Journal
of Retailing and Consumer Services, in press. 19 June 2003
<http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=MImg&_imagekey=B6VGN
-4 8 WB666-1-1 &_cdi=6043&_orig=search&_coverDa te=
06%2F19%2F2003&_sk=999999999&view=c&wchp=dGLbVtb-zSkWA&
_acct=COOOO 15498&_version= 1 &_userid=260508&md5=45dd0f8f9f3ed
9b5c86458a44c9e2f55&ie=f.pdf>.
This paper offers results from a study investigating e-tail store image at-
tributes important to repeat, Internet savvy customers of a major Aus-
tralian grocery e-tailer. Three components incorporating traditional and
e-tail specific attributes were identified: core demands, institutional fac-
tors, and information.
HOTEL MANAGEMENT
Badinelli, R.D. "An optimal, dynamic policy for hotel yield management."
European Journal of Operational Research, 121.3 (16 March 2000),
476-503.
<http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?__ob=MImg&_imagekey=B6VCT-
3YB4CWB-3-l&_cdi=5963&„orig=search&_coverDate=03%2F16%2
F2000&„sk=998789996&view=c&wchp=dGLbVlz-zSkWb&„acct=
COOOO15498&_version= 1 &_userid=260508&md5=1 d4f7345c898cc318a
3745a Id21e89c4&ie=f.pdf>.
Most research into the yield management problem has been based on
simplifying assumptions about the demand process and heuristic deci-
sion rules. This paper gives a dynamic programming formulation of the
problem that allows for general demand patterns and a policy that is
based on time and the number of vacancies. Furthermore, this policy in-
corporates both revealed-price and hidden-price market behavior. This
formulation has a simple, closed-form solution that can be efficiently
computed. This model was developed specifically for small hotels.
Donaghy, K., McMahon, U., & McDowell, D. "Yield management: an
overview." International Journal of Hospitality Management, 14.2 (1995),
139-150.
<http://www. sciencedirect. com/science?_ob=MImg&_imagekey=B6VBH
-3 Y45T3X-P-1 &„cdi=5927&_orig=search&_coverDate=06%2F30%2
F1995&„sk-999859997&view=c&wchp=dGLbVtz-zSkWz&_acct=
COOOO 15498&_version= 1 &_userid=260508&md5=3572 Ia88d3eb329118
3ec 1 cfa2c2fbb0&ie-f .pdf >.
Annotated Bibliography 274
<http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_.ob=MImg&_imagekey=B6V60-
45WG12K-4-1 &„cdi=5800&„orig=search&_coverDate= 12%2
F31%2F2001&„sk-999579993&view=c&wchp=dGLbVzb-zSkWb&
_acct=COOOO 15498&_version= 1 &_userid==260508&md5=a6090ffb447ac
4246be05 Ibfdc75d7ab&ie=f.pdf>.
This model of hotel values demonstrates the importance of maintaining
solid fundamentals, such as occupancy percentage and average daily rate.
Sheldon, P.J. "The impact of technology on the hotel industry." Tourism Man-
agement, 4.4 (1983), 269-278.
<http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?„ob=ArticIeURL&:_aset=W-WA-
A-A-W-MsSAYVW~UUA~AUDWBDCWDE~AZWZEYBWZ-W-U&„rdoc=
2&_fmt=summary&„udi=B6V9R-45P18SD-MN&„coverDate=12%2
F31%2F1983&„cdi=5905&_orig=search&„st= 13&_sort=d&view=
c&_acct=C000015498&_version= 1 &_urlVersion=0&„userid=
260508&md5=973a44e779bclc67a86c392b28ec08df>.
This article discusses the use of front-office information-processing sys-
tems, telecommunications and teleconferencing, energy management,
security systems, and other technologies in the lodging industry.
254 Appendix F .
Sturman, M.C. "The hospitality industry one year since September 11, 2001:
An introduction to this special-focus issue." The Cornell Hotel and
Restaurant Administration Quarterly, 43.5 (2002), 7-10.
<http://www.sciencedirect,com/science?_ob=MImg&_imagekey=B6V60-
47HJXT0-4-1 &„cdi=5800&_orig=search&_.coverDate= 10%2F31 %2
F2002&_sk=999569994&view«c&wchp=dGLbVlz-zSkWb&_acct«
COOOO 15498&„version=l&_userid=260508&md5=337c7c50cde7bd3c4f
3d5efe4bl4c950&ie=f.pdf>.
