Forecasters are predicting a "partly sunny" travel season this summer - and for hotels this means an expected rebound tempered by consumers' worries about their financial stability. What can hotel loyalty program managers do to make the summer season a more successful one? In his latest column, Kobie Marketing's, Bram Hechtkopf, offers some helpful suggestions for driving loyalty and ROI. Engaging members across all their preferred channels and offers of genuine experiences along with points-for-rewards are just a few of the topics discussed in this article. READ MORE

As the relationship between many hotels and their on-site restaurants has become more symbiotic, vigilant hotel operators have increased their monitoring of the public perception of their restaurants. Most use the same measures to combat negative online restaurant reviews as they use to contest adverse online hotel reviews. While online reviews, up to this point, have predominantly been the subjective opinions of individual customers, Yelp will add a more challenging dimension to the monitoring equation when it starts adding government health inspection scores to restaurants' profiles. This article will explore the new can of worms Yelp is opening for hoteliers with on-site restaurants, and the various steps that can be taken to contain this impending threat. READ MORE

The semantic web has been talked about for some time, and it will be here sooner than we expect. The hospitality industry needs to learn about this and how it affects their business, before they are left behind as with all recent web developments. It is important for us to understand what semantic web is and what it means to your hotel business; how semantic web can help your business; how it helps you understand your customers and your business expression. Get there before your competitor does. READ MORE

It is not exactly a revelation that hotel owners and operators are always looking to drive sales, increase operational efficiencies and maximize revenue. For all but the best hotel management companies, however, the proverbial pot of revenue gold at the end of the rainbow can sometimes be elusive. At a time when many hotel management companies are engaged in or have recently completed meetings with their sales teams—dissecting performances, evaluating accomplishments, and reviewing goals for the coming year and beyond—this might be an appropriate time to look at some of the specific strategies and techniques that hotel professionals can use to achieve those goals. READ MORE

In less than three years' time, Gen Y will represent 50 percent of the workforce. In fact in many hotels, this is already the case. The following tips on generation maximization will help your organization make dollars and sense out of the group of employees who are shaking things up rather nicely. READ MORE

The combined development principles of two prominent trends in the hotel resort industry, the eco-resort and the urban-resort, has resulted in a new ecologically conscious hotel sub-type: the Eco-Urban Resort. Lawrence Adams, AIA, Vice President of ForrestPerkins and co-author of the recently released Hotel Design; Planning and Development, discusses how the application of green technology and practices has moved from far-flung eco-resorts to inner city hotels. The attraction that guests feel to vacation while promoting environmental responsibility is now being supported for those who choose to vacation at urban resorts and seek the amenities afforded by those lodgings while contributing to the health of our planet. READ MORE

As we all know by now, everything changes pretty much every nanosecond, and the scriptures from multiple past and present resources verify that everything is in constant motion, at all times. The industry of health and wellness is very much consumed by change these days in order to keep track and adapt to this changing environment, and it seems like that it is currently only reacting to the exterior demands of larger companies and individual investors, instead of setting a mark for the far and distant future. READ MORE

I receive lots of questions from my clients about the best practices in social media. Because social media is constantly evolving - both in the expectations of users and the number of networks available - it's an exciting job, but one that can also be quite confusing for marketers. So I went to the source, Whitney Manson, a social media expert from Bows, Boots, & Blue, to get answers to the most commonly asked questions about how to use social media to promote a hotel or hospitality business. READ MORE

As customers, we are bombarded with thousands of messages every day across various traditional, digital and social media channels. As employees, we have been asked to do more with less and to do so more quickly. In such an environment, the task of onboarding and effectively educating new employees is an even greater challenge due to this ever-increasing competition for attention, engagement and ongoing loyalty. To navigate this complex path, loyalty programs, B-to-B brands and even employee engagement strategists are increasingly relying on "gamification" strategies to create more meaningful, interactive experiences with their participants. Considering brand experiences succeed or fail at the very hands of the people who interact with these valued customers, there is an opportunity to leverage these same strategies as a component of internal employee training endeavors. READ MORE

Like many hotels, we are in the midst of creating our coming year's marketing plan and discussing our long term plans. The addition of a Social Media Manager is high on the marketing department's wish list and our discussion has centered around what the ideal candidate should look like. Is this a position at all or a third-party company contracted to manage these platforms on our behalf? Hands down, the most heated debate involves whether this will be a senior or junior position. With the increase in popular platforms, handling social media is getting harder within the confines of our regular job roles, that is a glaringly obvious fact. READ MORE

