Who do you work for? It might not be who you think. In fact, who you think you work for might actually work for you. Hierarchies and the good 'ole chain of command aren't gone, they're just better understood. I'm not saying your Human Resources department is useless (mainly because the Legal Department won't let me) rather, I'm simply proposing that the Human Resources department is unnecessary. Just think about all the time we'd save writing job descriptions and interviewing unqualified candidates if every team member at your hotel knew what they had to do. And, they did it happily. If you work in, near or around a hospitality venue, this is your job description: Everyone works for the guest or someone who is and, yes, that means you. READ MORE

Maintaining excellent guest relations is a vital way to boost customer loyalty and brand recognition. But often this practice is watered down to niceties and small talk with guests, and nothing to really spark a genuine connection. To propel these relationships to the point where consumers will actually form an emotional bond with a hotel, the concept of guest mentorship can act as a precision tool. In essence, it involves taking on the role of teacher in order to satisfy guests' inner desires for meaningful life experiences. READ MORE

In the hospitality industry, getting heads in beds is directly related to guest satisfaction - one of the foremost services focused on to generate revenue and high return rates. From the moment a guest inquires about a potential visit, whether online or by phone, staff need to be on point and equipped with the proper information to answer any and all incoming questions. Furthermore, the hotel industry cannot afford to lose engagement with guests while on property or following their visit because of the large competition and desire for brand and experience loyalty. READ MORE

In a highly competitive and increasingly commoditized environment, many hoteliers feel that delivering a more personalized guest experience will be the differentiator, and recent research backs up this claim. With more guest data available than ever before, and the emerging technologies to capture, comprehend and act on that data, this vision is coming close to reality. The hotel company that is able to turn all of the data about guests and operations into improvements in the guest experience will win. Revenue management and pricing has a key role in this initiative, ensuring that personalization is delivered profitably. READ MORE

The dynamics of hotel pricing has always been a classic case of cat & mouse game - where the hoteliers have to balance the see-saw every minute on several factors. How do you balance the see-saw of high season vs. low season, an exorbitant rate vs. customer loyalty, price optimization vs. revenue optimization, inventories vs. competitive pricing? Hotel pricing has always been a never ending roulette for an hotelier. It is increasingly clear that hotel industry is moving towards Dynamic Pricing as hoteliers can now assess online rate performance and see how they can change their prices more frequently to increase revenue, all thanks to the competitive benchmarking tools available in the marketplace. The question that requires more discussion though is how should a hotel respond to unusual events in town? READ MORE