The effects of 9/11 extend from personal experiences and reactions to
distortions in the industry's business patterns, company policies, and
government statutes.
RESTAURANTS
"Acting casual." Prepared Foods, 172.11 (November 2003), 22(1).
This article describes the growing segment of fast, casual restaurants
that provide fresh foods.
Alison, A. "At Area Restaurants, Change is on the Menu." Boston Globe. 4
February 2004, Third Edition: El.
This article looks at the trend of "reinventing" the menu to attract
guests. It looks at what many big restaurants in the Boston area have
done to reposition themselves in that market, changing the name,
menu, and even décor of an entire restaurant.
Arnst, C. "Let Them Eat Cake—If They Want To." Business Week, 23 February
(2004), 110.
The World Health Organization has made several proposals for govern-
ments to help them solve their citizens' weight problem, which include
restriction on advertising and increased taxes on junk food. However,
the U.S. views obesity as a personal responsibility.
"Beefing up foodservice: Despite flat foodservice sales in recent years, beef is
poised for future growth." Business and Indusùy, 217.10 (October
2003), 34.
This article looks at why beef consumption may increase greatly in the
future: It is a low-carb item high in protein and a healthy part of a regu-
lar diet if eaten in moderation.
Bindon, B.M., & Jones N.M. "Cattle supply, production systems and markets
for Australian beef." Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture, 41.7
(25 October 2003), 861(17).
The authors examine the effects of globalization and the increasing
problem of diseases such as hoof and mouth and mad cow in markets
Annotated Bibliography 255
such as Europe and the United States. They suggest that Australia will
have an advantage in supplying these markets.
Britton, I. "Wining and dining." Leisure Management, 20.1 (2000), 50-52.
This article examines how current eating-out trends are likely to affect the
future of restaurants. Trends are reported by frequency, by region, by food
type, and by type of visit, whether during the evening or during the day.
Brumback, N. "Orient Express: Asian fast-casual in on the fast track, with
more new players jumping on board." Restaurant Business, 15 January
2004, 42-43.
The Asian/noodle subsegment is growing twice as fast as the total fast-
casual category—about 20 percent annually for the next three years,
compared with 10 percent annual growth for all fast-casual. This article
introduces several big Asian chain restaurants that are building their
own brand and working hard on brand strategies.
Cadji, M. "The power of one: Miriam Cadji finds out how restaurant and bar
chains have reacted since the public began to lose its appetite for brazen
branding." Design Week, 18.23 (June 5, 2003), 16.
The author states that designers are being asked to walk a tightrope be-
tween maintaining a certain degree of familiarity in a tried and tested for-
mula and avoiding a soulless, bland, branded look. Designers must find
subtler ways of conveying the values their client aims to communicate.
"Chain Restaurant Trends—Chocolate Cake." DessertExperts.com. Accessed
14 March 2004.
chttp ://www. dessertexperts .com/trend. asp ?ID=7 >.
This article reports that chocolate cake has gained new popularity in the
top 200 restaurant chains, defying the weight-conscious, low-carb trend.
Childs, N., & Maher, J. "Gender in food advertising to children: Boys eat
first." British Food Journal, 105.7 (2003), 408-419.
Although food products are most often gender-neutral, a sample of food
advertisements to children exhibits greater gender preference in presen-
tation than a comparison sample of nonfood advertisements to children.
Cole, W. "Sweet Priorities." Time, 161.8 (24 February 2003), 67.
In a minor trend, a number of restaurants across the United States
focus primarily on dessert.
Cortese, A. "An Ancient Drink, Newly Exalted," Business Week, 1 March 2004, 122.
Exotic teas are appearing in restaurants and shops, in part because of
its reputation as an elixir. The tannins and vitamin in tea are believed to
have potent antioxidant and antibacterial properties that can help com-
bat cancer, heart disease, and many other diseases.
256 Appendix F.
This article looks at the relatively new trend of curbside pickup from
major chain restaurants such as Outback Steakhouse, Applebees, and
Ruby Tuesday.
"Flavor trends in foodservice." Food Beat, 171.12 (December 2002), 20.
This article looks at many new trends that are occurring in the food ser-
vice industry, from dips and appetizers to main course entrees. It also
examines the burger versus vegetarian debate.
