The relationship between a hotel owner and its operator is on one level a cooperative one, with the parties working together to maximize value for the owner's hotel and the operator's brand. However, close examination of the relationship reveals the inherent tension between the parties, as the owner seeks to maximize its net return on investment in the bricks and mortar and the operating business that it is acquiring or developing, and the operator seeks to maximize its profit from revenue-based fees and sundry charges while at the same time protecting and enhancing its brand reputation. READ MORE

Sense of Place has become one of marketing's more recent hot buzzwords. It's been used to promote everything from a national park to a housing development. And, yes, it is also used to promote hotel bookings. The truth, however, is that we can't really define the phrase so we don't really know how to leverage it effectively. Trying to define it is akin to what Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart said in his 1964 test for obscenity, "I shall not today attempt further to define [it]…and perhaps I could never succeed in intelligibly doing so, but I know it when I see it…" In this article, you'll read about the three keys to making sure your hotel has a sense of place, not placeness. READ MORE

This aricle is an overview of a six-month financial leadership project that I recently completed at a full-service hotel. The project consisted of six half-day hospitality financial leadership workshops delivered in-house and monthly 1-1 leadership coaching appointments with the 15 managers assigned to the program. Each month of the project we completed a group workshop and each manager had a coaching meeting with me. The project goal had five measurable elements. It was to get the managers and leaders of this hotel to complete their monthly departmental financial forecasts, track their results throughout the month, adjust their spending on labor and supplies according to business volumes, review their month-end statements for accuracy and finally write their departmental monthly hotel management commentary. In other words, get the core management team to do these tasks each month while improving forecasts and the hotel's financial results. READ MORE

Hotel organizations dutifully churn out reports filled with the ever-growing volume of data technology has made available, creating information overload for the managers tasked with analyzing them. By streamlining the process and sticking to the numbers that truly matter, managers make smarter decisions that have real impact on their hotel's business. The more management shares effective data with the staff, the better performance will be. Monthly or quarterly review of certain numbers can be used as a tool to motivate employees. As the saying goes, people do what you inspect not what you expect. READ MORE

It is important during this exciting time of innovation to seize the moment and creatively adapt to the changing concept of hospitality, capitalize on new trends and expand market share. While the new hospitality market disrupters may threaten traditional hotel business models, they also present an opportunity for the entry of new products into an industry which has always prized itself on innovation and creativity. Business travelers, vacationers and millennials have all begun to demand inclusion of new hotel products into their travel. It will be up to the hospitality industry to join the movement and incorporate these concepts into their platforms and brands. READ MORE