Q3 2009 United States Construction Pipeline

The credit crisis continues to significantly affect lodging real estate development. Early in the cycle, larger (150 rooms or more), high-end projects were impacted the most, as institutional-sized lenders halted real estate lending. Today ...more

STR Global Reports Middle East/Africa Hotel Pipeline for September 2009

The Middle East/Africa hotel development pipeline includes 442 hotels comprising 120,589 rooms, according to the September 2009 STR Global Construction Pipeline Report released this week. ...more

STR Global Reports Europe Hotel Pipeline for September 2009

The Europe hotel development pipeline includes 547 hotels comprising 89,205 rooms, according to the September 2009 STR Global Construction Pipeline Report released this week. ...more

STR Global Reports Central and South America Hotel Pipeline for September 2009

The Central/South America hotel development pipeline includes 141 projects with 21,751 rooms, according to the September 2009 STR Global Construction Pipeline Report released this week. ...more

2009 US Hotel Valuation Index

The Hotel Valuation Index (HVI) tracks hotel values in 65 major markets and the United States as a whole. ...more

STR Global Reports Caribbean and Mexico Hotel Pipeline for September 2009

The Caribbean/Mexico hotel development pipeline includes 133 hotels comprising 19,434 rooms, according to the September 2009 STR Construction Pipeline Report released this week. ...more

STR Global Reports Asia/Pacific Hotel Pipeline for September 2009

The Asia/Pacific hotel development pipeline includes 970 hotels with 232,502 rooms, according to the September 2009 STR Global Construction Pipeline Report released this week. ...more

Hotel Hospitality Training Tips For The Era Of Social Networking - By Doug Kennedy

Remember in 'the good old days' when 'all' we had to worry about from a negative guest was that they would tell their family, friends, and co-workers? ...more

Spot Your Superman: Talent Management in the Hotel Industry - By Pooja Vir

Top talent seems to be as elusive as Superman's true identity; managing this talent an equally elusory skill. HVS Executive Search decided to play Lois Lane and went out in search of the superhero hotelier. ...more

Innovative Flavors Continue to Drive Consumer Traffic to Restaurants

Consumers are interested in expanding their palates when dining out and want to patronize restaurants that offer innovative flavors. A new study from foodservice industry consultant Technomic finds that 42 percent of consumers, particularly males aged 25 to 34, are more likely to visit restaurants that offer new or unique flavors. ...more

Food & Beverage - How to Use Safety as a Recruitment & Marketing Advantage - By Ken Burgin

Tough regulations and the employer's Duty of Care are here to stay - get used to it. ...more

Restaurant Trends - Growing And Emerging Concepts - Data reflects change and activity from June 12, 2009 to October 12, 2009

Update from Restaurantchains.net on growing and emerging restaurant concepts ...more

How to Handle Google Maps Mixups

Google Maps has many wonderful features, and a favorite feature for businesses is the review section. When local businesses show up on a map, information and customer feedback can show up on both the map as well as the side bar. ...more

Your Website Versus Online Travel Agencies

You may recall the recent USA Today article comparing hotel website prices with online travel agency (OTA) prices. In two of the five hotels sampled, you could buy rooms cheaper through Expedia, Orbitz or Travelocity than you could directly from the hotel. Interesting. ...more

Despite Recession, China's Online Travel Market Shows Strong, Steady Growth

Online Channel to Grow by 19% in 2009 ...more

GDS September Reservations Increase According to Pegasus

Arguably the beginning of the recession for the hospitality industry started in September 2008, so this is a fitting time to reflect on how it is performing. On the surface, it looks like there may be signs of improvement with global reservations up year over year. ...more

Online Reviews: The Bane of Hotels' Existence or an Unprecedented Opportunity? - By Daniel Edward Craig

A few years ago at Opus Hotel Vancouver we relocated a couple who had driven up from Washington state to celebrate the husband's fiftieth birthday. It was a nasty thing to do, but it happens in the hotel business, more frequently than most travelers think. Like the airlines, hotels overbook when demand is high, banking on a few no-shows, and occasionally we get caught with our pants down. Unlike the airlines, however, we don't broadcast an oversold situation to a holding lounge full of travelers. We handle relocate situations discreetly, one-on-one with travelers, and typically no one is the wiser. ...more

Thought, Reason, and Emotion Affect Consumer Decision

Patrick Bultema, CEO of CodeBaby, gave a thought-provoking presentation at the 2009 Inbound Marketing Summit in Boston, titled 'Emotion Online: The Challenge of Making the Human Connection in a Digital World.' He spoke about how corporations can rouse customers' emotions to generate loyalty. ...more

'Growing Tension Between Hoteliers and OTA's'...NONSENSE! An Alternative Viewpoint - By Neil Salerno

I just got through reading an article titled 'Growing Tension Between Hoteliers and OTA's'. There are so many of things in this article with which I don't agree, I don't know where to begin. Either the author is attempting to sidle-up to Choice Hotels or he just doesn't get it. I won't go through every detail here; I would need to write a mini-novel. Let's just say I would urge other hotels to consider some facts before acquiescing to the article's implications. ...more

The Prisoner's Dilemma, the Stockholm Syndrome, or a Case of Both? - By Max Starkov

This Just In - I have just heard through the industry grapevine that Expedia has cut off negotiations with Choice Hotels and has removed Choice properties from its sites, which include Expedia.com and Hotels.com. Choice Hotels, similar to all other major hotel brands, has been working consistently to negotiate a renewal of a brand-wide wholesale agreement with Expedia. ...more

No Substitutions! No Exceptions! NO SERVICE!!! - By Roberta Nedry

When entering any dining establishment, guests should make sure they read the fine print at the bottom of the menu. It could be an indicator of service and whether or not they'll get much. The phrase 'no substitutions' may mean trouble is lurking for guest taste buds. ...more