Godinez, V. "Chains tailor dishes to suit followers of latest diet trend." Dallas
Morning News, 13 February 2004.
Many big chains are now adopting low~carb and other specialty
requests/diets.
Josiam, B.M., & Monteiro, RA. "Tandoori tastes: perceptions of Indian
restaurants in America." International Journal of Contemporary Hospital-
ity Management, 16.1 (2004), 18-26.
This article examines perceptions of the food and service in Indian
restaurants and finds universal likes/dislikes as well as differential per-
ceptions between ethnic groups. The authors discuss implications for
researchers and operators of Indian restaurants.
Hochwald, Lambeth. "Dining out, eating organic a new trend in restaurants."
Natural Health, February 2004, 31
An interview with Nora Pouillon, the owner of Restaurant Nora, the
first of many organic restaurants certified by the U.S. Department of
Agriculture's National Organic Program.
Horovitz, B. "You want ambiance with that?" USA Today, 30 October 2003, 3B.
McDonald's, Boston Market, Cheesecake Factory, and Ruby's Dinner and
other fast-food chains are undergoing new market segmentation. They
discuss what they are planning and what they are offering.
Hoover, L.V., Ketchen, D.J., Jr., & Combs, G.J. "Why restaurant firms fran-
chise: An analysis of two possible explanations." The Cornell Hotel and
Restaurant Administration Quarterly, 44.1 (February 2003), 9-16.
This article uses data from 91 large restaurant chains to identify two
reasons for franchising: It resolves some outlet-monitoring problem cre-
ated by expansion, and it gives the firm access to inexpensive capital.
"Implementation Trends and Strategic Growth of Restaurant IT: 5th Annual
Restaurant Industry Technology Study." Hospitality Technology Maga-
zine.. (2003)
<http://www.htmagazine.com/2003_RTS/index.html>.
Appendix E
For the fourth time in five years the Restaurant Industry Technology
Study finds that restaurateurs are predicting growing investment in in-
formation technologies. Topics include: IT investment culture, consider-
ations for IT investment, IT strategy, communicating with technology,
and conclusion and recommendations.
Johnson, N. "Low-carb menus at area eateries a response to growing demand."
South Bend Tribune, 13 January 2004, CI.
This article looks at how restaurants are doing in response. It considers
TGI Friday's and their new Atkins menu selections, but also Don Pablos,
Ruby Tuesday, and Subway, all of which either have or plan to roll out
low-carb menus.
Kant, K.A., & Graubard, B.I. "Eating out in America, 1987-2000:
Trends and nutritional correlates." Preventive Medicine, in press.
3 December 2003.
< http ://www. sciencedirect. com/science ?_ob - MIrng&_irnagekey=B6 WPG
-4B3NM86-5-1 &„cdi=6990&_orig=search&„coverDate= 12%2
F03%2F2003&„sk=999999999&view=c&wchp=dGLbVlz-zSkzk&„acct=
COOOO 15498&_version= 1 &_userid=260508&md5«022c78995706e228b
282el0896a66cfd&ie=f.pdf>.
This study examined the increasing popularity of restaurant dining and
its possible contribution to increasing adiposity of the American popula-
tion. The results confirm that in 1999-2000, more Americans ate out,
and ate out more frequently than in 1987 and 1992. Higher eating-out
frequency was associated with adverse nutritional consequences includ-
ing higher caloric intake.
Kauffman, M. "Sauce is OK, but hold the pasta; Trendy Low-Carb Diets
Change Restaurants' Ways." Hartford Courant, 3 January 2004, Al.
This article looks at the new trend of low-carb diets in the restaurants.
Many restaurants, and even pizza parlors, are adding Atkins and South
Beach diet food items to their menus. This "specialty diet'Vpreparation
may soon become a major trend in the industry.
Kim, K. "National Restaurant Association commends HHS for focus on nu-
trition education as solution to address obesity." National Restaurant
Association. 12 March 2004
<http://www.restaurant.org/pressroom/pressrelease.cfm?ID=834>.
The National Restaurant Association plans to combat obesity with an
aggressive effort to educate consumers about the importance of living a
healthy lifestyle.
Annotated Bibliography 259
Kotis, M. III. "New restaurant trends provide entree into local markets."
Commercial Investment Real Estate Journal, 22.3 (May/June 2003), 8.
