Google Trailing Behind Instagram, TikTok: How Social Media Is Changing the Travel Search Landscape
Lodging Interactive | April 29, 2024
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Women-Led Businesses: Getting the Female Founders’ Perspective
Dr. Nicole Rosenkranz and Dr. Sowon Kim | October 10, 2019
By Dr. Nicole Rosenkranz and Dr. Sowon Kim How does a woman do business in a male-dominated context? Three female CEOs share their perspectives on gender-bias for entrepreneurs and how to overcome it. June 14, 2019, the second Grève de la femme (women’s strike) in Swiss history took place after the first 28 years ago. Over half a million women took to the streets in protest of gender inequality. Unfortunately, the world today still shows a large gap in the appreciation of both genders in the business world and beyond. Currently, 35.3% of entrepreneurs are women (FSO, 2016) and 31% of SMEs are led by women (USAM, 2017) in Switzerland....
9 Travel Trends and Habits of Baby Boomers
Alan Young | October 3, 2019
By Alan E. Young Anyone who has watched Dirty Dancing remembers the iconic line, “Nobody puts Baby in the corner.” Well, hoteliers, what about baby boomers? Over the last few years, millennials have captured a great deal of attention across industries, with hospitality being no exception. Their unique travel behaviors and impressive buying power have generated sizeable interest from hoteliers around the globe, who are eager to tap into their psyche and earn the loyalty of this generational group. With that said, however, millennials only account for those born between 1980 and 1999. Although influential, they do not comprise t...
Nobody Asked Me, But… No. 220: Hotel History: The Heathman Hotel
Stanley Turkel | October 2, 2019
Hotel History: The Heathman Hotel The original Heathman Hotel was built in 1926 one block from the current structure by George Heathman for $1 million. Because of the success of the original hotel, Heathman immediately started construction of a new 10-story concrete structure designed by the architectural firm of DeYoung and Raold. The New Heathman Hotel was designed in the Jacobean Revival style and was Portland’s largest construction project to that date. When it opened, Governor I. L. Patterson and Mayor George Luis Baker made dedication speeches while radio station KOIN featured a live band. The Oregon Journal described the Heathman ...
Putting the Bathroom on the Budget
Larry Mogelonsky | October 2, 2019
By Larry Mogelonsky, MBA, P. Eng. (www.hotelmogel.com) As we enter the traditional budgetary planning period for 2020, it’s all too easy to just go through the motions and tweak what was done last year. However, if there’s one area of guestroom operations where you can make major gains next year, it would be the bathroom. As it’s a highly personal space and thus a very sensitive one, any faults or perceived flaws therein will be emotionally charged and more likely to draw chagrin in online reviews. And if your TripAdvisor game isn’t perfect nowadays then you will have a hard time growing RevPAR over the long-term. While every...
Fairmont Zimbali Resort, Turns to Rainmaker, a Cendyn company, for Deeper Insights Into Their Business
Cendyn | September 30, 2019
Boca Raton, FL. — September 30, 2019 — Cendyn, the leading innovator in CRM, sales and revenue strategy for the hospitality industry, is proud to announce that Fairmont Zimbali Resort has selected Rainmaker’s comprehensive business intelligence solution, revintel®, to help them accelerate hotel growth through faster and easier access to the property’s data and analytics. Situated inside the exclusive Zimbali Coastal Estate, Fairmont Zimbali Resort is renowned for its breathtaking landscapes, pristine beaches, as well as offering leisure and business travelers from across the world the opportunity to experience unrivalled hospitali...
Radisson Hotel Group Signs With Europlan for New Radisson Blu Resort in Mazury Lakes, Poland
Radisson Blu | September 26, 2019
Brussels/Warsaw - September 26, 2019 - Radisson Hotel Group is pleased to announce an agreement with Polish hotel investor Europlan for a new Radisson Blu resort in Poland. Located in Mazury Lakes, a district known as the ‘land of a thousand lakes’, the Radisson Blu Resort, Ostroda Mazury Lakes offers the ultimate resort experience with its own marina and water park. The new property brings the group´s portfolio in Poland to 19 properties across five brands – including Radisson Collection, Radisson Blu, Radisson RED, Radisson and Park Inn by Radisson – and will strengthen the group´s position as the largest international operator fo...
