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...

According to Experience Radar 2012: Consumer insights for the US hospitality industry released today by PwC US, travelers are back on the road and the hotels and brands that deliver the experiences that customers not only want, but also are willing to pay for, can benefit from the continued lodging recovery. The report reveals that issue resolution and current room amenities are most sought by cu...

Hilton Worldwide today opened the DoubleTree by Hilton, Naha in Okinawa, Japan – the tenth Hilton Worldwide hotel in Japan and the first in the fast-growing, upscale DoubleTree by Hilton brand portfolio. Located in Naha, the capital city of Okinawa, the 227-room hotel is directly opposite the Okinawa Monorail station in Asahibashi, 11 minutes away from Naha Airport by monorail and 500 meters away...

Interstate Hotels & Resorts today announced that it has entered into a management agreement for The Marker, Dublin’s newest luxury hotel and apartment complex. Located in the heart of the city’s new business and cultural district at Grand Canal Dock, the 187-room hotel is anticipated to open in early 2013. The Marker Hotel is owned by Brehon Capital Partners, a real estate private equity firm, to...

With work set to begin soon on a $1-billion luxury hotel in downtown Los Angeles, developer Korean Air revealed some details about the tower that is expected to dramatically alter the city’s skyline. The skyscraper will be the second-tallest structure in Southern California at 70 stories, only slightly shorter than the US Bank Tower office building.

At JMBM's recent hotel finance conference in Los Angeles, a panel of experts talked about how well joint ventures are working to provide financing for hotel development and acquisitions. The Joint Venture Panel from Meet the Money® 2012 featured 5 veteran hotel investors and operating partners, and was moderated by Guy Maisnik, hotel lawyer and Vice Chair of JMBM's Global Hospitality Group®.

Most sales people will agree that a referral trumps 50 cold calls anytime! Unfortunately, the process of prospecting and account optimization is usually a haphazard process – a series of tactics and tasks unguided by strategies and goals. However, the research indicates that those sales people who develop a well thought out strategy for these processes and implement the tactics flowing from them ...

Every revenue manager has a different opinion on which revenue management metric is the “best”; in fact, there are probably as many opinions as there are revenue managers. Some revenue managers prefer occupancy because it shows how full the hotel is on any given night – but looking at occupancy alone ignores the price paid and the revenue earned on each room, which are obviously also important ...

InvoTech Systems, Inc. announced Fujitsu Frontech North America will showcase the latest GIMS™ Ultra-High Frequency Radio Frequency Identification (UHF-RFID) system at the grand opening of the Fujitsu Solutions Center at its headquarters in Foothill Ranch, California. Fujitsu selected InvoTech because its solutions enable customers to wirelessly scan both uniforms and linens and update all datab...

Sabre Hospitality Solutions, the industry"s leading global hospitality technology company, has been selected by Hotel Okura Co., Ltd. to provide distribution services for their 25 member hotels located throughout Asia, North America and Europe. Earlier this year, Japan-originated Hotel Okura acquired JAL Hotels, an existing Sabre Hospitality Solutions customer and hotel management firm representi...

For The Westin Harbour Castle Hotel in Toronto, an event-technology partner is a team to rely on for audiovisual, maximizing event messaging and even to support each group's power requirements. This CAA/AAA Four Diamond hotel has found its event technology partner in PSAV® Presentation Services.

Otrum is pleased to welcome Mr. Touradj Farahani as the new General Manager for the Middle East, located in Otrum"s office in Dubai Media City. Mr. Farahani has over 23 years of experience from the hospitality industry. For the last 6 years he has worked as General Manager Middle East & Africa for Wayport, delivering technology solutions to hotels.

The Middle East/Africa region reported mostly positive performance results in April 2012 when reported in U.S. dollars, according to data compiled by STR Global. In April 2012, the region"s occupancy jumped 10.0 percent to 63.9 percent, its average daily rate fell 3.6 percent to US$172.56 and its revenue per available room rose 6.1 percent to US$110.33.

The U.S. hotel industry in April reported increases in all three key performance metrics, according to data from STR. Overall, the U.S. hotel industry"s occupancy rose 1.4 percent to 61.8 percent, its average daily rate was up 5.0 percent to US$105.71 and its revenue per available room increased 6.4 percent to US$65.34.

The Americas region recorded positive results in the three key performance metrics when reported in U.S. dollars for April 2012, according to data compiled by STR and STR Global. The Americas region reported a 1.4-percent increase in occupancy to 61.8 percent, a 4.3-percent gain in average daily rate to US$108.25 and a 5.8-percent jump in revenue per available room to US$66.95.

Warnick + Company, one of the world’s leading hospitality asset management and advisory firms, has further expanded its presence with the opening of a fifth U.S. office in Minneapolis, Minn. With offices in Los Angeles, Chicago and New York, the newest location adds to the Phoenix, Ariz.-based company’s growing national presence. Chad Sorensen has been named Principal overseeing all operations ...

Prior to moving to Bangkok, Mr. Langston served for two years as the Area General Manager of Banyan Tree Hotels in the Maldives. He previously served 20 years with InterContinental Hotels Group in a variety of roles, including Regional General Manager for its Northern Territory Portfolio of Australia, then relocated to Hua Hin in 2006 with the same group before joining Banyan Tree in Bintan in 2...

A prominent new member joins the World Tourism Forum Lucerne: Reto Wittwer, President and CEO of Kempinski Hotels, and seasoned expert, takes over as Chairman of the Advisory Board. A Swiss citizen, Wittwer has more than 30 years’ international experience in hospitality and joins the Board, which consists of 13 experts of the travel, tourism and hotel sector, with immediate effect. The next Forum...

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.