Increasing municipal restrictions on development are a growing con-
cern in the restaurant industry. Therefore, restaurants look at the regu-
latory environment first when entering a new market. More stringent
planning standards are a product of local governments' desire to en-
courage smart growth and improve quality of life.
Macarthur, K. "Fast-food rethinks marketing; the fat police are taking names,
and quick-service alters ad message, menu." Advertising Age, 74.26 (30
June 2003), S2.
This article looks at what QSRs are doing to convince increasingly wary
consumers that fast food does not equal bad food. It also shows that
while many of these companies are trying to change their image, that
may not be necessary.
McCarthy, T. "The Four-Bite Feast: A graze craze catches on, serving up mini-
meals that are full of flavor and easy on the wallet." Time, 162.16 (11
August 2003), 56.
"Grazing"—eating small portions of many different foods—is, as the au-
thor states, "the newest trend in food."
Macdonald, D. "Hot, Hot, Hot in 2004." Florida Times-Union, 1 January 2004, E-l.
This article gives food and beverage trends for the upcoming season:
champagne, low-carb menus, Cuban and Puerto Rican influences, re-
duced portion size, more popular pork, and seating outside.
"McDonald's Restaurants Gone Wireless in Manhattan: Eat In and Log On."
TEKLatino. 22 March 2003.
< http://teklatino.com/news/ennews/archives/00000057. shtml>.
This article states that high-speed Internet access is now growing in the
quick-service foodservice establishments. With the business and leisure
travel in urban areas, you can almost not afford to not keep up with the
changes in technology.
Mclaughlin, L. "Fondue: Now It's Hip to Dip." Time, 161.6 (10 February 2003), 83.
The low-carb diet is causing a resurgence in Fondue restaurants, because
cheese is an increasingly popular replacement for high-carb foods.
"Make it convenient to come." The Economist (US), 369.8354 (13 December
2003), 11.
This article looks into the rapid growth of the convenience food market,
what restaurants are doing, and how grocery stores are responding by
stocking hot and cold premade foods.
260 Appendix F .
Markels, A. "Gourmet chain gangs." U.S. News & World Report, 8 March
2004, 76.
This article looks at the new trend toward "polished-casual" chains such
as Bonefish Grill and The Cheesecake Factory, which are a step above
TGI Friday's and Olive Garden.
Meier, M., & Cerovic, Z. "Food marketing in the function of tourist product
development." British Food Journal, 105.3 (2003), 175-192.
This article views tourist products as combinations of goods and ser-
vices. In food marketing, a guest is offered not only food and beverages
but also a variety of immaterial satisfactions. These immaterial "partial
tourist products" eventually will be manifested in an increase in the
room-and-board and secondary expenditures.
Much, M. "Restaurant Trends, Panera, Krispy Kreme Downplay Diet Impact."
Investor's Business Daily, 3 March 2004.
This interesting article looks at the fast-casual trend and how Panera
and Krispy Kreme are meeting the Atkins diet craze. It shows numbers
for growth for Krispy Kreme, Panera, and California Pizza Kitchen.
Nwogugu, M. "Corporate governance, strategy and corporations law; The case
of Jack in the Box Inc." Managerial Auditing Journal, 19.1 (2004), 29-67.
This article looks at the impact of a number of trends on the restaurant
and food service industries. These include demographic changes, ad-
vances in technology, growing competition, changes in labor laws,
changes in food sourcing/purchasing, increasing regulation, and many
other developments.
"Outlook for Restaurant Industry Positive as Restaurant Performance Index
Remained Steady in December." U.S. Newswire. 30 January 2004.
The Restaurant Performance Index is increasing, and the Expectation
Index has risen by over 0.6 percent.
Panitz, B. "Food Trends: Tracking What's Hot and What's Not." Restaurants
USA. March 2000.
This article describes the upcoming trends in the restaurant industry,
from Nuevo Latino to tapas, with interviews of people who are heavily
invested in the field. It also warns that these "fads" can disappear just as
rapidly as they appeared.
Perlik-Senior, A. "Drivers Wanted; Perpetual drive-thru upgrades help
QSRs keep up with life in the fast lane." Restaurants & Institutions,
15 February 2004, 73.
This article looks at what the fast food and QSR community is doing to
help improve its biggest moneymaker, "the drive-thru." It goes into
Annotated Bibliography 261
depth on what many of the big chains are doing, how they plan on im-
plementing change, and how it will affect them.