Hotel Franchise Brand Management: What Role for the Brand?
Holden Madison | September 26, 2019
By Holden Madison Tess Mattisson, Senior Director of European Marketing for Choice Hotels International, oversees 400+ hotels and multiple franchise brands across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa regions: she has picked up a thing or two on hotel brand management in franchising. Moving Beyond: Your Brand and Butter Traditional brand names and logos are moving to a more mobile, personalized approach for franchisees. It starts with scalability – measuring and learning from new investments – and then taking those investments to the whole business. Scalability boils down to the services offered, and it’s not a one-size-fits-all...
Incorporating Sustainability Through Gradual Change
Larry Mogelonsky | September 25, 2019
By Larry Mogelonsky, MBA, P. Eng. (www.hotelmogel.com) Climate change activism is no longer niche. Youth around the world are taking to the streets and, moving beyond blanket demands for more action from governments, they are starting to target and boycott corporations that are failing to act. If you think it’s going to stop at paper straws and replacing mini shampoo bottles with dispensers, you are gravely wrong. This is just the start with the end goal being total transparency of waste practices and carbon neutrality. To avoid getting your hotel in the crosshairs and to ensure you have a future – as younger travelers will be more ...
Scottsdale Plaza Resort Puts Accounting in The Cloud With Aptech’s PVNG Enterprise Back Office System
Aptech Computer Systems, Inc. | September 25, 2019
Easy Install and Training, Hospitality-Specific Functionality, Mobile Operation Make PVNG the Hotel Industry’s Leading Back Office System PITTSBURGH, September 25, 2019 – Aptech Computer Systems, the industry standard for hospitality financial systems, announced Scottsdale Plaza Resort implemented Aptech’s PVNG Enterprise Back Office hotel accounting software system. Scottsdale Plaza Resort offers 40 acres of landscaped grounds and over 40,000 square feet of flexible and functional meeting space and serves business travelers, conventions and special events. Aptech is an IBM Premier Solution Provider as well as a Prophix Premier Busin...
Luxury Cayman Villas Enhances Personalized Services With New Software
ALICE | September 24, 2019
Luxury Cayman Villas has selected ALICE to streamline communication and enhance staff efficiency across its expansive property of luxury vacation rental villas. Luxury Cayman Villas offers a carefully curated collection of vacation rentals and a commitment to the highest level of service in the Cayman Islands. ALICE is the hospitality industry’s leading operations technology, connecting every department of the hotel with one platform for all staff communication and guest requests. Prior to implementing ALICE, Luxury Cayman Villas used a variety of manual and often time-consuming methods to track staff work and fulfill guest requests. Man...
Adjara Group Selects Cendyn to Power CRM Across Their Hotels
Cendyn | September 24, 2019
London, United Kingdom, 24 September 2019 – Adjara Group has signed a deal with Cendyn to power CRM across all their hotels located in Georgia. As a leading Georgian company in hospitality, lifestyle development and agropreneurship, Adjara Group has gained worldwide recognition for trend-setting establishments and entrepreneurial projects through developing and managing lifestyle brands. With Cendyn’s CRM Suite of products, the company’s hotels will benefit from a guest intelligence solution that utilizes data collected from multiple sources, to provide an accurate, single source of truth for each guest. This enhanced visibility of e...
Virgin Hotels Ventures to Miami With New Development in Brickell Slated to Open in 2023
Virgin Hotels | September 23, 2019
MIAMI, Sept. 23, 2019 -- Virgin Hotels, the lifestyle hotel brand by Virgin Group Founder Sir Richard Branson, announces plans to open and operate a new hotel in Miami, Florida. Virgin Hotels Miami will be managed by Virgin Hotels, developed by Blue Jay Capital with BLUR Workshop as the architect, and is slated to open in 2023. "I'm personally very passionate about this property, as it brings Virgin Hotels into a city that holds a great deal of significance for us. In addition to being my home, Miami is the headquarters of Virgin Hotels, so this is a milestone that has been a long time coming," comments Virgin Hotels CEO Raul Leal. "Miami...
