Branding. It's a term that carries an image for the guest and means equity for the hotel. Yet few of us really understand how it works. The idea of branding isn't new. In fact, it dates back more than a hundred years to when Ivan Pavlov won a Nobel Prize for his research into branding. Who? Pavlov? Wasn't he the guy with the dog and the bell? Exactly. But what does an old scientist, his dog and a bell have to do with successfully marketing your hotel? In this article, you'll learn how Pavlov's three principles can help you develop a successful branding campaign for your property. READ MORE

Have you evaluated all of the places where your customer interacts with your staff? A recent study I read stated that in a 300-room hotel, there can be up to 5,000 staff-to-customer interactions each day. And that doesn't include the reservations center or your Web site! In this article I discuss how early in my career I realized the importance of experiencing a company's services just like its customers would. READ MORE

Realization: Consumers are thrilled with the prospect of anything over and above poor service. From the gas pump to the ATM, we have lost contact with live, personal service. From restaurants to hotels, we find live people imitating automated systems. Consumers are so desperate for good service that their expectations are at an all-time low. What a great opportunity for your business! READ MORE

It takes a lot of people to make a hotel feel like home for its guests. So it's not surprising that the hospitality industry is a major component of the overall U.S. labor force. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the accommodations and food services industry makes up 8.1 percent of all employment. And Americans aren't abandoning their vacations or business outings anytime soon. The hospitality industry is expected to grow 18 percent and add more than 1.6 million new jobs through 2012, according to BLS data. But while we're in the business of making others feel cared for, the labor market won't be very comfortable for hospitality employers in coming years. READ MORE

The hospitality industry is in the business of making people feel at home when they're away from home. The employees decide whether the guests have a positive or negative experience and, either way, those guests will talk about it. That is why it is so critical that hotels and lodging facilities take measures today to ensure that they have those top performers on staff that will provide guests with an optimum experience and keep them coming back. According to a recent nationwide survey from CareerBuilder.com, nearly six-in-ten hospitality workers say they plan to leave their current jobs in pursuit of better opportunities by the end of 2005. To better understand the impetus behind this wake-up call for employers, let's take a closer look at what factors are driving dissatisfaction with their current positions. READ MORE