Consumer dining preferences are shifting and becoming much more casual at hotels across all segments of the industry, from grab-and-go and in-restaurant offerings at suite brands to fine dining options at luxury properties. This change has created a void in the hotel industry for welcoming, casual dining experiences. You might think a large property that offers breakfast, lunch, dinner and room service has everything covered. But the new reality is that many guests now prefer to eat with friends and family in a more casual, social environment. READ MORE

Recent research shows that more and more travelers, especially among younger generations, are forgoing familiar but often cookie-cutter hotel brands in favor of boutique properties that promise unique, authentic local experiences that connect guests to the destinations they visit. This trend dovetails with the recent growth of culinary tourism - in which guests make travel decisions based on available culinary options - to put significant pressure on hotel food and beverage operations, which represent the second largest source of revenue for full-service hotels according to PKF Hospitality Research, to shift strategic focus toward culturally relevant, experiential offerings that resonate with today's modern traveler. READ MORE

Food is always an important consideration for travelers, for some more so than others. The food tourism industry is almost 15 years old and in this time, we've been able to identify changes in consumer behavior when it comes to food and travel. Some of these changes are driven by health concerns or religion, while others are driven by consumers' obsession with food and drink. Still, there are some basic tenets of behavior when it comes to foodies and their purchasing decisions. There are actually 13 different types of foodies, and knowing which foodie(s) you're targeting can make or break your marketing plan - and your bottom line. READ MORE

The hotel business is in the midst of a peer-to-peer revolution, and it's seriously threatening the industry's financial stability. A new wave of accommodations spurred by the birth of the sharing economy is radically altering how many people prefer to stay while traveling. According to a survey of US travelers, consumer preference for staying at traditional hotels is halved (79 percent vs. 40 percent) once they've experienced peer-to-peer housing. In addition to Airbnb, there's a rising number of peer-to-peer accommodation sites appealing to specific market segments. Those include the high-end home rental group OneFineStay, and the family friendly HomeAway, which are both nipping at the traditional hotel business. And if hoteliers don't meaningfully respond, that nip could become a significant bite to the bottom line. READ MORE

The rise of Airbnb and other peer-to-peer hotel alternatives has shaken up the hospitality industry. While the long-term impact remains to be seen, this new breed of short-term rental providers is proving to be agile competition to traditional hotels, with inventory and pricing adjusting quickly to fluctuations in demand. How can a hotel's revenue management team effectively respond? Do they treat local Airbnb inventory as a competitor in their market? Shop Airbnb pricing as they do their traditional hotel competitors? This article explores the issues revenue managers must address as they navigate this latest threat to revenue growth. READ MORE

Food has become a magnetic force that steers people's travels and often dictates what hotel they choose. So, it is vital to get the word out through traditional and social media about your hotel's offerings. With the exploding culinary craze, travelers are making decisions on what destinations to visit based on the cuisine they see covered in the media. Preferences, such as farm-to-table, locally sourced produce, and the innovative creations of chefs, are what your property should be publicizing through feature stories in important media outlets and social media channels. It is more critical than ever to publicize the cuisine at your hotel to reach the burgeoning “foodies” market. READ MORE

Sonesta offers casual dining with a sense of place throughout its US hotels, embracing local inspiration shared through our menus. In this article, the culinary teams share the results of their efforts to bring local flavor and authentic cuisine to our guests. Sonesta takes its menu inspiration from the destination - sourcing locally whenever possible and sharing the passion of the members of its culinary team. Our casual dining restaurants and outlets provide an experience of the locale through choices of regional items to be highlighted and the indigenous produce and seasonings used to deliver a plate to remember. READ MORE

Luxury travel was once associated with formality, but in today's modern world that notion is changing. More and more, high-end travelers are placing value on comfort, quality time, personalized service and unexpected experiences. These expectations apply to every aspect of the hotel-guest experience, particularly when it comes to dining.To stay au courant, five-star resorts must challenge their perceptions of luxury food and wine by constantly developing new concepts that delight and surprise guests. Hotels can continuously surpass their guests' expectations by redefining industry standards. Gone are the days of stuffy dinner jackets and full course meals in formal dining rooms. READ MORE

