While swine flu is a significant health threat, if we are armed with the knowledge about what it is, how it is transmitted, and what is being done to combat the threat nationally and globally, we can be better prepared to deal with this crisis. Additionally, there are concrete steps we can take to ensure our personal safety and health, and the continued vitality of our business operations in the event of an influenza pandemic. Read on for a thorough explanation of the swine flu and how the travel industry can prepare themselves for the worse case scenario. READ MORE

Purchasing business insurance in today's economy has grown to be a large ticket item on businesses' increasing budgets and diminishing bottom lines. As complicated as insurance coverage can be, the process of choosing a broker can make it even more difficult. With insurance rates drastically fluctuating, more businesses are reviewing their current policies and weighing all options - including whether to keep their current broker or look elsewhere. The following are several essential guidelines to help you become a better informed buyer for selecting the right broker. READ MORE

Considered to be a luxury service to the hospitality industry, most hotels, restaurants, airports and even banquet halls, include the service of valet parking. Although this is a value-added service to your clientele, its ultimate costs and risks are a growing concern for the hotel or restaurant owner. While some establishments choose to employ their own staff as attendants, more are leaning toward contracting outside firms who use their own employees. Although outsourcing this risk does lessen some of the liability headaches, both in-house and outsourced services have the same everyday problems that may ultimately end back up on the establishment's doorstep. READ MORE

Buying Business insurance for any business is a complicated process. Whether you're a small entity with one location or a multi-national corporation, insurance is never a topic of likeability. Encompassing a language of its own, insurance has defined itself to be understood only by the few and mostly by those that are in the industry or working directly for it. Those of us who have had the pleasure of learning about insurance have been educated more or less through the process of trial and error, prior claims and their brokers understanding of their clients need base. While the diversity of types insurance is endless, one common factor remains true with all businesses, the necessity to provide proof that they are in compliance with their insurance responsibilities. Whether it is workers compensation, general liability, directors and officers or property coverage, no business can escape the obligation to be able to produce a Certificate of Insurance. READ MORE

In the last several years, the dramatic rise of insurance costs has placed an excessive burden on hotel and restaurant owners. Fortunately, the forecast for the 2007 insurance market remains optimistic with more insurance companies willing to compete and many offering broader coverage terms. As new markets become available, industry analysts advise caution. They recommend hotel and restaurant owners re-examine their existing management programs and develop initiatives to reduce the overall cost of risk. The following outlines a series of twelve tips to help you re-examine your insurance program, its depth of coverage, and related risks. READ MORE

Shortly after 9-11, in an address at Georgetown University, former U.S President Bill Clinton said: "Don't you think it's interesting that in this the most modern of ages, the biggest problem is the oldest problem of human society - fear of the other. And how quickly fear leads to distrust - to hatred - to dehumanization, and to death." Travel is the best and truest form of one to one, people to people diplomacy with the potential to shatter the isolation and fear of the other to which President Clinton refers. In its most authentic form, it serves as a means of dialogue at a personal level, providing us with the opportunity to experience the welcome and hospitality of other peoples and cultures, their human values and qualities, their kind deeds, and what is different in their lives. READ MORE

"The trend has greatly increased in the past year or so and the absence of available financing has caused it." - Charles Reiss, a pioneer in the business who started working on condo hotel projects several years ago as part of the Trump Organization, also previously President and COO of the Sunshine Group. As an active advisor to clients in the hotel debt and equity capital markets, I find the above statement particularly troublesome. It is no secret that hotel capital, both debt and equity is abundant in part due to relatively healthy lodging fundamentals, drastically reduced hotel loan delinquencies, positive forecasted investment returns especially relative to other commercial real estate sectors and potentially a longer hotel investment cycle due to predicted lower supply growth. If creative financing or a lack of alternate financing is the impetus behind the condo-hotel craze, this is pause for concern in light of the superabundance of capital in the market. Before reading further, it should be noted that condo-hotels can and do work in certain circumstances. Such circumstances are few and far between to warrant the type of attention that has been droned on this niche within the lodging sector. READ MORE

