E-mail's utility as a marketing medium is being limited by unprecedented growth in spam—unsolicited commercial bulk e-mail messages. Given the access that hotels have to their customers' personal data and the potential for using this resource for marketing and promotional purposes, this study sets out to establish whether international hotel chains conform to the legislative guidelines found in the U.S. Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing (CAN-SPAM) Act of 2003 with regard to use of personal data for e-mail marketing purposes. By monitoring multiple e-mail accounts over a one-year period, the study found that not only is hotel companies' behavior highly ethical with regard to their use of customers' personal data, but in fact it may serve as an example of best practice for other businesses.
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