At first blush one would think that a hotel marketing plan would equally benefit the owner of the specific hotel and the brand under which the Owner's Hotel is operated. Clearly, marketing the owner's hotel and marketing the brand benefit both the owner and the brand. However, upon closer investigation, the owner's interests and the brand's interests are quite different when it comes to “getting the word out” and marketing. Our article in this week's Hotel Business Review, " Getting the Word Out - It's all about Marketing - The Interplay between Owner's and Brand's Priorities" will delve into the commonalities and the tension between owner and brand in the marketing arena. READ MORE

In my last article we took a look at the trends evolving in the online review space in terms of review volume, management responses and the like. There were some interesting points drawn from the data and key takeaways for hoteliers on what they might expect moving forward (declining review volume if you sit back without a strategy to collect them, fewer five-star reviews, management responses are on the rise, etc.). This time around we have taken a deeper dive into what comments stand out in reviews; for better or for worse. These “Rants & Raves,” as we call them, can be a rich roadmap to informing your strategy, doing more of what resonates well and addressing the most common complaints. Seems like common sense, but as they say, common sense is not so common. READ MORE

The general mood among hotel marketers is that social media is past its prime. It had its heyday a few years ago, but has proven itself to not be a valuable marketing channel. It's understandable why some might feel that way, as it is hard to get social media to work well for your hotel. In fact, most hotels fail at social media, and get little traffic or bookings from social media. That said, there is plenty of opportunity in social media that fails to convert due to strategy and execution, rather than the nature of social media. READ MORE

While Facebook and Twitter are two of the top channels for social networking, new (and arguably, more innovative) social networking sites are launched every day that offer hotel marketers even more ways to connect with customers. This article will teach hoteliers about four additional channels that they should add into their social media marketing strategy today in order to achieve the highest ROI on their efforts. READ MORE

Excellent guest service is not about the big, bright smile, it is about the knowledge and the experience of the person providing the guest service. It is also about knowing how and where to draw help from, when in need of assistance from another colleague. This knowledge and experience is not written in any of the university books, but it is passed-on, and given to each of us by professional and experienced mentors, who in turn have been students previously. In order to preserve and/or to enhance the reputation and future growth of the industry it is also of utmost importance to preserve the knowledge and experience of service by heart, not by numbers. READ MORE