If your gut reaction to paying an 8%, 7%, or 6% cap rate or even less is one of nausea, you have probably been comfortably sitting on the sidelines over the past couple of years. Today's capitalization rates can not be viewed in a historic vacuum. A confluence of three forces has driven hotel valuations to where they are today... How long capitalization rates remain this low is a function almost entirely of what happens in the US Treasury market, assuming the operating environment continues its robust forecasted growth and supply remains constrained by historical standards due to higher real construction costs. READ MORE

It all starts at the top. Hotel organizations that lead the future of seamless customer care strive for continual improvement and adaptability. The vision and intent that filters down from upper management provides integrative processes in a more decentralized organizational format and the hotel spa becomes an integral part of this scene. When a spa director or manager clearly understands the intent of the organization, they are able to lead and motivate their team to success. READ MORE

What truly motivates a person? You won't really know unless you ask. Too often managers spin their wheels trying to think of ways to motivate their teams and often miss the mark. You might be surprised to know that money is not the driving force, especially once it's spent and gone. People want to be recognized, respected, included and supported. A collaborative style of management can go a long way in getting your spa team to step up to the plate and perform in ways you never imagined. This article explores areas that are not new when it comes to motivation but instead reviews what we most likely already know but aren't putting to use to the degree that we could or should. READ MORE

Due in large part to Governor Davis' efforts to retain his job, none of his selected lobbyist and interest groups were "left behind" at the conclusion of the 2003 legislative session which resulted in passage of a whole raft of labor-related legislation. These new laws impose additional costs and obligations on California employers who opposed such obligations, because of the challenging economic environment-among other reasons. Prudent employers will want to consider reviewing and modifying their polices and practices to ensure compliance with these new laws and to deter and defeat any claims based thereon. These and other important changes and strategic actions for compliance are set out below. READ MORE

Men's increased interest in their appearance offers significant sales opportunities. A new generation of men for whom image has been important since their teenage years, is now entering its thirties. There is much evidence to support the rise of male grooming across the world. Comparisons of sales data regularly shows that male grooming is growing faster than other segments of the beauty market. The main beneficiaries are product retailers, and in services hair salons, gyms, cosmetic laser clinics, and cosmetic surgeons. Products suppliers report that the male grooming market is no where near saturation point READ MORE

No doubt about it - from major corporations like DuPont, Caterpillar, and BP are lobbying President Bush to develop mandatory carbon emission caps to Walmart CEO Lee Scott's bold pledge to use 100 percent renewable energy and produce zero waste - companies are taking significant green steps. As Thomas Friedman, a New York Times editorialist states, "Green is ... the [growth] industry of the 21st century." However, hotel and resort companies have many questions about how best to invest time and resources toward joining the growing green movement. Namely, what exactly is the green/sustainability movement, and how does it relate to the hotel and resort development business? READ MORE

How will generational effects determine the successful hotel concepts of the next decades? As the influential Y Generation begins to have economic power and as the still influential Baby Boom enters yet another life stage, the question is essential for hotel marketers to consider. The past has proven eloquently that the company able to anticipate generational tastes (until now more through intuition than through planning) will be the company that defines one or more decades. It is easy enough to see how generational effects in conjunction with life-stage elements, technological advancements, business cycles, and historical events have shaped the hotel products of the past. READ MORE

With the end of the year fast approaching, most hotel directors of sales are busy putting the finishing touches on their 2006 Marketing Plans. While you may have created dozens of exciting weekend packages, meeting specials and food & beverage events throughout the year to increase business and encourage media exposure, don't overlook what the holidays can do for your property. Make certain you are covering all traditional holidays and consider developing plans around some not-so-traditional holidays, or "specially developed" holidays or annual events to garner additional revenue during some typically slow times. READ MORE