On average, 60% of a hotel's revenue comes from room sales. The other 40% comes from food, beverage, AV, meeting space, and other hotel services. Onsite events will increase your hotel's revenue simply by keeping your large groups onsite. This increases your opportunity to sell F&B and other hotel services while decreasing your corporate groups' expenditures on buses and offsite activities. READ MORE

The Millennial demographic should not be overlooked. According to Forbes, Millennials represent over a quarter of the population in America and hold $200 billion in annual buying power. To date, about 55 million "Millennials" (16-34 year-olds) form the largest share of the U.S. civilian workforce - surpassing 53 million in “Generation X” (35-50 year-olds), 44 million “Baby Boomers” (51-70 year olds), and 5 million of the “traditionalist” generation. With these non-traditional innovators influencing the market, hotels are wondering how to evolve and cater to this new audience. READ MORE

Remember the days when guests called to make hotel reservations? It was not all that long ago. However, times have changed, and the modern consumer's engagement with digital is absolutely transformative. In today's buyer-driven market, travelers prefer to shop and book hotel rooms online or via mobile device. They go direct to the hotel website or a popular OTA, only after having read dozens of peer reviews and researching options on a travel aggregator. More recently, travelers have been drawn to alternative accommodations and consumer-to-consumer options like Airbnb or VRBO. READ MORE

The economic recession and the demands of a new generation of professionals - the Millennials - have inspired a move towards collaborative, creative meeting spaces. Across the industry, how are hotels rising to the challenge? Something magical is happening in the meetings industry. Perhaps the transformation is a byproduct of the downturn of the global economy and the rise of millennials entering the workforce at the same time. In 2009, the economic crisis hit swiftly and the meetings industry was persecuted in the media and among policymakers as an “unnecessary luxury.” READ MORE

Virtual reality is on the cusp of significantly transforming the way people interact and engage with brands. It is expected to grow into a $60 billion industry within the next 10 years. But what are hoteliers to do with the emerging tech today? More importantly, what do you need to know about virtual reality to decide whether it's right for your hotel? This primer will get you up to speed with this fast-moving technology, detailing virtual reality's past and present, as well as detailed ways innovative companies—both inside and outside the travel industry—are already using virtual reality to drive results. READ MORE

The Caribbean hospitality industry has experienced continuous growth following the global economic downturn that began in the last decade. This is especially present with the re-emergence of all-inclusive hotels. Though this sector saw its lull, it is booming with development now. With the creation of vacation club programs, all-inclusive hotels have been able to foster a reliable client base that is extremely loyal. As operating performances continue to strengthen, even more hotel financing opportunities will be available in the future. READ MORE

A Grand Opening of a hotel and/or wellness enterprise ought to be something very exciting and beneficial for everyone involved. It should reflect a strong sense of worldliness, creativity with an architectural and interior design touch of complete alignment, effective and well-thought planning, efficient and structured organization, a sense of familiarity and a feeling of having arrived home. It is through the alignment and the inclusiveness of all parts, where the whole presents itself, and thrives in total harmony, peace and abundance with everything the endless universe has to offer. READ MORE

Hotels that offer customizable and event-specific mobile apps for meetings provide high levels of service to their guests and leave lasting impressions. Today's business professionals demand technology savvy venues for their conferences. Providing an event app can give a venue a competitive advantage over other possible venues. Hoteliers, meeting organizers, and attendees all benefit from using a mobile app because it easily provides a convenient information center that adds value to the event experience as a whole. READ MORE

Technology forms a bridge between the complementary goals of tradeshow exhibitors and attendees. A survey of more than 2,500 tradeshow participants finds that exhibitors are focused on building client lists and showing new products, while attendees visit the show primarily for educational purposes. Tradeshow venues are increasingly seeking the technology "sweet spot" that connects the two groups despite their contrasting agendas. READ MORE

There is no stopping the sharing economy train, and the route that conductors like AirBnb are navigating cut directly across the existing revenue paths laid by hotels. It's no longer an option to ignore the presence of the sharing economy, nor is it wise to fight against it. Managing the horizon of this rapidly changing marketplace, however, is where hotels will find their greatest strength. By tailoring the consumer and corporate travel sectors with a personalized service strategy, and looking across the tracks at AirBnB's best practices, your hotel can both compete and flourish in light of the sharing economy. READ MORE

Ask any hotel executive what their top goals are and they will unanimously say driving more revenue from group meetings, selling more room nights, and increasing market share. Hotels can't just keep hiring sales headcount in order to increase market share, generate more leads, and respond to eRFPs. Additionally, the coverage they would need to expand market share is cost prohibitive and daunting at best-especially overseas in Asia-Pacific, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. READ MORE

When hotel technology is mentioned, planners often think of audio-visual and Wi-Fi coverage in meeting and guest rooms. Those things, however, comprise only the tip of the tech iceberg; as hoteliers know, the real technology accomplishments begin way before attendee arrival. For the business of putting heads in beds - and groups in meeting rooms - the industry increasingly relies on technology that is itself evolving. In only a few short years, for example, data storage has evolved from proprietary servers (something you can spill coffee on) to virtual "cloud-based" technology, which allows for exponentially more data. READ MORE

Now that the locavore movement has become mainstream, locally sourced foods at restaurants have shifted from a value-add to an expectation for consumers. As such, to impress guests, more must be done in this regard. Indigenous ingredient sourcing offers one such solution as it serves to deliver as authentically local a dining experience as possible. Although not practical in all situations, the sourcing of foods that are native to a region can act as a clear point of differentiation to help grow a property's F&B revenues. READ MORE

Running restaurants in your hotel that are meeting points and social and business hubs for people in the local community is not as hard (or as hopeless) as it might seem. In this article we identify the four determining factors that can guide an orator to success in this area. As with just about anything, the first thing to do when embarking on a project, is find out who is doing it well and watch what they are doing. To this end we discuss some of the most successful hotel restaurants, and by understanding the history and context of their success, we can clearly see how by understanding and implementing the four determinants, even the smallest hotel in the most competitive market, can design and operate restaurants and bars that are attractive to the local community. And do so profitably. READ MORE

Too many leaders rush to the idea that just one more perk, one more raise or one more break-room game table would boost employee engagement. This thinking is flawed—that “more” might produce a bump in engagement scores. Reality check, here. These quick-hit, feel-good tactics do not produce long-term, sustainable engagement. With the latest Gallup data revealing that employee engagement scores are currently less than 32%—worse still, nearly 1 in 5 acknowledge that they are “actively disengaged”—there has never been greater urgency and need for leaders everywhere to think and act differently in order to engage their people. As a leader in the hospitality industry, what are your plans to stir up positive employee engagement in your organization? READ MORE