In today's fast-paced travel market when an overwhelming number of consumers are utilizing social media as a tool for communication and commerce, it is essential for businesses - especially the hospitality industry - to adopt a comprehensive social media strategy to connect with guests and potential guests. Hotel brands must develop social media strategies to reach their global audience as well as to connect with local guests. Hilton Hotels & Resorts and parent company Hilton Worldwide have woven social media into their business plans to effectively engage with their guests around the world through social media platforms that strengthen relationships and encourage loyalty among travelers. READ MORE

As the opportunities for digital marketing tactics increase, so do the affiliated expenses. The savvy hotelier will spend some time in 2014 analyzing their distribution channels to determine the true costs affiliated with each revenue stream. Once costs are identified, then a channel optimization process ought to be created and should drive your digital marketing strategy. The attached article reviews some fundamental steps each hotelier should take in 2014 to create a strong digital marketing strategy that will increase sales. READ MORE

Organic! That word is everywhere in today's world. Consumers are seeking Organic food for healthier lifestyles. Restaurants are showcasing more Organic menu creations and even growing their own organic gardens. People are choosing more Organic lifestyles and exploring ways to simplify their lives and become healthier. Organic farming means no drugs, synthetic chemicals or hormones are used. Organic business growth means new business that comes from existing business or customers. Organic organizations are known to encourage and respect the teams within and encourage new ideas and teamwork; to encourage employees to perform at their best! So.. what about Organic Service? How would we apply today's big "O" to daily interactions and service delivery to guests? READ MORE

For the past decade, it seems like whenever there is a glaring need (or desire) in a particular city, some establishment “pops up” to temporarily meet that need. We've seen Pop-Up Restaurants, Pop-Up Hair Salons, Food Trucks, and Pop-Up Retail. The next stage in this evolution, which meets the need of hotel scarcity during big events like the Olympics or Summerfest, is the Pop-Up Hotel. Pop-Up Hotels are temporary lodging establishments, that can include virtually all the components of a hotel room, including beds, furniture, showers, toilets, electricity, and WiFi, that open and operate for a finite period of time which dovetails with a given event. In this article, we look at the growing trend of mobile lodging, and the civic and legal challenges to this evolving hospitality movement - one that very few municipal governments and competitors had ever anticipated. READ MORE

Paul Hudson has a wealth of experience solving problems for travelers. Having worked in the travel industry for more than 30 years, Hudson has held previous roles as Head of Overseas Operations at Neilson Active Holidays, Product Development Manager and Overseas Director at Cosmos Holidays, and Regional Manager for First Choice Holidays. Hudson is currently Operations Director at Luxury Family Hotels (LFH), where he is responsible for the operation of eight hotels in the UK. This article focuses on Hudson's service recovery philosophy. His adage is 'Fix it, plus one', and he encourages excellence in service recoveries through training and empowerment. READ MORE

Whether we are engaging others at the personal level or representing a hotel property or organization, each of us forms a wide array of relationships. Some are personal or family relationships - our spouse, other family members, our neighbors or the merchants we frequent. Other relationships are created by and impact our professional and business lives. These business relationships include those made with our key executives and other team members, as well as those established with investors, vendors and other strategic partners. READ MORE

If you're keeping abreast of hot topics in hotel trade publications and at industry conferences, you'll notice there is quite a lot of chatter about online reputation management. Some hoteliers seem to be fixated on what guests are saying about them on TripAdvisor, Facebook, and in OTA review columns; others display a modicum of concern and wonder if they should be doing anything about them; and then there is a group that frankly, just doesn't give a damn. So where do YOU fall? READ MORE

Today's society is visually oriented, and the phrase a picture speaks a thousand words has never been more relevant. With life moving at warp speed, we don't have much time to read, but we certainly can look to learn, and that applies to business as well. Visually based social networks present an amazing opportunity for the hospitality world and can open up a brand new communication channel for savvy hotels of all shapes and sizes. With just a little bit of smarts, Pinterest can almost drive itself. Learn how to take advantage of this exciting vehicle. READ MORE

With the diversified interests of today's workforce, the water cooler, or any other common meeting ground within an office setting, is gaining importance as a means of word of mouth recommendations. Social media is still vastly important but it comes with baggage, namely a lot of noise. A smart marketer will be able to get around this by developing strategies to reach consumers while at work and then compel them to talk about a certain product or brand with other team members while at the water cooler. READ MORE

Computers can't smile; iPads can't empathize; mobile phones can't relate. Although the best technology can give companies a great advantage in the marketplace, it cannot replace the value of a human connection. Social Media provides brands with the opportunity to bring together technology and one-on-one conversation to create a closer relationship than has ever been experienced before for both brands and consumers. READ MORE

The nature of seasonality of hotel business means lopsided sales graphs within a performance period. In a week itself, depending upon whether it is a city hotel or resort, weekdays could see demand high (city hotels) and weekends slow. When revenues behave in this up and down seasonality pattern, profits get impacted significantly. And Owners come into this equation showing razor sharp focus on profits and return on their investments. To balance that up and down movement and sustain revenues and profitability is the name of the game. And in this game, a big player is Sales Mix. Knowing the combination in which your products and services are offered is indeed your ticket to incremental revenues and profits. READ MORE

"Survey fatigue" has been a concern among researchers for a long time. If people stop taking surveys, it could really hamper the quality of the data many rely on to make important business decisions. Response rates have been falling fast for many forms of research. The hospitality industry is hungrier for feedback than most. It relies on guest surveys to understand what is going well and what can be improved. It also needs positive online reviews on websites like TripAdvisor to influence booking choices. Significant survey fatigue would be devastating if it hit hospitality. READ MORE

Social Media has begun to affect the hotel industry in ways unperceivable just a few short years ago. Such exponential growth and development has hoteliers worldwide working towards improving the guest experience through use of these different channels. Robert Rauch, President of R.A. Rauch & Associates, provides us with insight on the industry's most recent trends and campaigns involving the use of social media as a form of communication within hotels. R.A. Rauch & Associates is a hotel management and consulting firm offering the full spectrum of hospitality management services to owners, developers, lenders and investors in hotels and resorts throughout North America. READ MORE

Global advertising spend in 2013 will see steady growth of 3.5 percent, reaching $503 billion by the end of the year, with the largest share in television advertising, according to ZenithOptimedia. The travel and hospitality industries are in the top five markets advertising on this medium, spending more than $152 million collectively. Although television still leads the way, consumer expectations have shifted, and your marketing dollars should too. In this article, we will discuss the benefits of online video advertising for hoteliers, specifically with YouTube's TrueView platform, in comparison to traditional television advertising. READ MORE

When a guest has any touch point with your hotel - staying overnight, having lunch in the dining room, using the fitness center, booking a room through the hotel's website, or reading an advertisement in a travel magazine, s/he experiences consequences of the act. Future behavior depends on those consequences. The more your guest feels rewarded, the more likely s/he will become loyal, spend more money, and become an advocate recommending your property to family and friends. The less s/he is rewards, the more likely the opposite happens. In this article, find out how a farmer and his three pigs bring this truism home for hotels. READ MORE