2012 will be a challenging year for the hospitality industry. Facing continued global financial uncertainty and intense pricing pressure, hoteliers will need to exploit innovative marketing tools to gain the competitive edge. Here are 2012's five trends to watch. The smart money will prioritize accordingly.

Are there customers out there who are just impossible to satisfy? Those who consistently evaluate products and services unfavorably could simply represent a form of response style. Alternatively, those who consistently evaluate products and services low across categories could also represent a type of consumer. My Maritz Research colleagues and I call these customers "Customer Experience Assassin...

The question of how much demographics play a role in the way people evaluate personal experiences is one that customer satisfaction researchers have asked for years. Are men tougher to please than women? Who is easier to satisfy? Younger people or mature people with more life experience? Are those with a higher income more demanding customers? Or are those to whom money is a more precious commodi...

The past several decades have seen a growing awareness amongst hoteliers and investors regarding the environmental and social impacts of hotel development and operations – to the extent where sustainability issues have permeated nearly every aspect of the hospitality industry. This has been driven by multiple factors including owners' and operators' desires to reduce operational costs, changing i...

While no one has a crystal ball to accurately predict the future of the hospitality industry, Eric Stossel, Managing Editor of Lodging Hospitality has the next best thing: access to experts and insiders who have their fingers on the pulse of the industry. I was recently interviewed by Eric, along with other hospitality practitioners, for one of his articles that forecast the year ahead (see Capit...

"Everything requires time. It is the only truly universal condition. All work takes place in time and uses up time. Yet most people take for granted this unique, irreplaceable, and necessary resource. Nothing else, perhaps, distinguishes effective executives as much as their tender loving care of time." - Peter F. Drucker. I love that quote. It deserves a moment or two of consideration, I think. ...

IN-DEPTH: With TripAdvisor becoming less dominant/ reliable, brands are beginning to regain some lost influence and the correct management of both mobile and mapping technology will be key to increasing any brand's online reputation, says James Harrower, search marketing manager, International at Hilton Worldwide.

In a market where products and services are all too similar, successful branding can have a significant impact on sales growth and future buying behaviour; hotel companies are a classic case. They are not selling bodies in beds and anonymous service – they are priding themselves on selling high levels of customized or even “bespoke” service. Successful marketing is tangibilising the intangible. C...

Over the past 25 + years of attending the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) I have witnessed the birth, and quick demise of many new technology innovations. One item that I recall fondly was the first showing of an item called "Bluetooth". I was immediately struck with the possibilities of this new technology, that I spent most of CES at the Ericsson booth. I could see how it could be used in numer...

While the U.S. struggles with the downturn of the economy, the country is not realizing its potential to increase jobs and GDP through international tourism – more specifically, Chinese outbound tourism. The demand exists – the booming economy in China has enabled more and more people to travel farther and for longer. The supply exists – the US has great cultural, natural, and commercial resource...