Part 2 - Leveraging your environmental policy in your marketing and sales efforts. You may not realize that a number of the initiatives you have started in your hotel in order to cut costs and survive during the last four tough years can actually be turned into marketing and sales tools. I am referring to everything you have pursued in order to reduce your waste, energy usage, and water usage. Many guests are currently looking for reasons to visit your property over the property next door. An increasing number of guests are looking for properties where they can feel their stay is in harmony with the environment. Just imagine if you could add 5% more loyal guests by publicizing your environmental efforts. READ MORE

It is said that history, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. But from a financial standpoint, history begins at 50. That is to say that the federal government - as well as many state and local governments - offer financial and other incentives to buildings listed on the National Register of Historic Places. And typically, to be listed, a building must be 50 years old. READ MORE

The typical hotel room requires about 175 to 200 yards of fabric to drape, decorate, and upholster. Plus there is fabric for the lobby and other public areas. Sometimes you want fabric to play a starring role in creating a “wow” factor, while sometimes you want fabric to be a more subtle bit player in your design scheme. So how do you choose the right fabric for the right application? My column examines the most common fabric types used in the hospitality industry, plus the six most important factors to consider when selecting fabrics - texture, color, pattern, purpose, fire retardation, and clean-ability. READ MORE

What you've read is true. Social media is here to stay, so it's time to embrace the change. This new era of social networking has taken communication and information sharing to a whole new level. We all know at this point what social media is, and most hotels have a good grasp on how to use it to reach their audiences. With the constant evolution of social media, however, how do you make this public relations and marcomm tool work for your hotel in the face of a new decade? In this article I have put together some tips on ways to make your social media strategy successful and solid. Who are you looking to reach out to, and why? Read my article on social media tips for the new decade! READ MORE

A look into the next two years reveals a more intensive shift of meeting and group planners looking for ways to streamline and consolidate the process of researching and placing group business, a $300 billion global marketplace. By moving these processes to the online world, many corporations will consolidate their groups and meetings business under procurement departments allowing for the standardization of business practices. How will this impact the hospitality industry? Tremendous change will be in hoteliers' future, yet as always the industry will adapt to the change and after a few bumps in the road will eventually wonder how they ever did business without meetings being booked online. READ MORE