Welcome to Atmosphere Research!

On behalf of my colleagues Jeffrey Breen and Rich Ridolfo, it’s our pleasure to welcome you to our new business “home,” Atmosphere Research Group.

Let me start by answering a question I get all the time: Why are we doing this? We believe that there is a need for timely, objective, and comprehensive perspectives of the key marketing and technology trends and events that affect the travel industry, based on constantly evolving consumer behaviors and attitudes, the dynamic nature of the travel industry, never-ending technology changes and, of course, our highly complex global business environment. We believe the best way to serve the industry is to provide a research and analysis that is both all-embracing and integrated, written by analysts with solid industry experience.

Onto another question: Why did we name choose the name Atmosphere? As people, we can’t survive without an atmosphere. We hope that our research becomes just as essential to our clients. Among the other reasons we chose the name: “Atmosphere” starts with an “a,” it’s a word everyone knows (and can spell), and ties in nicely to the air transport industry, a key component of the travel industry.

As people, we can’t survive without an atmosphere. We hope that our research becomes just as essential to our clients.”

As a research and advisory firm, our objective is both straightforward and, we admit, daunting: To help our clients become more prosperous. For the highly cyclical, perennially thin-margin travel industry, focusing on prosperity is critical. Each research report will serve multiple functions within a travel firm and its partners. Our research will focus primarily in marketing (including loyalty marketing/CRM, branding, advertising/PR, media, and social), eCommerce/distribution (including mobile), pricing/revenue management, customer service, and technology.

Serving as the foundation for our research will be both consumer and industry data. We’ll be conducting our own primary research, including both consumer and industry executive surveys. Our first two US consumer surveys, one a leisure travel benchmark study and one of affluent travelers, have been completed. In 2012, we intend to expand our research outside the US. We’ll leverage data from business partners and third parties as well.

It’s just as important to let you know what Atmosphere isn’t as what we are. We’re not an investment research firm, so please don’t expect us to provide stock-related guidance. We’re not an econometrics firm, either, though we will produce travel-related forecasts.

I’m pleased to say that we’ve already begun to sign clients, and we hope to work with many of you in the future. For information about our services, you’re welcome to email me. Or, just complete this online form.

Finally, a few words about ethics. Ethical behavior is critical to us. Speaking personally, ethical and honest behavior was instilled in me by my grandparents and parents. It was also a cornerstone of how we did business at Forrester. Atmosphere’s research will be based on facts, not on the status of a client relationship. Atmosphere’s executives and staff do not, and will not, sit on the Boards of Directors or Boards of Advisors of any for-profit company, nor will we accept “friends and family” stock. Atmosphere analysts will not trade the stock of companies that are in the areas they research.

Thanks for reading. We look forward to sharing the future with you.

Henry