The mobile eCommerce space in the hotel industry is growing and changing rapidly. With the massive influx of new distribution apps and mobile sites, it is vitally important that hoteliers stay educated and able to make informed decisions about their hotel participating (or not) in these new channels. Hoteliers must be able to take a pragmatic view of both their hotel(s) and these channels, with their specific customer profiles and compensation structures, to determine if they will be able to benefit from their participation. READ MORE

In today's lean hotel industry, managers can't afford to be desk-bound. They need mobile tools that allow them to manage operational issues immediately and efficiently from any location as they engage with guests and staff. Other factors that will drive demand for mobile in 2015 are regulatory compliance and the rise of app-savvy millennials as a key and growing segment of the labor force. The tech world is responding with mobile solutions that promise to transform the way hotels manage their employees while empowering those employees with the tools to better control their own schedules. READ MORE

According to a recent study by Deloitte entitled Hospitality 2015: Game changers or spectators? , mobile applications will be a key area for technological development in the industry over the next year. As more consumers than ever before are equipped with smart phones and tablets to aid in booking travel, hoteliers are finding new ways to interact with guests and build brand awareness via mobile devices. READ MORE

Digital beacons in hospitality continue to guide travelers through an ever-increasing maze of travel challenges. These technologies are ever more deployed in hotels to assist though various stages of the guest-life cycle. Hoteliers are facing challenges as well as opportunities. It is imperative to offer an attractive value-proposition for the guests so that they are encouraged and motivated to engage with such technology-based services. Hoteliers are tasked with utilizing science along with the art of hospitality and determining the best way to engage guests in an era defined by social, mobile, cloud and analytics. No different than the bright lights that guided ships across the ocean in the night, or the radio waves that assisted planes in the sky, digital beacons will guide hotel guests throughout their stay and engage them in a way they will want to return again. READ MORE

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 MORE

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 MORE

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 MORE

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 MORE

I recently overheard my team prioritize “mobile” hospitality over every other guest communication method. I realized that through our association to a physical phone, we had limited our reach and would eventually become irrelevant in the industry. Using the term “mobile” is comparable to using the word “laptop” when attributing benefits of wireless capabilities. The real value lies in what “mobile” can do - the empowerment and choices the technology behind the device offers. Hotels should whole-heartedly actualize mobile technology, but stop picturing the concept as simply investing in a mobile application. What you should be thinking about is, “How do I truly communicate and connect with my guest?” READ MORE

In today's fast-paced world of the hotel industry, guests are demanding that they have the ability to engage on property with their smartphones. What if you knew when a particular guest was arriving as he or she walked in? What if guests had the option to skip the check-in line and go right to their rooms? And what if you could send personalized messages to guests based on their loyalty program data and previous behavior? Beacon technology can now make all of this possible, and it will enable the next generation of guest engagement and a much deeper level of personalized interaction with guests than ever before. With a blend of Bluetooth® Smart and Wi-Fi indoor locationing technologies, hoteliers can provide every guest with the ultimate in personalized service from the moment they walk into the hotel to the moment they walk out. READ MORE

We are living in a native app age. The apps downloaded have become native to our productivity [native apps] leading to have the same impact in today's businesses as websites did in 90's. Surveys have shown that users prefer native apps over mobile apps or websites; according to a survey by Flurry in 2014, “Time spent on a mobile device by the average US consumer has risen to 2 hrs and 42 minutes per day”. As the trends continue, every business is trying to leverage native app technology to their organization's success. READ MORE

The digital customer is not yet fully served by the hotel industry and the opportunity for a hotel to fully leverage mobile to capture this customer has now arrived. In order for a hotel to become truly customer-centric they need to explore how off-property hospitality can address the customer's pain points and enhance the customer's experience by developing engaging mobile apps. In this article we explore how leveraging “Big Data” in a mobile strategy is beneficial but limiting, and why hotels must also leverage the “Small Data” and digital interactions to provide “delight” to customers. READ MORE

