The responsibilities of Human Resources are ever-expanding. Rarely does the staffing match the workload, and managers find themselves under constant pressure to meet the demands of their vital role in the organization. No other part of the job is as time-consuming or impactful as the search for - and recruiting of - top managers. As the hospitality industry continues to grow, the pool of available key managers gets smaller, and competition gets fierce. Making things even more difficult is knowing that the best candidates may not even be looking.

The hotels that will win over the next 24 months will be those that introduce the human elements of real-time engagement via the technology. By leveraging the technologies available they will better engage and build relationships with their guests via human connections. Recently Benedict Cummins from HotelExecutive connected with DJ Vallauri, Lodging Interactive's Founder and President, to discuss his vision on human powered websites and why he believes they are the future for the hospitality industry.

There is undoubtedly a sea of limited service hotel options to consider these days, but thanks to the aspirational design of early visionaries such as the Ace Hotel, Standard Hotel and Aloft, accessible pricing no longer has to be in lieu of high design. David Ashen, principal and founder of interior design and brand consulting firm dash design, shares how the very definition of limited service hotels has changed and why all brands should care.

How do we recruit Millennials? How do we motivate them? And how do we keep them from leaving? These three questions about the newest generation in the workplace, the Millennials, are the most commonly asked when I speak to organizations about generational sticking points and how they affect that organization's success. When some managers ask these questions, they want me to give them “six magical techniques” that will help their Millennial employees to “get with the program,” fit into their system, and act like the previous generations.

There is a great tourism story to tell - and it's in Cuba. Why is the Cuban hotel market expanding? What are some of the key strengths in this market? What can we learn about and from Cuban hotel companies? On December 30, 2016, Cuba reached 4,035,557 in tourist arrivals, an increase of 14.5% as compared to 2015, when arrivals reached 3,524,779.

Whether a guest is staying at your hotel for business or pleasure, their first impression can be a lasting one. Even before they walk into your hotel's lobby, they've already started to form their opinion of your hotel - simply by what they saw of your exterior. Did the overall look of the property match the expectations of the guest? That ties into the hotel's brand. Were there any areas that the guest could envision coming back to use on another visit for a different purpose - like a meeting, event, or even a wedding? That speaks to the overall functionality of the space. Was there an attractive mixture of plants in the beds? Were they pruned and maintained nicely, or did they look like they were dying? That's related to the overall aesthetic of the landscape.

Recently RateGain launched OPTIMA... a new online competitiveness and price shopper. The unique rate shopping solution is highly flexible, real time, relevant and simple to use. Powerful in-built algorithms within the interface can deliver insights on both direct and indirect competitor sets of a hotel. Besides, the user friendly, tactical and actionable dashboard delivers a stress-free overall experience. Last week, HotelExecutive, had the opportunity to discuss the new service with Bhanu Chopra, CEO and founder of RateGain...

It's no secret: People today want to spend time in urban cores. They want to live, work, play, travel and experience a city's unique culture. Developers recognize this trend, and they are seeking to develop in these hot urban neighborhoods. As such, in many cities, real estate is limited, prices are going up and developers are thinking outside of the box. This often means old buildings getting new uses, new buildings getting multiple uses, more walkable, pedestrian-oriented projects and other positive changes for our cities. Hotel owners in particular are getting creative. More and more owners are developing dual branded hotels to double offerings on a single property.

Over the past few years, the notion of being "alone together" seems to be influencing just about everything we do. From restaurants to office buildings to hotels, the landscape is changing to accommodate this reality. While we tend to accredit this trend to millennials, the reality is that this is not just a phenomenon for those under 35; it is actually a cultural trend that appeals to almost every demographic. Take restaurants for example, a few years ago only the "cool-kid" establishments were bold enough to have communal seating and now, nearly every McDonald's has a large communal table right next to the ketchup dispenser.

In the early years of my career, before the industry had revenue managers, managing hotel bookings was relatively straightforward and easier to understand. Reservations managers controlled inventory and their main focus was to maximize sellouts. They had only three channels to monitor: the brand's central reservation system; a local reservation system; and group sales. This simplicity had its challenges. For one thing, inventory had to be opened and closed manually. Once at the Sheraton Russell in New York, the reservations manager went on vacation and her fill-in did not follow the correct sequence of key strokes and processes to close out inventory.