Embracing Technology Without Losing the Human Touch in Hospitality
Alan Young | February 8, 2024
Amadeus Data Reveals Los Cabos, Mexico to Be Top Hotel Destination for Christmas and New Year’s Travel
Amadeus’ Demand360+ | December 7, 2023
Technology
New Group Business Continues Positive Trend into 2016
TravelClick, Inc. | March 4, 2016
Individual Bookings Also Strong, But Business Travel Continues to Decline NEW YORK – March 4, 2016 – Heading deeper into 2016, properties in major North American markets are continuing to experience strong increases in bookings, with 20 of the top 25 (80 percent) markets showing committed occupancy* growth compared to last month. However, new business reservation pace is continuing to decelerate, according to new data from TravelClick's February 2016 North American Hospitality Review (NAHR). "While the financial markets remain highly volatile, it's encouraging to see that the North American hotel market continues to grow at ...
HeBS Digital Releases the smartCMS v7, Technology that Transforms the Hotel Website into the Primary Distribution Channel
HeBS Digital | March 4, 2016
NEW YORK, NY – March 4, 2016 – HeBS Digital, the leading hotel digital technology, full-service digital marketing and website revenue optimization consulting firm, has launched a major update to its award-winning smartCMS, world-class hotel website technology specifically created to maximize direct hotel bookings. For a second year in a row, the smartCMS won a Gold Stevie® Award in the Best Software Programming/Design Category in the 2015 American Business Awards, the nation's most prestigious software-for-business awards program. This is the seventh generation of HeBS Digital's proprietary hotel website technology, whic...
Facing and Correcting the Human Resources Domino Effect
Thomas Mielke | March 3, 2016
By: Thomas Mielke and Andrew Hazelton AETHOS finds that poor support in one specific HR duty may start a negative domino effect Alignment has been a commonly spoken "business mantra" for years, although Human Resources professionals would agree that misalignment is a common issue that is neither comprehensively discussed nor addressed in today's workplaces. That performance gaps and lapses in resources exist is not debated. What's now needed to advance the conversation is evidence-based guidance on identifying and rectifying the catalysts of misalignment. AETHOS Consulting Group recently surveyed a highly targeted group of sixty-eight ...
How Can Technology Improve the Guest Experience Before Arrival?
Guestfolio | March 3, 2016
Using technology to own the digital conversation has become the most important aspect of most hoteliers' jobs. It leads to increased direct engagement with the guest, an influx of guest conversion from unknown OTA bookings to real known guests, and ultimately an increase in future direct bookings. From the moment that guest makes a booking it's your time, as hoteliers, to shine! And in this latest blog, we'll look at how easy that is to do right up until they check-in. Google identified that one of the top five most travel-related search terms was 'what to do in [destination location]'. Travellers want to plan, they want book in advance...
Duetto to Integrate TravelClick’s Demand Hotel Business Intelligence Data into its Market-Leading Revenue Strategy Solution
TravelClick, Inc. | March 3, 2016
Combined Offering Expected During First Half of 2016 NEW YORK – March 3, 2016 – TravelClick, a global provider of innovative cloud-based solutions that enable hotels to grow revenue, and Duetto, a market leader in hotel and casino profit optimization technology, have joined forces to integrate TravelClick's Demand360® data into Duetto's GameChanger revenue strategy application to make Open Pricing an even more powerful tool in today's complex distribution landscape. Hoteliers can further leverage Duetto's core functionality that enables hoteliers to independently yield all segments, channels, offers and room types in rea...
A Hotel’s Guide to All Things Google (E-Book)
TrustYou | March 3, 2016
How to Use Google to Capture the Most Bookings Hotels might not have felt an earthquake when Google jumped into instant booking last year; in fact, many were so focused on massive OTA consolidation that Google instant booking may have appeared as barely a blip on the industry seismograph. However, a closer look at the state of online bookings shows that what Google Travel aims to do is reach travelers at every point of the booking pathway, and Book on Google (the hotel instant booking feature) is one among many ways in which hotels will need a presence in order to effectively compete for visibility and market share. Consider: 1. A Googl...
