Too often money spent on marketing is wasted. When marketing is based on conventional wisdom and old assumptions rather than advances in the understanding of consumer behavior, sales suffer and money that could have been spent more wisely goes down the drain. Marketing based on age bracket or generation is blas'e. The current market demands marketing departments pay attention to emotional elements of their potential guests, i.e. how can I afford to take my family on vacation when I might lose my job? Too many marketing departments refuse to take initiatives and think outside of the box and the same 7 mistakes occur again and again, regardless of market conditions. Avoiding the following seven patterns will help your property save money, stay competitive, and enjoy a healthy share of the lucrative family travel business. READ MORE

I would like to suggest that you view your online brand as a reflection of the heart and soul of your organization. The quality of your hotel and the level of service excellence that you deliver in the bricks and mortar world must likewise be mirrored online. I would guess your organization constantly monitors guest satisfaction as it relates to their stay or a visit to one of your restaurants. Can you say the same for your online initiatives? When was the last time you stopped and listened to what your online visitors were thinking? Do you have a way to track their level of satisfaction with your site? Do you know how well you stack up when it comes to delivering on your brand promise compared to other hotels in your sector? Online is no different than offline. You know everything there is to know about your guest's "in-hotel" experience, but I'll bet you don't know everything there to know about their "online experience". READ MORE

Three of the nation's top hospitality brands gathered together recently at the 6th Annual National HR in Hospitality Conference & Expo in San Francisco to share how they have taken a unique approach to building their organizations' talent bench. This highly anticipated session, “Re-Building the Bench: Strategies for Improving Your Organization's Talent Depth,” featured an expert panel of HR executives from Hilton, Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants, and the Denihan Hospitality Group. The panel discussed provided a unique insight as to how these leading brands of varying size and complexity successfully tackle today's current talent challenges, and how they are approaching strategic issues of the future. READ MORE

The search for all levels of hospitality management talent is an excruciating process for many companies. Looking for anyone from Front Line Managers to Chief Operating Officers can be a grueling, time-consuming exercise. There are many opportunities for talented hospitality professionals, yet there are just as many open positions that remain on open position reports for months. In an economy where unemployment has been rampant, how can this phenomenon in the hospitality industry exist? The number of layoffs that occurred in the hospitality industry while a global economic meltdown occurred should have numerous qualified people sitting on the sidelines just waiting for those available opportunities. Yet some of these opportunities were available even at the height of the recession. How too can this be? READ MORE

The impact of social media to hotel operations has gone beyond marketing and communication. This paper outlines the HR challenges created by social media and the Web 2.0 technology under the areas of job analysis and job design, recruitment and selection, training and development, compensation plans, performance appraisals, discipline and retention management, social responsibility, and ethics. Under the influence of social media, there are many emerging HR issues that need hotel executives' attention. Hotels are advised to include HR operations in their comprehensive social media strategy. READ MORE