Hotel Industry Is on Brink of Major Expansion in Big Cities

Though it may seem counterintuitive at a time when many hotels around the country are having trouble filling their rooms, nearly 100 hotels are scheduled to open in major American cities this year. ...more

What to Consider When Purchasing Washer-Extractors - By Glenn Hasek

With advancements in controls technology and equipment design, washer-extractors (washers) are becoming increasingly more sophisticated and flexible. This is good news for hoteliers looking to save money in a recovering economy. ...more

Restaurant Industry Outlook Brightens in 2010 as Sales, Economy Are Expected to Improve

National Restaurant Association 2010 Restaurant Industry Forecast reveals economic, workforce, consumer and menu trends ...more

Restaurant Trends - Growing And Emerging Concepts - Data reflects change and activity from September 11, 2009 to January 11, 2010

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

Food & Beverage - Managing Sunday Brunch - By Joe Dunbar

The number one decision in managing your Sunday Brunch operation is the size of the staff for a given forecast. The staffing should include one or more people at the host stand. If your patrons know each other, you should consider seating people close to one another by opening zones in your dining room. Dining patrons will tend to spend more time in conversations thereby giving their digestive system ample time to send the 'I'm full!' signal. ...more

Cornell Study Finds Distinct Consumer Preferences for Shopping Center Food-Service Options

Venerable food court remains a top choice, but not for everyone ...more

Germany's Online Travel Market Gains Significant Ground

The online travel market in Germany grew by 10.4% in 2009 even while overall revenues declined. ...more

Drill Down Tools: Analytics on Steroids

Monitoring web performance with dashboard tools ...more

Hospitality eBusiness Strategies Unveils its Latest Web 2.0 Application: A Multi-Channel Interactive Scavenger Hunt for the City of Indian Wells

Summary: Hospitality eBusiness Strategies launches a new multi-channel Interactive Scavenger Hunt as an innovative multi-channel marketing and branding tool for the Southern California resort destination. ...more

Hitwise December 2009 Travel Category Report

40.59% of all visits to the online 'Travel' industry went to the top 10 websites for the month of December, 2009. 49.43% went to the top 20 websites and 69.75% went to the top 100 websites. ...more

What's the Link Between E-Mail Marketing and Social Media?

How your hotel can blend both tactics for stronger messaging in 2010 ...more

Guest Satisfaction - December 2009 Chatter Guard Benchmark Report Is Released

Lodging Interactive, a leading interactive marketing agency servicing the hospitality industry and the publisher of the free Chatter Guard Monthly Benchmark Monitor Report has released its December 2009 report. ...more

5 Essentials for your Staff Manual in 2010: up-to-date? - By Ken Burgin

A good Staff Manual isn't long and complicated, or a dump-bin for every new memo or brainwave from the boss. ...more

Lessons from the Field - INNOVATION and CHANGE - Addressing the 'high touch' side of Hospitality - By John Hogan

The definition of innovate is 'to bring something new to an environment.' Hospitality business owners and senior managers must embrace 'high tech' changes available to keep the industry fresh. ...more

Hotel Industry Pulse growth rate improves in December

Economic research firm e-forecasting.com in conjunction with Smith Travel Research announced that the Hotel Industry's Pulse index gained ground in December. After edging down 0.3 percent in November, HIP increased 1.7 percent in December. ...more

Beyond Dubai: What's Ahead for the Middle East This Year?

When the 818-meter Burj Dubai tower, the world's tallest building, opened for occupancy with lots of fanfare on January 4, it was proclaimed to be a crowning achievement of the emirate of Dubai, with its bold plans to establish itself as a regional trade and services hub. ...more

Why Hotels Are Not Recovering Any Time Soon

Hotel industry performance is often predictable yet somehow still catches us by surprise. Like any other economy, the sector relies on a balance of supply and demand-do not let the flat panel TVs and fantastic beds fool you. Hotel performance is significantly tied to the overall economy as well as the industry's own cyclical trends. Recovery is a vague concept but one that is easy to evaluate. Here is the PhoCusWright Financial Edition's outlook for the hotel industry. ...more

Canadian Occupancy, ADR, RevPAR - Week Ending January 9, 2010

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

U.K. Airport Hotels see bright side of freeze

The recent freeze across the U.K. brought with it contrasting fortunes for hotel operators. Daily data from STR Global, the leading provider of market data to the world's hotel industry, showed recent adverse weather and road conditions reduced people's desire to travel locally. Guests were forced either to cancel their plans to travel or to stay in hotels as airports were closed. ...more

U.S. hotel performance for the week ending 9 January 2010

The U.S. hotel industry reported decreases in all three key measurements during the week of 3-9 January 2010, according to data from STR. ...more

Air Transport Association Reports Decline in December Passenger Revenue, Increase in November Cargo Traffic

Full-year 2009 passenger revenue declined 18 percent - largest drop on record ...more

Award Winning Independent Luxury Resorts Favor Integrated Maestro PMS to Streamline Operations, Keep Guests Returning, Increase Direct Sales and RevPAR

Leading High-Touch Resorts Rely on Maestro All-In-One Solution to Maximize Efficiency, Reduce Booking Costs and Increase Revenue; Guests Self-Serve Online to Personalize and Up-sell Their Stay ...more

VIDEO: To Merchandise or Not

VFM Leonardo, the leader in online visual content distribution for hotels, has launched a new episode on VTV Channel: To Merchandise or Not. Felix Laboy, President and General Manager at Sabre Hospitality Solutions, discusses how hotels are doing a better job of merchandising online they have been in the past. However, there is still room for improvement. ...more

The State of the Cruise Industry in 2010: Confident and Offering New Ships, Innovation and Exceptional Value

Despite the economic turmoil of 2009, the cruise industry continued to grow. A total of 13.445 million guests are forecast to have sailed last year (totals through the third quarter, 2009 - 9,999,068 passengers - indicate that forecast is on track), U.S. and Canadian residents accounted for 76.5 percent of guests, with 23.5 percent sourced internationally. ...more

International Tourism on Track for a Rebound after an Exceptionally Challenging 2009

Growth returned to international tourism in the last quarter of 2009contributing to better than expected full-year results, according tothe latest edition of the UNWTO World Tourism Barometer. Internationaltourist arrivals fell by an estimated 4% in 2009. Prospects have alsoimproved with arrivals now forecast to grow between 3% and 4% in 2010.This outlook is confirmed by the remarkable rise of the UNWTO Panel ofExperts' Confidence Index. ...more