Advantage Reserve, a Leader in Direct Revenue Solutions, Introduces LUIS: Lead Utilization Information Solution
Advantage Reserve, LLC | March 2, 2016
State-of-the-art CRM platform will supply qualified data and additional revenue to client hotels NEW YORK—March 2, 2016—Advantage Reserve LLC, a provider of direct revenue solutions exclusive to the hospitality industry, announced that it has developed a proprietary Customer Relationship Management platform to maintain and convert guest leads. LUIS – Lead Utilization Information Solution was created to afford our partner hotels and us an additional opportunity to increase conversions and realize additional revenue for a hotel or resort. AR estimates that, based on the information that we have captured from our initial ...
Rainmaker’s OPTIMIZE2016 User Conference Delivers Insight, Instruction and Impetus to ‘Make Revenue Optimization Great Again’
Rainmaker | March 2, 2016
ATLANTA – March 2, 2016 – While presidential campaigns are notorious for leaving stump pledges unfulfilled, OPTIMIZE2016 lived up to its promise to "Make Revenue Optimization Great Again." The Rainmaker Group's annual client conference convened more than 300 people for three days of substantive sessions addressing the state of the industry and solutions that move beyond revenue management to profit optimization. The conference, whose political theme played off its presidential primary season timing, was held (ironically) at Miami's Trump Doral Resort, Feb. 17-19. Key OPTIMIZE2016 takeaways include: grouprev/Cvent partnership...
SiteMinder and Revinate Study: Hoteliers Say Distribution and Online Marketing Need Urgent Attention
SiteMinder | March 1, 2016
Dallas, US – Managed guest relationships, integrated technology systems, and improved data collection and security are the three most critical needs of hoteliers when it comes to distribution and online marketing, a whitepaper by hotel technology experts Dr Peter O'Connor, SiteMinder and Revinate has found today. The whitepaper, Envisioning the Future of Hotel Distribution and Online Marketing, is based on research conducted in late 2015 with hotelier delegates of World Travel Market London. It found that hoteliers see overcoming the challenges of a fast-paced online environment, advancing technology and ever-increasing consolidat...
Visit Bellevue Washington Selects Regatta Travel Solutions to Power Booking Engine on VisitBellevueWashington.com
Regatta Travel Solutions LLC | March 1, 2016
Charlottesville, Virginia (March 1, 2016) – Regatta Travel Solutions announced today that Visit Bellevue Washington, Bellevue's destination marketing organization (DMO) has selected Regatta Travel Solutions to power the booking engine on their official destination website, VisitBellevueWashington.com. Regatta enables visitors to the destination website to book hotels, attractions and packages on the destination's official website. "It has really been a pleasure working with the Regatta team so far," said Sharon Linton, Marketing & Communications Manager at Visit Bellevue Washington. "We really appreciate when a partner is hand...
Expedia’s Accelerator Program – The Final Nail in the Coffin of Hotel Profitability
the Author and HeBS Digital | March 1, 2016
By Max Starkov Background Though Expedia's new Accelerator Program has not officially launched, it has been widely discussed by the company's top management during investor calls and TV interviews. It is also being promoted to hotels in a number of locations by Expedia's market managers. What exactly is the Accelerator program? Simply put, it is a "bid for position" commission program in which hoteliers are encouraged to provide Expedia with a higher commission in exchange for better visibility (read higher ranking) of the property listing in Expedia's search/availability results pages. The idea is that if a property is in a dire occupa...
Google’s Move Away From Right-Rail Ads: The Hotel Marketer’s Action Plan
the Authors and HeBS Digital | February 29, 2016
By Asher Fusco and Carmine Fischetti Google rolled out a major change to its search engine results display in late February, phasing out text ads from the right side of its desktop search results. This substantial adjustment to the search engine's ad display approach will have far-reaching implications on search engine marketing, return-on-ad-spend (ROAS) and ultimately the hotel's bottom line. Hotel digital marketers can stay ahead of the curve and adjust to Google's latest change by monitoring search engine marketing (SEM) performance and cost-per-click (CPC), while also focusing on organic search, retargeting, and emerging paid searc...
