The uniqueness of your hotel’s offerings helps your property stand out in a crowded hospitality marketplace but could result in additional headaches when considering the best way to dispose of these goods. Hotel guests adore the varied accoutrements offered by accommodations big and small around the globe. But keeping an edge on in-room swag results in other considerations and complications—even when it comes time to trash the discarded leftovers. What are the most cost-effective, efficient and environmentally friendly practices when recycling amenity items guests leave behind? Here are 10 of the best ways to recycle. READ MORE

Sales professionals have the word "conversion" constantly ringing in their head because it is how we are measured, rated, and judged. If you say you converted 10 programs, the value is unequivocally higher than saying you got 100 or even 1,000 leads that led to nowhere. The word conversion not only brings healthy pressure to sales professionals but also is the key to longevity in the industry – or, perhaps, the key to standing out if your resume is filled with multiple short-term career moves. I believe site inspections and negotiations are the winning combination to conversion. Read on to see if you agree. READ MORE

The technology revolution is here, and event professionals have adapted to better utilize the tools available in order to enhance their event planning processes. These changes have also impacted the event professional and hotelier partnership. For hoteliers keeping pace with this move to digital, it is a great opportunity to grow group business. Technology is helping to drive greater transparency, offers more streamlined communication, and supports more targeted marketing opportunities. Those who are able to put technology to work will be best positioned to strengthen their planner relationships and grow their group business. READ MORE

We seem to be exposed to technology at every waking moment; whether at work, home, while traveling or in transitory periods in between. The question looms: what is essential for our need to communicate, learn, expand our trajectory and remain current? With webinars, trainings at work, newsletters beckoning us to open and schedule time, how important is it for us to attend conferences that require time, travel and expense. Do these events still have an impact? Are they worthy of our time? How does the design, format and conference offering impede or influence our decision to attend such events? READ MORE

Native advertising is not a fresh idea in the marketing space today. Native search however, may be. Native search is the search functionality inside different platforms or websites. It is used for top-of-the-funnel initiatives, often with the goal of increasing brand awareness. In this piece, I will explore what native advertising and native search is, as well as why every hotel brand should invest in it today. From enhancing the user experience, to generating a new revenue stream, to bidding on other hotel brand’s sites as a new traffic source, brands that invest in native search will see unparalleled results. READ MORE