Hotels have a rich history of shaping American society - and a hotel's public space is a crucial part of its service to travelers and to the local community. So now's a good time to re-think, re-shape, and re-new your lobby. Whether your hotel is economy or extravagant, your interior design professional can help make more effective use of your available public space - through architecture, through selection and placement of furniture, and through use of artwork and accessories. In the process, you'll make some living history of your own! READ MORE

Hoteliers face two trends which are seemingly at odds with each other, but now a definite winner seems to be emerging. On the one hand, the economics of franchise brands and real estate development call for a uniform product that's easy to build and monitor regardless of where in the country the property is located. It's the "cookie-cutter" or "one size fits all" syndrome. On the other hand, recent surveys show that having a memorable experience - whether at dinner, in a store, or on a trip - is quickly becoming more important to Americans than accumulating material wealth. This is the customer's request to "wow me" or "show me something special." In short, "wow me" is beating out the "cookie-cutter." Here's why and how. READ MORE

In a recent report, TravelCLICK, the E-commerce services company catering to the hotel industry, showed that Internet reservations received at the central reservation offices of the major hotel brands grew a staggering 34% in 2003 over the previous year. The report also shows that last year, brand Web sites were the source of 66% of the brands' centrally booked Internet reservations. The resounding message, of course, is that Internet-based business is rapidly becoming the preferred method for booking reservations. Importantly, this trend is only the latest in a series of transitions of hotel business operations to electronic protocols. Food and beverage transactions...automated check out and electronic room keys have been standard operating procedure for years. Why is this important? Along with the wonderful employee productivity and financial payoffs of electronic operations has come an enormous new challenge for management: Cyber-crime. READ MORE

According to the surveillance director of a major Las Vegas hotel/casino, "No matter how aggressive you are in fighting hotel fraud, you can be almost guaranteed that you're not catching all of the theft. There are too many ways that employees, vendors and guests can steal from you." That may be true, but it also is true that there's an awful lot that hotel management can do to prevent and detect illegal activity that they're not doing now. And-now is a good time to start getting serious about fighting fraud, because, according to the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE), internal fraud alone (not counting such crimes as credit card fraud by guests and vendor scams that don't involve a hotel employee) robs up to 6% of gross revenue every year. A special challenge for hotel industry security managers is the fact that hospitality properties generate enormous amounts of cash. Whether it's guests paying cash for rooms or restaurant and bar patrons paying for meals with cash, without strict controls on how that cash is handled...and by whom...there's no question that a significant chunk of it is going to end up in employees' pockets. READ MORE

Fraud in the hotel, resort and restaurant industries is a constant and costly problem. While some hospitality companies choose to think of fraud as an unavoidable cost of doing business, more and more are realizing that because fraud losses often are extremely high, even a fractional reduction in those losses can mean millions of dollars in "found" profits. For companies that don't believe they have a serious fraud problem...or simply choose to ignore the subject altogether, consider this: According to the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners in Austin, TX, the average American company loses 6% of its annual revenue to internal fraud. In other words, a hotel or resort company with, for instance, $1 billion in annual revenues, loses $60 million to employee embezzlement...expense account fraud...theft of inventory, etc. READ MORE

The Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) reports that the average US company loses 6% of gross revenue to internal fraud every year. When you add frauds committed by outsiders-dishonest hotel guests, vendors, restaurant patrons, etc- the loss figures become even more startling. For hospitality security personnel, auditors and controllers, the biggest anti-fraud challenge is the seemingly limitless variety of ways that employees and outsiders find to steal from the organization. READ MORE

The news headlines are chock full of accounts of massive volumes of confidential corporate information being stolen, including customer credit card data, medical records, Social Security numbers, corporate trade secrets, trademarked and copyrighted intellectual property and more. The results of these attacks, though hard to accurately measure in dollars and cents, are nonetheless devastating for both the victimized company and the customers, employees and contractors whose personal identifying data is stolen. In the largest theft of confidential information ever, the apparel retailer, TJX Inc., had its databases attacked by outside hackers to the tune of over 45 million retail transaction records, involving countless numbers of credit and debit card files. READ MORE