Toxic Hospitality Marketing Strategies - By Madigan Pratt

Speaking before a conference of luxury Italian companies, luxury hotel operator Rocco Forte offered a stunningly concise summary of the toxic hospitality marketing strategies used by far too many hotels in these recessionary times. ...more

Hotel Guest Satisfaction in Europe Improves Considerably to Reach a Five-Year High

Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts, Park Inn, Premier Inn and Steigenberger Hotels and Resorts Each Rank Highest in Guest Satisfaction in Their Respective Segments ...more

Principles of Success - Options to Avoid Struggling To Measure Performance (Part 2 of 2) - By John Hogan

Measuring staff performance has been a challenge over the years for many hotel managers and supervisors. Most people want to be fair and equitable in the evaluations for their staff, but I have discovered in my career as a manager, corporate executive and consultant that many organizations and individuals make it more difficult and less rewarding than it should be. Common sense should prevail, but it too often becomes obscured in either meaningless bureaucracy or in a lack of planning, a lack of concern for staff development and a disregard of the cost of turnover. ...more

Principles of Success - Options to Avoid Struggling To Measure Performance (Part 1 of 2) - By John Hogan

Each year, hotel managers and supervisors face the struggle of annual evaluations for their staff. The reason for this 'struggle' should be obvious to most professionals who have been in the workforce for 5 years or more, but I have discovered in my career as a manager, corporate executive and consultant that many organizations and individuals make it more difficult and less rewarding than it should be. ...more

Surprised, or Stubborn? U.S. Hotel Managers Missed Their Budgets In 2008 - By Robert Mandelbaum

The U.S. lodging industry rebounded strongly after its 2001 to 2003 industry recession. RevPAR growth exceeded 7.8 percent each year from 2004 through 2006. While hotels achieved a relatively strong 5.8 percent growth in RevPAR in 2007, industry performance started to show its first signs of softness. During the year, demand grew less than 1.0 percent contributing to a slight drop in occupancy (-0.4 percent). ...more

European Tourism 2009 - Trends & Prospects (Q3/2009)

The European Travel Commission has just published its third quarterly report on European Tourism 2009 - Trends & Prospects. ...more

STR reports US performance for week ending 10 October 2009

The U.S. hotel industry posted declines in all three key performance measurements during the week of 4-10 October 2009, according to data from STR. ...more

STR Reports Canada Performance for Week Ending 10 October

The Canadian hotel industry posted declines in all three key performance measurements during the week of 4-10 October, according to data from STR. ...more

Canadian Occupancy, ADR, RevPAR - Week Ending October 10, 2009

Published in conjunction with STR (Smith Travel Research) and endorsed by the Hotel Association of Canada. This publication summarizes weekly occupancy and average room rates from major cities in Canada. ...more

Luxury Market to Rebound but Marketers Need to Align With a New Consumer Mindset

With $11 trillion in wealth lost during 2008 and corresponding reductions in net worth and assets among affluent consumers, luxury marketers are confronting the biggest challenges they've faced in decades, said Mercedes-Benz USA (MBUSA) vice president of marketing Stephen Cannon during an address to the International Advertising Association (IAA) this week. ...more

Hotel Property Tax Appeals: A Life Line in the Perfect Storm - By Thomas Dolan and Christopher Elder

A deluge of expenses has met with a drought of income in the current economy. A reduction in property taxes could prove the life line hoteliers need. ...more

Germany - Business travel still suffering from economic crisis

Dark clouds still hang over the business travel sector - latest VDR survey reports an increase in video conferences - ITB Berlin with a new Mobile Travel Services section ...more

New Study Reveals Popularity of U.S. Cultural and Heritage Travel

Large, Affluent Market Focuses on History and Tradition ...more

Expedia Insights Reveal Consumer Response to Declines in Airfare Hotel Room Rates

Expedia, Inc., the global leader in online travel and the largest provider of hotel bookings worldwide, presenting at the Hotel Investment Conference Asia Pacific (HICAP) in Hong Kong today, released insights on consumer travel demand that indicate consumer response to value-driven offers from Asia hotels is spurring an increasing interest in regional travel. ...more

Air Transport Association Reports Decline in September Passenger Demand, August Cargo

Drop in Travelers Continues, Despite 10th Consecutive Month of Ticket Price Reductions ...more

Report Outlines the New Normal for U.S. Business Travel

Travel Policies Expected to Remain Tight ...more

National Survey Reveals: Holiday Travelers Won't Be Deterred

Despite a challenging economy and concerns over the H1N1 flu, Americans' plans to visit family and friends this holiday season have not been diminished. ...more

Travel Cost-Cutting Is the New Normal

As business travel slowly comes back, company travel departments are sending out a strong message: ...more

Effective Pricing & Revenue Management Tactics for a Post-Recession World - By Francois Mourier

The Smith Travel Research Hotel Data Conference last month revealed that more than 50% of hotel industry professionals believe that industry-wide RevPAR rates will not recover until the third quarter of 2010 or after. ...more

A Focus on Revenue Management: What are hotels missing? - By Kathleen Cullen Partner, inspire resources / Apical Resource Group LLC

In today's environment revenue management is most often recognized as the central place for hotel operations' processes and best practices. Revenue management has many elements that 'touch' a hotel's revenue. Some elements have a direct impact on revenue such as accurate forecasting and a solid understanding of channel costs, while others have an indirect impact such as workflow, use of technology and process efficiencies. Regardless of direct or indirect impact, the hotels with the most confidence in their accuracy and workflow processes and those with the best efficiency level will realize the highest revenues. ...more