Radisson Hotel Group Signs With Value One Hotel Operations for Three Brand New Radisson RED Hotels in Europe
Radisson RED | September 20, 2019
Brussels/Lisbon/Vienna - September 20, 2019 Radisson Hospitality AB, part of Radisson Hotel Group, is pleased to announce the signing of three brand-new hotels, all arriving under its Radisson RED brand as part of a strategic franchised partnership with developer and operator Value One Hotel Operations. The deal will see the brand make its debut in Portugal, with the Radisson RED Lisbon Olaias and the Radisson RED Porto – not forgetting a second Radisson RED in Vienna due to open in the Austrian capital. Elie Younes, Executive Vice President & Chief Development Officer for Radisson Hotel Group, says: “We are delighted to expand o...
Social Media News: Facebook’s Clear History Tool Is Officially Here
September 20, 2019
As we all start the month of September off strong, it’s important to remember that keeping up with all the new social media updates will help us keep the momentum going. And this month, we definitely got some big updates. Let’s take a look at all the new changes that impact hotels and resorts and what they mean for businesses in the hospitality industry. Facebook’s Clear History Tool is Here Facebook’s Clear History Tool is officially here, rolling out to audiences quickly. Users will now be able to clear their off-Facebook activity from being stored in the platform’s database, which includes what Facebook’s conversion p...
Award-Winning All Season SilverStar Mountain Resort Trusts Maestro PMS for Guest-Focused Multi-Property Resort and Owner Operations
Maestro PMS | September 17, 2019
Summer Bike and Winter Ski Experiences, Groups Events, Seasonal Staff, and Corporate Events, Maestro Brings It All Together Under One System and, “It Is easy to use and learn so SilverStar can get new hires using the system with confidence quickly.” September 17, 2019 – SilverStar Mountain Resort has all the amenities of a luxurious alpine village. Four hotel style properties, more than 10 food and beverage outlets, a variety of retail and grocery stores, fitness center, bike rental and repair store, ski shops, plus multiple residential ownership units. The entire operation is supported by the Maestro Multi-Property hotel software sy...
Cendyn Announces New Leadership Team
Cendyn | September 12, 2019
Thursday, September 12, 2019, Boca Raton, Florida – Cendyn, the leading innovator in CRM, sales, and revenue strategy for the hospitality industry, announces today a new leadership team to further drive innovation, development, and growth at Cendyn. The newly appointed additions to the team include: John Seaton as Chief Commercial Officer, Michael J. Bennett as Chief Marketing Officer, Olga Peddie as Chief Digital Officer, Steve Stearns as General Manager, APAC and Ron Lugo as General Manager for Rainmaker, a Cendyn company. "We are excited to announce our new senior leadership team today,” said Tim Sullivan, President at Cendyn. "Our ...
Why Aren’t Hotels Referring Friends
Larry Mogelonsky | September 11, 2019
By Larry Mogelonsky, MBA, P. Eng. (www.hotelmogel.com) Common to modern apps as an incentivization tool for gathering new users, hotels should start to think of ways that they can drum up new business by prompting happy customers to refer their properties to other guests, either through digital or other ‘low tech’ methods. First, though, it’s important to note why these peer-to-peer systems work so well, particularly when deployed in a way that’s convenient for guests – that is, via email or mobile. Via a system of credit reward, you subtly encourage a user to be a brand advocate within his or her social group while also motiv...
RMS Introduces New Solution to Make Property Management Easier for Hoteliers
RMS - The Hospitality Cloud | September 11, 2019
[San Diego, CA - September 11, 2019] - RMS - The Hospitality Cloud, a leading provider of all-in-one, cloud-based hospitality solutions, today revealed RMS Prime, a streamlined version of its property management software for hotels. RMS Prime will enable more independent, boutique hotels to be able to take advantage of RMS’ innovative technology by shortening the initial onboarding process for single properties, and simplifying their daily operations. “The development of RMS Prime supports our goal of providing industry-leading property management software that will work for any hotel, regardless of size and complexity,” said Todd...
