There's no denying that in the past several years there's been a noticeable rise in hotel brands. Soft brands with distinctive features and unusual offerings have grown, especially, in popularity, perhaps because they so neatly straddle that cumbersome divide between the unusual characteristics of boutique locations and the broad-scale offerings of mega-franchises. As industry notable Stacy Shoemaker Rauen recently said during dash design's debut dashChat podcast, people are excited to see something new and different. They want to be a part of something that shakes things up and draws them in, all of which leaves full-scale hotels that don't elevate their game or have a specific point of view in a precarious position, even while an abundance of brand tiers can be confusing to some. READ MORE

Developing a positioning strategy may seem like a daunting task. After all, there are countless how-to books written about it. Industry magazines are awash with articles about how this hotel did it or that hotel did it. And then there are the presentations at industry conferences, corporate meetings, seminars, webinars, ad infinitum. Not to mention the many consultants out there. All of these sources are valuable and can provide significant insights into marketing your hotel. But the sheer numbers of resources that are available make the whole thing seem mind boggling and complicated. It's not. It's not because there are basically four - and only four -- positioning strategies any hotel can adopt. Think of them as your marketing's Four Strategic Aces. In this article, you'll read about the four different strategies and why your hotel should adopt only one. READ MORE

There appears to be an inevitable collision between two titans. Traditional segment based RM, which is not currently structured to consider each individual customer's background and both their tactical value and lifetime value, currently does not work with the new breed of customer centric customer triggered one to one personalized marketing. Today an unknown customer usually gets the same price and availability as a known customer. This article will propose a solution that should be acceptable to both of these titans - where they will actually work together. Both pricing and availability can be more personalized without changing existing RM systems. READ MORE

It is no secret that revenue management is facing a talent shortage. Current revenue management practice requires a focus on managing the profitability of all of a hotel's revenue streams, and hotel companies are looking for emerging revenue managers who have the skill set required to meet that challenge. There is a growing concern that hotel schools do not make the cut in terms of graduating students who are prepared for the demands of this new era in revenue management... READ MORE

The hotel business can be mired in the way things have always been done. Hotel managers input data into spreadsheets without analysis, information from different business areas isn't centralized, and hotel owners only address problems once they become chronic. Decisions are made without rigorous data to back them up, and a stagnant mentality can prevail. It doesn't have to be that way—and in our company it isn't. When we founded NVN Hotels 10 years ago, our intent was to challenge the status quo. By coupling a data-driven approach with guiding principles that empower employees to have ownership and enact change, we've created a culture that expects and rewards excellence, which ultimately increases revenues and propels growth. READ MORE