Red Roof is catering to a new subset of travelers who are road-tripping across the country to attend, compete in, or experience their favorite passions first-hand, 'The Passionists'. These growing and diverse communities are the convention, conference and event travelers who are avid gaming geeks, compete in obstacle course races, follow cornhole contests, and dress up in cosplay, among many other hobbies and interests. It's all passion all the time. Marina MacDonald, Chief Marketing Officer, Red Roof explains why the brand has plugged into this growing segment of travelers, particularly courting comic book aficionados and Cornhole players but also opening their arms to Passionists everywhere. READ MORE

Is it time to start preparing for an upcoming recession? In January 2018, the NYC Restaurant Personnel index read 0.50%, with the Recession indices not evidencing much rising risk of recession. Since May 2018, the NYC Restaurant Personnel index, continuing its decline has remained in negative territory. In this article we review recent U.S. Treasury yield curve flattening and inversion compared to prior UST inversions as one harbinger of potential economic weakness, and compare that to a simpler metric of changes in full-service restaurant personnel in New York City and its own coincident indication of broader economic strength or weakness. READ MORE

Hotel brand designers, developers and owner/operators focus attention on the guest experience throughout the hotel – everything is directed toward creating a delightful and memorable guest experience. One often overlooked area is the lobby food experience – whether at the bar, fast casual restaurant or retail store. With the increasing focus on social and communal aspects and occasions of the guest stay, food is becoming a center point. When the lobby includes food merchandising and is thoughtfully integrated into the hotel and lobby experience it becomes is a surprisingly meaningful contributor to memorable guest stays and return visits. READ MORE

Hotel sales and marketing have evolved vastly in recent years, mainly as a result of technological advancements. With the proliferation of new brands leading to stiffer industry competition, hotels are increasingly adding technology to their marketing strategies in an effort to stay abreast. Social media, big data, online reviews, video advertising and the use of mobile devices are all instrumental in constantly shifting the goal posts. Technology is also impacting hotel staffing and operations, but brands have little choice but to implement new systems as fast as they can. This doesn't necessarily translate into a decreased human touch, but rather into creating a new way of using technology to personalize connections with current and potential guests. READ MORE

The desired outcome for any hotel is maximum occupancy and ADR, smooth operations, productive and motivated staff, and realistic return on investment. However, all this is dependent on having a continuing stream of guests pass through our doors and keeping them satisfied, so that they come back in the future and recommend us to others. But how do we achieve the guest satisfaction needed to achieve those goals? This article considers some basics: what are the imperatives of genuine customer satisfaction and how might we achieve them. READ MORE