Ed
06-24-2009, 07:16 PM
From an Orlandosentinel.com blog ~~
Could Disney bring back its 7-for-4 hotel deal later this year?
posted by Jason Garcia on Jun 23, 2009 9:34:43 AM
Could Walt Disney World bring back its seven-for-four hotel-night promotion later this year?
One analyst thinks so.
Disney earlier this year stopped accepting bookings for the popular promo -- which has helped Disney World prop up attendance but at the cost of lower profit margins -- and replaced it with a free dining offer that travelers can book until late July. But Richard Greenfield, an analyst who follows the Walt Disney Co. for Pali Capital, wrote in a recent post on the firm's research blog that "we sense" that the free dining promo has not been as successful as the hotel discount was.
The seven-for-four travel window runs until mid-August; the free dining travel window is from mid-August to early October.
"We suspect Disney will need to go back to a 7 for 4 or better promo in the near future to sustain attendance levels" for the final three months of 2009, Greenfield wrote. The final three months of the calendar year are also the first three months of Disney's 2010 fiscal year.
Greenfield added, "Our thesis remains that without a notable pick-up in the economy, Disney will need to significantly discount pricing in 2010, further pressuring margins…or experience a substantial decline in attendance given how much vacation share they took within the Orlando market over the past year and how many vacations they have pulled forward by aggressively discounting."
Could Disney bring back its 7-for-4 hotel deal later this year?
posted by Jason Garcia on Jun 23, 2009 9:34:43 AM
Could Walt Disney World bring back its seven-for-four hotel-night promotion later this year?
One analyst thinks so.
Disney earlier this year stopped accepting bookings for the popular promo -- which has helped Disney World prop up attendance but at the cost of lower profit margins -- and replaced it with a free dining offer that travelers can book until late July. But Richard Greenfield, an analyst who follows the Walt Disney Co. for Pali Capital, wrote in a recent post on the firm's research blog that "we sense" that the free dining promo has not been as successful as the hotel discount was.
The seven-for-four travel window runs until mid-August; the free dining travel window is from mid-August to early October.
"We suspect Disney will need to go back to a 7 for 4 or better promo in the near future to sustain attendance levels" for the final three months of 2009, Greenfield wrote. The final three months of the calendar year are also the first three months of Disney's 2010 fiscal year.
Greenfield added, "Our thesis remains that without a notable pick-up in the economy, Disney will need to significantly discount pricing in 2010, further pressuring margins…or experience a substantial decline in attendance given how much vacation share they took within the Orlando market over the past year and how many vacations they have pulled forward by aggressively discounting."