Formal dining rooms conjure up an image of great state and formal occasions when glamour, over-pricing and the prestigious and almost elitist individuals would gather, dine and converse on a level that most of us common diners would feel out of place and somewhat alienated. The menu itself would be as grand, food spelt with French words and phrases muttered in strange accents that would help us to understand that as it was expensive, and it must be good. To the 'grand restauranteur' all of this meant that the diner could not see behind the curtain to the secrets of our industry and that the guests must be at all costs separated from mechanics of the menu. READ MORE

With the current, customer-driven focus on a more "fast casual cuisine", including those of varied and authentic ethnic origins, the direction of today's mainstream cuisine is one which tends to veer far from the classic protein/starch/vegetable triad located at "10, 2 and 6 o'clock" on the well-worn plates of many full-service or casual dining restaurants. This lasting trend of fast casual is more towards a cuisine which stays true to the items' origins by sourcing authentic and better ingredients for their distinct flavors, resulting in an overall higher quality of food, served more quickly than any tablecloth-clad establishment can match. READ MORE

A super platinum-everything status guest with a certain brand hotel chain walked into one of his favorite properties after this brand recently merged with another chain, looked around and said, “It just isn't the same. I don't even recognize them anymore.” He then walked out of the door determined to find a new favorite property he could count on. Does this sound far-fetched to you? It shouldn't; it happens all too often, and it should send chills down every leader's spine. While this anecdote focuses on the guest, you can imagine the impact this would also have on the employees. READ MORE

Since its infancy in the late 90s and early 2000s, paid search has been a highly effective tactic for capturing would-be travelers that are actively exploring travel options. There's seemingly no better way to attain a new hotel guest than by delivering an ad promoting your hotel when someone is searching for "hotels" in your market area. For instance, if you are promoting hotel rooms in Las Vegas, you would likely deliver relevant ads to people searching for keywords such as "Las Vegas hotel," "Las Vegas hotels," and "Vegas hotel reviews. "According to Prognosis Digital, 79% of people that book hotels online search for that particular hotel on a search engine before buying. Thus, having a presence on search engines is essential for any hotel. READ MORE

In 2012, my business partner and I invented a line of self­cleaning surfaces for healthcare facilities which we named NanoSeptic because they were based on nanotechnology. We knew hospitals were having a challenge with hospital­acquired infections (HAI), some of which were being spread through contact with high traffic touch points. So our mission was to deliver an actual health benefit, creating healthier hospital environments by creating self­cleaning surfaces for places that had the greatest chance of cross contamination. We never dreamed that these surfaces would be adopted by other industries, and more surprisingly, why they would be adopted. We found that the visible nature of the products fundamentally change how people viewed the concept of “clean.” What we came to understand was just how scared people are about the cleanliness of public facilities and how much their perception of a facility changed when a visible indication of cleaning efforts was present. READ MORE

Emotional engagement is one of those hot subjects that most have heard of but very few can actually define. What is it exactly? As with any subject, a keen observation of life in action followed by a logical analysis can shine light on the dark corners of our knowledge to bring clarity to our understanding, and, in order to be useful, a workable procedure for action that brings about desirable results. In the case of emotional engagement, it would be guests who are thrilled at the renewal or reinforcement of life and energy they experience when interacting with hotel staff. Of course, that would presuppose and require that the staff be passionate and full-of-life themselves, rather than uninspired and going through the motions. READ MORE

It is no secret that the hotel world has changed dramatically in the last few years. If we consider just the last decade (2006-2016), we've witnessed significant brand expansions and evolutions; experienced the trauma of one of the world's worst recessions and subsequent halts in development pipelines around the globe; and now, acquisitions of some of the largest and most recognized hotel brands in the business. And that's just on the industry side. On the consumer side of the equation, I think one of the greatest macro-trends to affect the way we attract and retain our customers is that today our guests are looking for experiences that positively READ MORE