This article provides an overview of two books recently released about women consumers. “Women Want More” by Michael J. Silverstein and Kate Sayre suggests that the economic recovery will be in the hands of women who control the majority (72% in the US) of consumer spending. “Why She Buys” by Bridget Brennan details the psychology behind women consumer trends and the importance of addressing women’s demands in the marketplace.
These review led me to search out how this applies to the hospitality industry. Although most of the statistics are a bit old, in 2005 the number of travel websites users who were women had grown 10 percentage points from the previous year to 48%. My guess is that this has continued to increase. In 2005 Travel and Leisure estimated that 50% of frequent fliers were women:
If that is the case how does a hotel cater to female guests? Studies have found that security is the most important factor for women guests. Other important factors mentioned were a convenient location, clean room, reasonable cost and a workout facility. This study conducted by Kempinski Hotels in 1992 needs to be updated especially about how things have changed based on the recession. Another article dated 2001 reported that women want functional business facilities, health conscious room service choices, children’s programs, and in-room amenities. Women’s need when traveling in 2010 may look very different than they were 10 or 20 years ago.
Read the article here.
