. Corporate Overview Press Releases/ Presentations Strategic Alliances Lodging Sector GESTSM Research HSMAI Reports Destinations Sector Activity Sectors Transportation Sectors Financial Sectors Career Opportunities Contact Us DKS&A Home

DIRECTIONS® - Lodging Overview Core Studies: Performance, Image, Awareness D.K. Shifflet & Associates Ltd. (DKS&A) is the leading provider of continuous, syndicated, USA travel research with consulting services, and exceptional specialization in lodging. The Company was established in 1982 and is located in Falls Church, Virginia, a suburb of Washington, DC, USA. All DKS&A data is decision oriented with detailed competitive brand information. Every month, year after year, DKS&A monitors U.S. travelers and their travel worldwide, utilizing a total of six ongoing travel surveys that form our DIRECTIONS® Travel Intelligence SystemSM. Three core Lodging studies are described below: PERFORMANCE/MonitorSM IMAGE/MonitorSM AWARENESS/MonitorSM DKS&A DIRECTIONS® LODGING PERFORMANCE/ MonitorSM- USA DKS&A collects its PERFORMANCE/MonitorSM data from a sample stratified demographically to match the U.S. census. A new sample is drawn each month. Started in 1985, we have a comparative brand database with 10+ years of monthly history. DKS&A contacts 135,000 U.S. households for each month of every year. An overlapping monthly mail sequence is utilized so that each survey collects the previous three months' of travel behavior and reduces sample bias for maximum accuracy. Detailed travel information is collected on U.S. residents traveling to every U.S. and international destination at the city level (both overnight and day-trips). Analyses can be performed on an annual, quarterly/seasonal and monthly basis. All measures can be cross-tabulated, analyzed and modeled. Additional data breaks are available on continuous variables. All accommodations including hotel chains, independents, friend/relative, etc. are identified. Branded information collected includes: Assessment Positioning Targeting Communicating Market size Brand quality ratings Demographics Destination Markets Segment trend Business purposes Party type & size Origin markets Share Leisure purposes Reservation type Deals Distance Accommodations type Room rate/who paid Travel club memberships Transportation Site location of property Method of payment (brands) Media Expenditures Length of trip/stay Activities Media leverage DKS&A DIRECTIONS® LODGING IMAGE/ MonitorSM- USA The DIRECTIONS® LODGING IMAGE/MonitorSM is a monthly traveler perception tracking study designed to provide reliable attitudinal brand information to lodging operators and marketers. DKS&A tracks brand images for brand usage for over 30 lodging chains on over 20 separate attributes, plus loyalty. The LODGING IMAGE/MonitorSM is conducted monthly by mail. A minimum of 80,000 U.S. HHs are contacted annually. A stratified U.S. population sample is utilized and the data is balanced by household demographics. Started in 1994, we have a comparative brand database with 8+ years of monthly history. Respondents provide their travel and hotel use history by price ranges, purpose of stay and brand use for 'heavy user' identification and brand loyalty metrics. 23 Attributes Overall Price/Value impact (2 component measures) Overall Acceptance/satisfaction (3 component measures) Overall Buildings & Grounds (5 component measures) Overall Rooms (6 component measures) Overall Service (5 component measures) Loyalty (2 component measures plus frequency club ) DKS&A DIRECTIONS® LODGING AWARENESS/ MonitorSM- USA The DIRECTIONS® LODGING AWARENESS/MonitorSM is an ongoing, monthly brand awareness tracking study designed to gauge hotel brand awareness, advertising awareness, and brand preference. DKS&A tracks brand awareness and preference data on over 40 hotel/motel brands/chains with competitive segments. The DIRECTIONS® LODGING AWARENESS/MonitorSM is conducted monthly by RDD telephone methodology. Over 2,400 interviews are conducted annually among respondents age 18+ who have stayed at hotels in the past 12 months. Respondent quotas ensure proper representation of business, leisure, and hotel/motel segment travelers. Started in 1992, we have a comparative brand database with 10+ years of monthly history providing trends and pre/post advertising and promotion impact analytics. For more information please e-mail us at: jcaldwell@dksa.com or call Jim Caldwell at (703) 536-0933 1750 Old Meadow Road · Suite 620 · McLean, Virginia 22102 ©2006 D.K. Shifflet & Associates, Ltd.