Accor, the largest hotel operator in Asia Pacific, with more than 560 hotels in the region, says that while digital distribution is one of the company's key strengths, the group retains a strong focus on traditional sales and marketing methods. Graham Wilson, Accor's Senior Vice President Sales & Marketing Asia Pacific says traditional marketing and sales tools such as the group's World of Accor hotel roadshow, client events, trade shows, direct mailing, sales calls and off-line advertising still play a key role in the group's success. READ MORE

Travel planning has changed. With limitless sources of information accessible in an increasingly social world, travelers have essentially become their own agents. This couldn't be more evident than in the way an increasing number of people now rely on consumer-generated online reviews for their travel plans. How exactly do these reviews shape consumer perceptions of a property? What steps must hotels and hospitality execs take to effectively leverage review data and drive bookings? Chris Campbell, founder of online review management company Review Trackers, explores. READ MORE

Everything in today's business environment seems to be about technology, the latest developments, content marketing, microblogs, engagement, SEOs, etc. Some companies have become overly-systematized, as I call it. Everything and I mean everything is left to automation. Once the database is set-up and your name is entered you get emails on a regular basis whether they are relevant to your current need or not. This just happened to me recently where I got a letter from my Bank of ... soliciting me for a lower mortgage rate. I am a client of Bank of ..., they hold my mortgage and you would think that they know whether I qualify for a reduced rate, but as it turned out they didn't. That's what I call over- systemized. Here are some examples of what technology cannot do... READ MORE

In the last five years the United States and countries around the world have witnessed many major natural disasters. Such disasters include hurricanes, tornados, tsunamis, severe windstorms and catastrophic flood damage that have left businesses, large and small, unable to recoup from their loss. Damage assessments by risk management and loss control specialists find to often preventative measures could have been implemented that would in part or significantly reduce the overall cost of a claim or the length of recovery time. The intent of this guide is to help business owners in the planning process for preparing and implementing an emergency plan. One that is activated before, during, and after an event. READ MORE

As millennials blossom into a prevailing consumer group, it's vital that you understand their distinctive purchasing habits. Given that F&B is a central part of the overall hospitality experience, mastering this aspect of your operations and remolding it to cater to this demographic will play a large role in determining future occupancy and RevPAR figures. To this end, I interviewed Mike Whalen, the founder and CEO of Johnny's Italian Steakhouse, to extract five keys for hotel restaurants to better appeal to millennials. READ MORE

In hospitality, with so many options available to customers, a distinctive experience that connects with customers will pay off. Satisfied customers buy more, are less price sensitive, and will generate positive word-of-mouth, all contributing to revenue performance. But hospitality companies have limited money to invest and will only spend on things they believe will have the biggest impact on performance. The challenge for all hospitality businesses is to figure out how to invest to maximize guest satisfaction and loyalty. With advancements in customer feedback and data analysis tools, it's easier to identify the investments that will have the biggest impact on the bottom line. Here are three ways to invest that will help maximize satisfaction, loyalty and the bottom line. READ MORE

When major events come to town, such as international sporting competitions or cultural festivals, they often offer unique opportunities for hoteliers to capitalize on increased demand, gain a new loyal following of customers and maximize revenue both over the short and long -term. Yet while major events come with huge potential rewards, if not executed well, they can be very high risk resulting in anything from displacing current loyal customers to a hotel full of empty rooms, or from no-shows to cancellations. Hoteliers need to ask themselves - "Will we manage to capitalize on the increased demand for our rooms? Will we be able to balance the demand for event attendees willing to pay higher rates while also maintaining our existing customer base? Will this fabled demand actually materialize, or will our rooms remain empty throughout the event?" READ MORE

A sustainability report is an organizational report that gives information about economic, environmental, social and governance performance, regardless of whether the performance is good or bad, and more and more companies are producing the reports today. Why would any company produce such a report, especially if it may contain "bad" news? Read further for the pros and cons of creating sustainability reports. Most of the "cons" with sustainability reporting revolve around how the report is actually created and presented, but not its content. And the benefits are difficult to measure and quantify. Again, one might ask, why bother? There are plenty of good reasons. READ MORE

