Having some type of green meeting practices in place continues to be an important area of focus for venues in the meetings industry, as a business with one of the largest environmental footprints. In order to successfully have an effect on global warming while reducing costs and saving their respective organizations money, convention centers, hotels and other venues continue to examine how to successfully make these changes-both behind the scenes of their events and in visible ways. READ MORE

The hotel industry is continuing its recovery with strong growth in both global hotel revenue and bookings, according to data we're reporting in Pegasus Solution's monthly report, The Pegasus View. Driven by demand and assisted by rate growth, leisure hotel revenue jumped nearly +15% early this year over the same period in 2010. With growth in business and leisure bookings expected through mid-year, it's more important than ever for hotels to maintain control of their websites in terms of the look (design and branding), the feel (booking process) and availability (mobile and metasearch). READ MORE

"Discount" is the dirty word of the hospitality industry. For the last ten years, spas and hotels have held discounting as the absolute last straw in any marketing campaign. Unfortunately, the recession of the last few years has forced spas and hotels to exhaust any and all options to get consumers in the door. Loathsome though we were to do it, the economic situation became severe enough to bring us all to our last resort efforts, discounts included. The spa industry in particular, has had a love-hate relationship with discounting over the past decade. In other words, the consumers have grown to love discounts, and the industry professionals have grown to hate them. So where does this hatred of discounting come from? And can the spa industry continue to keep discounting at arm's length when consumers are already cutting their spa spend due to the economic pressures of the day? Can spas afford not to discount, when competing against deeply discounted deal aggregators such as Groupon, Living Social or Rue La La? READ MORE

While the experienced spa user may appreciate the fusion of specialized services and products to choose from on a spa menu, this population makes up only a very small portion of all potential spa consumers. This article considers the untapped portion of the market, the first or second time consumers, that may hesitate to book a treatment when the spa menu is too complex to understand. The name, "Trust in Local" implies that the local product or service is familiar to the local market and therefore more likely to be trusted by both the local consumer and the foreign tourist. By creating spa concepts that incorporate ingredients that are unique to the local region within treatments, a visit to the spa could become a point of interest for travelers seeking authentic experiences while on vacation. READ MORE

Few industries can boast the worldliness of the hospitality industry. As hotels and lodges seek out tourist hubs and travel spots worldwide, the industry has largely trended toward international expansion. Today Americans can travel to any corner of the globe and find a hotel brand that they know and trust. Just as the industry's patrons are traveling now more than ever, employees, too, are increasingly being transferred from one overseas location to another. When certain requirements are met, employees from the international office of one company can be transferred to a domestic office with relative ease courtesy of the L-1 intra-company transfer visa. READ MORE