Word: motoring
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...Ford Motor Co. system consists of 24-passenger vehicles that move on ground-level aluminum guideways and are controlled by a computer that not only tells them where to go next but also knows their exact locations at all times and keeps them safely separated. Theoretically, Ford says, the computer makes it possible to leave as little as two-second intervals between cars operating at 30 m.p.h. Last week the company announced that it would install its first PRT system in Dearborn, Mich. The two-mile loop will connect Ford's headquarters with another office complex, a shopping center...
Indeed, few corporations dominate their industries the way that Holiday Inns dominates the fast-growing business of lodging. Its success has lured a host of imitators into the motor-inn field: Howard Johnson's, ITT Sheraton, Marriott. Despite this competition, Holiday Inns has more than four times as many rooms as its closest rival in the hotel or motel field, Ramada Inns (see chart, page 81). Right now Wilson's company counts 208,939 rooms, with a total of more than 300,000 double beds...
This accolade came to Wilson because he practically created the modern motor-inn industry. He has transformed the motel from the old wayside fleabag into the most popular home away from home. Until 1952, when he founded Holiday Inns, most motels were of the "no tell" variety, generally shabby and faintly disreputable places that catered mainly to casual lovers and transient salesmen. Wilson was among the first to foresee that the fast post-World War II rise in U.S. personal income would lead to a rapid expansion in both business and leisure travel. He also sensed that people...
Today, largely standardized motor hotels are proliferating, but many traditional hotels in large and medium-sized cities are scratching for business. Hurt not only by the new competition from motor hotels but also by rising crime and declining business activity in downtown areas, many city hotels are all but empty on weekends. Their average occupancy rate has shriveled from about 80% two decades ago to 63%, which is below the break-even point for many large hotels. There are profitable exceptions, particularly in New York City and Chicago; Manhattan's 2,153-room New York Hilton...
...most part, however, urban hoteliers have had to fight a rearguard action by offering free parking, snack bars and other appurtenances of motor inns. Motel owners have retaliated by adding nightclubs, saunas and haute cuisine (of sorts). As a result, the difference between motels and hotels is blurring. In general, motels have more self-service, more attractions for auto travelers and families, and lower prices...