Like revenue management fifteen years ago, reputation management is still in its infancy, but changes in the ways travelers research trips, make decisions and share experiences are making it essential to long-term sustainability. That calls for a formalized, systemic approach: integrating reputation management principles and practices into daily operations and culture.

The total active U.S. hotel development pipeline comprises 2,770 projects totaling 292,806 rooms, according to the April 2012 STR/McGraw Hill Construction Dodge Pipeline Report. This represents a 9.0-percent decrease in the number of rooms in the total active pipeline compared to April 2011. The total active pipeline data includes projects in the In Construction, Final Planning and Planning stage...

Sheraton Hotels & Resorts in cooperation with Wine Spectator magazine today announce the global launch of Sheraton Social Hour, a first-of-its-kind, brand-wide premium wine program. The new program, developed by today"s premier wine experts and the brand"s global food and beverage team, offers guests a specially curated menu of premium wines and weekly tasting events at more than 240 participatin...

TripAdvisor®, the world"s largest travel site*, today announced the results of its annual summer travel survey of more than 1,800 U.S. respondents. Eighty-six percent of travelers are planning leisure trips this summer, up from 81 percent that traveled last summer.

Wyndham Hotel Group today announced that Wyndham Rewards®, the world"s largest lodging loyalty program as measured by participating hotels, has added the Dream®, Night® and TRYP by Wyndham™ hotel brands to its stable of earning and redemption options. With these brands, Wyndham Rewards not only broadens its reach with uniquely designed properties in some of the most well-traveled locations around...

Interview: When it comes to bookings mobile holds great promise but there are challenges for revenue management (RM) professionals. Chinmai Sharma, Vice President, RM at Wyndham Hotel Group lets EyeforTravel’s Ritesh Gupta in on what to beware of. Sharma believes revenue management (RM) specialists have so far not observed material differences in booking patterns between the online channels - bra...

Having been a Hotel Sales Associate for most of my professional life I have had to endure many misperceptions of what I actually contributed to the operation on a day to day basis. I found early on that there were ways to take these negative perceptions and turn them into actual teaching moments or at least opportunities to become a part of the hotel team. This helped to move my career light year...

Email marketing, when executed well, is one of the most powerful sales media a small luxury hotel has in its marketing toolbox. The problem is, not that many hotels do it well and as a result fail to realize its full revenue generating potential. We know of one small luxury hotel that generates well over $1 million a year as a direct result of their email marketing program. For every dollar they ...

Lodging Interactive's Guest Review System provides an easy way for hoteliers to collect and respond to comments in real time while CoMMingle monitors social media channels such as Facebook, Twitter, Google+, YouTube and blogs; A FREE trial of Lodging Interactive's Guest Review System is available now through June 28

"Data tells an important story, you just have to know how to present it." This business insight comes from Ms. Joanne Pearson, Director of Corporate Reporting for Sandals Resorts International. Sandals operates a total of 22 luxury resorts carrying the Sandals, Beaches and Grand Pineapple brands and employs 10,000 people. She is also crystal clear when it comes to managing by the numbers, "The on...

The Madison Concourse Hotel and Governor"s Club had been having trouble communicating electronically with guests. The CRM software previously in use by The Madison Concourse was sending booking confirmation emails too slowly—often 30 minutes after booking—and the lag was making customers nervous, resulting in unnecessary follow-up phone calls and even duplicate bookings.

MICROS Systems, Inc.(NASDAQ:MCRS), a leading provider of information technology solutions for the hospitality and retail industries, is pleased to announce thatG1 Group plc, a leading leisure operator in Scotland, has selected MICROS as its technology partner for its estate of restaurants, bars, clubs, cinemas and hotels. All 40 of the G1 outlets will implement MICROS RES, MICROS Materials Contro...

Travelport, the business services provider to the global travel industry, and Nor1, the technology leader in upsell solutions, today announce a strategic partnership to broaden distribution and increase revenue opportunities for hotels. Under the agreement, hotels leveraging Nor1's upsell solutions, such as its signature eStandby Upgrade®, will be able to reach more guests through Travelport whic...

Markham, ON – May 15, 2012 – NORTHWIND, provider of Maestro™ Enterprise Property Management hotel software and reservation software solutions for the industry"s leading independent hotels, resorts, and multi-property groups, announced it will launch the "New Face" of hotel service and productivity at HITEC 2012 with its Maestro iPad Xpress Check-In app. HITEC will be held June 25 – 28 in the Balt...

The Rainmaker Group, a world leader in automated forecasting and profit optimization software and services for the hospitality industry, announces that Omni Hotels & Resorts has agreed to pilot its new GroupREV™ group forecasting and pricing software at four locations over the next two months. The four locations, chosen based on their large volume of group business and diverse mix of customer seg...

If your hotel strives to provide the in-room entertainment services your guests want, then it's time to add NHK World TV -- an HD and SD English-language broadcasting service -- to your TV Channel lineup; Visit NHK World TV in Booth 1231 at HITEC June 25-28 at the Baltimore Convention Center

Cendyn offers an arsenal of tactics and strategies including outstanding concept and design, thorough execution, ongoing consulting and collaboration. Cendyn"s seasoned team of web designers, digital marketers and SEO experts drive online marketing results for the hospitality industry, earning Cendyn four prestigious Communicator Awards for the inventive, engaging and effective online solutions f...

For the second consecutive year, the outlook for summer travel continues to brighten with more than three in five U.S. adults (64%), or an estimated 154 million Americans, planning on taking at least one trip for leisure purposes during the next six months. The percentage of Americans planning to travel between May and October is up from 61 percent last April and 56 percent in April 2010.

This market snapshot is part of a series of articles that HVS produces on key hotel sectors across Europe. In writing these articles we combine the expertise of HVS with STR Global data for each market. Our analysis is based on data for a sample of 74 mainly branded properties as provided by STR Global. Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic, attracted more than 5.1 million visitor arrivals an...

The U.S. hotel industry is expected to report strong performance results in summer 2012, according to STR"s summer forecast. The summer season comprises June, July and August. When comparing against those three months combined in 2011, STR predicts occupancy for those three months combined to rise 1.8 percent to 69.0 percent, average daily rate to increase 3.9 percent to US$106.64 and revenue per...

Having more than tripled its presence in China over the last few years and with many more hotels in the pipeline, Fairmont Raffles Hotels International (FRHI), the parent company of Fairmont Hotels & Resorts, Raffles Hotels & Resorts, and Swissôtel Hotels & Resorts, today announced the appointment of Gao Zhi Xiong as vice president, development, China. In his new role, Gao will be responsible fo...

Orient-Express Hotels Ltd. today announced that Board member Philip R. Mengel has been named Interim Chief Executive Officer while the Board continues its search for a permanent CEO. J. Robert "Bob" Lovejoy, who has been serving as Interim CEO since July 2011, will remain Chairman of the Board. Mr. Mengel joined the Orient-Express Board in June 2011 and serves as the Chairman of the Audit C...

Mr. Palta began his career with Marriott International as a member of the operations management team at Marriott Orlando World Center in February of 1987. Over the next 25 years, Mr. Palta has been at the helm as general manager and area general manager of several properties in Central America and California including: Panama Marriott Hotel in Panama City, Panama; CasaMagna Marriott Cancun Resort...

By Enda Larkin
Journeys is a book of stories, real-world and work-related perhaps, but stories nonetheless. They are tales for managers: always about leadership and often about life. Each of the 15 stories is based on actual occurrences and explores a different aspect of management.