The Difference Between Loyalty Programs and Loyalty to a Brand
Alan Young | September 5, 2019
By Alan E. Young Loyalty is earned, and certainly not given, and there is a definite difference between loyalty programs and a guest’s loyalty to a brand. Hotel loyalty programs might seem ubiquitous today, but nearly 60% of guests still don’t belong to one. During the 2019 Skift Tech Forum, industry experts agreed that today’s travelers seek more than just opportunities to earn points – they want experiences. Mind you, that doesn't mean it's beyond reach. Hoteliers must work a little harder to understand precisely what factors drive guest loyalty in the modern age. Which brings us to the ultimate question — what makes guests l...
Olde Mill Inn Ties the Knot With Maestro PMS to Help Support 1,200 Corporate and Social Events a Year Including 240 Amazing Weddings
Maestro PMS | September 4, 2019
The Olde Mill Inn was voted “Best of Weddings” by The Knot from 2007 to 2019 and Maestro PMS is Part of the Wedding Party September 4, 2019 – The Olde Mill Inn in Basking Ridge, New Jersey embraces couples with two fairy-tale wedding venues on a landscaped 10-acre estate. In addition to more than 240 weddings per year, the property also works with numerous corporations and hosts approximately 1,200 social and corporate events annually. The Olde Mill Inn runs a high-volume property seven days a week. “Maestro PMS handles everything from fast, smooth check-ins to group rooming lists for our brides, and also delivers post-event Analyt...
Can Third-Party Managers Be the Answer to the Middle East’s Performance Sag?
David Eisen | September 3, 2019
By David Eisen The third-party hotel management agreement or HMA is decades old, yet still not fully embraced by the global hotel industry. But as industry fundamentals in regions like the Middle East sputter, impeding revenue and profitability, change could be afoot. Hotel owners with an eagle eye on the bottom line are now more inclined to seek out specialized experts to be the caretakers of their assets in order to keep profitability afloat. In the United States, the third-party management model thrives. According to the Management Companies 2019 Survey, released by Hotel Business, there are more than 140 such companies operating one...
Hotel Equities Onboards New Class of Management Trainees
Hotel Equities | September 3, 2019
Manager in Training program elevates next generation of hospitality leaders Atlanta, GA – September 3, 2019 – Hotel Equities (HE) welcomed a new class of trainees to its Manager in Training (MIT) program. The new group is HE’s fourth class of trainees to embark on its MIT program, first rolled-out in 2015. The program was designed for recent college graduates who have an interest in the hospitality industry. Following a series of interviews, seven individuals were selected to participate in the program. Kareem Downer, a graduate of Georgia State University; Lauren Cohen, a graduate of Florida State University; Cammie Nguyen, a gra...
Accor Celebrates Groundbreaking of Dual-Branded Melbourne Airport Hotel
Accor | September 3, 2019
Key points Dual-branded 464-room hotel operating under Accor’s Novotel and ibis Styles’ brands. 120 job opportunities created when open. 450 jobs created during construction. Total project cost $163 million. The first sod was turned today on the construction of a brand new hotel at Melbourne Airport to support growing traveller numbers and address constraints in hotel occupancy. The 464-room hotel, created to serve Melbourne’s burgeoning conference and tourism markets, will be conveniently located steps from Terminal 4 within a brand new precinct known as ‘The Hive’. The 10-storey hotel will be dual-branded o...
The WiFi-Free Hotel Restaurant
Larry Mogelonsky | August 29, 2019
By Larry Mogelonsky, MBA, P. Eng. (www.hotelmogel.com) This is not about ‘free WiFi’ but by placing the first word last it turns the concept on its head. The proposed idea here may seem a bit counterintuitive because a primary responsibility of modern hotels is to provide for our guests, with internet access being a clear necessity like heating and running water. However, those damn devices occupy so much of our time these days that they can affect covers and turns at a restaurant, particularly one that’s quite busy and looking for opportunities to maximize revenues without initiating a large-scale expansion. Having free and av...
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