Hotel Business Review: Week of Jan 19, 2015

Simon Hudson
  • Guest Service / Customer Experience Mgmt
  • Managing Services Promises
  • By Simon Hudson, Endowed Chair in Tourism and Hospitality, University of South Carolina

  • A major cause of poorly perceived service is the difference between what a firm promises about a service, and what it actually delivers. To avoid broken promises companies must manage all communications to customers, so that inflated promises do not lead to overly high expectations. With hospitality examples from all over the world, this article discusses four strategies that are effective in managing service promises: creating effective services advertising; coordinating external communication; making realistic promises; and offering service guarantees. Read on...

Marco Albarran
  • Guest Service / Customer Experience Mgmt
  • Developing Case Studies of Employee/Guest Encounters
  • By Marco Albarran, Founder & President, Remarkable Hospitality, Inc.

  • Do you ever wonder “how can we find ways that we can train and educate our employees using a continuous approach, which can also be different each time, and challenge our employees to think critically, as well as develop them into caring and solution orientated employees, especially when it comes to resolving issues with guests?” This article will explore the power of how simple, documented case studies, can be used in order to engage employees in such a manner that they will be able to be on their feet, caring, attentive and driven to resolve guest issues. Read on...

Susan Tinnish
  • Human Resources, Recruitment & Training
  • Improving Staff Meetings
  • By Susan Tinnish, Dean, School of Hospitality Management, Kendall College

  • Meetings are an essential part of organizational life; a manager’s ability to run effective meetings is a critical part of business success. And yet business meetings and staff meetings are often viewed with disdain and disregard. This article provides practical tips to enhance meeting skills and breathe new life into meetings. Read on...

Pamela Barnhill
  • Guest Service / Customer Experience Mgmt
  • Finding the Right Balance: Technology vs. Human Touch
  • By Pamela Barnhill, President & COO, IHT and IBC Hotels

  • As independent hotel owner, operator, founder of InnDependent Boutique Collection and entrepreneur, Pamela Barnhill aims to stimulate dialogue about independent hotels. While independents – which by nature have more personality and distinctiveness than corporate hotels – represent half of the world’s lodging stock, Barnhill believes they are underserved. IBC and its corporate sibling, InnSuites Hospitality Trust, aim to expand the branding of independents through marketing and trademark services. In this column, Barnhill shows us why striking the balance between rapidly changing, ever more affordable lodging technology and the human touch that still counts so much is key to an independent hotel’s success. That balance is within reach. Read on...

JANUARY: Mobile Technology: The Relentless Pace of Change Continues

Jon Black

As more and more hospitality marketers have begun to struggle with the omnipotent presence of social data and how it affects their brand, they have begun to question the very issue of branding itself. Only through Omni-channel listening - what some may call data blending – of data of all forms (ie. survey, Social, call-centers, emails, etc.) can we truly understand the volume, sentiment and impact that the voice of the customer has on our continued efforts to drive brand loyalty, guest satisfaction and profits. Read on...

David Hogan

Hilton Worldwide recently announced that it plans on rolling out mobile room keys during 2015 as part of its effort to revolutionize the hotel experience by allowing guests to completely customize their experience through mobile devices. By 2016, hotel guests will be able to check-in and check-out, choose their room and purchase upgrades on a smartphone or tablet. The restaurant and retail industries have already begun using mobile technologies to better service their customers, but the hotel industry has been slower to catch up, with good reason. Read on...

Marc Stephen Shuster

Hotel affiliates hold a myriad amount of customer personal information and a data breach suffered by an affiliate may impact the hotel’s entire brand. One way to mitigate the risk of a data breach is to enter into a joint cyber security defense agreement. Read on...

Ted Horner

Consider these facts: According to Criteo’s Travel Flash Report, the first half of 2014 saw: Mobile bookings on travel websites are growing faster than desktop, at 20 percent versus 2 percent Smartphones and tablets account for 21 percent of hotel bookings In-app bookings account for 12 percent of total mobile bookings made on travel websites Also worth considering is that there are now more than 6.5 billion smart phone in the world today and most people are traveling with up to 3 devices. Read on...

Coming Up In The February Online Hotel Business Review


Feature Focus
Hotel Social Media: Engage, Promote, Personalize and Reward
The evolution of social media continues its rapid advance and integration into hotel operations. No longer condemned by some traditionalists as a "passing fad" or a "nice-to-have" by skeptical accountants, it is now a fully accepted customer engagement touchpoint that must be appropriately funded and professionally managed. And companies can no longer assume that merely having a "social presence" is enough. In order to capture the attention they seek and to achieve the returns on investment they desire, companies have to prove their value to social media users who are educated, empowered, vocal and selective. And the strategies for accomplishing this are diverse and distinct. Reputations need to be monitored and maintained on travel review sites, which are quickly evolving into "real-time" networks. Customer service issues and complaints are more frequently identified and resolved in public social forums. Hotels are obliged to choose which social networks best serve their needs (Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Google Plus or Twitter) and to utilize them to engage, promote, personalize and reward their existing and prospective customers. Video is becoming increasingly popular as a communication tool and therefore must be professionally rendered, and blogging is now an accepted means to promote brand identity and thought leadership. And finally, effective paid advertising and marketing campaigns need to be devised to target potential customers on social media sites. The February Hotel Business Review will examine all these critical issues and explore how some hotels are successfully utilizing social media strategies in their operations.