As you should know by now if you are following developments on the Americans with Disabilities Act (or ADA), the most sweeping changes to the ADA in 20 years become effective on March 15, 2012. It seems that almost every day there is some new development or interpretation of the new rules. For an up-to-date summary of some key provisions, please see articles listed at the end of this posting.

Charlottesville, Virginia (March 14, 2012) – INTUR (Nicaraguan Tourism Institute), announced today that they have selected Regatta Travel Solutions as the booking engine provider to power NicaraguaTourism.us. The announcement comes just a few weeks after the Institute unveiled the ambitious project which aims to drive even more U.S. visitors to Nicaragua backed by a new website, a powerful $3 mil...

Quadriga has today announced the launch of its new range of mobile-based communication platforms; QDelegate, QValet and QMenu. The three new platforms all harness the latest mobile technology to enable guests to access relevant information in a format familiar and easy to them, encouraging them to interact, purchase and drive new revenue opportunities for the hotel.

Sunrise Company, one of the country's most respected residential developers with more than 50 years of experience, and certain funds managed by Oaktree Capital Management L.P., a leading global investment firm with $74.9 billion in assets under management, announce the acquisition of Aspen's premier private residence club, Dancing Bear Aspen.

The National Conference Center compiled ten tips for conducting more productive meetings. According to Sarah Vining, marketing manager at The National Conference Center, "To conduct the most productive meetings, smarter conversations should occur with venue contacts and on the site-tour to ensure the right factors are being addressed." Vining notes that there is reassurance in knowing that your m...

What’s the Issue? The Americans with Disability Act (ADA) is a civil rights law created to increase accessibility for millions of Americans with disabilities. The law was updated in 2010 and now calls for new ADA Standards for Accessible Design which included revised requirements, for everything from outdoor recreational areas to websites and online booking processes, to be implemented by March 1...

Imagine you and an accomplice have just been arrested on suspicion of committing a serious crime, let’s say a robbery of some kind. Each of you blames the other for the botched attempt. You are taken to the police station and held in separate rooms. You know that the police don’t have enough evidence to convict you as yet, because you weren’t actually caught red-handed, but you also know that the...

Thanks to social media, the role of the hotel manager has gotten a lot more complicated. How are they faring so far? Well, who hasn't received a friend request in recent months from a sheepish GM who has finally accepted that this Facebook nonsense isn't going away? Social media, and review sites in particular, now play such an important role in how travelers make decisions and share experiences ...

The main areas of focus for airberlin in 2012 are the strategic partnership with Etihad Airways, membership in the global airline alliance oneworld, intensified activity at its hubs both at its future home base at Berlin-Brandenburg (BER), but also in the expansion of the hubs in Dusseldorf and Vienna and the continuation of its comfort initiative. airberlin CEO Hartmut Mehdorn said: "In collabor...

MICROS Systems, Inc., a leading provider of information technology solutions for the hospitality and retail industries, is pleased to announce that Wynn Resorts has selected MICROS's Simphony(TM) Enterprise Solution for its Wynn Las Vegas and Encore casino resort properties. MICROS will complete its enterprise-wide conversion upgrade from the MICROS 9700 Hospitality Management System (HMS) and ot...

The Host Users Group is pleased to introduce the 2012 Host Users Group Board of Directors, including several new members. The Host Users Group is distinguished as the only users group within the hospitality technology industry to be run by the users, for the users. Beginning in 1989, HUG formed to assist members in maximizing the utilization of the SMS|Host property management system from PAR Spr...

The Knowland Group, a leading provider of business development solutions for the hospitality industry, was recently honored with two awards at the 6th annual Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service. Knowland won gold over Kimpton Hotel & Restaurant Group and Marriott Vacation Club International in the Sales Department of the Year – Hospitality & Tourism category. In the Customer Service Depart...

IDS NEXT, leading provider of ERP and holistic technology solutions for the hospitality and leisure industries, today announced roll out of their new identity - 'The Future Looks Easy'. This new positioning and strategy showcases IDS NEXT's commitment to helping hoteliers with end-to-end technology solutions that can be leveraged quickly and easily.

Agilysys, Inc. (Nasdaq: AGYS), a leading provider of innovative information technology and hospitality software solutions, today announced that Norwegian Cruise Line, headquartered in Miami, has selected the Agilysys DataMagine™ document management solution to streamline operations on its newest and largest ship, Norwegian Epic. The solution is being used to speed registration and check-in/check-...

2012 marks the transitional period between the new and old hotel norms. To avoid any misinterpretation, we have chosen to segment our statistics by positioning, rather than category. We have divided the market into five groups: Luxury, Upscale, Midscale, Budget and Super Budget. The characteristics of each group are presented on page 13 of this document. The economic slowdown apparent at the end ...

Average gross revenues and average revenue per visit at resorts were both up from the 2009/2010 season, a very positive sign for the industry, according to data from RRC Associates' Snowsport Economic Analysis.

Data trends on cheapest hotel rates as well as median rate for three months of three, four and five star hotels across some of the major cities in Asia. This set covers March to May 2012, taken in the month of February 2012 (all rates are in US dollars for two adults for a one-night stay).

Ms. Pence will report to Alexandra Jaritz, senior vice president, brand strategy and marketing. Ms. Pence joins Choice Hotels with more than 25 years of experience in the private and public sectors, including leadership positions at Fortune 200 companies, the Federal Communications Commission, and on Capitol Hill. She has extensive experience building company and executive reputation in some of ...

Mr. Lin currently serves as 7 Days' Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer. Since joining the Company in 2004, he has played an integral role in the development of 7 Days' industry-leading IT and e-Commerce systems and membership platforms. In addition to his responsibilities managing 7 Days' IT function, Mr. Lin has held leadership rolesin business development, marketing, constructi...

With extensive hotel sales experience, including six years with Dolce, Pinson will serve as a strategic business leader for all of the hotel group’s European properties. Working out of the Dolce Chantilly office in France, Pinson will also lead on-property sales functions, while building long-term value-based customer relationships to better achieve sales objectives. Pinson has a successful tra...

By Mike Hohnen
Inspired by the principles developed in the "Service Profit Chain", Mike Hohnen takes you through each of the steps needed to create an outstanding service business. We live in a world of abundance -- there is plenty of choice everywhere. And since 2008 we have experienced significant drops in demand as consumers became more careful. The result is a widening gap between supply and demand in virtually any category you can imagine. When that happens, many companies have a knee-jerk reaction, and the recipe is more or less always the same: initiate rigorous cost-cutting programmes, reduce staff and/or services, offer discounts in many forms, and increase advertising aggressively.