If demand in the U.S. will be down 5.5% this year, then why will average daily rates be down nearly 10%? Have our results become a byproduct of our own forecasting doom and gloom? Rates are down in most markets because of the panic of a few hotels, which started a downward spiral of discounting that wasn't even necessary to accommodate the existing demand. Other hotels in these markets have followed suit and consumers benefit from the industry panic. Come on, hotel industry, take control! Are we to quick to blame the economy for all of our problems? Whether you are an owner, operator, or sales and marketing professional, tapping into the P.O.W.E.R.R. of sales and marketing will help you recover much faster from the current recession than your competitors -certainly long before the hotels that may have started the rate war in your market in the first place. READ MORE

Business travel continues to be scrutinized, especially as companies look to cut costs in this current economy and as corporations shy away from incentive travel as public focus lingers on the so-called "AIG effect." The 2009 decline in U.S. business travel will be about 10.3 percent compared to 2008, according to the National Business Travel Association (NBTA), a group that represents 15,000 business travel professionals. Spending on business travel in the U.S. is expected to dip to $234 billion in 2009. READ MORE

An effective public relations director can be worth his or her weight in gold in safeguarding a hotel's brand and image. But how do you find the right person? The challenge can be vexing, particularly if those doing the interviewing are new to this job category. On the surface it would seem that the public relations director's job is to "get press" - print and broadcast publicity that will shed positive light on the hotel. In fact, the job is much more than that. In most hotels, the public relations director is the "go-to" person for a wide range of needs, including writing and editing (press releases, media alerts, invitations, speeches, etc.), event planning, hosting of media and hotel VIPs, photography, video production, and all manner of trouble shooting. The most effective and successful in-house public relations directors bring to their positions a complex set of skills. READ MORE

The news release has been around for 100 years (that milestone passed in October 2006), conceived by public relations pioneer Ivy Lee who used it to convey to the media details of a fatal train accident on behalf of his client, the Pennsylvania Railroad. For much of its history, the news release (a.k.a. press release) remained unchanged, taking the form of a written statement of news, facts or information on behalf of a company or a cause. Our goal - and yours, I hope - is to better understand how and when to use this basic public relations tool, and how and when not to use it. READ MORE

Public relations, a vital component of hospitality marketing, has seen dramatic growth, both in approach and in practice. Thirty years ago, it was all about publicity - sometimes for publicity's sake. The phrase "there's no such thing as bad publicity" is an extreme example of this idea. The goal was primarily to create awareness and to inform. The word "branding" hadn't yet come into PR focus. Today, while publicity remains at the heart of most hospitality public relations efforts -- whether on a corporate or unit level - it is approached in the context of a broader marketing initiative... and branding is key. For the sake of image, business building and efficiency, it is targeted to a specific audience and it seeks not just to inform, but to engage the prospect in a relationship - one that will have long-lasting benefit for both the constituent and the client. READ MORE

Trends born out of new technology - some unheard just months ago - are rapidly transforming how public relations is being practiced today. The sooner these can be acknowledged, examined and considered, the better equipped we will be to develop and maintain the optimum strategy for our organizations or our clients. And the better prepared we will be to anticipate and incorporate the next wave of innovation in our business. READ MORE

Of all of the marketing disciplines, public relations is, to many, the most difficult to assess. "Are we getting our money's worth?" "Are they as productive as they can be?" "Are we achieving the best results?" "Is it time to make a change?" These are the kinds of questions that surface periodically during the life of almost any client-agency relationship. They may crop up often in a new relationship as it struggles to seek a firm foundation, but they occur even in the most established and longstanding of marriages. The questions are natural and they are understandable. Employing a framework for assessing your particular situation will aid in arriving at solid answers. The process will either support the conclusion that you have the right agency in place...or suggest it may be time to make a change. It will also serve as a guideline for working effectively with your agency so you can be secure in the confidence that you are getting the most from your agency and your public relations budget. READ MORE

Communication, on the surface, is easier and quicker than ever. We have a wealth of information at our fingertips, allowing us to be better informed in our communication with others. We can communicate in real time, cutting across georgraphic, time zone and even cultural boundaries. We can easily inform ourselves of basic cultural idioms as we craft communication directed to people in other regions of the country or far flung areas of the world. When the situation calls for it, we can access translation services at the touch of a button. And yet it seems that true communication is more elusive than ever. If you accept that communication creates understanding between the giver and the receiver, then we seem to have quite a way to go before we can call ourselves consistently effective. It may be, as someone said to me years ago, that communication is the last great frontier. READ MORE

Last year was a tough year for everyone. For this reason, it doesn't matter what industry you are in, everyone had to make significant changes, including those within their sales and marketing teams. Joint ventures, partnerships, creative marketing and networking are just a few options for the next generation of companies striving to meet demands in the working world as we transition into a new decade. These collaborations, if executed effectively are an opportunity for both small businesses to band together to take on the goliaths of an industry as well as an opening for large companies to capitalize on some of the streamlined methods utilized in smaller organizations. READ MORE

It is no secret by now that employers, including those in the hotel- and hospitality-related industry, continue to be hit with the legal tsunami that are class action lawsuits. Hotel employers are especially vulnerable, with limited defenses, when it comes to wage and hour lawsuits, where a large class of employees allege that their employer failed to pay minimum wage or overtime compensation. That vulnerability has been increased recently by the current economic climate, where employers look for ways to cut certain employee-related costs, and by advances in technology (e.g., the use of Blackberries) that make it more difficult to monitor working hours and activities. READ MORE

General managers and hoteliers face the challenge of synchronizing all of the internal processes of a hotel every day, coordinating the F&B department with the front office and sales, all while making sure engineering keeps the place running right. It's a tough job! One of the greatest challenges facing hoteliers and hotel managers in terms of getting their symphony well-tuned is synching their sales and revenue management systems. This article provides GMs and hoteliers with suggestions on how to properly integrate their sales and revenue management systems to ensure optimal revenues, a must in today's tough market. READ MORE

Almost overnight, group business disappeared when the worst economic times of our life time coincided with the public exposure of AIG and other companies spending lavishly on group business while accepting government bail-outs. As a result, large groups from high profile companies wanted to avoid the illusion of excess or decadence and cancelled their meetings at resorts, conference centers, casinos, and convention hotels. In desperation, most group properties significantly reduced rates to attract any group business and undercut their completion to gain back this market. This article will address some tips to penetrate this market regardless of market conditions to ensure that your property(s) is positioned for success. READ MORE

With business travel showing a slow rebound going into 2010, business travelers are being forced to review the need for travel on a case-by-case basis as companies increasingly examine how they can get the best return on investment from travel. Because business travelers make up such a large percentage of the bookings, marketers will need to rethink and rebuild an ongoing strategy that is reflective across all channels. Find out what some of the emerging trends are for 2010 that will be on the forefront of the business travel market. READ MORE

Interior designers work hard to sharpen their savvy and well-oiled sales pitches - sales pitches that often seem to include validations of our essential service offerings. As a designer - I myself am often guilty of reasoning over details and well thought out design concepts, which in most cases focus on the end-user and revenue generation. Designer concepts fall all too often on misunderstanding ears as proverbial designer fluff, but within this article I'll present valid scenarios that clearly assuage the misgivings of property developers and owners and in the end validate the work of designers. READ MORE

Without a doubt, the most significant line item under a hotel's operating cost umbrella is energy. Lighting, cooling, heating, and supplying water to a hotel and its guests is pricey. Therefore, it's the smartest place to look for savings. But it's impossible to reduce energy spend without first understanding your consumption. That's where the power of the utility bill comes into play. READ MORE