Computers with 17 and 19" monitors have almost become STANDARD. New 108" Plasma Screen TVs (that's 9 feet diagonal) are the rage. Even the screens on cell phones are growing. The mantra of electronic viewing is "bigger is better." Scratch that, "Huge is Better." 360^0 Virtual Tours are just beginning to follow the trend. Virtual Images started out at the postage stamp size of 160 x 120 pixels. As Dial-Up modem speeds increased from 9600bps to 56.6Kbps and computers got more powerful processors like the Pentium "ONE", they grew to 320 x 240 pixels. This is where they've remained for a few years as a few other changes in the Internet came along. It's been worth the wait! The results are stunning! READ MORE

Marketing to unmanaged group travelers presents several challenges, but the opportunity presented far outweighs the barriers. The fact that group travel includes many disparate customer types means it is important to understand to which customers your property or properties is likely to appeal. A team of 13-year-old softball players along with their coach and parents needs something different in a hotel than a group of 5 to 10 corporate executives. An effective marketing program targeted at group travelers requires several key elements, some of which are technical and some of which are simply conceptual or philosophical. First, I would like to address the types of travelers that comprise the group travel market. Second, I will discuss ways to effectively reach these customers. READ MORE

Recent "commoditization" of the hospitality industry has encouraged companies to compete on price, and achieving differentiation through service has required higher investment (higher quality, shorter operation cycles), reducing overall profitability. Every year, surveys are conducted that clearly outline companies' need to reduce costs and increase operational efficiencies. Many companies have already made great headway in accomplishing this goal by reducing complexity, implementing best practices and leveraging best-of-breed technologies. While the hotel industry has experienced strong revenue growth over the past few years, however, bottom-line performance has eroded since 2000, due to escalating expenses, including "non-controllable" costs such as utilities, insurance and government regulation. These costs - along with "controllable" costs such as payroll, staffing and marketing - are expected to only increase in the years to come. READ MORE

The Internet has caused massive change in the hotel industry-new technologies, new competitors and newly-empowered customers have fundamentally altered the face of our business. But massive change can also bring opportunity. Much has been written about how the Internet-and the rise of online travel sites-has been a boon to the consumer, but what about the impact to the hotelier? It really boils down to two things: complexity and control. READ MORE

It may seem counter-intuitive, but just because hotel occupancy rates are up, does not necessarily mean that profits are. Increasing the bottom line may require a new way of thinking. Many hospitality industry executives instinctively feel that technology is both a blessing and a curse. Yes, technology increases productivity and enables new ways of communicating with customers, but it also creates new challenges as distribution channels emerge, and new headaches when the technology doesn't work the way it's supposed to - which seems to happen all too frequently. READ MORE

To truly affect the bottom line, leading hotels are examining every link in their supply chains to find the best ways to implement cost controls that offer long-term financial benefits without sacrificing the quality of the guest experience. Many hotel operators are surprised to learn that during the purchasing, receiving, and inventory management process, profits can erode despite their best efforts to negotiate the best price and control costs. READ MORE

You have put together an excellent Web site that's sleek, functional, answers customer queries and allows online customers to easily complete transactions. You've solved the e-commerce problem, right? Well...maybe not. You may have overlooked a key area of the sales process...cross-selling and up-selling. With nearly four out of 10 travel bookers researching online but booking offline, you're probably happy to get the sales you do get online without worrying about how you can up-sell and cross-sell wary customers. READ MORE

One of the easiest ways to promote your hotel to non-locals is with search engine advertising. But what happens when they click on the ad and go to your site? All too often, what they see is not what they expected, so they just click back to the search engine, wasting you money and losing potential business. How can you minimize wasted click-throughs and maximize search-inspired bookings? One key is to think carefully about your "landing pages". Jargon Alert: A landing page is the page people land on when clicking your ad. READ MORE

Today, there are hundreds of once highly protected famous name brands, which were backed by multi-million dollar promotional budgets, now commonly used in daily lingo as generic names, as it was their huge popularity that made them lose their trademark protection. So why is the use of famous trademarked names as 'verbs' in our daily language feared by the attorneys representing that mark? Now this calls for a closer look. READ MORE

Picture a virtual universe (known in the business as "metaverses") where millions of real, adult consumers may spend hours a day. While there, they spend real money to stay at your virtual resort while they play golf, shop, dine, meet one another and sightsee. They live your brand. This is no fantasy; it's already happening, and some of the world's biggest brands - though very few in the world of travel and tourism - are taking full advantage. And, why not? Where else can you grab the attention of potentially your most valuable customers, for hours instead of seconds? How else can you reach consumers where they really want to be, in real time, while they're doing what they want to do? A newspaper advertisement glanced at quickly and thrown away? A tagline on the radio? A television commercial that is TIVOed away? READ MORE

Have you ever stood outside a restaurant looking at its menu, trying to decide whether to choose it or one of the half-dozen other restaurants on the same street? How would you react if the maitre d' suddenly came out and asked you how many seats you needed? A little affronted, perhaps? You might feel that he's coming on a bit strong. What about if instead he came out and covered up the prices on the menu, telling you that you have to come inside and sit down before you could see the prices? Seems ridiculous, doesn't it. Yet that's exactly what a surprising number of hotel sites still do online, insisting that prospects register in order to fully explore the hotel's offerings and prices. Nothing turns away potential customers faster. READ MORE

Today's travel and hospitality marketing environment is driven by a dynamic flow of information that grows more diverse and complex by the day. With interactive and Web-based tools delivering more power to guests in the reservation process than ever before, expectations around responsiveness and personalized service continue to increase. As a result, marketers face numerous operational challenges as they try to manage an unprecedented number of guest touch points and interactions. Complicating matters, most of these marketers have large numbers of guests and every guest presents different and dynamic needs. READ MORE

Recent statistics from the hospitality industry are grim. Occupancy declines range from a low of 9.8% in Europe to a high of 14.4% in Asia Pacific, average daily rate (ADR) declines range from 3.0% in the Middle East to 17.9% in Asia Pacific, and revenue per available room (RevPAR) declines range from 14.9% in the Middle East to 29.7% in Asia Pacific. What can your hotel do to buck this trend and recover-sooner rather than later? READ MORE

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) has continued to become more and more important in hotels marketing initiatives. However, the SEO process is complex and difficult to understand for many executives. This article outlines the SEO process, the basics of an SEO plan and how to measure your efforts and subsequent success. Not all SEO companies are alike. In today's competitive marketplace an SEO plan is not merely a suggestion it's a requirement READ MORE

Marketing is experiencing a profound shift as customers bring demands to organizations. Customers are in control of where and how they engage and they expect an intelligent, real-time conversation with resorts, destinations and travel planners. A 360-degree view of customers means unprecedented levels of personalization, timing, relevance, cost-efficiency, and accountability. Read on to learn about interactive relationship marketing and how you and your customers can benefit from it. READ MORE