Economic indicator research using reuters: Analyzing hospitality trends

The possibility to predict economic peaks and downturns is always attractive to business people because of the opportunity to make wise decisions and rational investments. This article applies the concept of environmental scanning to determine those economic indices that are most relevant and important for managers to keep an eye on for proper business decisions in restaurants and hotels. Three initial indicators of the U.S. economy were determined for the analyses are gross domestic product, personal income, and unemployment rate. These indicators are used as dependent variables to be correlated to both the Dow Jones US Food and Beverage Index and the Dow Jones US Hotel Index. Furthering the notion of examining indicators, the study proceeds to examine the three initial indicators in relation to two corporations, Darden Restaurants and Marriott International. The study was conducted utilizing Reuters 3000Xtra. The results indicate the importance of developing strategic methods for forecasting the industry's paralleled relationship to the economic cyclical path.