Public relations is more than just media relations efforts. There are other tactics and strategies that can be implemented to reach your target audience. Ask a roomful of professionals to define Public Relations and you'll receive a number of different answers, and most of them would be a narrow representation of the entire PR picture. Public Relations is not just publicity, working with journalists, or community events. It is about building relationships with the bottom line to a hotel's balance sheet - its customers. Today, getting the consumer's attention to tell them about your property is not easy. READ MORE

Many of the new condo hotel projects that you have been hearing and reading about are nearing completion and preparing to open for business. The focus of our attention and analysis must now shift from the philosophical foundation of the condo hotel model to the more pressing concern of how to operate the asset in a manner that is consistent with the hopes and expectations of the parties. READ MORE

In the early years in this industry, corporate meetings and conferences were stodgy affairs with limited options in terms of location and capability. Although sites offered room accommodations for large groups, guests had only two choices on the dinner menu. Meeting equipment consisted of an easel and a slide projector, and too frequently, there was a coffee hour that offered more varieties of sweeteners than beverages. Clearly we have come light years when it comes to the depth and variety we offer meeting planners in our meetings, but it is the choice of venues - the meeting site or destination - that has truly made a big impact on the industry. In fact, the excitement, anticipation and expectations that surround a conference are completely contingent on the venue choice. Meeting planners live by this truth. READ MORE

Cicero tells the story how in ancient Syracuse, Damocles gave back the throne to the reigning king when he realized the king had perched above him a sword hanging from a fine thread. Liquidated damages, in some instances, work like the proverbial "Sword of Damocles": hovering above the parties as a threat in case of a breach of contract. While the law in each state differs as to the use and acceptance of liquidated damages, the most widely-used basis for a generic explanation of the concept of liquidated damages comes from the Restatement of the Law: Contract Second... READ MORE

A well-managed restaurant in your hotel can be a terrific source of revenue. After all, a high quality restaurant will keep guests on your property for meals and can even draw non-guests to your hotel for dinner and/or drinks. But competing with other restaurants, lounges and bars in your area may not be as easy as you think. As great as your food, service and location may be, guests are increasingly seeking out exciting venues. Unless your hotel's restaurant is up to date with the latest design trends, you could very well be letting money walk out the door. If you are considering building or renovating your hotel restaurant, there are several ideas to consider. Read on to learn ten important tips that can help guide your project. READ MORE

Making the decision to build a spa involves a substantial capital investment in a business that has unique nuances and is very different from the hotel business. Today, spa is a requirement in most five star properties and is considered an advantage in most four and even three star properties. Ultimately, when investing capital in a project that has the ability to increase the value of the asset, taking the initial steps to define the market research ensures that the size, scope and concept always pay dividends. Learn more. READ MORE

Hospitality managers have paid much attention to the practice of both revenue management and customer loyalty over the last few years. Unfortunately, these managers often come from different departments; and as a result, they often have different goals and different financial targets. For instance, those in marketing are measured by increases in repeat purchase, word of mouth, and satisfaction, while those in revenue management are measured by REVPAR index and yield index. While in an ideal world these goals would be complimentary, this is often not the case. Rather than being a zero sum game, it is a winners take all game, where the win is the incentives that come from reaching specified targets. For example, in one of my executive education classes a sales manager of a large international hotel company told me the following story... READ MORE

According to the Greek philosopher Heraclitus, "The only constant is change." The leisure industry, not unlike other industries, is in a state of constant transition. With change comes risk; the risk associated with entering a new business, and the risk of lost opportunity. As recently as 1978, Nevada was the only state to offer casino gambling. However, significant developments have taken place in the latter half of the 1990's, as the number of states permitting casino gambling increased from one, to 27 by the new millennium. Casinos can now be found on riverboats and in resort locations, perhaps with the most explosive growth occurring on Indian reservations. Not surprisingly, with the expansion of casinos and the popularity of commercial gaming, Nevada was one of the fastest growing states during the second half of the 20th century. READ MORE

