High-Speed Internet Access has arguably been the single most contentious technological addition to the hospitality industry since the advent of the Property Management System. It's hard to imagine something so beneficial creating such a varied reaction and in the process destroying nearly billions in venture capital along the way. As an amenity or service, high-speed access has truly "crossed the chasm" from "nice to have" to a common requirement of business and leisure travelers alike. Compounding the challenges resulting from the wide rates of adoption of HSIA is that many brands are now offering the service for free. This obviously makes it difficult to preserve the de facto standard of the $9.95 per day business model. So now that all of the dust has settled and the drama has played out, hoteliers worldwide are left wondering - is there an ROI? READ MORE

In the early days of Internet marketing, the goal of most web site owners was to drive as many potential customers to their site as possible and hope that some of these visitors would conclude a transaction, thus creating a new and relatively inexpensive channel for generating revenue and reducing costs. To date, with only 5% of all reservations being booked online, I believe it is fair to say that most web site owners in the hotel sector have not been able to convince users to complete a transaction/reservation online. And this will not dramatically change until site owners recognize that to get users to make an online reservation, the site must first and foremost establish a bond of trust with them. READ MORE

If you are under the impression that once your web site is up and running that most of the hard work has been completed, you have made a very serious mistake. Your web site is probably one of the most powerful and cost effective marketing tools you have and as such I suggest you view it as you would any other asset or investment and use it to its maximum potential. This feature examines how, over the long term, you insure that your web site remains fresh and interesting and that visitors continue to have a positive and rewarding experience at your site. READ MORE

When you get right down to it, your web site is just another extension or variation on your actual hospitality property. Visitors must be able to easily navigate their way through your site and find what they are looking for. As with any hotel, make it difficult to find the front desk and you'll probably never get too many guests making a reservation. Visitors must be able to easily access information about rooms, rates and amenities and they don't want to be kept waiting - again, no different than if they were in your lobby and could not find the front desk. Hit the mark in these key areas and most likely you will provide your web site visitors with a satisfying and positive web site experience - one that will encourage repeat visits and build loyalty. READ MORE

Understanding who your web site visitors and customers are, what they want to do, how they tend to behave and if they've had a rewarding experience at your web site does not necessarily have to be a complicated process. To develop a deeper understanding of who your visitors are and learn how to create a site that accommodates their wants and needs, you should now or in the very short time commit to the ongoing development of a solution to monitor customer satisfaction and their web site experience. Let's face it - web sites are designed by people, for people. For a site to succeed, it must attract and please your visitors and customers. If a site is intended for, or targeted to a particular type of visitor, then the appeal and functionality of your site must be optimized for that type of individual. If your site is intended for a particular type of visitor ie. a business traveller, then an obvious measure of the site's success is the extent to which the business traveller's needs and desires are met. When you get right down to the basics, the best way to understand if that business traveler's needs were met is to ask them. READ MORE

Your website should be a source of comfort for your die-hard, higher frequency visitors. Typically, the word comfort, when used in the context of a hospitality article, denotes soft beds, immaculate sheets, and epic-sized couches. But I'd like to propose that the idea of comfort should be carried over to the online channel, as well. If a hotel stay can excel in comfort, such that even the most jaded and weathered travelers feel that your rooms are like second homes, then shouldn't that same commitment be carried through in your web presence? It absolutely should. READ MORE

Isn't it just like that pesky Internet? It snuck up on us hoteliers in the late 90's and just when you've made the last "tweaks" to your rate parity, SEO and channel optimization strategies and are ready to put your feet up on your desk, let out a sigh of relief and go back to "business as usual" (if there is such a thing anymore), along comes Web 2.0 to throw everything into chaos again! What exactly is Web 2.0? Well, like a lot of things surrounding the Internet, it can have different meanings and encompass a wide range of concepts depending upon your perspective. Generally, however, the term "Web 2.0" refers to the next stage in the evolution of the Internet to shift even more "power" to individual users. You're probably more familiar with Web 2.0 than you realized. Got a page on MySpace, read a movie review on a Blog or looked up something on Wikipedia lately? They're all great examples of Web 2.0 developments and they're just the tip of the iceberg. READ MORE

