Instagram is simply a social networking site that is now part of our marketing lexicon. Developed in 2010 by Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger, the app was sold to Facebook about two years later and is now part of the Facebook empire. At its core, Instagram is simply an app that enables its users to upload (i.e. "post") photos and videos clips. These posts can then be viewed by other users who can "like" them as well as "follow" a user or a brand. Instagram is all about sharing visually. In this article, you discover how being on Instagram can add incredible value to your hotel.

Error recovery performance is defined as the extent to which employees believe they are capable and willing to handle, manage, and resolve mistakes or failures effectively after they have occurred. Investigating how employees manage errors is critical since effective recovery performance can have influence on important outcomes including customer satisfaction, attitudes of employees and coworkers, and effectiveness of teams, departments, and the overall firm. An instrument is provided to measure error recovery performance of employees. Finally, suggestions are provided to managers to improve the recovery capabilities of hospitality employees.

Today dynamic organizations are not just led by dynamic leaders, these leaders are fanatically committed to paving a new way of thinking about leadership. The new leadership paradigm is EVERYONE LEADS. Creating an organization where everyone leads allows for higher levels of accountability, and strengthens alignment which is at the heart of agility, innovation and profitability. Organizational silos disrupt optimal performance. When everyone is working in tandem, they are more productive, and the organization finds a stronger beat. This beat is your cultural heart beat and it determines alignment and creates an "all in" culture.

As the experience-based economy continues to drive hospitality business, there is a parallel and growing trend toward biophilia, people's innate connection with nature. For over 35 years, American architect Patrick Burke, AIA has led Michael Graves Architecture & Design to create unique hospitality experiences for hotel operators and travelers around the globe, in Asia, Europe, the Americas, and the Middle East. Citing expert knowledge in the field of biophilia, he discusses the many ways that hospitality design can respond to the natural world, incorporate natural features at every scale, and enhance the guest experience.

The obscure maze of alcohol licensing becomes even more confusing as the hotelier encounters different state laws. Because states are vested with the authority to create their own alcohol laws, there is often no uniformity in laws from state to state. As hoteliers build their portfolio in new territories, it can be difficult to remember what law applies. This article does not teach the laws of any state, rather it identifies the legal issues that hoteliers face when making application for an alcohol license in the various states. It is these questions that create the foundation of understanding of the specific state alcohol regimes for the hotelier.

Recruiting is hard. It's harder when a full team of amazing professionals stops thinking about ways to augment their own crew, and comes to the logical conclusion that it's better to focus on their specific roles than it is to go outside comfort zones. After all, no one wants to rock the boat for a group that's doing amazing work. However, leaders who can encourage their employees to build a pipeline of talent will almost never find themselves unable to meet every guest's requests.

For the hospitality and travel industry, giving the customer the ability to personalize their experience, and thusly pay the right price for that experience, is all the rage. Airlines, restaurants, and even some resorts have pioneered new ways to give the people precisely what they want, but for the standard hotel operation, it's not proven to be so simple. In this article, we'll take a look at some of the hurdles hoteliers face when it comes to instituting customer-choice pricing into their sales processes, and we'll take the pulse of personalization in the industry and the evolving guest expectations driving this shift.

What do these new and still-evolving revenue management strategies look like? How is this profit-focused mindset influencing both the day-to-day details and the big-picture thinking of revenue management professionals? Cassie Bond, Regional Vice President of Revenue Management for Chesapeake Hospitality discusses the emerging practice of revenue management and the emphasis on profit over revenue that is leading to sophisticated revenue management strategies, intriguing perspectives, and exciting possibilities in the hospitality industry. She outlines how successful hotels are utilizing the information and enhanced techniques of margin prophets, not just today, but in the months and years ahead.

The term Biophilic design comes from the word biophilia, meaning "the love of life." First used by an American biologist named Edward O. Wilson decades ago, the phrase has just recently emerged as a popular subject of discussion in the hospitality design world. In our modern society, especially amongst those living in urban environments, we have witnessed an increasing demand to reconnect with nature to maintain health and well-being. While companies quickly embraced the idea of employee wellness in response, hotels have fallen behind in adopting biophilic design to improve guest satisfaction and operational revenue.

Potential guests are seeking "experiences" when they consider upcoming travel. When travelers are researching, they hunt for an inspiring experience which aligns with their personal interests and desires. As a result, marketing efforts need to be pitched accordingly and content marketing is the ideal way to appeal to potential guests and existing customers. Content marketing is the creation, publication, and distribution of unique content to a target audience to drive new traffic and create loyal, sticky customers. Using a case study approach, authors Tinnish and Mangal explore how hoteliers can customize content marketing to achieve their goals of creating a differentiated, unique customer experience.

In recent years, humanity has entered a stage of awakening-what I have labeled an ECOrenaissance. This rebirth in thinking is elevating our awareness of what stimulates, fulfills and resonates within. We can't ignore this shift in society; it drives enormous change in all aspects of living-travel included. The ECOrenaissance movement is marked by five pillars: Creativity, Connection, Collaboration, Community and Consciousness. These elements weave themselves through every shift we can observe in the hospitality sector. As humanity wakes up, so must all aspects of our businesses. We are no longer solitary providers of accommodation, dining and entertainment: we are holistic partners with our ever-evolving guests.

Red Roof is catering to a new subset of travelers who are road-tripping across the country to attend, compete in, or experience their favorite passions first-hand, 'The Passionists'. These growing and diverse communities are the convention, conference and event travelers who are avid gaming geeks, compete in obstacle course races, follow cornhole contests, and dress up in cosplay, among many other hobbies and interests. It's all passion all the time. Marina MacDonald, Chief Marketing Officer, Red Roof explains why the brand has plugged into this growing segment of travelers, particularly courting comic book aficionados and Cornhole players but also opening their arms to Passionists everywhere.

Curiosity has been defined as the "disposition to inquire, investigate or seek after knowledge; a desire to gratify the mind with new information or objects of interest; inquisitiveness." It is our position that trait curiosity is critical to the new reality of continual innovation and has an increasingly important role in business success. While there are many environmental factors inside organizations that nurture or suppress an individual's curiosity, very little has been done to help hiring managers identify curious people. Moreover, we see little evidence organizations have done anything to improve curiosity levels across the business. That is until NOW…we've closed this gap and hotels that can effectively foster curiosity in their employees (and guests) will have the competitive advantage.

Many hotel executives see organizational effectiveness as an outcome of various factors such as employee engagement, information technology and strategy, and a culture inspiring innovation and creativity within hotels. Furthermore, hotel executives are encouraged to improve the bottom line and increase organizational performance. Financial and non-financial measures can illustrate whether the hotel's culture, employee engagement, information technology and strategy are contributing to bottom-line improvement.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is now a part of everyday life and is still growing at an astonishingly rapid rate. Consumers live in smart homes and work in smart offices, so it should come as no surprise that this revolutionary technology has made its way into the hospitality realm. Hotel marketers are rapidly identifying ways to put AI into widespread use. In this article, you will learn how AI impacts hotel marketing and what hoteliers can do to transform how they operate, maximize processes and interact with guests for increased satisfaction and loyalty.