Perry, C. "Before there was Hard Rock. ..." Los Angeles Times, 7 January
2004, F.1.
This article looks at new restaurant theme concept trends, emphasizing
that while the themes may be new, one thing has not changed at all:
They serve exotic, cutting-edge food.
Pethokoukis, J.M. "Bye-Bye, Burgers." U.S. News & World Report, 2 December
2002, 36.
This article says that stagnation in the fast-food industry may get worse
before growth returns. It also looks at a few of the "quick-casual"
restaurants that are giving the major players a run for the profits.
These include Chipotle Mexican Grill, Baja Fresh Mexican Grill, and
Panera Bread.
"Quickservice Restaurant Trends." National Restaurant Association. 20
April 2004.
<http://www.restaurant.org/research/qsr.cfm>.
According to this article, quickservice restaurants have reported an in-
crease in hiring,
Richler, J. "Next on the menu: Simplicity seems to be the future trend in
restaurants." National Post, 7 January 2004, AL02.
Menus and décor are being simplified, while quality receives greater at-
tention at upscale restaurants.
Ricketson, L. "Now it's 'fast casual' for your dining pleasure." Providence
Business News, 17.42 (3 February 2003), 3.
Rhode Islanders are trading in their greasy fast foods and restaurant
reservations for quickly prepared, nutritious meals. "Fast-casual" eater-
ies are now catching on in New England, as they have elsewhere.
Roberts, W.A, Jr. "Lost in the Translation." Prepared Foods, 172.2 (February
2003), 11(3).
Restaurants such as TGI Friday's and California Pizza Kitchen are
putting their brand names on a growing number of products offered to
the consumer via grocery stores instead of at the branded store.
Rojas, M. "Learning the fats about life." The Journal News (White Plains, NY),
8 March 2004.
This article considers McDonald's announcement that it would phase
out its Super Size servings by the end of the year.
262 Appendix F.
SECURITY
Caplan, H. "War and Terrorism Insurance: How to Promote Long-Term Inter-
national Stability and Affordability." Air and Space Law, 29.1 (February
2004), 3-28.
This article suggests that leading economies can lay foundations for a
comprehensive international structure of stable and affordable insur-
ance for war and terrorism risks covering all classes of personal and
commercial insurance business. A Draft Convention is submitted as a
focus for discussion.
Hall, H.V. Terrorism Strategies for intervention. New York. Haworth Press,
2004.
Written for threat-assessment professionals in the post-9/11 era, this
timely book will help you understand the motivation to commit acts of
terror, the thinking patterns common to many terrorists, the psychology
of Muslim fundamentalists, methods for predicting the likelihood of
chemical/biological attacks, and a great deal more.
Jtirgensen, A. "Terrorism, Civil Liberties, and Preventive Approaches to Technol-
ogy: The Difficult Choices Western Societies Face in the War on Terrorism."
Bulletin of Science, Technology & Society, 24.1 (February 2004), 55-59.
Expanding the law enforcement and surveillance authority of govern-
ments to combat terrorism undermines the freedoms and civil liberties
necessary to democratic institutions. An alternative might target high-
risk technologies vulnerable to terrorism, such as civilian airlines and
nuclear reactors, and protect civil liberties by reducing or eliminating
their use.
Lepp, A., & Gibson, H. "Tourist roles, perceived risk and international
tourism/' Thesis, University of Florida.
International tourists can be classified according to the degree of nov-
elty and familiarity sought. This study investigated the hypothesis that
tourists seeking familiarity would perceive higher levels of risk associ-
ated with international tourism than those seeking novelty. Women per-
ceived a greater degree of risk regarding health and food, while more
experienced tourists downplayed the threat of terrorism. However,
tourists' role was the most significant variable, with familiarity seekers
being the most risk-adverse.
MacGeoch, A. "Terrorism: Who's Liable? The Legal Status of Hotel Owners
and Management Companies." Hotel Online.
<http://www.hotel-online.corn/News/PR2003_4tli/Oct03_TerTorism
Liability.html>.
Annotated Bibliography 265
This article considers the liability of owners and operators for terrorist
risks in a typical hotel-management contract. Force majeure provisions
and "damage, destruction, and condemnation" clauses have become
crücial in allocating the respective liabilities of an owner and an opera-
tor following a terrorist attack.
