The World Bank estimates that global urban populations create 1.6 billion tons of solid waste per year, and more than half of that ends up in landfills. A mere fraction is composted or recycled. In the United States, the hospitality industry alone produces 1.9 billion pounds of waste annually. According the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), nearly 30 percent of all food produced in a year is thrown away, while more than 888 million struggle with hunger. That's 1.3 billion tons of uneaten food. And on a daily basis, 2.6 million bars of soap are discarded by the hotel industry in the United States alone according to the Global Soap Project. READ MORE

Success of a marketing campaign is routinely measured by the number of social media impressions it generates as a proxy for engagement. Using social media as a customer feedback to uncover problem areas enables us to move quickly and effectively to resolve them. And, synthesizing this data into reports allows the organization to get a snapshot view of what's happening. But, this is only the tip of the iceberg. Digging deeper into these insights gives us the intelligence needed to make changes in process improvement that will drive customer loyalty and long-term growth. Customer insights teams have been burdened with insights but are not always allowed and encouraged to capture and analyze feedback in creative ways. EFM systems have been installed to quickly identify problems and resolution tactics are formalized. But, learning why customers feel the way they do about their experience is how we as an industry move from impressions toward building customer experience management as a core competency. READ MORE

Vacationers, professionals, and travelers of all kinds are looking for a home away from home, and the landscape surrounding a hotel plays a major part in their appraisal of your property. In the article “Xeriscaping Your Way to Savings,” U.S. Lawns President Ken Hutcheson discusses the growing trend of xeriscaping, and how incorporating slow-growing, drought-tolerant plants help to conserve water and establish a waste-efficient landscape. By xeriscaping at least a portion of your property to a well-planned and well-maintained xeriscape can be advantageous to both the environment and your bottom line; something that can benefit you and your guests. READ MORE

The world has become a smaller place, and jet-setting guests who are savvy enough to travel thousands of miles are adaptive experts at feeling and being their best anywhere, right? No, not quite. There's no app yet for managing the physiological and psychological challenges of hopping continents or time zones - and these challenges, taken together, can burden your guest faster than an expired visa in a customs line. What's it got to do with you? Plenty - you want to make your guest as comfortable as possible, and be able to relate to their health and well-being concerns. Many of these concerns have straightforward, non-medical, effective solutions within your capacity as their host. READ MORE

Do you want to increase the profitability of your business? How about improve the morale of your staff? Build trust in your brand? Even better still, how about all of the above, whilst also enhancing customer satisfaction? Does it sound too good to be true, while it isn't! Believe it or not all of the above can be yours through the simple expedient of delivering really good quality responsible business training to your staff. READ MORE