This article includes a table of corresponding global trends on crisis management directly or indirectly, impacting the hotel industry. Additionally, we explore related background information, company valuation, crisis management, trend awareness and “Black Swan” events, and methods of implementing and sustaining a global trend management program including justification, awareness, preparation and response. The article concludes with the organizational and competitive advantages of implementing an effective global trends management program. READ MORE

Mobility ranked at the top of every technology trend list last year and the opportunities for the hospitality industry are endless. Whether it is revenue enhancement, customer engagement or efficiency gains, there is a broad understanding and acceptance that mobility is on the rise. During the last HTNG Asia conference, which took place from 6-8 February in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, the Dubai-based luxury hospitality group, Jumeirah, shared its views on strategic mobility issues such as ROI, browser versus app and 'bring your own' versus standardization and integration to existing systems. Here are some of the most important opportunities and issues as Jumeirah sees them. READ MORE

In today's world, loyalty programs are practically a requirement in the hotel industry. But who beyond your front desk team really knows your loyalty program? Sharing a point balance at check-in is great, but having a bartender tell a guest how many points that martini just earned them can be even better. Engaging and educating your staff on your property's or brand's loyalty program can have surprising benefits including happy guests, happy associates, and a healthier bottom line. READ MORE


In today's socially connected, consumer-led world, there are few sources that are more effective at helping companies gather competitor information than social media. Social Business Intelligence, a methodology to make sense of unstructured feedback on the web, enables organizations to capture competitor performance, as defined by customers online, and analyze it to realize a clear and timely understanding of competitor strengths, weaknesses, and initiatives. READ MORE

Over the past year, a lot has changed in the hotel reputation management industry. And these changes require a new set of buying criteria. We've seen social media tracking technology move from being simply a way to aggregate guest feedback into a powerful business intelligence tool that can provide deep insights into customers, business performance, and the competitive landscape. Managers throughout the hotel organization-from sales and marketing to revenue and distribution to operations and quality-all the way up to the executive suite and hotel management groups, are all using different parts of the tool to improve performance. With this in mind, let's look at some of the criteria I suggest you use when shopping for a social media management tool. READ MORE

What is the underlying goal of your hotel fitness center? For many it is seen as a required amenity to offer guests - a space used by only those that are health conscious. Hotels often go through the trouble of allocating space for the gym and spend thousands of dollars on equipment but fall short of marketing the space. The time has come to change the view of the hotel fitness center. Now, given the shift to a more health conscious society, the gym can be used as a vehicle to drive business. with the correct marketing. So what actually goes into marketing the hotel fitness center? How does it differ from marketing the hotel as a whole? This article defines some basic marketing techniques you can incorporate into your overall marketing plan to promote your hotel fitness center and draw new business into your property. READ MORE

Too often money spent on marketing is wasted. When marketing is based on conventional wisdom and old assumptions rather than advances in the understanding of consumer behavior, sales suffer and money that could have been spent more wisely goes down the drain. Marketing based on age bracket or generation is blas'e. The current market demands marketing departments pay attention to emotional elements of their potential guests, i.e. how can I afford to take my family on vacation when I might lose my job? Too many marketing departments refuse to take initiatives and think outside of the box and the same 7 mistakes occur again and again, regardless of market conditions. Avoiding the following seven patterns will help your property save money, stay competitive, and enjoy a healthy share of the lucrative family travel business. READ MORE

I would like to suggest that you view your online brand as a reflection of the heart and soul of your organization. The quality of your hotel and the level of service excellence that you deliver in the bricks and mortar world must likewise be mirrored online. I would guess your organization constantly monitors guest satisfaction as it relates to their stay or a visit to one of your restaurants. Can you say the same for your online initiatives? When was the last time you stopped and listened to what your online visitors were thinking? Do you have a way to track their level of satisfaction with your site? Do you know how well you stack up when it comes to delivering on your brand promise compared to other hotels in your sector? Online is no different than offline. You know everything there is to know about your guest's "in-hotel" experience, but I'll bet you don't know everything there to know about their "online experience". READ MORE

Although the US hotel industry is far from the dark place the 2008 US publishing industry found itself in, we can take some very compelling (and profitable) lessons from this experience. The Internet transformed the distribution of hotel inventory ten years ago, but not much has changed on the distribution front since then. Yet, with the advent of powerful mobile devices, the hotel-buying public is changing dramatically. Forward thinking hoteliers, like the first authors and publishers who quickly embraced e-books, have a tremendous opportunity to reach an entirely new segment of consumers in exactly the way they want to be reached. READ MORE

