Cathing Up With..

Gail Sayadian is the director of marketing and sales for Choice Hotels International, Inc. (NYSE:CHH). A veteran with over 20 years of experience at Choice Hotels, Ms. Sayadian oversees Choice’s 22-person group and meetings department. She is responsible for overseeing the group tour, wholesale and group meetings market segments of the travel industry for Choice Hotels’ ten hotel brands.

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Why/ How did you become involved in the travel/ Tourism industry?

I have always loved to travel. During my career as a ballroom dance teacher, I began planning group travel to competitions around the country. At that time I began to understand the travel industry and decided to make it a career.

What advice would you give to a group travel organizer to recruit someone who has never experienced a group tour and would like to try it?

The key to group travel is catering to the needs of your travelers. Knowing the demographics and lifestyle patterns of the people you are recruiting, will give you great insight into how to cater to their needs.

Group travel is not only right for one type of traveler -- tours are available that match any travel style and desire, from structured to unstructured, adventure, shopping or ecotourism.

Let your previous travelers do the talking. Share peer testimonials about the ease and freedom of letting somebody else do all of the planning. Everybody can relate to making life less hectic.

What are some of the most pressing tourism development issues facing the industry?

Several hot issues directly affected current tourism development. Among the most pressing and pervasive are global terrorism, natural disaster and economic recession. If travelers do not feel safe and secure traveling – they will not travel and the industry will suffer.

On the positive side, the potential affects of sustainable tourism could be positive and continue to grow the tourism industry in an environmental and culturally aware way.

When you’re not in the office or traveling to a show, where will we find you?

You will often find me spending time with my husband and daughter in our lovely hometown of Montgomery Village, Maryland. I also enjoy spending time with friends, shopping, reading and going to the movies.

What is your most sought after group travel market at this time?

Consistently, students, SMERF and meetings are highly sought after markets.

Do you expect to see anything new and exciting in terms of travel technology in 2007? Is there anything in the spectrum of travel from searching for hotels and flights to a destination that technology has yet to improve on?

Currently most group travel bookings are done offline, while general travel bookings occur more and more frequently online. In the next years I expect to see rapid growth of online group travel bookings and offerings. This will continue to increasing the ease and customization of group travel.

The group travel industry is a very people-oriented industry. How do you see technology affecting the personal nature if travel?

It will be even more critical for the hotels, attractions and venues to provide the very best customer service, resulting in a memorable experience for the guest.