With so many hotels vying for potential guests' attention, it can be a challenge for your property to stand out in the digital landscape. With technology and consumer behaviour changing at an ever increasing speed, it is easy to lose out to your competitors without the proper resources and knowledge. Digital marketing is becoming increasingly complex, especially for hotels, who now have to think about how to compete for guests in new channels. They also need to be prepared for the emergence of a variety of tablet devices and digital communities that are constantly changing, while managing their core business day-to-day. This article will examine various opportunities for hotels to improve their digital marketing strategy. READ MORE

The evolution from newspapers, brochures, and magazines, to commercial and cable television channels, to PC-based search engines, has shifted consumer reliance to mobile devices. Smartphones, like the iPhone and Android phone, have access to application software capable of altering guest behavior and experiences. Given the explosive evolution of social media channels, mobile services appear to have unparalleled potential for the hospitality industry in that they provide a platform for marketing appropriate goods and services, at a most relevant time. READ MORE

Smart hotel property owners are taking advantage of the growing list of incentives available for energy efficient buildings and upgrades. If you've ever considered installing energy efficiencies, you owe it to yourself to find out what rewards may be available to you through smart tax strategies; local, state and federal incentives and other funding programs such as grant and rebates. Extensive documentation and research from reliable sources is readily available to hotel owners to help ensure that your energy efficient building project has a positive impact on your bottom line along with the environmental impacts. READ MORE

There's one lesson in hospitality marketing you don't want to learn the hard way. Operating and marketing in the new and social media spheres is absolutely essential in hospitality. It's no longer optional and for this reason alone: There's a good chance your greatest competition has a well-established social media presence and a strategy designed to take away business from you. Whether it's appealing to your customers through social networking or undercutting your prices through online distributors, unless you get in the game and get on board with new media, your marketing strategy will prove unsustainable. READ MORE

A spa project within a hotel or resort is very different from a standalone day spa. The latter is a much more challenging investment with low margins and profitability. A spa facility within a hotel or resort on the other hand is indeed a good addition to the facilities that the property offers. It can enhance rooms and catering revenues apart from its own operation. However, this will depend upon the quality of the facility itself and how well the spa is positioned in the market it operates in. Repeat clientele is paramount in a spa business and measures to confirm future bookings before the end of the current treatment session will drive incremental revenues and profits. The wellness of the project can be ensured through a well thought out and executed spa project within the hotel or resort which creates synergies with the facilities that the property has to offer. This is the ultimate strategy that will massage spa profits. READ MORE