Do yourself a favor and skip this article if you prefer to think the ship is simply rolling heavily in the calm seas. The captain of the Good Ship Earth, I am afraid, has a very definite agenda that is taking it off the course everyone thinks it is on as they go about their lives: sitting down to dinner, sleeping peacefully. Nobody thinks the ship can sink, as big, beautiful, and safe as it is, but the truth is rocks tear holes in metal hulls and they turn turtle. So it is with our world economy: sail close enough, long enough to enough rocks, and the ship goes down, no matter how many people are opining on the matter with complex or oversimplified theories. READ MORE

Your conversion ratio of looking for a room to booking that room with you will depend on how well you sell your guest that confidence. You need to be certain that your online presence will give today's traveler the information they need to book with you. You have to know what that shopper will see as they will see it. Take off your hotel operator goggles and look at your online position and the competitions position from the consumer's viewpoint. READ MORE

Mobile browsing is expected to outpace desktop-based access within three to five years. People are accessing the web via smart phones, tables, desktops, laptops, game consols and their TV's. Your architecture needs to support all of these outputs and even take into consideration how people will browse your content either by mouse, fingers, keypads, game controllers and touch interfaces. We're faced with a greater number of devices, input modes, and browsers than ever before. Building a foundation that will support these devices is critical to your guest engagement and your bottom line. READ MORE

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts that hotels in this country will need approximately 300,000 new workers by the year 2014. It is a fact that the U.S. is the 2nd most visited country in the world. Tourism is a very important part of the U.S. economy. But it is clear that there is a need for immigrant workers to fill these roles. This is largely because domestic workers typically shirk hospitality careers, some citing the jobs as too basic given their educational achievements. Hospitality continues to be an unpopular career choice for many U.S. Citizens. READ MORE

Recessionary economies historically lead to the demise of small businesses faced with competing against industry giants. Hospitality isn't immune. The recent downturn has affected everyone, but independent hotels are faced with potentially making already lean budgets even leaner. As major brands trim a portion of a budget to adapt, the independent is often faced with eliminating key business building operations altogether. In the down market, when demand reaches historically low levels, how does the independent hotel cope? The answer is to refocus and invest - in revenue management, distribution, rate structures and strategies, travel agent programs, marketing programs, online strategies, corporate travel programs.securing and building core business to ensure they obtain their fair share of the market. READ MORE

Historical pricing, excessive reliance on comp set analysis, 'push' marketing tactics and a reluctance to embrace new media, are all part of the outdated business model still being clung to by many hoteliers across the globe. If anything positive has come out of the current economy, it has been to show the lodging industry how ineffective these strategies are compared to more forward-thinking, efficient models being used by leading properties worldwide. These initiatives are available and ready for your hotel to implement - all that's needed is a willingness to look beyond the tried and easy methods and to embrace the newest tools available. READ MORE

Pretty soon they'll be everywhere you look. From subway stations, to public buildings, to restaurants, and no, we're not talking about soon-to-be-spring breakers populating those locales. We're talking about the “always-on” technology that people of all demographics and backgrounds use to interact with their surroundings. We're talking about the growing technological partnership between ever-smarter mobile devices (smartphones and tablets) and the expanding power and reach of the interactive digital sign. The question is where does this mobile march go next? For out-of-the-box hotel executives and revenue managers, mobile is marching right into their hotel lobbies, bringing with them an exciting new source of revenue, guest engagement, and loyalty. READ MORE

The hospitality industry plays a vital economic role in local communities throughout the world. Travel and tourism is one of the world's largest industries, generating US$6 trillion or 9% of global GDP and supporting 260 million jobs, according to the World Travel and Tourism Council. Many of those jobs are created by the hotel sector, giving our industry a tremendous opportunity to help local communities prosper. But why is creating local economic opportunities so important? And how should hotel companies go about driving local economic growth in a way that has long term benefits - both to the communities in question and to businesses themselves? READ MORE

The guests that rent rooms in our hotels have an expectation that the proprietor has done some form of due diligence in screening the employees who have access to their valued possessions left in a hotel room. It really does not matter to them that you may provide an in room safe, install expensive door hardware and have appropriate window stops if you have not taken the time to investigate the employees that you grant access to their personal and often treasured possessions. The hospitality industry is sometimes fragile and susceptible to large revenue losses as a result of a single negative event such as theft of valuables of a guest who just happens to be with a large convention group. Word travels quickly with these groups and meeting planners can be quite adept at researching these issues when deciding on a hotel for their convention. READ MORE

As an industry, the hotel sector has become good at proactively chasing bad business. Every time you turn around it seems that there is another opportunity to dump inventory at drastically reduced rates. Recent economic pressures made it even more tempting to unload distressed inventory through channels some hoteliers may never have considered four years ago. As demand recovers though, hoteliers now have an opportunity to change their mentality and cultivate high value segments and improve revenue performance. However, in order to properly target the right guest and attract them to the hotel at the right price, it is vital that a hotel's revenue management and marketing departments collaborate and work closely together. READ MORE

