This article reports findings from a sur- vey of business users towards the ser- vices provided by hotels. Although there are few significant differences be- tween male and female executives to- wards general services, evidence is produced that - on some issues reiat- ing to accommodation and factors such as safety-while there is a commonality of concern between the sexes, females are more sensitive than their male counterparts. Some suggestions ema- nating from a focus group of female executives are also reported. Jane Lutz is a research student in the Tourism and Recreation Studies Unit, Not- tingham Business School, Nottingham Trent University. Chris Ryan has just joined the Department of Management Systems, Massey University, Private Bag 11222, Palmerston North, New Zealand. Submitted October 1992; accepted De- cember 1992. ‘Economist intelligence Unit, ‘The struc- ture of Europe’s economies and demands for hotel accommodation’, Travel and Tourism Analyst, No 4, 1991, pp 5-l 3 ‘Economist intelligence Unit, lntemational Business Travel, Special Report, EIU, Lon- don, 1988. 3B. Niies, ‘Business travel in the USA’, Travel and Tourism Analyst, October 1987, pp 19-29. Hotels and the businesswoman An analysis ofbusinesswomen’s perceptionsof hotel services Jane Lutz and Chris Ryan The study reported in this article assessed the attitudes of both female and male users to the services provided by hotels for female business travellers. After a literature review the researchers sought responses from senior marketing personnel from the hotel industry about the provision that was being made for businesswomen: 98 letters were sent out and 23 useful responses were received. Subsequently a convenience sample of 12 senior female executives were interviewed as to their experiences and attitudes towards hotel provision. All were experienced business travellers. Indeed, two of the sample average over 100 nights per annum in hotels while travelling on business. Subsequently a questionnaire was devised and 540 questionnaires were distributed amongst 13 major hotels in Birmingham, UK, of which 138 were returned. The questionnaires were distributed to mid-week users of hotels in Birmingham city centre and near the National Exhibition Centre and Birmingham International Airport. The respondents replied by use of pre-paid envelopes to an academic institution. The composi- tion of the sample is described below. zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSR The female business market It is a commonplace to state that business tourism, even within a recession, is a lucrative and highly prized market characterized by fierce competition. The EIU noted in 1991 that ‘the domestic business market provides a lucrative market for hotels - 57 per cent or 38 million nights of business nights and 75 per cent or f 1,538 million, of all business accommodation goes on hotels’.’ The EIU has also noted that ‘business travellers represent the most discriminating travel sector, their aware- ness of product and service options is greater than that of the discretion- ary traveller and they demand and expect greater choice and flexibility’.’ The marketing implication is that such an important and valuable sector needs to be monitored consistently to identify trends and demands. Niles3 identified, as one of four key trends in the American business travel market, the growth of female business travellers. In the USA the number of businesswomen using hotels increased from 12 to 14 million per annum between 1985 and 1987. Niles also estimated that women accounted for 38% of US business travel. This trend is also noticeable within the UK. Tunstall, Yesavitch, and the Equal Opportunities 0281~5177/93/050349-08 0 1993 Butterworth-Heinemann Ltd 349