“A hotel without its employees is nothing more than a building with beds,” states Niki Leondakis, president and COO of Kimpton Hotels. That's why it's so critical to retain the employees who make your guests feel like they have come home. Here's what you can do to make a lasting connection with those who matter—your employees. READ MORE

Pinterest recently updated their social network with Place Pins, which add a new layer of rich interactivity to location-based pins. Historically, Pinterest has been a great place to explore products and craft ideas. Upon noticing that many users shared travel photos as well, Pinterest developed Place Pins as a way to give users more context about the photos they're viewing. With this release, hoteliers can finally take full advantage of Pinterest's 70+ million users, at last making Pinterest a viable marketing solution that can rival Twitter and Facebook at driving new guests to your website and booking engine. READ MORE

Under the eye of storm for a while, Rate Parity has become one of the biggest challenges for hoteliers today. Is it just another headache or will it turn out to be the primary influencer when it comes to online sales? Is rate parity restricting your ability to maximize your revenues or presenting an opportunity to go for fairer Net Based Parity. With the recent UK Office of Fair Trade's ruling, hotel industry is debating whether this finally brings the death nail for parity as we know it. But does end of parity going means end of worry for hoteliers? Let's explore the ongoing debate over rate parity and what it means for the hotel industry. READ MORE

The Affordable Care Act began its official rollout on October 1, 2013, and with it a whole new set of regulations was added to an already complex system, effectively making a do-it-yourself approach no longer feasible, even for an independent hotelier. However, while having to outsource payroll is becoming a must, hoteliers must be careful about which provider they choose, because not every payroll or accounting software provider is able to offer the expertise, support and understanding of the complexities associated with the unique employee needs of the hospitality industry. READ MORE

After reading my last column, you've come to accept that Property Improvement Plans (PIPs) are essential for remaining competitive in today's market and keeping your brand flag. Renovating a hotel while keeping it open and keeping guests happy is one of the most difficult tasks in our business. It's as tricky as operating on a battlefield or taking the SAT with the flu. But in today's economic environment it is absolutely necessary. READ MORE

Big data is playing a major role in the hospitality industry, as hotels explore different approaches to conquer the data and gain customer insights. But in reality, it is likely that hoteliers don't know how to mine this data to gain intelligent insights in a sustainable manner.  The main factors hindering a hotel to evolve into an analytic-orientated organization are: a dated operating model made up of disparate systems, silo'd business units, ad hoc manual processes, and a workforce relying more on experience than information. To achieve data analytics nirvana, hoteliers must adopt a phased “crawl, walk, run, zen” approach. READ MORE

As the green movement in the hotel and resort industry continues to blossom, we now find a variety of hotel types that are embracing environmental sustainability in order to reap the substantial benefits that come with it. We have identified several types and subtypes of hotels that have environmental responsibility as a hallmark, including downtown business and leisure hotels, airport hotels, desert resorts, multi-branded hotels, convention hotels, country inns, casino hotels and golf resorts. In this article we will delve into the unique challenges and opportunities that relate to their typology in achieving their environmental goals. READ MORE

For today's global hotel business, the more compelling your content, the more customers and guest loyalty you are likely to see over time. But as hard as your teams work to produce enticing video tours, property descriptions and marketing campaigns, those materials aren't very useful if they don't resonate across your international audience base. For impactful content in every language, you need to localize and adapt your message for each market. The easiest way to do this is by creating content while adhering to globalization standards from the start. It's a practice that can save you a great deal of time and costs, so you can dedicate your efforts toward making a bigger splash in each locale. From avoiding region-specific lingo to separating text from graphics, discover the best things you can do to ensure that translation and localization proceeds much easier and faster. READ MORE

While we many not think of restaurants much beyond our hotel's coffee shop or dining room, or even our favorite neighborhood grille or pizza place, the fact remains that, collectively, eateries are a bellwether of consumer and marketing trends. By watching what is happening in this industry, we can gauge what our guests will be looking for from us. In this article, you'll see how restaurants can give you a heads-up as to what will be driving your guests and potential guests and how you can bend your marketing around these trends. READ MORE