People are often referred to as a business's most valued asset and in the hotel industry more than any your team can make or break the customers' experience. They are certainly also one of your biggest overheads. Are you doing everything you can to gain their commitment to delivering outstanding customer service?

There's great news for hoteliers that have been struggling with their millennial employees. Help is on the way! No, the Millennials have not had some great revelation that what they believed they were entitled to was not realistic. That would be more than any of us could hope for. Instead, it is their successors that bring the great news... Generation Z is on the way! Defined (by some, including us) as people born 1995 or later, this new generation, most assuredly, has a mind of its own. They promise to be a welcome respite from the Millennials, often called Generation Y, especially outside of the United States. These folks are now 20 years of age and older and a few are already in the workforce.

Change is hard. It is a fact. People are averse to having to do things differently and are slow to adapt to change. But we must evolve to move forward. Change on an organizational level is even more complex. Nowhere is this more evident than in the operational implementation of social media at hotel properties. Learn five things your hotel can be doing to implement social media into operations.

Content marketing and social media have become the new standard in customer engagement. With consumers spending more time than ever on social sites and giving inbox access in return for special offers and gated content, organizations have the ability to engage customers and prospects with a level of intimacy never before seen. However, with every organization jumping headfirst into social and content, extra care must be taken to build trust and respect to ensure long-term customer engagement.

Be wary of artificial intelligence, which replaces authentic human interaction. Ensure they are a team! Inspire wonderful guest experiences along with new technologies and innovations by training employees to rush guests to the ER-Emotional Recovery when needed. There are only seconds to save service moment 'lives'. Operate with emotional efficiency and create even healthier guest loyalty and bottom lines!

Today's hotelier has a world of opportunities available to help them increase direct online bookings and revenues. Technology developments such as Responsive Website Design, Dynamic Content Personalization, Dynamic Rate Marketing, Reservation Abandonment Prevention techniques and more mean that as an industry we are not only more effectively reaching our target segments, we are improving the user experience and conversions on our websites. Yet with all this opportunity there comes a sense of confusion on where to begin, and reaching the guest throughout their travel research and purchasing journey can feel like an insurmountable task.

Chances are you've got some pretty robust forecasting software and resources at play to ensure the success of your hotel operation. Chances are you read up on industry trends and attend key trade conferences. Chances are you create detailed plans and objectives from these reconnaissance missions. You do the same for your internet marketing strategies, right? From my experience in the business, hoteliers fire up a website, get a few ads going with Google, partner a bit with some OTAs, throw a few social media posts or blogs around and call it a day. You may have had success with this in the past, but this may come to a screeching halt based on some internet marketing trends I've been watching. The good news is that if you stay informed and responsive, you'll be that much further ahead of your competition.

The key to creating the most desirable guest experience, with the best possible reviews for your hotel, is by targeting the right guest for your hotel. Marketing your hotel and deciding where to allocate your limited marketing dollars is arguably the most critical challenge that hoteliers face. Where is the best outlet to invest your marketing dollars? How much should you put in each avenue? How long should it take to see meaningful results? What will be your return on investment? These are all important questions that you must ask yourself as you prepare your budget for the next year.

Lubicom Marketing & Consulting estimates that there are over 5 million consumers who observe kosher dietary law in the United States and values this growing kosher market at $12.5 billion. This audience is celebrating birthdays, anniversaries, weddings, special holidays, meeting and conventions, and more importantly, they are willing to spend in order to ensure an authentic and memorable kosher culinary experience. For instance, the average bar/bat mitzvah can cost between $35,000 to $70,000 and some can cost thousands more while a kosher wedding can cost a minimum $250 per person. These specialized gatherings are an excellent incremental revenue driver and profit generator for value dates and, therefore, it is advantageous for luxury and upscale hoteliers to examine how they can attract and grow this niche kosher market.

It's no secret the Chinese market can be complicated to navigate. From language, to cultural distinctions, global brands have their work cut out for them. IHG has launched several China-ready initiatives designed to capture both in- and outbound Chinese travelers, prepare our hotels to secure this segment, up-skill our sales-force and most importantly, enable our corporate customers to navigate this emerging market.