Hotel chains, representation companies, travel intermediaries, thirdparty sites and guests all contribute to a hotel's online presence in their own valuable ways. They have their places and purposes. But hoteliers also have their roles in ensuring their hotel is marketed and merchandised effectively online.

All types of real estate investments, including hotel facilities, have life cycles that reflect a rise and fall of net operating income during a property’s economic life. A renovated, repositioned or brand new hotel experiences rising occupancy and/or average room rate levels during the first two to five years of operation/ownership. Hotel investors project income and expenses for the first sever...

The Plaza and the Pierre | I recently visited two restored hotels at Grand Army Plaza in New York. The contrast could not have been greater between the Plaza and the Pierre Hotels: The Plaza Hotel, once labeled the greatest hotel in the U.S., no longer qualifies for that designation. After a 2-year conversion to a condominium hotel with 50 private residences, 181 condo hotel rooms and 282 t...

The global recession has changed the landscape for business, for people, for markets and forever. A new order changes everything. It changes behaviour, attitudes, confidence, brands and how people decide. One thing is for sure, the new way will not reflect the old way. A business, any business, waiting for 'the good old days' to return better have a rucksack full of survival gear. The 'good o...

Electronic channels have changed hotel sales and marketing forever. Internet web site marketing, the Global Distribution System, social media, and third-party aggregators have all presented new marketing opportunities for hotels around the world. In effect, the Internet has created the first affordable global marketplace for large and small hotels everywhere.

The Marginal Impact of Changes | Difficult trading conditions are good opportunities to reconsider basic business principles which have stood the test of time but have recently taken a backseat given the continuous emergence of new management techniques. Most hoteliers have understood that the current environment coupled with an uncertain future requires them to make appropriate decisions in orde...

A recent appointment with Lisa Jackson, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency administrator, was particularly interesting and valuable when looking at the opportunities available for hotel carbon footprint reduction. The topic of the meeting was to look at the industry through the eyes of the EPA. The agency is encouraging hotels and hotel companies to partner with it to reduce the effect of green...

The revenue management system is not a new concept for the hotel industry. Selling the greatest number of rooms at the best possible price has always been the central operating concern for hotel owners and managers, so some systems for achieving this goal have always existed.

HVS recommends using regression models to measure the impacts of convention centers on their surrounding hotel markets. HVS recommends using regression models to measure the impacts of convention centers on their surrounding hotel markets. These models can provide statistically significant estimates of the net change in new group room nights and changes in average daily room rate caused by conven...

It amazes me during this economic downturn - when hotel values have in some cases declined 50 percent or more and existing properties can be purchased at bargain prices - that hundreds of hotel developers all over the world are still looking to build new projects. In fact, HVS has never been busier performing feasibility studies for those projects to evaluate. Why build new at what would equate t...