Airlines, hotels make sleepy sales pitches

0 Comments | USA TODAY, April, 2005 | by Gary Stoller

Airlines and hotels are making frequent appeals to travelers' need for better sleep in marketing campaigns and sales pitches. British Airways' recent survey on sleep issues promoted its airplanes' sleeper seats. Radisson's recent sleep survey was part of a mattress-upgrade promotion -- and another chapter in hotels' continuing bed wars.

Other sleep-related marketing pitches:

* Hilton Hotels. Hilton last month said it was installing about 250,000 new clock-radios in all rooms of seven of its brands. The clock-radios are easy to operate, so travelers "won't have to lose sleep ever again over how to set the alarm clocks," Hilton says.

* Crowne Plaza. The chain last year rolled out its "Sleep Advantage" program. It promises rooms with drape clips, duvet covers,...