Impact Studies

Impact studies are commissioned by a hotel chain, or by the franchisee, when an existing franchisee objects to another hotel being added to the chain.

Chains such as Best Western, all Marriott and Choice brands, and Holiday Inn have formal policies that define when a franchisee can object to a proposed addition to the chain and that define impact.

Other chains look at impact on a case-by-case basis. Most chains use The Highland Group as an independent third party when they have an impact issue.

The purpose of an impact study is to estimate the potential loss to an existing franchise when a new hotel is added to the brand.

Impact studies are a tool for franchisees to express their concerns to their franchisor formally.

Impact studies include field research in which The Highland Group interviews representatives of each hotel concerned and gathers detailed information about the hotels.

We also analyze reservation and other data provided by the chains reservation and other databases. That information, our analysis and conclusions are presented in the impact study.

Click to read article:
Highlights of the Impact Forum

Qualifications:
The Highland Group is uniquely qualified to conduct impact studies.We have studied the reservation and referral systems used by each of the chains for which we do impact studies, so we are prepared to evaluate reservation and other brand-generated business that may be at risk.We have worked with executives of the American Association of Franchisees and Dealers (AAFD) and with various franchisee boards as they prepare to represent hotel owners in negotiating impact policies.

We have done formal presentations about impact for the American Bar Association’s – Forum on Franchising, Hotel Investment Conference – Atlanta, Asian American Hotel Owners Association, and various franchise organizations.

We convened two “Forums on Impact” that brought hotel owners, consultants, attorneys and franchisors together to discuss impact;
The Highland Group published white papers on the proceedings.