In my last article, I touched on the importance of optimizing your website so that it would feel like a second home to your higher frequency visitors, who inevitably tend to be higher volume travelers and thus compose a highly attractive, high value segment. Equally significant, however, is the flip side of the coin. Infrequent visitors can sometimes get short shrift when too much effort is devoted to catering to the needs of repeat visitors. The factors that will add value to the online experience for repeat visitors - storing of travel history, updated counts of rewards program points, storing of AAA membership numbers - will only be of incidental significance to the infrequent set. With this in mind, I'd like to touch on some strategies for making your site as effective as possible at converting on booking intent for infrequent visitors. READ MORE

As business owners we are always looking to improve the bottom line, aren't we? We are always looking for ways to make our clients happy while improving our margins. Guest Internet services are a great place to improve the guest experience your hotel provides while potentially increasing revenue. In this article, I will outline the 5 questions you need to ask your potential vendors to make sure that Guest Internet Services are a success at your property. READ MORE

Unfortunately, during your HSIA (High Speed Internet Access) installation, or later on, there's bound to be a hiccup here or there for one reason or another. Knowing how to deal with these hiccups, or how to avoid them all together as they arise, will make a big difference in your guest's satisfaction and your bottom line. In this article, we'll provide some tips and common practices to help you prevent HSIA complications from complicating your guest experience and ultimately your profits. READ MORE

There are two well-known but utterly distinct hotel website visitor segments: business and leisure travelers. One is composed of hard-working professionals in need of accommodations; seasoned travelers whose minds are focused on sales, partnerships, and acquisitions, and for whom a comfortable night's rest is critical. The other segment is composed of pleasure-seekers; seasonal or holiday travelers for whom the hotel stay is but one part of the larger experience of vacationing. This article will explore who these segments are, what website elements make them tick, and what areas of the site experience have proven to be barriers to successful visits. READ MORE

Dollar-for-dollar, search engine optimization delivers the most cost-efficient website traffic-building tactic and can also deliver significant competitive advantages. Find out the benefits of SEO and add your hotel on an aggressive SEO marketing plan. READ MORE

Have you ever got to the point where a hotel you were responsible for was perfect? There was absolutely nothing anyone could do that would make things any better for customers, staff or profitability? ... Didn't think so. Websites are like that too -- there's no such thing as a perfect website. In some ways, this makes my job ridiculously easy - send 100 potential customers to any website and of course they'll find things to criticize! In fact, they'll almost certainly come up with way more suggestions than you'll have the budget to accommodate. That's why it becomes crucial to decide which changes are the most important ones to make, and how to make them most effectively. READ MORE

Mobile adoption is accelerating in terms of the number of users researching or managing travel. Some industry reports are predicting a climb in the number of US consumers using mobile for travel research from 19.7 million in 2010 to 29.7 million in 2012. The number of guests expected to start booking travel via mobile is projected to double to 15.1 million in 2012. What will you do to net those customers? Develop a mobile site? Launch a mobile app? Target just iPhone users? And what of your still active desktop shopper? READ MORE

From hotels to coffee shops to department stores, the proliferation of mobile technology and payments has changed how businesses interact with customers. According to PayPal, more than 67 percent of consumers planned to make a purchase using a mobile device during the 2011 holiday shopping season, a telling indicator of the pervasive mobile trend in today's marketplace. Beyond payments, mobile has specifically created new opportunities for hoteliers and their guests. From using near-field communication (NFC) to eliminate the need for plastic door keys to mobile technology speeding up the check-in process, there are multitudes of ways hotels are jumping on the proverbial mobile bandwagon to take their customer service and operational efficiency to the next level. READ MORE