Text messaging is now a mass-market phenomenon in the U.S. market. According to the CTIA wireless industry trade association, there are annually 2.3 trillion text messages sent. When you do the math, the average user sends or receives 20 messages per day, including those users that don't text at all. The average adult user of text is close to 42 text messages per day. Younger guests, in the 18 to 29 age demographic, text at a rate of over 87 per day. Many in the upcoming generation prefer to text over talk. READ MORE

Gaining a sustained competitive advantage in the hospitality marketplace almost always revolves around a strong customer relationship management (CRM) program. Obtaining customer loyalty, once based on having the right product at the right price, has evolved into creating strategies geared toward customer engagement through participation incentives. Social networking, digital media, mobile commerce, and Geo-fencing applications have contributed to guest empowerment and/or entitlement. To attract and interest guests, hotels and restaurants are turning to gamification as a primary means for establishing long-term brand affiliation. READ MORE

Today the majority of guests bring multiple devices - laptop, a powerful smartphone with expanded Internet browsing capabilities, tablet computers, gaming devices etc. - and all of these devices are hungry for Wi-Fi. The electronics manufacturing industry has found that Wi-Fi is a great technology that keeps customers happy: devices use less battery power when they're on Wi-Fi compared to the mobile network, users generally don't have to eat up their cellular minutes when surfing the Internet on Wi-Fi and devices seem to run faster. In fact, many devices are designed specifically to perform best over Wi-Fi, and some applications only work over Wi-Fi. The end result: hotel guests with lots of Wi-Fi-enabled devices, all of which are primed to gobble up loads of bandwidth. READ MORE

The growing number of travelers that need special accommodations or access is changing the face of the hospitality industry forever. Currently there are more than 54 million Americans with disabilities. Additionally, somewhere between 7,000 and 10,000 baby boomers turn 65 everyday of the year and will do so for the next 19 years! How many of these baby boomers have - or will have in the future - different abilities that require special accommodations? Is your brand being proactive and making the adjustments necessary to meet the changing needs of the multigenerational travelers? How will you stay relevant? READ MORE

Consumers gather information from all sorts of places to make buying decisions. In order to improve results, hotels must consider the variety of modes of communication to engage customers and layout a strategy that helps drive content across the multiple platforms. Successful hotel marketing strategies will look at marketing as a holistic undertaking that includes multiple layers. Messaging efforts need to have an emphasis on improved results with the sole purpose of driving traffic and conversions. READ MORE