Mankin, L.D., & Perry, R.W. "Commentary: Terrorism Challenges for Human
Resource Management." Review of Public Personnel Administration, 24.1
(March 2004), 3-17.
This article addresses changes in the U.S. government since 9/11 from
the standpoint of human resource management. It covers both changes
in the environment in which public organizations operate and how to
cope with behaviors that can be reasonably expected from employees
exposed to terrorist incidents.
Nunn, S. "Seeking tools for the war on terror: A critical assessment of emerg-
ing technologies in law enforcement." Policing: An International Journal
of Police Strategies and Management, 26.3 (2003), 454.
As the war on terrorism escalates, police agencies are using technologies
that electronically scan individuals, structures, and vehicles to identify
things hidden from public scrutiny. Public policy gaps arise when new
systems give police sensory capabilities that fall outside existing proce-
dural standards such as probable cause and reasonable suspicion. As
these new technologies diffuse among police agencies, policies should
be guided by questions about whether technologies work as designed,
whether they are effective, and whether they accomplish antiterrorist
and crime control objectives. Traditional rules for wiretapping can
offer models for operating policies for the new scanning and imaging
technologies.
Perry R.W. "Municipal terrorism management in the United States." Disaster
Prevention and Management: An International Journal, 12.3 (2003), 190.
Many cities, building on a federal program begun in 1997, have devel-
oped metropolitan medical response systems (MMRS) to address the
consequences of terrorist incidents. The basic system design has been
tested both through drills and incidents, including the attacks on the
World Trade Center, and appears to function well. This paper describes
the philosophy and elements of the MMRS model.
Rathmell, A. "Controlling Computer Network Operations." Studies in Conflict
and Terrorism, 26.3 (2003), 215-232.
Efforts to control military use of computer network operations (CNO)
through arms control or multilateral behavioral norms are being
266 Appendix F .
This paper assess technologies that may be used to assist venue opera-
tors in preempting a terrorist act or some other organized act of vio-
lence. This forecast focuses on biometric technologies. It includes both
interviews with industry experts and a review of published and unpub-
lished materials about biometrics.
Doyle, P. "Tourism industry gearing up for busy year." St. Johns Telegram
(Newfoundland), 10 January 2004, BIO.
This article looks at the resurgence of tourism to Newfoundland,
Labrador, and Canada in general. Tourism is expected to increase in 2004,
due in part to the 500th anniversary of the French presence in the area.
Gilden, J. "As the traveler's world changes, the agent's role does too." Los An-
geles Times, 7 March 2004, L3.
This article looks at the tough time travel agents are facing as a result of
9/11, the Internet, and the economic slowdown. It advises that for mak-
ing complex travel arrangements consumers should still seek the help of
a travel agent.
Goodrich, J.N. "September 11, 2001 attack on America: A record of the im-
mediate impacts and reactions in the USA travel and tourism industry."
Tourism Management, 23.6 (2002), 573-580.
<http://www. sciencedirect. com/science ?„ob=MImg&_imagekey=B6 V9R-
46081GP-4-1 &_cdi=5905&„orig=search&_coverDate= 12%2F31 %2F2002
&_sk=999769993&view=c&wchp=dGLbVzb-zSkWb&_acct=C000015498
&„version=l&_userid=:260508&md5=39eó3e6af4c6755145701e8306c
9087a&ie=f.pdf>.
This article reviews published reports of the September 11 attacks and
discusses the impact of the terrorist event on the travel and tourism in-
dustry in the United States.
Greene, K. "Agents: Americans will travel more in 2004." Telegraph Herald
(Dubuque, IA), 28 December 2003, Al.
In early 2004, for the first time since 9/11, there is an increase in all
travel categories. "Americans will take 213.4 million trips this winter, an
increase of 2.3 percent over last winter," Greene notes.
Hammond, R. "Forget the outdated idea of'ecotourism'." The Observer, 28
March 2004, Observer Special Supplement, 2.
This article talks about the new trend in "eco-tourism" and delves into
the idea of responsible travel and tourism.
Herndon, D. "America Seen Lagging in Tourism Recovery." Newsday, 23
November 2003, E04.
This article states that "While the rest of the world appears to be learn-
ing to cope with times of crisis, America is not expected to share in a
travel recovery until 2005 at the soonest, according to forecasts pre-
sented earlier this month at London's annual World Travel Market. Ever
fewer Americans have been traveling abroad each year, and fewer for-
eigners are coming to America."
