To gain a stronghold on the competition front, one of the most impactful areas you can spend budget on is localization—adapting your hotel brand's identity and your myriad offerings to new international markets. This requires tailoring your hotel marketing campaigns and other forms of messaging to different cultures in such a way that they resonate just as strongly in your target regions. How do you know which areas of localization you should pursue first? And how can you develop a localization strategy to help ensure a smooth experience? This article will provide guidance on localization initiatives that tend to provide the highest returns from a competitive standpoint, in addition to more general advice on setting up a localization strategy. READ MORE

Ritz-Carlton is known worldwide as a leader in customer service. Its quaintly old-fashioned credo is 'we are ladies and gentleman serving ladies and gentlemen'. But how does this translate to a remote island in the South China Sea? This article looks at the Ritz-Carlton Sanya on Hainan Island and focuses on General Manager Michel Goget's efforts to keep the hotel at the number one position on the island. Training is key, but the hotel's policy is to do considerable groundwork before the guests' arrival - even to the extent of providing a 'romanceologist' to orchestrate romantic evenings, proposals and engagements to create the perfect environment for couples. READ MORE

The U.S. lodging industry is well into its fourth year of recovery from the great recession of 2009. One of the pleasant surprises of the current recovery has been the very strong return of lodging demand. From 2009 to 2012, Smith Travel Research (STR) reports that the total accommodated room nights at U.S. hotels has increased by 15.5 percent, the greatest three-year increase in demand observed in the past 25 years. READ MORE

Many convention trends and factors are shaping today's meeting industry. No one can say what will happen for certain in the future of the industry, but it is important to be aware of, monitor and analyze key trends happening all around us. With uncertainty in the economy, multiple generations, shorter booking windows, advances in technology and changes in the way we communicate, hoteliers and meeting professionals will need to revisit Charles Darwin's reference to the “survival of the fittest” by adapting to the trends that are impacting the industry. READ MORE

This article will analyze the extent to which pricing has changed within the meeting and events market. It will go into further detail on the type of trends the hotels' have seen in relation to this subject as well as what they have been doing to invest in new technologies to respond to this aspect of today's competitive marketplace. READ MORE