As a former spa director of one of the largest resort spas in the Midwest, I know how important it is to evaluate new products and services in order to determine which ones offer true potential for wellness for the client and profitability for the business. As a property manager or owner, your phone rings constantly with vendors who want you to consider their products and services. Below, here are a few questions to help you decide if a trend is right for your property. READ MORE

While hotel company in-house revenue management training programs and collaborative partnerships such as the industry-academia partnership that I wrote about previously, can go a long way towards developing the right revenue management talent, we are continuing to witness growth in the talent shortfall. Here, I take a look at a recent initiative launched by HSMAI to complement existing talent development programs, and draw on some of the insights gained from a HSMAI-sponsored Think Tank to suggest some practical actions that hotels can take to promote the revenue management discipline and grow their revenue management talent pool. READ MORE

Revenue management is widely defined as the application of disciplined analytics that predict consumer behavior at the micro-market level and optimize product availability and price to maximize revenue growth. The primary aim of revenue management is selling the right product to the right customer at the right time for the right price. The essence of this discipline is in understanding customers' perception of product value and accurately aligning product prices, placement and availability with each customer segment. READ MORE

While there are many service industries, hospitality is certainly one of the most complex. The closest comparison may be a cruise ship, or, to a certain extent, air travel. But for something firmly rooted at all times to the ground, we'll take bragging rights. We are providing an extremely intimate service, lodging, within the confines of what is nothing more ambitious than running a small city. The modern hotel comprises housing; utilities and other infrastructure; security; an employment force; a commons, i.e. lobby; and, oftentimes, food, beverage and recreation. We bring together under one roof people from all walks of life, with varying needs, expectations and personalities, everyone from a business executive stressed over tomorrow's important meeting to a senior couple celebrating their 50th anniversary. READ MORE

The big data revolution isn't just on the way, it's already here. As of 2012, more data crossed the internet every second than was stored on the entire world wide web 20 years before. From bounce rate to time spent on site to conversion rate and more, it's now possible to access every step of the buyer's journey in great detail. As an enterprising hospitality professional, it's your job to take advantage of that unprecedented access to data. The problem is that big data often feels overwhelming, leaving you and your team to filter what correlations are important, which are just noise, or how to sift the wheat from the chaff and incorporate the useful data into your marketing strategy. Here are the changes and data to pay attention to. READ MORE