Infor Selected by Kempinski to Implement Group-Wide Business Intelligence Platform
Kempinski | February 29, 2016
Luxury Hotel Group Can Now Gain Real-Time Insights through Combination of Infor EzRMS and Infor d/EPM NEW YORK - Feb 29, 2016 - Infor, a leading provider of beautiful business applications specialized by industry and built for the cloud, today announced that Kempinski Hotels, Europe's oldest luxury hotel group, has begun the implementation process of Infor Dynamic Enterprise Performance Management (d/EPM). The solution will be deployed across the group's 73 five-star hotels in 31 countries throughout Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia and is designed to serve as a unified business intelligence platform, complementing the e...
WinStar World Casino Upgrades to InvoTech RFID Uniform Management System
InvoTech Systems, Inc. | February 26, 2016
Another InvoTech Customer Upgrades their Uniform System with RFID Technology for More Efficient Operations and Cost Saving Benefits LOS ANGELES, CA – Feb. 29, 2016 – InvoTech Systems, Inc. announced WinStar World Casino and Resort, owned and operated by the Chickasaw Nation in Oklahoma, is upgrading its uniform management and control processes with InvoTech's RFID Uniform System. WinStar has benefited from the control and accountability established by the InvoTech Uniform System since it was implemented in 2006. The RFID technology upgrade will provide additional cost-saving benefits by automating manual tasks that were prev...
Summit Hotel Properties Reports Fourth Quarter And Full Year 2015 Results; Pro forma RevPAR Grew to $97.13, an Increase of 5.5%
Summit Hotel Properties | February 25, 2016
Annual Same-Store RevPAR increases 8.2 percent Adjusted FFO per share soars 28.0 percent to $1.25 per share for 2015 Portfolio Transformation Continues AUSTIN, Texas, Feb. 24, 2016 -- Summit Hotel Properties, Inc. (NYSE: INN) (the "Company") today announced results for the fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2015. "We are thrilled with the overall performance of our portfolio in 2015," said Dan Hansen, the Company's President and Chief Executive Officer. "In each of the last four years, our portfolio of premium select-service hotels has outperformed the Smith Travel Research upscale RevPAR growth...
Google Drops Right-Side Ads From Desktop Results Pages: What Hoteliers Need to Know
Sabre Hospitality Solutions | February 25, 2016
By Nicholas Hopkins Over the weekend, Google confirmed that they will no longer be showing paid ads on the right side of desktop search results pages worldwide. Previously, a search engine results page featured up to three ads at the top of the page, with a column to the right of up to eight ads. With the new page layout, paid ads will only be shown at the top and/or bottom of the page. Google did confirm that for "highly commercial queries," which should include most hotel searches, four ads will show instead of three. Here are screenshots showing search results and ads both before and after the update. Before Update: After Update: S...
Trump International Hotel & Tower Panama Installs FlytePass Guest Boarding Pass Printing
February 25, 2016
Flyte Systems Expands International Presence with FlytePass Boarding Pass Printing at Luxury Trump Hotel & Tower CHICAGO, IL – February 25, 2016 – Flyte Systems expanded its international presence with the announcement that the Trump International Hotel & Tower Panama implemented the FlytePass boarding pass printing travel service. FlytePass enables guests to confirm flights and print boarding passes in the comfort of the Trump Panama Business Center. Click here to request information on Flyte Systems' airport travel and guest information services. "We have a truly international guest mix with about 60 percent bu...
Fast-forward to 2017: What will the global hotel industry look like?
SiteMinder | February 25, 2016
By David Chestler, Executive Vice President, Global Enterprise Sales & Business Development, SiteMinder With ITB Berlin 2016 less than two weeks away, it seems apt to not only reflect on how the hotel industry has evolved, especially as of late, but to look ahead to the change likely to come. For the purposes of this article, I want to draw specifically on the Independent Lodging Market Report, produced by Phocuswright and h2c, and co-sponsored by SiteMinder, which outlines the key shifts we can expect over the next two years. Some of the more startling shifts are in: Regional market growth – The US market will grow more tha...
