STR Acquires Gerard Murphy and Associates, METROPOLL AND EUROPOLL
STR announces the acquisition of Gerard Murphy & Associates (GMA), a firm specializing in market research studies and surveys, with particular emphasis on developing, marketing and conducting statistical evaluations of the meetings market, both in North America and Europe.
Many city agencies and convention and visitor bureaus use GMA services to benchmark and evaluate programs over time and as a basic platform for strategic planning.
GMA’s studies are branded under the names METROPOLL and EUROPOLL. GMA has conducted METROPOLL since 1983 and as a result of this longitudinal research, the firm provides an unrivaled database of trend information and an exceptional in-depth understanding of the meeting industry.
The most recent version of the biennial study, METROPOLL XIII, probes a number of topics of current interest and is available for purchase. For example, the study was updated to examine the impact of the current economic downturn, changes in e-marketing, and the implications of greening initiatives on meeting site selection. In addition, core topics from the past twelve studies were also evaluated, such as: key determinants in site selection, strengths of markets, images of leading North American cities as meeting sites and travel destinations, and the most effective ways to reach planners of major North American meetings and conventions. The most recent study is based on responses from more than 1,100 major association and corporate meeting holders in the United States.
The GMA services further expand upon STR’s existing specializations. “GMA and the products that Jerry Murphy has developed, including METROPOLL and EUROPOLL, will provide data to serve the needs of cities and other municipal agencies that are making strategic decisions concerning their strengths and weaknesses,” said Mark Lomanno, STR’s president. “This type of information is more valuable than ever in the business climate of today. Further, with the expanded information STR can provide, we believe STR will continue to represent a one-stop shop for data needs and interpretive services.”
The services of GMA will be operated by RRC Associates in Boulder, Colorado. RRC provides a broad range of market research, land use planning, customer satisfaction, and media and communications research services. A full-service research company, RRC utilizes a broad set of research methodologies including web, intercept, mail and phone surveys, and focus groups and panels to address client needs.
Chris Cares, Director of RRC said: “Jerry Murphy, the principal with GMA, will continue to work with RRC to maintain a continuity of service and analysis and to ensure that future studies will allow longitudinal comparison with past research. Further, Murphy will assist in expanding the range of meetings-related information that STR/RRC will be offering in the future.”
“I am very pleased to become associated with STR, which I find to be a particularly competent, professional and ethical group of companies,” Murphy said. “It is extremely gratifying to know that STR will carry on METROPOLL and other syndicated trend studies GMA has invested so much in during the past 25 years. I’m sure the integrity of these studies will be maintained, and their scope expanded to a new level.”
STR provides clients—including hotel operators, developers, financiers, analysts and suppliers to the hotel industry—access to hotel research with regular and custom reports covering North America, Mexico and the Caribbean. STR provides a single source of global hotel data covering daily and monthly performance data, forecasts, annual profitability, pipeline and census information. STR founded the STR family of companies and is proudly associated with STR Global, STR Analytics, RRC Associates and HotelNewsNow.com. For more information, please visit www.str.com.
In 2008 STR acquired RRC Associates, Inc. (RRC), a Boulder, Colorado-based firm that specializes in research for communities and resort destinations. RRC has extensive experience in surveys and evaluative tools that complement and expand upon the past work of GMA. The firm has over 25 years of experience in research and community planning, specializing particularly in tourism and resorts in North America.
In 2009 STR further expanded by forming STR Analytics. This company has been devoted to satisfying the growing demand for more in-depth and comprehensive analysis of the STR Census, Pipeline and Performance Databases. Working closely with RRC from shared offices in Colorado, STR Analytics offers the unique combination of extensive hotel, convention and conference center expertise along with access to an unparalleled database of individual property and industry metrics in virtually every market in the U.S. and many others around the world. STR Analytics and RRC will draw upon METROPOLL and EUROPOLL data in their analysis and long-term forecasts of major metropolitan markets and sub-market comp sets for large hotel companies and major meeting facilities. Combining 25 years of forward-looking meeting and convention planner surveys with 25 years of lodging revenues and demand statistics allows the STR team to provide clients with a powerful perspective on current and future conditions.