The fact that hotel revenue management is becoming more sophisticated, encompassing more functions and respect, is a given. So, too, is the prevalence and importance of online competition. But the impact of online data availability and increased competition on the qualifications of the revenue manager can be overlooked. The skills, courses, training and focus of the revenue manager of tomorrow will be markedly different than those of yesterday. Understanding the kinds of analytic, leadership, communication skills that revenue managers will need in an ever-changing, increasingly web-centric world will help hoteliers find a competitive edge in today's - and tomorrow's - economy. READ MORE

The last year has proved to be one of the most challenging sales environments in decades, not only for hotels and resorts but for all industries. In such a competitive environment, it is those organizations that can develop (or retain) a strong brand identity and reputation that will perform most strongly, ensuring not only their survival but setting themselves to benefit most from the resulting upturn. Strong brands will secure guest loyalty, and with existing customers up to 7 times more profitable to deal with than new customers this is vital in efficiently utilizing the organization's resources and keeping costs down. Here's a few ideas for developing your brand and its reputation. READ MORE

In difficult economic times, especially in this current downturn that hotel owners find themselves in, investing much needed cash or securing financing for Furniture, Fixtures & Equipment ("FF&E") refurbishments becomes a sensitive topic. Hotel brands require owners to follow brand standards and comply with often strict property improvement plans and timelines. The guest as well has high expectations and often seeks to get more and pay less. This puts a lot of pressure on owners and it becomes critical to make the right decisions for the operation in regard to renovations. It is a fine line between guest expectations and the operation's balance sheet. In the end you cannot put off a renovation, but you can make smart decisions in regard to value for your money, or in other words, return on investment. READ MORE

When it comes to implementing your hotel's service training program, it is not unlikely that you will face similar problems. When staff members aren't trained to perform tasks in a logical order, significant messes, operational and financial, are bound to spill over and impact your ability to manage your hotel, your budget, and your time. The best way to head off training mishaps before they occur is to develop individual work cycles for each position. Ask: What does each person in each position do? What are the effects of their actions and responsibilities on guests and other departments? READ MORE

Do you know what your customers are saying about you? How are you handling the constant stream of online reviews and ratings by customers? Are you interacting with prospective guests and actively promoting your brand through social media? Now more than ever, social media and reputation management are an essential component of the travel industry that impact not just your marketing team, but touch on every aspect of your business as it relates to the customer experience. If you're not effectively monitoring your online presence, you could be putting your brand at risk. READ MORE

Today it is simply smart business for hotels to install water-efficient fixtures such as low-flow showerheads and low-flow toilets that are up-to-date with high performance technology. Installation of water-conserving products in guest rooms alone can save a property upwards of thirty percent on water bills. In fact, there are eleven different categories of hotels. According to Water Management Inc., (a company offering water efficiency programs) some budget hotels to use as little as twenty gallons of water per occupied room per night whereas resort hotels can use as much as two hundred fifty gallons of water per occupied room. READ MORE

In response to perceived guest demand and government regulation, many international hospitality operators and local hotel operators have moved ahead with sustainability programs. However, many of these programs focus on different elements of “green” operation. One consequence of this diversity of sustainability efforts is that would-be guests cannot always compare one hotel's program to another. Thus, one challenge for the global hospitality industry is simply to define and measure exactly what constitutes sustainable practices, together with establishing consistent sustainability benchmarks. Contrary to established myths, sustainability programs confer several benefits on hospitality operators, including cost savings for well-designed programs, improved customer relationships, and, in many jurisdictions, meeting government regulations. However, sustainability can move beyond mere regulation to becoming a positive competitive force. READ MORE

We are all familiar with the basics of a hotel frequent guest program: customers earn points for staying with a particular property or chain, which are redeemable for anything from discounts, upgrades, to a free stay. While most hotels have loyalty programs, most place very little importance on their loyalty programs as a driving factor for increasing consumer bookings. But the truth is that loyalty programs can be a very important decision-maker, especially for frequent travelers, often hotels' highest-earning customers. Don't believe me? Let's look at the stats.. READ MORE

In the pursuance of growth, retailers know the key to profitability and success is location. Red Door Spas CEO Todd Walters explains the importance of identification and the prioritization of locations as critical factors in the prediction of the success of a site. The private-equity-backed company turned to Site Analytics Co, to create a quantitative formula factoring guest demographics, psychographics, competition and other Red Door-specific considerations to create a predictive model for the success or possible failure of potential locations. The model has also helped to improve under-performing locations, evaluate potential hotel partners and study best practices of thriving spas. READ MORE

Attracting new revenue and saving money is more important than ever in this economic climate and many hotels now recognize both of these goals can be realized through green programs. As a result, many hotel or hotel companies are claiming they have programs in place, but are they actually being implemented successfully? Is the full value of these programs being realized? This article examines how critical it is that eco-programs are implemented internally and successfully managed, plus it outlines the subsequent benefits that come from doing so. READ MORE