Are you competent? We all like to believe we are. However, we know that not everyone is and that being competent comes with a set of responsibilities. Competence in the work force often is communicated through job descriptions, recruitment, training programs and our own and our colleague's knowledge, skills and abilities. Who hasn't thought "how did my boss get that job? he or she is incompetent". The question at hand is: are competent people unfairly expected to compensate for others that do not or cannot do their jobs correctly? This article examines competent people (management or staff) versus those in the workforce that are not carrying their fair share of the work load. What do we do to level the playing field? READ MORE

To gain a stronghold on the competition front, one of the most impactful areas you can spend budget on is localization—adapting your hotel brand's identity and your myriad offerings to new international markets. This requires tailoring your hotel marketing campaigns and other forms of messaging to different cultures in such a way that they resonate just as strongly in your target regions. How do you know which areas of localization you should pursue first? And how can you develop a localization strategy to help ensure a smooth experience? This article will provide guidance on localization initiatives that tend to provide the highest returns from a competitive standpoint, in addition to more general advice on setting up a localization strategy. READ MORE

Ritz-Carlton is known worldwide as a leader in customer service. Its quaintly old-fashioned credo is 'we are ladies and gentleman serving ladies and gentlemen'. But how does this translate to a remote island in the South China Sea? This article looks at the Ritz-Carlton Sanya on Hainan Island and focuses on General Manager Michel Goget's efforts to keep the hotel at the number one position on the island. Training is key, but the hotel's policy is to do considerable groundwork before the guests' arrival - even to the extent of providing a 'romanceologist' to orchestrate romantic evenings, proposals and engagements to create the perfect environment for couples. READ MORE

The U.S. lodging industry is well into its fourth year of recovery from the great recession of 2009. One of the pleasant surprises of the current recovery has been the very strong return of lodging demand. From 2009 to 2012, Smith Travel Research (STR) reports that the total accommodated room nights at U.S. hotels has increased by 15.5 percent, the greatest three-year increase in demand observed in the past 25 years. READ MORE

Many convention trends and factors are shaping today's meeting industry. No one can say what will happen for certain in the future of the industry, but it is important to be aware of, monitor and analyze key trends happening all around us. With uncertainty in the economy, multiple generations, shorter booking windows, advances in technology and changes in the way we communicate, hoteliers and meeting professionals will need to revisit Charles Darwin's reference to the “survival of the fittest” by adapting to the trends that are impacting the industry. READ MORE

This article will analyze the extent to which pricing has changed within the meeting and events market. It will go into further detail on the type of trends the hotels' have seen in relation to this subject as well as what they have been doing to invest in new technologies to respond to this aspect of today's competitive marketplace. READ MORE

The behavioral psychology principle of the 'Four Stages of Competence' described in the 1970s deserves special attention for hoteliers because of all the learned skills necessary to be successful in the hospitality industry. Whether you are active in the field as a leader, manager or ambitious team member, understanding these four broad phases of learning will help you achieve mastery in your desired profession. READ MORE

Satisfaction is in the emotional connection guests have with the hotel and service - lebua connects with guests emotionally and knows their mood and behaviors to best meet their needs and preferences. Emotional connection is everywhere at lebua. Our brand concept of service focuses on building emotional bonds with guests at every touch point, whether through language on our website, pre-arrival outreach, personal interaction with guests during their stay, the amenities we provide, or through the surveys we send them after their visit. READ MORE

The last few years have brought an explosion in the number of private lawsuits against employers for wage and hour violations and increased scrutiny by the federal Department of Labor and various other state enforcement agencies. The hospitality industry is not immune from these challenges. In fact, the Wage and Hour Division considers hospitality workers and other low-wage workers to be particularly vulnerable. Over the past year, the U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division has targeted hospitality employers across the country. Investigators often arrive unannounced and demand immediate access to payroll records and employees for interviews to determine whether employees are properly classified and properly paid. READ MORE

Online Travel Agencies such as Expedia, Priceline and Hotwire are extremely good at what they do: filling empty rooms. Unfortunately for hotel operators, they've become slightly too good at it, and travelers are now going straight to these deals sites for their booking needs. So how do hotel operators keep OTAs from cannibalizing business from customers that might have booked direct in the first place? This is one question I hear all of the time from companies that call me for advice on hotel automation systems. READ MORE

Sometimes, in the fast-paced world of hotel management it is easy to skip over some of the suspiciously simple aspects of our operations, like truly knowing our customer. Knowing who is in our hotels is the first step in the process, understanding their preferences and why they are staying there the second, and engaging or utilizing that understanding to capture more business, the final and most important. In this article, I share key strategies you can use at the hotel level to gather and leverage information about your guests to ultimately increase your bottom line. READ MORE

The Paris restaurant scene is constantly evolving. Many trends have been emerging in the past couple of months and travelers are more adventurous with taste, but more conservative on quality. They're eager for new experiences and can't wait to try out new restaurants, but without compromising taste and excellence. Parisians are very selective about their dining options. They want to know where the products on their plates come from - especially with all the recent misleading labels in France and Europe. A guest-friendly dining experience combined with food chain transparency is the most important criteria guests look for in a Paris restaurant. READ MORE

The main point of discussion and the key topic elaborated on in this article is the rapid growth of wellness centers (including spa, fitness and pool) within hotels and resorts in developing countries. When looked at “Maslow's pyramid of Human Needs”, the development and education of most humans, then compare this with the business and operation side of the hotel or resort it will not make much sense at all to build or integrate a wellness center into some of the new hotel projects. The “why” and “because” will hopefully be reasoned enough in the article below. READ MORE

The hotel industry has come a long way since operators had to count the cars in their competitors' parking lots to gauge their performance in the marketplace. For many years the STAR report has replaced car counting with hard data and analysis. But what about F&B? For full service hotels, F&B may account for a third of a hotel's total revenue, even more at the luxury end of the market. Yet F&B market share goes unmeasured. Until now. READ MORE

Embracing the cuisine of any state means embracing the land it grows on. The fruits and vegetables native to an area create the flavor profile that makes up that specific taste of place. When I say a taste of place, I'm referring to flavors that have evolved over centuries with influences from the cultures of that land. I believe that cooking with local, native foods, connects us to a rhythm and life cycle that we've lost over the years and that's why sourcing local food for my restaurant is so important to me. READ MORE