FREE WEBINAR: Learn How to Optimize your Digital Conversion Funnel Along the Hospitality Customer Journey
Milestone | February 25, 2016
Milestone is inviting you to our complimentary webinar where we will examine today's digital customer journey and how to optimize the hospitality conversion funnel. We will discuss key trends impacting search and benchmarks for marketing campaigns. Your hospitality business can create successful targeted marketing campaigns by understanding the stages of the conversion funnel, and the benchmarks for success in each stage. The audience will hear about the rapidly changing digital world and which channels are key to the purchase process when consumers are booking hotel rooms. We walk through the different stages of the purchase cycle ...
Hotel AG Announces January and February Closings
Hotel AG | February 24, 2016
ATLANTA – February 24, 2016 – Hotel AG announced today the firm has closed 8 hotel transactions since January 1st. The transactions included 4 full service and 4 select service hotels located across five regions of the US. The transactions comprise of a full service Marriott located in a major west coast market, a full service beach front hotel in Daytona, a Holiday Inn in Louisiana, a La Quinta in Houston, a Marriott branded hotel in the northeast, a classic boutique hotel located in a northeast river town and two other select service hotels located in the southern crescent. Hotel AG brokers involved in these transactions w...
Grand Sierra Resort and Casino Expands Use of Agilysys Solutions to Enhance Efficiency and Service
Agilysys | February 24, 2016
Resort Implements rGuest® Seat for Improved Restaurant Table Management, rGuest® Pay for Secure Payment AGILYSYS INSPIRE, LAS VEGAS — Feb. 24, 2016 — Agilysys, Inc. (Nasdaq: AGYS), a leading global provider of next-generation hospitality software solutions and services, today announced that Grand Sierra Resort and Casino, in Reno, Nev., has selected the rGuest® Seat and rGuest® Pay solutions to enhance efficiency and guest service at the 2,000-room property. Grand Sierra is a longtime user of Agilysys LMS® property management and InfoGenesis® POS systems. Grand Sierra Resort and Casino, which includes...
Rainmaker Announces Strategic Partnership with Cvent During OPTIMIZE2016 User Conference
Rainmaker | February 24, 2016
Integration of Cvent's Lead Scoring and Rainmaker's grouprev® solutions streamlines lead processing for revenue managers ATLANTA – Feb. 23, 2016 – Complementing its innovative grouprev® product, The Rainmaker Group has entered into a strategic marketing agreement with Cvent, Inc. (NYSE: CVT), ensuring hospitality and gaming clients can more seamlessly prioritize and respond to group business leads from Cvent's cloud-based enterprise event management platform. Rainmaker and Cvent jointly announced the collaboration during Rainmaker's annual client conference, OPTIMIZE2016, last week in Miami, Fla. The agreement allows...
Intelity Announces Partnership with Dream Hollywood to Debut Hotel In-Room, Mobile Technology
Intelity | February 23, 2016
Intelity developing state-of-the-art in-room and mobile app guest experience technology for the marquee property opening Summer 2016 LOS ANGELES – February 23, 2016 – When Dream Hotels opens its West Coast flagship location Dream Hollywood this summer, a partnership with leading guest services technology provider Intelity will set the stage for guest service and engagement to take the spotlight. Dream Hollywood will offer digital services through in-room tablets and a branded mobile app being developed to run on Intelity's ICE (Interactive Customer Experience™) guest services platform, the most widely used of its kind ...
Hospitality Management Corporation Promotes Sandi Byars to Corporate Director of Communications and Marketing
Hospitality Management Corporation (HMC) | February 23, 2016
February 23, 2016 - Dallas, TX - Leo Spriggs, President and CEO of Hospitality Management Corporation (HMC), announces the promotion of Sandi Byars to Corporate Director of Communications and Marketing. This newly developed position will support HMC's continued business expansion and assist in building more value to not only HMC, but current and future hotel owners, clients and guests. She will manage aspects of all outbound information for HMC including press, social media, website, collateral and in-house creative. Byars will also assist in building streamlined internal/external communications and training tools, as well as multi-...
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