Big data, more than a buzzword, has by now become a conundrum that we, consumers and providers of information, try to crack and make sense of it. Essentially, we know that data is becoming larger with wider access to complex algorithms and connections. The onion metaphor - the peeling back of many layers - can be used to reflect the multifaceted aspects of machine learning technology. These swaths of data or rather layered strings of data sets turn these complex entities into a more accurate view of customer demand for the hotelier. READ MORE

It's easy to obsess about your Net Promoter Score (NPS). It's simple to get and it's a number your executives can grasp. But focusing too much on your NPS risks sending you off in the wrong directions. It can be misleading, and it doesn't answer the all-important question of why people have given the score they have. Read on to find out the hidden downsides of the NPS, what it doesn't tell you that you really need to know, how it can mislead you, and why sometimes it shouldn't be your top customer experience improvement priority. READ MORE

After the first stay, does your guest remember your property as "The Hotel Rescue"? Is your guest more refreshed when leaving than upon arrival? When you planned your guest facilities and services, were they designed to be genuinely unisex? Does everything in the room work - like thermostat, wall plugs and light bulbs? Is the clock set to the correct time? Is the television remote easily located? If the answer is yes, have you checked all of them lately? READ MORE

The revenue manager of an individual hotel or hospitality entity has become the “quarterback” of modern hospitality strategy and, in many ways, operations. He or she reviews past game data, surveys the competitive environment, consults with coaching staff (ownership and brand standards) and listens to teammates (especially the general manager and director of sales) before hitting the field on any given day and making a complex play call. As we know, with revenue management, a lot of things are in motion at once before we can determine and allocate “which rooms, when, at what rates.” READ MORE

We have all heard the old cliche that “less is more”, and, while there is a grain of truth in the notion that simplicity and clarity are sometimes preferable to complexity, the reality is that, regardless of the circumstances, more information is almost always a better bet. Today we are seeing the tension between these two ideas play out in the hotel industry, where revenue management has exploded with new approaches in recent years-almost all of it facilitated by an avalanche of previously ignored or unavailable data. Consider just how sophisticated revenue management has become in the hotel industry. READ MORE