In Part 1 of this 2-part article six defining characteristics of Gen Y and their Eastern equivalent 'Post-80's' are identified and explored with focus on how these key traits become visible within the day-to-day workings of the international hospitality industry, particularly with insight into the Greater China region. A perspective is given on how Gen Y employees may best be placed within a hospitality organization; how their skillsets may best be applied within the service industry; the kind of organizational structure and corporate cultures they may best operate under; and matters of Gen Y's values, perceptions, expectations, desires, and motivations. READ MORE

Hotspot 2.0 is a new Wi-Fi standard from the Wi-Fi Alliance that will have a significant impact on travelers. It is designed to make Wi-Fi as secure and easy to use as mobile networks. This will open up new business opportunities for hotels in the future when a critical mass of Hotspot 2.0-enabled Wi-Fi access points and devices have been rolled out. Roaming agreements will no longer exclusively be between operators but also between operator and hotel and any other organization that has a Wi-Fi network. More importantly, Wi-Fi usage will skyrocket, putting pressure on hotels to offer real carrier-class Wi-Fi services. READ MORE

Green building efforts in the hospitality industry have almost doubled since 2011 with 48% of new construction projects expected to benefit from sustainable building practices in 2013, according to a recent study, the Green Retail and Hospitality SmartMarket Report, conducted by McGraw Hill Construction. Compared to other building types, hotels have historically been major energy users. Hotels' large carbon footprints have been, in part, due to their extended hours of operation including the need to keep lights burning in public spaces and corridors day and night. Lawrence Adams explores the benefits of LEED certification with hoteliers from across the country. READ MORE

As revenue management has demonstrated success and gained visibility, the discipline has begun to evolve from a tactical, day-to-day inventory management function to a more strategic role. With revenue management systems bearing the burden of calculating pricing, revenue managers are now tasked with performing more ad hoc analyses. The temptation is to simply let the revenue management system do its job - deliver revenue maximizing, daily pricing decisions. However, by just following system recommendations, hoteliers might be missing out on some important opportunities to leverage price as a strategic tool to support longer-term business strategy. READ MORE

The question of employee motivation is a decades old one that seems to elude many companies. Fortunately or unfortunately, this can make or break a business. Science has given us new information on how to motivate and retain staff. This new data will be the method you can use to reduce your overhead and increase your profits. One company featured increased their net income by 94% because they were open to a new way of running business. Google's employees invented Gmail in their regularly scheduled free time. Seems counterintuitive doesn't it? It is not though. Companies just have to change their mindset. READ MORE