While the general public focuses on football, Thanksgiving, Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Christmas, Hanukkah and a host of other traditions that occur between Thanksgiving and New Years, those in the hospitality industry know the season for something different: a dramatic uptick in travel. In fact, “uptick” may be the wrong word. “Tidal wave” may be more appropriate. While the media will inevitably report that “the day before Thanksgiving is the busiest day of the year for air travel,” this ignores the aftermath of people getting off their plane at their destination. This year, according to Orbitz, more than seven in ten Americans will travel for the holidays, meaning that across the US, folks in our industry will get to fire up the “no vacancy” lights. READ MORE

For hotels, driving direct bookings is more critical than ever before. With Expedia's acquisition of Orbitz earlier this year, Expedia and Priceline now own 94 percent of the online travel agency (OTA) market in the United States, according to Phocuswright data. Additionally, Google and TripAdvisor, two of the top online sources of travel inspiration, have released OTA-like features that will surely disrupt the market further. What does this mean for hotels? Hotels rely on OTAs to acquire new customers. The latest OTA consolidation means there is less competition. This, on top of the release of Book on Google and TripAdvisor Instant Booking, may result in fewer direct bookings and higher commission fees for hotels. READ MORE

There's a lot more to building a new product than just the technical aspect. Sure, you've got to have excellent design and execution, whether we're talking about blue jeans or cloud-based software solutions. Before you get to that stage, though, there's some important soul-searching that needs to happen. Approaching the planning stages with a healthy dose of critical thinking and honesty leads to the best product possible. And that's what everybody wants, from the business to the consumer. READ MORE

As hotel asset managers, we ask a lot of questions. Separating the average asset managers from the indispensable ones, is the ability to ask the right questions. What are the right questions, you ask? The right questions do a number of things…for one, they challenge the status quo, shake things up and really make people think - why are we doing it this way, how else might this be done, is it working and what should we change? Questions should also evoke discussion about where you are today, but more importantly where you want to be in the future and how to get there. READ MORE

After beginning a process of integration more than a year ago, Aqua Hospitality and Aston Hotels & Resorts rebranded this year as Aqua-Aston Hospitality. In addition to the new name, the group - which manages more than 50 properties across Hawaii and the U.S. mainland - also unveiled a new look, and further distinguished what its five hotel brands offer travel partners and consumers. The result: one of Hawaii's leading hotel management groups is in a stronger position to achieve sustainable growth through strategic revenue management. READ MORE