270 Appendix F .
Asia outsourcing, 27
impact of SARS on meetings and British Airways, 109
exhibitions, 85 Brookings Institute, 5
tourism in, 71 ' Brown, Dean, 109
Asian flu, 30, 38 Budget Travel (Frommer), 115
Associations, hospitality, 225-31 Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration
Atkins diet, 144 Services, 58
Atlanta, Georgia, 50 Bureau of Labor Statistics, 8, 27
Olympic Games in, 50 Bureau of Transportation Statistics
Attendee shortages, meetings and (BTS), 124
exhibitions, 82 Business
Australia, life expectancy in, 75 accountability in, 39
Automatic translators, future of, 160 transparency in, 39
Automation, 42
C
B Capitalism, 30
Baby boomers, influence on restaurant Cardiopulmonary disease, 41
industry, 141-43, 147-48 Caribbean, 69
Bankruptcy, airline, 123 tourism in, 70
Basque terrorist movement, 51 Carnival Cruise Lines, 107, 111
Belgium, outsourcing to, 27 Casino, site safety/security, 57, 59-60
Bellagio Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas, NV, Centers for Disease Control and Preven-
57, 59 tion, 143
Bibliography, 246-73 Central America, tourism in, 70
Bibliothèque, 71, 105 Central Vigilance Commission, 31
Bimodal distribution, 46, 83 Chile, 68
airlines, 131-34 China, 29-30, 39
implications for MICE, 100-1 air pollutants in, 41
implications for restaurants, 156 capitalism in, 30
implications for the airlines, 137-38 economic growth in, 29, 36-37, 140
implications for the economy, 46 economy in, 30, 127
restaurant industry, 151-52 future of, 30
bin Laden, Osama, 55 gen-X and dot-com entrepreneurs in, 39
Biometrics, 58 Internet subscribers, 43
Biotechnology, 42 outsourcing to, 26
Bird flu, 125 population growth in, 128
Bombay, India, 31 SARS epidemic, 30
Borgata casino, Atlantic City, NJ, 59 deaths from, 35
Brazil, 68 wages in, 30, 42, 84
Britain, 9 Cloning, 10
childhood obesity in, 144 Club Med, 75
economic growth in, 126 College programs in hospitality, 236-45
276 índex
Travel debt, 35
cost of, 67 durable goods, 23
destinations, see Travel markets inflation, 24
expanding, 67-68 Internet subscribers, 43
future of, 157-64 job deficit, 25
Travel agents, future of, 158-59 job growth, 24
Travel Industry Association, 58, 109 manufacturing strength, 23
Travel Industry Association of America, price inflation, 30
109 restaurant industry in, 139, 142
Travel markets, 69-71 retail sales, 23
Africa, 71 technology in, 10
Caribbean, 70 unemployment, 23
Central America, 70 United States economy
Europe, 70 effect of terrorism on, 46
Middle East, 70-71 growth in, 28-29, 36-37
North America, 69-70 influence on air travel, 125-26
South America, 70 influence on the cruise industry, 103
Trend analysis, 6-7 recovery, 22-25
Trend correlation, 7 University students, 18t
Trend extrapolation, 7 U.S. Customs and Border Protection,
Trouble-prone young men, 2 I t 58
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforce-
V ment, 58
Ultra Voyager, 114 US Airways, 123, 132
U.N. Security Council, 17 U.S.S. Cole, 111
Unemployment, 23, 33
in Germany, 33 V
United Kingdom, 33-34 Vacation time, see Leisure time
United Airlines, 122, 132 Vacationing, future of, 160-61
United Kingdom, 33-34 Values, trends in, 176-83
economic growth, 33-34 Venetian casino, Las Vegas, NV, 59
exports, 14t Vietnam, 69
household spending, 33-34 Virtual meetings, 97
technology in, 10 Virtual technology, future of, 161
total GDP, 14t Virtual tours, 78
U.N. Security Council, 17 growth of tourism and, 40
unemployment, 33-34
United Nations, 5 W
United States, 43 Warsaw Pact, 32
agricultural exports, 15t Water pollution, 41
air travel in, 124, 130 32 Weapons exports, 13t
cardiopulmonary disease in, 41 Wireless Internet access, 86-87
index 285