On June 28, the Supreme Court settled the debate looming over the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act, upholding the individual mandate scheduled to go into effect in 2014. Since enacted on March 23, 2010, the Act continues to phase-in significant reforms many of which impose requirements affecting employers. Although legislative attempts and political discussions continue to swirl for repeal of the Act, the time-line for full implementation of the Act continues. Businesses, including those in the hospitality industry, should be in compliance with those provisions that have gone into effect and ready for those remaining to be phased-in. READ MORE

There are varying degrees of maturity in Strategic Meetings Management (SMM) hotel contracting and inevitably, most hoteliers want to learn how to avoid the onerous contract negotiations in these environments. Even in a seller's market, the Buyer wants to be in the driver's seat of racing down the road of terms and conditions. When meeting/event contracting is integrated with transient travel contracting, the process penitentiary causes confinement for months with legal beagles shredding their opponent's side of the contract. When hoteliers understand the SMM Hotel Contracting Maturity Model© and how it affects their negotiation strategies, then the hotel can author terms that satisfy their clients and increase the chain's revenue. READ MORE

This article will analyze the extent to which green policy has had an impact on MICE bookings. It will go into further detail on the type of hotel conference center trends the two chosen member properties have seen for 2013, whether or not the current economic climate has affected the hotels' green policy investment and which markets are most receptive to green policy. READ MORE

The corporate meetings segment has become an increasingly perplexing market that still dictates the success or failure of many new and established hotels. Gone are the conference travel norms of yesteryear; today, this segment is made up of a diverse group of consumers who can no longer be defined as one homogenous population. In addition, the lines between business and leisure are becoming increasingly blurred, due to the current economic climate. Taking all this into consideration, hotels can no longer attract meeting planners with simple cookie-cutter products that are delivered in an uninspired format. READ MORE

The world's hotels play a key role in supporting the success of the group meetings industry. Without enough meeting and networking space in town and sufficient rooms for people to rest after a long day of business, large and small meetings would be unable to operate effectively. So what's ahead for 2013 and beyond for hotels that want to begin or expand their group meetings business? How can you, as an hotelier, increase your value proposition? As Germany is the #1 associations group meeting destination in Europe and #2 globally, I'd like to offer some trends we've seen here that are applicable for hotels of all shapes and sizes…all around the world. READ MORE