The problem for hospitality companies, among others, is that thieves have found more and more ways to steal customer credit card and other personal information in order to create counterfeit credit cards in the victim's name.,..or to use the credit card information to fraudulently purchase goods over the Internet with the victim's identity. In addition, restaurant and front desk point-of-sale locations are common "hang-outs" for dishonest employees armed with credit card "skimmers" that record guest credit card data for later use in identity fraud. READ MORE

Industry experts estimate that up to five cents of every dollar of revenue in a restaurant or bar is stolen. Of the five cents, it is estimated that four cents is stolen by employees. Pretax net income for successful restaurants and bars is generally between four and ten percent. Therefore, by merely preventing one-half of a business's fraud, pretax income would be significantly improved. For a hotel food and beverage operation generating, say, $1 million a year in revenue, that 5% or $50,000 represents a significant loss. For large chains, the math can easily produce some fairly staggering loss figures. In this article we'll explore the major reasons for this high rate of fraud loss including scams in hotel bars, and Front and Back of the House. READ MORE

What is the point of a performance test anyway? Traditionally, a performance test was designed to determine whether the hotel operator was “keeping up with the Joneses” and the hotel was “performing” well under the hotel operator's management and came within striking distance of the annual budget. Usher in a global economic collapse and this untested territory has hotel owners, operators and lenders taking a long hard look at traditional performance tests. This compelling article will assist owners, operators, and lender analyze the traditional performance test and determine whether traditional performance tests perform as expected. READ MORE

Reports of the death of travel agents have been greatly exaggerated, and T&H organizations should keep this in mind when developing marketing programs. Travel agents still matter, and that doesn't even take into account group and meeting planners. In fact, for many travel & hospitality providers, travel agencies still represent a major - if not the largest - channel for guest bookings. Read on to learn more about how to engage this ever-important segment in your marketing efforts, including specific tactics that have worked and processes to get your program up and running. READ MORE

As the economy continues to rebound, so too will the hospitality industry, and properties that have suffered through the recent slump will now have a new opportunity to compete for clients. Whether in the leisure or business travel market, hotels that haven't already done so need to take this opportunity to evaluate the condition of their facilities and determine whether renovations are possible, necessary, or desirable and whether the economics of these investments make sense. In some cases, such as most properties with franchise agreements, there are likely continuous requirements for maintenance and renovations during the term of the agreement, with funds set aside in replacement reserves to keep the hotel up to the brand's standards. READ MORE

The benefits of developing, building and opening a new hotel from the ground up in an urban, downtown metropolitan area are many. Closeness to attractions, whether they are major retail centers or sporting venues, and proximity to hubs of business and tourism are just a few examples of the benefits. However, metropolitan markets present significant barriers to entry for ground up development and construction of a new hotel. These barriers can prohibit and delay a project, which in turn can present significant added cost and unbudgeted expense for new hotel development projects. READ MORE

Since 1986, employers have been required to verify the employment eligibility of all employees in accordance with the federal Employment Eligibility Verification program. Employers must document their determinations that acceptable identity and employment authorization documents presented by employees reasonably appear to be genuine, relate to the employee and establish employment eligibility. On-going comprehensive immigration reform debate and the current economic downturn have put the magnet for illegal immigration, unlawful employment, in the enforcement spotlight. This article discusses aspects of the government's current worksite enforcement strategy and the consequential need for employers to implement an effective compliance program. READ MORE

Like housing prices, there seemed no end in sight for maximized hotel rates, spurred by ever-increasing demand. But the economy moves in cycles. Every peak overlooks a valley. And so it is in the hospitality industry. However, many managers never have encountered low demand or zero growth. What can they do maintain revenue? There are a number of strategies that properties can use to maximize revenue during the downturn. Robert A. Gilbert, president and CEO of the Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International (HSMAI), outlines advice for revenue managers. READ MORE