Responding to years of pressure from union advocates and their allies, the California Occupational Safety and Health Administration (Cal/OSHA) has proposed a first-in-the-nation, industry-specific rule aimed at hotel housekeepers. If enacted, this proposal would greatly impact the industry in California (as well as operators who conduct business in multiple states including California). In addition, as California tends to lead the nation in employment and workplace safety standards, operators in other states should monitor this proposal closely - what happens in California may come to your state next! READ MORE

Flow Thru, this is my abbreviation, is a catch all phrase that measures how much made it through your business comparing one period to another. What made it through, from revenues to profit. Another term to describe this measurement is retention. A good analogy to grasp the concept of flow thru is to compare it to your paycheck. Imaging I give you a $1000 a week raise. The question then is how much will end up on your pay vs. how much got eaten up by higher taxes and other deductions. The same goes for additional revenues in your business. If revenues are $50,000 higher this month than the same month last year, how much of the $50,000 will make it through to the profit line. How much will flow? READ MORE

Taking measures to protect your hospitality organization's trade secrets before filing or defending against a lawsuit may significantly increase your organization's chances of obtaining a favorable result in any lawsuit related to the misappropriation of trade secrets. While there are many ways to protect information, hospitality organizations need to be educated on what the law applicable to them considers to be “reasonable” steps that provide the secrecy that is required under the circumstances. This article explores how some courts have interpreted what is reasonable or adequate protection of information such that the information may qualify as a trade secret. READ MORE

Together, big data and machine learning provide the most accurate information from which to base pricing on in the entire history of the hotel business. Setting rates is no longer a guessing game. Leveraging the newest tools on the market gives hoteliers the most accurate forecasting data ever seen. The invisible becomes visible and that porridge is suddenly cooked to perfection ever time. Today, pricing with confidence means making decisions based on reams of previously undetectable information. Valuable data we never realized existed because it was invisible to us. We've had the illusion we've attained perfect pricing, but that wasn't the case at all. The good news is, though seemingly more complex, finding confidence in pricing is not as difficult as it seems. READ MORE

The tourism industry leaves a significant impact when you consider the need to move people around, host them and feed them, with the intrinsic needs for water, energy and food. As the travel industry continues to grow apace in Asia Pacific it is becoming increasingly important for hospitality providers to reduce their environmental footprint as well as to give back to the local communities in which they operate. AccorHotels first committed to a comprehensive environmental policy back in 1974 and is firmly committed to creating positive hospitality wherever it operates. While many of its actions are on a global scale, it has found that what is just as important is for each hotel in the network to work regionally to impact positively on its local community. READ MORE