With the advancements in digital media, it has become increasingly more important to become hyper targeted with your marketing strategy. This includes better targeting your audience segments and tailoring the messages and campaigns specifically to them, their culture, their interests and better yet their native language. Multicultural marketing campaigns that target specific demographics with a culturally relevant and on point message, yield high rates of return for hoteliers. The present multicultural market has been growing leaps and bounds and is quickly evolving into a new type of customer-influencing mainstream culture, especially within the travel and leisure segment. Members of this market are younger, more acculturated, more tech-savvy and most importantly, have tremendous buying power that offers hoteliers significant growth opportunity that cannot be ignored. They are utilizing mainstream media, social media and mobile devices more than the general market. Multicultural consumers are the new mainstream and the use of traditional marketing methods alone is no longer sufficient to reach them and make the necessary impressions that will drive increased bookings. READ MORE

Given the strength of the hospitality sector today, many hotel owners and developers are starting to see the value of their assets start to increase. Just as values are beginning to appreciate, however, numerous developers, who previously financed their projects through Commercial Mortgage-Backed Security (“CMBS”) loans will likely be facing a significant dilemma as those loans mature over the coming years. The pundits say that we will see a wave of CMBS loan maturities in the next 2 to 5 years. With many of these loans having been originated prior to the real-estate bubble bursting, however, many will not qualify for refinancing due to the decline in the value of the collateral securing the loan. The authors discuss this impending dilemma, and the options that should be considered by borrowers that find themselves unable to refinance. READ MORE

Consumers are shifting to using their mobile devices to call hotels and travel destinations to book due to the amount of friction in the booking process. Consumers are finding it easier to call to book rather than trying to use their cell phone's mobile booking applications, to search for the accommodations they desire and punch in their credit card information. The measurability of mobile bookings gives the hotelier the opportunity to build a relationship with the consumer by having a human voice connect with them. READ MORE

As all businesses, systems and humanity in general are in the midst of a radical and thorough wake-up call and overhaul, it is again time to speak and write about the inclusiveness of the wellness & spa industry within a hotel and resort environment, in order to create a sustainable enterprise. There is a system recovery happening right now and it will clear, delete and destroy everything which will not be compatible to the future business environment. As we all live in a time of transformation, the wellness education should be viewed as an extension and enhancement to the overall hotel operation and not just be pushed aside or be limited to a mere massage parlor. READ MORE

Hotels in many locations have adopted sustainable practices, and many have achieved certification through such programs as ISO 14001 and U.S. Energy Star. At the same time, some industry practitioners remain concerned about the cost and market acceptance of sustainable practices. Researchers investigating these issues have found that guests are, on balance, responding favorably to hotels' sustainability practices—albeit not always by paying higher room rates—and certain aspects of sustainability certification are beneficial for hotel operation and finances. In particular, ISO 14001 certification has been found to be useful as a tool that improves hotel efficiency. READ MORE