Board Sports - By Christopher Mumford and Thomas Mielke

As corporations have come under increased public scrutiny in the economic downturn so too have boards come under heightened pressure to govern in a responsible manner. Outrage over topics such as executive pay should be directed, less at the executives receiving windfall bonuses, and more at the board directors who set and approve remuneration packages in the first place. Scandals over topics such as pay show that, despite the huge advances made by most companies over the past few years, corporate governance remains a hot topic and worthy of analysis. ...more

Restaurateurs Optimistic, but Mantra Remains 'Operate with Caution'

ArrowStream survey reports almost 60 percent of restaurateurs expect to increase their supply chain budgets in 2010 ...more

Food & Beverage - Don't Let Facebook & Social Media Work Against You - By Ken Burgin

As Facebook, Twitter, review sites and social media grow in popularity, it's more important than ever to be involved..and in charge. ...more

Full Service Restaurant Performance Showing Some Signs of Improvement

In perhaps the worst market conditions the restaurant industry has seen in nearly 20 years, full service restaurants saw some sign of improvement in September. In partnership with GuestMetrics, foodservice industry consultant Technomic finds that nationally, full service restaurant performance declined 6.3 percent in September compared with 12.0 percent for the month of August. ...more

Foodservice Traffic Declines for Fourth Consecutive Quarter

Spending declines for second consecutive quarter, NPD reports ...more

Restaurant Trends - Growing And Emerging Concepts - Data reflects change and activity from June 19, 2009 to October 19, 2009

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

Hoteliers and OTA's, Partners or Opponents? - By Neil Salerno

The firestorm, which began when the negotiations between Choice Hotels and Expedia broke down on October 15th, stirred-up a lot of deep-seated feelings about OTA's and Expedia in particular. The article I wrote last week, with an alternative viewpoint from that which was presented by another Internet strategist, was well received, but it exposed some apparent sensitivities among hoteliers. ...more

Create Videos about Your Hotel - Your Guests Already Are!

O'Rourke Hospitality Marketing has been conducting research on how New England Hotels are using Internet Marketing. Every month we focus on a different strategy and write an information-packed 'tip' with step-by-step instructions on why the strategy is important and how to implement it. This month we focused on videos (tip 4 of the series), and our research has revealed that 77% of New England first class and luxury hotels don't use videos! In the tip that follows we have outlined what types of videos your hotel can use, why your hotel should be using videos, and instructions on how you can create your own videos. ...more

The Hotel Management Agreement - increasing investor appeal - By Graeme Dickson and Robert Williams, Baker & McKenzie

In the June 2009 edition of this Newsletter (Baker & McKenzie's observations from the field: The impact of the Global Financial Crisis on hotel management), we identified a number of recent developments in hotel management agreements. It was our conclusion that together these had the potential to make hotel real estate less attractive as a property asset class. This was not good news for participants in our industry - especially the hotel operating companies which, in large part, have adopted an 'asset light' approach in recent years and would be most concerned by a lack of investment interest. ...more

What in the world is 'World Class'? - By Don Farrell

I like to read mission, vision and value statements because I like to see how out of touch senior management is with the employees who actually have to do the heavy lifting in delivering these commitments. Take for example the dry cabernet I had in the lobby of a 4 star Memphis landmark hotel last night...did the cocktail waitress know the statements and could she at least make an attempt at telling me what they were? ...more

Can The Customer 'Wow' Go Mainstream? - By J. Ragsdale Hendrie

Boston is a pretty toney town, even though it has no classic song, like New York, Chicago or San Francisco ('Down by the River Charles' and 'Charlie on the MTA' don't quite cut it). High end Retail is prominent, from iconic hotels, Newbury Street merchants, extraordinary cuisine, cultural institutions, attractions and a well read, traveled, educated consumer. Boston is a Destination of Choice. ...more

STR Reports Canada Performance for Week Ending 24 October

The Canadian hotel industry posted declines in all three key performance measurements during the week of 18-24 October, according to data from STR. ...more

Buoyant Occupancy Slows Profit Decline - UK Chain Hotels Market Review - September 2009

London hoteliers successfully improved profitability and boosted total revenue per available room (TrevPAR), according to the latest HotStats survey by industry experts TRI Hospitality Consulting. ...more

