You are already reading your reviews. I mean, you are, right? If not, then, you probably should at least start doing that. Do that, and then come back to this article. What we're going to talk about here is how you can broaden your view from just your reviews, out to competition reviews, then out to listening to all the social conversations that are relevant to your guest experience.Your brand reputation translates directly into higher revenue, and nowhere is brand reputation influenced more than online. The Internet is an enormously influential tool for consumers today: 80% of TripAdvisor's 340 million unique monthly users read at least 6-12 reviews before they book a hotel; another survey reported almost 30 percent of consumers saying that positive online reviews are the single most important factor in their booking decision. READ MORE

Tech-savvy, feedback-hungry millennials will soon represent the majority of the U.S. workforce. For the hotel industry, this will bring a fundamental shift in the way managers manage. Gone will be the days of top-down management, replaced by a flatter organization in which information flows freely and managers function as coaches, driving team results by focusing on optimizing individual performance. For the manager accustomed to holding information close to the vest, it will require a change in mindset - and that change will have to start at the top. READ MORE

As I write this article, we are on the heels of HSMAI ROC and HITEC here in Austin, TX. What an amazing learning experience it has been; industry colleagues discussing Revenue Management and how to take it to the next level while keeping it simple. It used to be that revenue management was just about room revenue and how to make each distribution channel add incremental revenue to your bottom line. Now we speak in terms of revenue strategy, optimization of the entire house. Industry leaders are discussing newer terms such as: Total RevPAR, Profit RevPar or GOPPAR, Net RevPAR, Total ADR, etc. and questioning the cost of acquisition, who is tilting the scales now, where does group fall into this new landscape, etc. READ MORE

Amidst continued and foreseeable growth in Tourism and solid numbers in hotel operational performance and investment profitability, are the underlying causes sustainable in the long run? Are the tectonic forces of the online and off-line distribution world adjusting to bring Tourism to the next level? How is the hotel sector faring in increasing its weight in the value chain of Tourism? Focused, well informed and permanent action is needed to stay ahead in an endless fight for value and relevance READ MORE

Pricing, per se, is not a new concept within the hospitality industry, but how we think about pricing and how we deploy pricing to relevant audiences is about to change dramatically. From early stages of fixed rack rates to variable pricing and through today's dynamic pricing, conditions will be just right for an entirely new method to emerge-one that is based on guest value. We call it target pricing. READ MORE