Smith Travel Research

Smith Travel Research, Inc.
Private
Industry Hotel
Founded 1985
Founders Randy and Carolyn Smith
Headquarters Hendersonville, Tennessee
United States
Area served
 Worldwide
Number of employees
 154
Website www.str.com

STR (Smith Travel Research, Inc.) is an American company based in Hendersonville, Tennessee, that tracks supply and demand data for the hotel industry and provides market share analysis for all major hotel chains and brands in the United States, Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean. STR is associated with STR Global, RRC Associates, STR Analytics and HotelNewsNow.com.

History

STR was founded in 1985 by Randell A. Smith and his wife Carolyn Smith in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.[1] The Smiths built the company with a focus on providing overall performance data and trends to the hotel industry. In the beginning, they developed a database with names, addresses and phone numbers of established hotel companies in the United States to create the Census Database. Randy Smith was contacted by Holiday Inn multiple times and urged to create a market share report. By 1988, the company launched the first Smith Travel Accommodations Report (STAR), a monthly report that includes data from hotels and measures each property’s market share performance against a self-selected competitive set.[2]

STAR currently tracks more than 32,000 hotels with over 3.8 million rooms.[3]

STR Family of Companies

STR Global

In 2008, STR combined its operations outside North America with Deloitte to form STR Global.[4] STR continues serving the North American markets, while STR Global caters to a global audience.

STR Global has its main office in London, with regional offices in Italy, Singapore, Tokyo, Jakarta, Sydney and Beijing.

HotelNewsNow.com

STR launched HotelNewsNow.com in 2008. HotelNewsNow.com provides the global hotel industry with news coverage and hotel analysis that leverages its first access to data from the STR family of companies. This division comprises a multimedia website and collection of e-newsletters, including the Daily Update, Hotel Investment Barometer and Product Showcase.

HotelNewsNow.com also hosts The Baird/STR Hotel Stock Index, a co-branded index created by Robert W. Baird & Co. and STR. The Index tracks the stock price movements associated with U.S. focused and domestically-based hotel companies.

HotelNewsNow.com is based in Rocky River, Ohio.

STR Analytics

STR Analytics utilizes the STR database and cross-references it with other data to provide objective trend-based analysis and empirical data about the lodging industry.

STR Analytics is based in Boulder, Colorado.

References

  1. ↑ American Hotel & Lodging Association. "Randy Smith to Receive ALIS Lifetime Achievement Award", August 21, 2009, accessed September 9, 2011.
  2. ↑ Morabito, Andrea. "Randy Smith: Creating a New Standard." A Century of Hospitality. Ed. Len Vermillion. Yardley, PA: McNeill Group Inc., 2009. p.93.
  3. ↑ Morabito, Andrea. "Randy Smith: Creating a New Standard." A Century of Hospitality. Ed. Len Vermillion. Yardley, PA: McNeill Group Inc., 2009. p.93.
  4. ↑ Deloitte. "Global Hospitality Analysis: Frequently Asked Questions", June 24, 2009, accessed September 13, 2011.

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