News Brief Hilton Hotels tops in customer satisfaction http://planyourmeetings. com/2006/06/01/hilton-hotels-tops-in-customer-satisfaction/ By Kristi Casey Sanders Published: June 1, 2006 Hilton Hotels Corporation leads the hotel industry in customer satisfaction, according to the latest statistics from the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI). With a score of 78 points out of a possible 100, Hilton took the leadership position among the seven hotel companies mentioned in the survey. Overall, the hotel industry improved 3 percent to 75, equaling its highest score since 1994. Hilton takes great pride in its ACSI customer satisfaction score, which confirms the results of an unparalleled focus and commitment by the 74,000 team members at our owned and managed hotel properties across the country to deliver the best in guest service,” said Dieter Huckestein, president – hotel operations owned and managed for Hilton Hotels Corporation. Hilton’s portfolio of 2,000 hotels includes Hilton, Doubletree, Embassy Suites Hotels, Hampton Inn, Hampton Inn & Suites, Hilton Garden Inn and Homewood Suites by Hilton.
The ACSI is produced through a partnership of the University of Michigan Business School, ASQ, and CFI Group, which measures customer satisfaction in the competitive hotel industry on a regular basis. The ACSI is updated on a rolling basis. New scores for the hotel industry replace those collected one year ago and are added to scores of five other sectors of the economy measured during the intervening year. One sector that didn’t fare well was the airline industry, which dropped 1. percent to 65, its lowest score since the industry was rocked by 9/11. Southwest Airlines still rules the industry at 74. US Airways made the industry’s biggest jump, improving nearly 9 percent to 62. Northwest Airlines, on the other hand, dropped 4. 7 percent to 61, taking last place in the industry as it struggles with strikes and a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing. The overall decline was attributed to the airlines’ struggle with labor contracts, bankruptcies and higher fuel prices, leaving consumers feeling they are getting less for their money.