The on-property guest experience represents the fourth-screen in digital marketing. Savvy hoteliers recognize the value of providing a Guest Portal in terms of customer service and revenue potential. It is a practical way to push unique content to guests staying at the hotel and visiting the lobby. Managing and pushing content to a Guest Portal is easy and cost efficient. The main benefit to a Guest Portal is an improved experience for guests. Additionally, the hotel will experience a boost in revenues from on-site amenities such as their restaurant, spa and any on-property promotions. Serving the same experience to guests, regardless of whether they have made the booking or are currently staying at the hotel, is not an effective way to communicate with or make your guests happy. By serving a fourth-screen, or Guest Portal experience, any hotel can offer an improved guest experience which in turn leads to higher review ratings, increased guest satisfaction and repeat bookings. READ MORE

Mobile technology has empowered the hospitality industry to connect with and get to know travelers in an entirely new way, and as of recent, mobile features that enable collection of location related data are among the most popular ways to maximize a mobile strategy. This article discusses the specific trend of geo-fencing and how it can improve a brand or hotel's relationship with guests. READ MORE

This year, 106.3 million people will actually book travel online, and a third of them will book via mobile. This is a powerful statistic that will only continue to grow, and it makes total sense. Travel is a completely mobile experience and it should continue to be. Whether it's using your phone to check for directions, researching dining in the neighborhood or even looking up a local telephone number, the mobile device is always by our sides when we're on the move. This, combined with the increasing number of travelers out there who expect more and more from their travel experiences, is why we work in Guest Relationship Management. Marrying these two together to provide the guest with a travel experience that starts as soon as they've booked and goes on well after check-out is what we do and is what's driving growth in the travel industry. READ MORE

As we witnessed different technologies, such as telephones, cameras, and GPSs, converge into one smart mobile device, what did this convergence bring to the hotel industry? The speed of mobile technology penetration is fascinating, and provides important implications for the lodging industry and the society at large. According to the Pew Research Center, by the beginning of 2014 90% of American adults had a cell phone, and 58% of American adults had a smartphone. Moreover, 63% of adults use their mobile devices to go online, and for 34% of them mobile device is a primarily way of accessing the Internet. Cisco estimated that in 2013 mobile data traffic grew by about 80% over the 2012 mobile data usage, and 18 times exceeded the overall web traffic generated in 2000. READ MORE

Your customers' behaviors and expectations are changing -- and, unless you react, this is costing you money. You expect customers to pick up the phone, go and thumb-thru an (perhaps) outdated guest services book. Fewer and fewer customers conform to this behavior. This drives customers to pick up their mobile device and browse for information. And once on their mobile devices, the hotelier loses control over the guest experience. But, now you can fight back READ MORE

What is emerging as the biggest mobile-powered technology opportunity for the hotel industry in 2015? To borrow a phrase from the real estate world, it's "location, location, location." Hotels -- by their very nature - are about location. And location within the context of hotel marketing today is increasingly defined by the mobile device: a smartphone or tablet (and increasingly both) that now always accompany a traveler or guest into a property or resort. Free to email, text, chat, shop, search, snap or even sketch from almost anywhere through their mobile device, today's travelers and hotel guests expect the places they visit - including hotels - to reciprocate. READ MORE

A hotel mobile app can be a powerful tool that impacts your hotel's bottom line and your guest experience, but some hoteliers may have a difficult time understanding just how an app can be applied to their property. In this article, I'll cover the different scenarios for which a hotel app can be used and what I think are the best ways to use a hotel app. I hope to provide you with some great insights and ideas as to how an app can be applied to your property. READ MORE

With the prevalence of smartphones, travelers are increasingly using their mobile devices to not only research and make reservations, but also to book services on the road and to share their experiences. Hoteliers need to examine how they can leverage mobile technologies to reach guests on their chosen platform in order to improve guest experiences before, during and after their stays. In this article, I will discuss new technologies that are enabling smarter engagement between businesses and mobile travelers, and how hoteliers should be thinking about servicing a whole new generation of guests who prefer to engage via their mobile devices. READ MORE