While there is no single "magic bullet" when it comes to proficient hotel management strategies, optimizing distribution channel management might be the closest thing to it. Dedicated and strategic distribution channel management truly is at the heart of a well-run hotel property, dictating how marketing dollars are spent and maximizing ROI on investments. READ MORE

Energy costs are going up but you do not need me to tell you that. Were you aware that hotels currently spend approximately $2196 per available room on utilities? Let's not take that lying down though! There are multiple innovative new products on the market that can not only reduce overhead but also keep your guests delighted. Everything from occupancy and night detection thermostats to modern boilers to pool management systems exist to make your hotel easier to run and increase the bottom line. Additionally, sustainability is in! Consumers love green companies. This is a wagon worth boarding. READ MORE

In Part 2 of this 2-part article the six identified defining characteristics of Gen Y and their Eastern equivalent 'Post-80's' are discussed, with focus on how a hospitality company can address and leverage these traits through engagement and retention strategies. With a look at best practices, approaches covered include how the employer can outline their requirements and suitably communicate with Gen Y while guiding, involving, empowering, mentoring, training, motivating, recognizing, incentivizing and rewarding Gen Y in the interests of aligning employer and employee goals, promoting job satisfaction, and improving colleague relations; in turn keeping the all-important guest satisfied. READ MORE

Hotel brands have been focusing on catering to the millennials - a segment of around 80 million Americans between 9 and 31, and many more in other parts of the world. However, all the work and development of brands catering to this segment has pointed to one inconvenient truth: there are probably no real differences in hospitality needs between millennials and boomers. The net result, however, has been an overall improvement in the design and quality of hotels across the brand spectrum; it has also highlighted the huge opportunity for independent hotels and small chains to grow their business through the boomer market segment. READ MORE

A lot of exciting things are happening in the hospitality industry as 2014 opens. Based upon more than $68 billion of hotel transactions, JMBM's Global Hospitality Group® has made its "top 10" pick of the events, issues, trends, and developments that will have the biggest impact on the hotel industry. READ MORE

What's the value of your hotel participating on social media? You know you should be on social media. Everyone is on social media. You also know that creating branded and engaging content that responds to the online community takes time - and time is money. So what value should you expect from your social media efforts? If we align your social media efforts with you sales pipeline and measure the results compared to traditional methods of marketing we can effectively measure the return on investment. READ MORE

Stress is a significant problem in the hospitality industry, correlated with the onset and presence of physiologic symptoms and a myriad of health problems. Stress related health issues are associated with decreased productivity and increased health care costs for employers. Implementing an effective stress-reduction program can help alleviate these costs and lead to a more productive work force. In this article, we review burnout and stress in the hospitality industry and mindfulness meditation as a viable, inexpensive method to alleviate stress. READ MORE

Beyond the immediate security measures taken by hotels in the days and weeks following the Boston Marathon bombing in April 2013, the tragedy raised broader questions around crisis planning and response. Crises represent significant risk for a hotel's business continuity, public image, customer base and short- and long-term financial performance. This makes it imperative for hotels and other business to have a comprehensive emergency response plan that takes into account all type of potential crises, internal operations and available external resources. The plan should provide clear,detailed protocols for response and address key operational issues and communications. Only with a plan that is developed carefully, practiced and updated regularly, can hotels respond effectively in a crisis. READ MORE

Due to the near ubiquity of smart phones in America, there are roughly 150 million people in the U.S. alone with a GPS in the palm of their hands, and knowing where your audience is -- especially for a travel brand-- is invaluable information. It allows companies to customize content, be it mobile video, discounts, apps, sweepstakes, etc., and deliver it to a specific audience in a specific location where that content will be most relevant and actionable for the customer. READ MORE

Walk down almost any street, enter into any shopping mall, take a form of public transportation, go to various places of work and even be in some places of worship, in fact virtually anywhere in the civilized world where there are people, and the one thing that you'll find in common and very evident, is the fact that a great many of them are interacting with some form of mobile device. READ MORE

In the past two years, there has been a huge shift from the desktop to mobile and tablet usage. Nearly 22 percent of hotel web visitors are coming via “pure” mobile devices/smartphones (HeBS Digital portfolio). Yet the percentage of bookings we would expect to originate from smartphones, especially when compared to desktop and tablet, is significantly low. So, why aren't there more mobile bookings? This article describes the main reasons that account for the discrepancy between mobile web visitors and what we would expect to translate into more mobile bookings: the majority of mobile bookings happening via the voice channel, multi-device usage patterns for research and booking, and poor user experience on the mobile device. Read on for best practices regarding how to accommodate hotel website visitors on the “pure” mobile devices and how you can start closing the gap between visits and bookings. READ MORE

For some time, mobile payment innovation in the hospitality industry has been led by Starbucks. Considered the leader among all merchant categories, Starbucks employs its mobile payment platform to coordinate more than just purchase transactions. While the company's mobile transactions exceed two million per week, consumers focus on Starbucks' built-in loyalty programming (i.e. gamification leading to free products, discounts, and prizes); not transaction speed or efficiency. Mobile payments have been shown capable of serving beyond the front-end to an electronic payment gateway and hospitality management needs to monitor developments to ensure that standards are understood and properly implemented. In fact, the future of mobile payments (mPOS) and related services are expected to replace today's POS devices and media. mPOS processing not only includes person-to-person payments and loyalty programs, but can also target marketing services featuring geo-targeted, real-time redemption of discounts, coupons, promotions, and rewards. For the hospitality industry, current users are termed early adopters, but within 2-3 years mPOS is expected to be the norm. READ MORE

The mobile web's growth and its un-ending need for more data, more connectivity and more bandwidth, shows no signs of slowing. This is having no greater impact than in the hotel industry where guests demand more and more a 'home-from-home' entertainment experience, creating significant network and bandwidth challenges. So how does a hotel cost-effectively satisfy its guests' insatiable appetite for more bandwidth and for connecting multiple devices? Is the simple answer to expend capital on new infrastructure? READ MORE

There is a lot of research indicating that the new kind of guest may and will require more than just excellent service, lodging, F&B or spa. The hotel guest of the future wants to know the associates and managers in person in order to establish a trust relationship. They want to know what makes them tick in their jobs and also want to feel with them. Enjoying a relaxed time in a hotel, resort or wellness center is one thing. Understand how everything is being done and by whom is another. It will be the job of the future manager to explore how knowledge and expertise can be integrated into a sustainable management style to ensure the overall satisfaction of the guests. READ MORE

Whether your hotel is known for gracious luxury or youthful playfulness, you have a distinctive brand—and you take pains to carry it across multinational borders. That same branding needs to shine through in your mobile technology as well—or else you risk diminishing that world-consistent brand you've worked diligently to cultivate. Professional translation can be your ticket to keeping your brand look and style intact in every market. As you approach that leg of your journey, find out the need-to-know aspects of creating global websites and mobile apps so that your brand's personality always reigns supreme. READ MORE