I am a marketer. One of my close friends is an accountant. We love to banter back and forth about which function is the most important in a hospitality business. "Marketing, "I declare. "Marketers make the money." "Accounting," my friend counters. "Accountants manage the money." This friendly rivalry has been going on for years with each of us constantly looking for arguments to bolster our respective claims. One day, he is ahead; the next day, I am ahead. While we both know that marketing and accounting are mutually important to any hotel company, we still have a lot of fun playing "one-upmanship." So it was with particular glee that I found the ultimate truth to confirm the fact that marketing rules, the wise Marketing Sage told me. READ MORE

The future of boutique hotels is bright. The traveling public continues to prosper and have growing discretionary dollars. It has demonstrated a strong appetite for experiential travel with an affinity for cities, architecture, and history that helps provide context for their present day reality. Product supply has not appreciably affected demand and increasingly should segment; as cities increasingly create differentiate their core into specific districts each with their own identity, so too will boutique hotels find new homes. As a product type, boutique hotels are becoming institutionalized with associational representation such as the National Trust's Historic Hotels of America. And finally, they are benefiting from an ever successful marriage of energized marketing and design focus on creating experiences. READ MORE

If being in the moment is so important, why can't or don't more of us do it more often? How come our minds keep wandering, we become impatient or angry with the person in front of us, or bored, or any other attitude? These are all a departure from being there comfortably in front of another person and really tracking with what he or she is saying, doing, and needing. Well, 20th Century pill-pushers have most of us convinced that these modern potions and elixirs will fix our wandering attention. Yet every single person I have seen on these legalized drugs or trying to shake their addiction is a mass of random thoughts and introversion that make it very difficult indeed to be in the moment, observing calmly, computing and acting rationally. With 80% of the US population on these drugs and the rest of us beginning to enjoy them in our water supply, I'd say we had one reason people's attention is not always in the moment. READ MORE

"The new year is expected to usher in a flurry of job hopping," announced USA Today. A large staffing firm quantified the percentage of disaffected employees as being "more than half," while a retained search firm put the number at precisely 42 percent. According to the Society for Human Resource Management, 38 percent of HR professionals believe employee turnover is increasing. To date, few if any organizations have seen a mass exodus from their ranks. In truth, talent shortages will begin to catch many employers unaware - but that problem is not across the board, nor will it happen all at once. As is often the case, the devil is in the details. READ MORE

In the fourth quarter, 2006, it was reported at the annual I-SPA convention in Las Vegas Nevada, that spa revenues had officially eclipsed golf revenues as a free standing revenue silo within the leisure and recreation industries. As hoteliers this is not just a red flag but rather a neon sign on The Follow the Money Trail. The depth of the industry continues to evolve. For instance, many spa treatments available at the ubiquitous strip-mall day spa have a comparable cousin offered at the regional resort, the experience enhanced with thicker robes, crown molding in the treatment rooms and more extensive landscaping to view from the pedicure thrones. Further, it is not uncommon to have a variation of either of the aforementioned treatments offered with a medical focus in the local medical spa. READ MORE

Unwittingly, hotels have found themselves amongst the best placed service providers to benefit from the emergence of men as beauty care consumers. Men's attitude towards beauty care has been transformed over the last decade and has fuelled high growth rates in the professional beauty market in that time. Men now account for more than half of salon sales while a fewer years ago they were not even considered as a category. This market has quite literally fallen into salons' laps as it was created mainly by the women who prodded and persuaded the men in their lives to use professional hair and skin care services. READ MORE

According to a recent study, the U.S. lodging industry continues to benefit from double-digit profit growth in 2006. The data suggests that the gross operating profit for the typical U.S. hotel increased 13.1 percent from the first half of 2005 to the first half of 2006. So, how as a hotel manager, can you make the best use of this profit to create greater value for shareholders? One answer is an upgrade to your property's landscape. An attractive landscape with vibrant plants, flowers and trees makes a positive first impression on hotel visitors. High visibility areas like driveways, paths and entrances are a great place to introduce new plant materials and reinforce your hotel brand through color schemes and/or other design elements. READ MORE