European Chain Hotel Supply Grew Again in 2009 Threatening Performance Recovery

Otus today reports the preliminary results of the 2009 analysis of hotel chain supply in Europe. Chain room supply grew by 2% net in the calendar year 2009, increasing room stock by more than 40,000 rooms. ...more

Foodchannel.com Announces Top Food Trends of the Decade

The Food Channel(R) (www.foodchannel.com) editorial staff has compiled a look back at the last decade in food, giving a perspective on the top flavors, biggest foods, food influences and top food stories. ...more

Food & Beverage - Plowhorses or Deterrents? - By Joe Dunbar

Anyone who has used the popular Kasavana/Smith menu engineering model is familiar with the term 'Plowhorses'. A Plowhorse refers to an entree which is highly popular and has a relatively low contribution. My brother Paul is an Executive Chef at a major resort in California. We love to discuss menu engineering theory and we question the characterization of these under-performers as Plowhorses. Paul prefers to refer to the popular items with low profitability as deterrents. ...more

Restaurant Trends - Growing And Emerging Concepts - Data reflects change and activity from August 21, 2009 to December 28, 2009

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

Food & Beverage - Don't be Boring: Sharing the News & Looking Good in 2010 - By Ken Burgin

Customers want fresh, not stale, and for a few weeks, people are asking 'what's new this year?' ...more

Optimizing your Hotel's Opportunities in Electronic Media and Distribution - By Bradly Sax

Small changes can translate into revenue opportunity for your hotel; especially when working with the internet and the other electronic distribution channels. Here's a quick checklist of potential opportunities for your hotel. ...more

What's Working for Social Media Marketers? A look at effectiveness

A September 2009 MarketingProfs survey of business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) marketers found that the marketing tactics most often used on social sites are not necessarily the best ones. ...more

New Media Transformed the Obama Campaign, Can it Transform Your Hotel?

Dan Siroker Shares Lessons Learned From the Unprecedented Campaign ...more

The High Performance Destination Website

Report compares web analytics to sports car dashboard ...more

Hotelier's 2010 Top Ten Internet Marketing Resolutions - By Max Starkov & Mariana Mechoso Safer

Looking back, HeBS believes that 2009 was a year not only of challenges, but also successes for the industry. While no hotelier is sad to see the end of 2009, HeBS believes that every hotelier has learned extremely important and insightful lessons that have benefitted their Internet marketing and distribution efforts. Undoubtedly the most important and relevant initiatives in 2009 included holding every spent dollar fully accountable with analytics, not experimenting with unproven advertising formats, enhancing and optimizing the hotel website, and very carefully targeting the right customer segments. ...more

How can an airline create a viral video? Learn the power of surprise from TAP Portugal's Christmas dance at Lisbon airport - By Shashank Nigam

TAP Air Portugal - a national carrier - maintains a YouTube Channel. Of all the videos they have posted on the channel, hardly any had crossed the 500 views mark in the past one year. Most are showcasing the latest products and are an extension of the marketing arm. This was the case till four days ago. ...more

A Funny Thing Happened On My Way To The Hotel Business - By Neil Salerno

In the past few years, I've written articles focused on the hotel business with the aim towards, hopefully, giving-back to an industry which I truly love and one which had provided me with a good income and a lifetime of memories. Looking back at a hotel career of more forty years, there were many learning moments, a few sad times, and many funny ones. ...more

The Way Forward After A Tumultuous Decade - By Ragsdale Hendrie

Our Retail world was pretty well whacked in the last two years, and 2010 will be a year of rebuilding our Brands with a new Value Proposition. ...more

STR reports U.S. hotel performance for November 2009

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

Deloitte French Hotel Performances, November 2009

Monthly French Hotel Statistics ...more

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

The region's occupancy dropped by 8.2 percent to 68.1 percent; average daily rate increased 2.2 percent to US$178.28; and revenue per available room decreased 6.3 percent to US$121.49. ...more

STR Global posts November 2009 results for Europe

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

STR Global posts Asia/Pacific performance results for November 2009

In year-over-year measurements, the Asia/Pacific region's occupancy grew by 2.2 percent to 68.0 percent; average daily rate increased by 1.2 percent to US$129.46; and revenue per available room jumped 3.4 percent to US$88.05. ...more

STR Global posts Americas performance results for November 2009

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

STR reports US performance for week ending 26 December

In year-over-year measurements, the industry's occupancy fell 5.4 percent to end the week at 33.8 percent. Average daily rate dropped 8.0 percent to finish the week at US$85.78. Revenue per available room for the week decreased 13.0 percent to finish at US$29.02. ...more

A Hotel Prepares for the Winter Olympics - By Daniel Edward Craig

After a sleepy year, the hotel industry in Vancouver and Whistler is about to get a blaring wakeup call. From February 12 to 28, the 2010 Winter Olympics are expected to draw 250,000 spectators, plus top athletes, foreign dignitaries and international media. Hotels in Vancouver are now sold-out for sixteen consecutive nights in a month they're usually screaming for business. ...more

2010 Compendium Presents a Wide Variety of Cornell Hospitality Research Articles

The compendium presents summaries of all 2009 CHR publications in one convenient package. This includes Cornell Hospitality Reports, Cornell Hospitality Tools, and Cornell Hospitality Roundtable Proceedings. ...more

Top 5 'Most Important Priorities in 2010' for Independent Hoteliers

PCI Compliance, Direct Website Bookings for Lower Costs, Total Guest Experience to Boost Loyalty, Yield Management to Maximize Revenue and Social Marketing are Essentials for Success ...more

Boosting Hotel Sales in Today's Automated World

The Internet has brought dramatic changes to the way customers search for and book hotels, and increasing online sales may be the way to boost hotel profitability without drastic rate slashing. Travelers are using the Web to find the best deals on hotel rooms, so hotel managers should be welcoming those customers online by offering them the best rate possible at the very moment they are searching. Faster and faster broadband connections, new cloud computing technologies, and a travel data explosion on the internet are reshaping the way travelers buy hotel rooms. Smart hoteliers who are investing in the latest technologies will outbid their competitors who cannot keep up with the new revenue management solutions of the next decade. ...more

Travel Trends & Analysis 2010: Top 50 Destinations for US and Canadian Travelers

Jet-setters from both North American neighbors are still enamored with the big hitters of Europe and the US, with London, New York City, Paris and Dublin all falling in the top seven spots for each, and London unanimously at number one. ...more

Travel gurus predict trends for 2010

The travel gurus are reading their crystal balls for the new year, and here are some of their predictions. ...more

NBTA Survey: Companies Will Not Significantly Reduce Business Travel Following Attempted Airliner Attack

A survey of more than 150 travel managers by the National Business Travel Association (NBTA) shows that the December 25, 2009 attempted bombing of an Amsterdam-to-Detroit flight is likely to have little impact on business travel levels. ...more

10 New Air Travel Regulations You Need To Know

FamilyTravelForum.com urges families returning home from winter vacation travels to prepare for new security regulations in place at international airports around the world. ...more

Travel Trends & Analysis 2010 Top 50 Destinations for UK Travellers

Travel search site Skyscanner reveals the top 50 most searched for destinations from UK airports for travel in 2010. ...more

Cornell Study Finds that Guests Want to Know Hotels' Rate Rules

Guests Say Familiar Hotel Revenue Management Practices Are Fair Practices ...more