As a hotelier, what is your best investment on "customer retention insurance." Last year at this time, your answer might have been easy - the latest and greatest in design, FF&E and amenities. In light of the current economic climate, however, the answers have changed and the currency required to pay these insurance premiums aren't in euros, dollars or yen. The currency is commitment, in flesh & blood. Investing in your people is the best customer retention insurance there is - in good times and bad - and my article discusses some ways to focus on turning your people into active, engaged partners in the ongoing battle to serve guests and make sure they keep coming back. READ MORE

There is no more important time than now to make sure that your rate distribution and online experience is understandable, uses good imagery and the descriptive terminology speaks to your target audience. Too many hotels use poor images on their booking engines and tend to create rate and room type copy as if they were selling to hoteliers and not to the general public. Look at your online presence from the guest's point of view. Are you really selling yourself the right way online? READ MORE

Intensifying competition, the proliferation of video and changing travel shopper behavior are a few key drivers encouraging hotel owners and marketers to rethink their existing approaches to online revenue generating activities. Put yourself in the shoes of an active online travel shopper looking to book a hotel in downtown New York for a weekend getaway with friends. As you search the Internet for hotels that meet your buying criteria - price point, room size, amenities, proximity to attractions, shopping and nightlife, you find several comparable hotels and struggle to choose the "right one." What is it that motivates you to choose one hotel over the others? READ MORE

Customer Relationship Marketing more or less evolved from a long line of existing initiatives. It predominantly grew out of database marketing in the early 1980's, most notably with American Airlines' introduction of the landmark AAdvantage frequent flyer program (which ironically itself was somewhat of an evolution of the cultural phenomenon that was S&H Green Stamps) and was quickly followed in the hospitality industry just a few years later by Holiday Inn and Marriott. READ MORE

Because searching for the perfect vacation is not an every day affair, hotels are engaged in a continuous battle to retain customer mindshare both when they are and - perhaps most importantly - when they are not actively seeking to travel. While price is an important facet to the hotelier's marketing effectiveness, it is not one that companies can really hang their hat on. On the Internet, competitors are only a click away and, according to a recent Forrester Research survey, many internet retailers are addressing this challenge by making customer service a priority by investing in live customer service solutions (33 percent) and streamlining their guest checkout process (53 percent) within the next year. READ MORE