Disrupters and brand loyalty are the jargon de jour among retail based industries. Even loyalty is making its metamorphosis into the more descriptive recognition. The jargon is evolving in an attempt to keep pace with its ever-changing environment as brands struggle to gain and retain the fleeting attention of consumers bombarded with messaging. Retail sales is more than the sum of its product. It is a masterful and complex interlinking of imagery and awareness that lead the consumer to purchase and advocate within their social circle. You are what you buy. The hotel industry is a retail based industry and savvy marketers are using retail based modeling to grow consumer's share of wallet and brand loyalty. READ MORE

Technology is having a huge impact on how revenue managers generate and optimize revenues at hotels. At the same time, it's clearer than ever that the “human touch” is indispensable: Without capable front desk, sales and revenue professionals at the helm, the possibility for generating meaningful ancillary revenue is limited. Equally, with an increasingly demanding and diverse generation of travelers coming to market, it's critical to be able to match the right kinds of accommodations with the right guests. This article examines the intersection of technology and human interaction in ancillary revenue generation at hotels today - with an eye not only toward enhancing revenues, but building guest experience and satisfaction as well. It pays special attention to the role of upselling, as a central piece to this puzzle. READ MORE

Whether it be geographic, demographic or the current rage, psychographics (or a combination of the three) that a hospitality business adopts to generate and sustain continued customer patronage, owners are particular only about whether these result in incremental revenues and profits. In short, is the business showing year on year growth? Having poured in substantial sums of money as investment, it is only fair and just that they expect and get returns commensurate with the risk taken and initiative shown. Thus, as far as the owners are concerned, the ascent of psychographics in marketing mix is a good thing since it may well be the tool used to produce sustained results that will make them laugh all the way to the bank. READ MORE

A current “hot term” in digital marketing is engagement. Everyone wants to engage their customers through their online content. The trouble is that most businesses, hotels included, are still trying to find their way in making this happen because, engaging customers via electronic media is still more art than science. This article will explore five “best blogging” tips for engaging customers/guests. READ MORE

Hotel companies are beginning efforts towards personalizing the guest experience, leveraging what they know about their guest to create meaningful, personalized experiences and offers. These initiatives are designed to encourage guests to book directly with the hotel, reducing third-party commissions. While this may sound like a purely marketing-oriented program, if pricing and operations are not aligned, the hotel's profitability will suffer. The best way to ensure that all functions within the hotel profitably execute on personalization initiatives is for revenue management to implement a total hotel revenue management program, and help the organization move towards a revenue-oriented mindset. READ MORE

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

This year has been named the best that the industry has ever seen, however, the growth in distribution costs as well as other operating costs such as health care and the minimum wage increases can stunt profit growth if not managed properly. This means that reliance on the online travel agencies (OTAs) can impact the bottom line in a significant way. By directing guests to your hotel's website and telephones, the savings are abundant. The digital distribution costs are soaring and the number of players entering the market to compete with OTAs is rapidly rising (think Google, Facebook, Apple, TripAdvisor, Amazon and more). READ MORE

While room revenue management has traditionally functioned independently of other revenue streams, a major step toward Total Revenue Performance is using advanced analytics to aggregate and synthesise across revenue streams. The result is actionable intelligence across rooms pricing, function space and beyond. Hoteliers know that the relationships between revenue streams can be intricate and very complex. Because of this complexity, decisions made with only one revenue stream in mind can directly impact the business performance of several other streams. READ MORE

The beginning of a hotel renovation marks the start of a ticking clock. When the clock runs out, renovation projects must be complete or the hotel faces consequences that range from losing reservations to unnecessary customer disruptions from a building still under construction during a major meeting or convention. These consequences are far greater than just inconveniencing guests; they mean poor reviews, lost revenue, and visitors who may never stay at the property again. READ MORE

Since the Internet gained popularity in the mid-1990s, it has largely damaged hoteliers' finances, with travel aggregators forcing down rates and taking a slice of the pie besides. But now a new phenomenon from cyberspace, social media, is offering ways to generate/replenish lost sales and grow. Aside from sparking operational improvements, social can help foster customer loyalty. A look at opportunities and challenges of this “second wave.” READ MORE

“He may live without love - what is passion but pining? But where is the man who can live without dining?” These lines from the English statesman and poet Owen Meredith, sum up what most of us in the industry would like to feel about dining. But the experience of dining has many elements and how these come together will determine what's more important - how our customers come to feel. It's a truism that first impressions are hard to change. And the earliest impression for diners occurs in seating. Where they're seated and how they're seated. READ MORE