European Online Travel Market Holds Steady in 2009

European online travel bookings are projected to grow slightly by 0.6% in 2009 according to travel industry research authority, PhoCusWright, in its upcoming report, PhoCusWright's European Online Travel Overview Fifth Edition. Internet distribution channels continue to outperform the European travel market as a whole, which is projected to decline by 10% in 2009. ...more

STR reports U.S. hotel industry performance results for third quarter 2009

The U.S. hotel industry reported decreases in all three key metrics for third quarter 2009 in year-over-year measurements, according to data from STR. ...more

STR Global posts Middle East/Africa performance results for September 2009

The Middle East/Africa region reported mixed year-over-year results in the three key measurements reported in U.S. dollars for September 2009, according to data compiled by STR Global. ...more

STR Global posts European performance results for September 2009

The European hotel industry posted decreases in year-over-year results when reported in U.S. dollars, euros and British pounds for September 2009, according to data compiled by STR Global. ...more

STR Global posts Asia/Pacific performance results for September 2009

Hotels in the Asia/Pacific region experienced mixed results when reported in U.S. dollars for all three key performance metrics for September 2009, according to data compiled by STR Global. ...more

STR Global posts Americas performance results for September 2009

The Americas region recorded declines in all three key performance metrics when reported in U.S. dollars for September 2009, according to data compiled by STR and STR Global. ...more

AH&LA Lodging Industry Profile Charts Hotels Profits, Sales, International Arrivals

Reveals $140.6 Billion in Sales for 2008; Qualifies Consumer Characteristics and Expenditures ...more

Hotwire Reveals Canadian Hotel Rate Report for October 2009

Calgary Tops List with 11% Drop ...more

Canadian Occupancy, ADR, RevPAR - Week Ending October 17, 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

STR Reports Canada Performance for Week Ending 17 October

In year-over-year measurements, the industry's occupancy decreased 10.0 percent to end the week at 59.5 percent, ADR dropped 8.6 percent to CAD$124.47, and RevPAR decreased 17.8 percent to CAD$74.02. ...more

STR reports US performance for week ending 17 October 2009

The U.S. hotel industry posted declines in all three key performance measurements during the week of 11-17 October 2009, according to data from STR. ...more

STR reports U.S. hotel performance for September 2009

The U.S. hotel industry posted declines in all three key performance measurements during September, according to data from STR. ...more

Defending the Power of Advertising

The reports of advertising's demise are greatly exaggerated ...more

STR and V-TRiP announce intent to launch leisure destination research program

Combined expertise broadens research data base to include non-hotel accommodations ...more

Get Realistic About Your Competition

Recognizing your destination's greatest threats and opportunities ...more

Hotel Operators Tap New Profitability Strategies that Work in the Current Economy - By Cam Troutman, Vice President, Aptech Computer Systems

Profitvue will deliver back office accounting for operators of single and multi-property hotel groups ...more

64% Of Canadians Plan to Vacation Within 12 Months

While tough economic times are causing Canadians to search for bigger travel bargains, a new Ipsos Reid poll conducted for Tripharbour.ca shows that most (64%) are still planning a vacation within the next year. And according to statistics from the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), a growing number of these Canadians are choosing vacations at sea. ...more

Regional Cruise Tourism Up in a Down Economy

New Florida-Caribbean Cruise Association Study Cites Higher Destination Spending ...more

American Express Clients Expect China to Lead Business Travel Recovery

Findings indicate that clients expect China will lead business travel recovery. Further, investment by global companies and local companies in China should increase over the next 12 months. ...more

Will Travel Industry Catch the Flu?

The October 2009 travelhorizons survey, co-authored by Ypartnership and the U.S. Travel Association, included several questions on this subject in order to gauge the potential impact of an extensive outbreak on the travel intentions of Americans. ...more

Recession Slows Growth of Medical Tourism from 2007-2009

Economic Recovery Likely to Result in 35 Percent Annual Growth Rate for Medical Tourism by 2010 ...more

7 quick Tips for Real-Time RevPAR optimization

All reports continue to show that meetings and corporate incentives are going to continue to be down so focus your sales efforts on the internet. Despite a lingering recession, the advantage of online sales is that your actions today can result in bottom line room night sales in as little as 4 weeks - and these last unexpected room sales will translate into RevPAR increase. ...more