Inspired by the beauty of its mountains and its golden beaches, I decided to continue my professional career as sales director in Puerto Vallarta with a return to the four-diamond beachfront CasaMagna Marriott Puerto Vallarta Resort and Spa. My foray into the hospitality industry began with my first job at the JW Marriott Mexico City and during my career thus far I have spent time in numerous properties around and outside of Mexico including the Marriott Ixtapan de la Sal Hotel and Spa, Lisbon Marriott Hotel Portugal, Airport Marriott Hotel Mexico City and most recently the St. Regis Mexico City. Having spent the majority of my career in major urban cities, moving to the coast has been an enlightening experience, both personally and professionally. Just a couple of months living in this beautiful area, I found that despite being a world-class destination, the coastal city is facing big challenges when it comes to selling this picturesque getaway locale. READ MORE

Revenue Management definition: To sell the right product to the right customer at the right time for the right price via the right channel. But how do you get there? We all know the leaders of data production - Smith Travel Research produces daily, weekly, and monthly reports on your hotels performance vs the competitive set. Travelclick supplies you with more intelligence on rate shops and Travel Agent production through 'hotelligence' and more. According to STR and TravelClick during the HSMAI ROC conference this past June, Transient Travel is increasing however group travel is declining between 2-4%. Furthermore TravelClick statistics show that Leisure travel has increased and is forecasted to continue growth. READ MORE

Every business needs to know what its industry rivals are up to in order to meet customer expectations, stay current, and charge competitive prices. For hoteliers, this can involve discreet mystery shopping with visits to local establishments or checking out the websites and social media initiatives implemented by direct competitors. For those serious about being the best in their industry, though, the search for new ideas and customer service excellence can go further than the hotels in the same town, to other countries and even other industries. This article will highlight what some hoteliers around the world do to check out the competition in order to stay ahead of the game. READ MORE

We live in one of the most exciting times in travel advertising history. Digital media has found its groove and most brands are embracing it in big ways. The online advertising space allows marketers to reach their prospects based on their age, income, zip code, online behavior and travel interests. Travel marketers find it exciting to know they are reaching the center of their target audience in innovative ways with very little waste. Exciting as it may be, access to large volumes of data from multiple sources can prove overwhelming and complicate campaign analysis. By understanding the many forces at play with the numbers you will be better prepared to effectively analyze your digital campaigns. READ MORE

While mobile website optimization is becoming common, many hotel websites are not optimized well for tablets like the iPad. It's tempting to nail smartphone optimization and think we're done with it. After all, tablet screens are large, making it easier to navigate traditional websites on them than from smartphones. However, there are hotel website quirks that are incompatible with tablets, which, when seen, cause the affluent tablet user to "bounce" away and go to a competitor. The following are common website characteristics incompatible with tablets. How do your hotel websites measure up? READ MORE

You would be hard-pressed to attend an international hospitality conference these days without a panel or two exploring the $64,000 question: "Where are the deals?" Despite Miami's position as the second-hottest hotel market in the U.S., the suggestion of continued investment in Miami -- and the rest of the South Florida hospitality market - is met with a surprising number of critics. In this article, you'll learn why the notion of a temporary bubble is misguided, and you'll hear directly from marketplace insiders who believe Miami's hospitality space is positioned for a multi-year run of escalating prices and robust investment returns. READ MORE

This article, especially the title, suggests service issues as the percentage of actual negative events that can potentially place your business in a detrimental situation. This will help eliminate the need to be consistently investing time, resources and money on monitoring and having to resolve social media sites for inconsistently or negative situations that they can prevent. Dealing with guest challenges can be done proactively by applying certain operating service standards, best suited for the brand and scale, that will prevent normal issues, but we also encounter a lack of consistency and follow up on these proactive service practices. Hence, we get a dissatisfied guest. READ MORE