After reading my last column, you've come to accept that Property Improvement Plans (PIPs) are essential for remaining competitive in today's market and keeping your brand flag. Renovating a hotel while keeping it open and keeping guests happy is one of the most difficult tasks in our business. It's as tricky as operating on a battlefield or taking the SAT with the flu. But in today's economic environment it is absolutely necessary. READ MORE

Big data is playing a major role in the hospitality industry, as hotels explore different approaches to conquer the data and gain customer insights. But in reality, it is likely that hoteliers don't know how to mine this data to gain intelligent insights in a sustainable manner.  The main factors hindering a hotel to evolve into an analytic-orientated organization are: a dated operating model made up of disparate systems, silo'd business units, ad hoc manual processes, and a workforce relying more on experience than information. To achieve data analytics nirvana, hoteliers must adopt a phased “crawl, walk, run, zen” approach. READ MORE

As the green movement in the hotel and resort industry continues to blossom, we now find a variety of hotel types that are embracing environmental sustainability in order to reap the substantial benefits that come with it. We have identified several types and subtypes of hotels that have environmental responsibility as a hallmark, including downtown business and leisure hotels, airport hotels, desert resorts, multi-branded hotels, convention hotels, country inns, casino hotels and golf resorts. In this article we will delve into the unique challenges and opportunities that relate to their typology in achieving their environmental goals. READ MORE

For today's global hotel business, the more compelling your content, the more customers and guest loyalty you are likely to see over time. But as hard as your teams work to produce enticing video tours, property descriptions and marketing campaigns, those materials aren't very useful if they don't resonate across your international audience base. For impactful content in every language, you need to localize and adapt your message for each market. The easiest way to do this is by creating content while adhering to globalization standards from the start. It's a practice that can save you a great deal of time and costs, so you can dedicate your efforts toward making a bigger splash in each locale. From avoiding region-specific lingo to separating text from graphics, discover the best things you can do to ensure that translation and localization proceeds much easier and faster. READ MORE

Probably not many know this but the Concierge society in Scandinavia (Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark) has a long and glorious history. In Sweden the Swedish Hall porters Association (SHPF) dates back to 1926 and were for many years also a national union for their members. SHPF were counting more than 200 members in the 60's and 70's. The association was at that time also an important member of UICH Les Clefs d'Or. READ MORE