To create a service culture that will allow you achieve your bottom-line goals, you first have to be willing to acknowledge the trouble spots in your current service culture. Once you do that, you can develop the vision, mission, and values that will support you and your entire team as you work to realign aspects of management and operations, implement a successful culture-based training program, and measure your progress. Jesse Boles, Executive Director of Operations at FreemanGroup, offers practical advice and insights on how to go about implementing a service culture that will yield real world results. READ MORE

When it is reported that Queen Elizabeth is "tweeting", and a CEO of a five-star hotel company sent a "tweet", it is obvious that social media, when used unauthentically, comes off as nothing more than an ruse, without positively influencing business or creating a positive image. So how can hoteliers determine the best course of action to take, given the choices of social media platforms and the increasing popularity of them, including the corporate strength behind them? This article will address how to implement some good ol' fashioned marketing strategies to ensure that you can identify and implement the best social media platforms. READ MORE

Does your hotel have an effective, well-managed social media presence? Do you even need one? Do you feel like you're making the most of Facebook, but lost on YouTube? These are questions that hoteliers should have asked themselves, or been asked by their Internet marketing partners, at some point in the last two years. After all, during that time span, the use of social media by both leisure and business travelers has increased at a rate that cannot be ignored. In a recent survey from The Center for Hospitality Research at Cornell University's School of Hotel Administration, roughly 25% of business travelers and over 30% of leisure travelers said they use social media and review sites for hotel information. READ MORE

Long before CSR became a mainstream acronym and integral to the way business is done in the 21st Century, Loews Hotels Chairman & CEO, Jonathan Tisch, believed you could do well and do good at the same time. To realize this notion and affirm Loews' responsibility to the communities beyond our porte-cocheres, the Loews Hotels Good Neighbor Program was created. What began as the hospitality industry's first comprehensive community outreach program some 21 years ago, today encompasses a broad range of social, economic and environmental policies and initiatives. READ MORE

When businesses are going through hard times it's natural to look for ways to cut costs. But sadly all too often the things that get dropped are those that are essential for long-term prosperity and growth - marketing and training. Making cuts in these areas could certainly save a few dollars in the short-term, but it won't be long before the cracks appear. There are many reasons why hoteliers may be tempted to cut back on training. The commonest excuse I hear is " Well, what if I invest in their training and they decide to leave?" But what if you don't invest in their training and they decide to stay? Investing in training has so many benefits both directly and indirectly. READ MORE