As 2016 comes to an end, we took an opportunity to look back at what sparked our readers' interest this past year on Hospitality Net. We would like to share the top opinion articles published on our website in the last 12 months. Click on the links below for the full article.

January 2016

Important Social Media Marketing Trends for the Service Industry in 2016 | By Deven Bhagwandin
The new year brings the opportunity to discuss what we think some of the important social media marketing trends for the service industry will be in 2016.The importance of social media will only increase in the future, which means it's important for...

Understanding the Marketing Strategies for OTA's vs Hotels Website | By Ahmed Mahmoud
Expedia, Booking.com, Kayak and Hotels.com are prolific spenders on Google AdWords, regularly logging in the top fifty search engine marketers by spending an average of $67,250 per day. And that's just on Google.So how does this ad spend play out...

Innovation in Hospitality Management | By Carlos Martin-Rios
business model, organizational, and marketing innovation--in hospitality firms' dynamic capabilities?Investigating and responding to these challenges is of paramount importance.Hospitality leaders are realizing how important it is to address the...

February 2016

Fast-forward to 2017: What will the global hotel industry look like? | By David Chestler
Some of the more startling shifts are in:Regional market growth - The US market will grow more than six times faster than the European market, showing 6.8% compound annual growth rate compared to just 1.1%Chains v independent disparity - European...

Hotel Spa Departments - Following Industry Trends | By Robert Mandelbaum and Andrea Foster
Coming out of the great recession, U.S. hotel operators struggled to earn revenue from sources other than the rental of guest rooms. However, in 2014, we began to see guests spend their money in other areas of the hotel. According to the 2015 edition...

What hotels need to know about content marketing in 2016 | By Abi Mandelbaum
emails, blogs, social media posts and webpages – must be smartphone and tablet friendly. When you create content, pull it up on different phones and tablets to make sure it is visually appealing, and that the most important portion of the content a...

March 2016

The Impact of AirBnb on Hotel and Hospitality Industry | By Ahmed Mahmoud
The emergence of multi-sided technology platforms, collectively known as the "sharing economy", has enabled individuals to collaboratively make use of under-utilized inventory via fee-based sharing. Consumers have so far enthusiastically adopted the...


How the hospitality sector is slowly waking up to Big Data analytics | By Mike Wheatley
The hotel sector is ripe for a Big Data-drive transformation, but there are still huge obstacles to overcome before that happens.As an industry, the hospitality sector captures huge volumes of data that has the potential to dramatically change how...


Current Events Articles for the Hotel and Service Industries | By Deven Bhagwandin
It seems that some current events, social media and its use in the hotel and service industry, and some trending events have been on most of my reader's minds lately.I thought I'd prepare a list of a few current event articles that have stuck out to...

April 2016

Facebook Zero: R.I.P Organic Reach on Facebook | By Alicia Whalen
Some have called it "Facebook Zero", while others have referred to it as the Reachpocalypse. Whatever name it goes by, it has left Marketers frustrated and business owners who rely on Facebook at a loss for how to drive traffic and generate sales...


What's the difference between the Hospitality Industry and the Service Industry?
WOW! What IS the difference between the hospitality industry and the service industry? Do you know? Can you tell me?I can't believe I haven't done this before. I guess I've assumed that anyone who is reading my posts would already have an idea of...


Here's How Automation Is Transforming the Hospitality Industry | By Mitrankur Majumdar
The Henn-na Hotel in Japan is one of the great hotels of the world - and it just got a lot more futuristic. When you walk up to the front desk, a Japanese hostess bows and says "welcome." The catch: She's a robot. What's fitting is that in Japanese...

May 2016

Hotel technology 2020: What will the hotel of the future look like? | By David Chestler
After a long flight, a weary traveller strolls off the plane. The beacon nearby detects him and signals he has arrived with his Uber waiting to take him to his hotel. His TripIt has his itinerary and details from multiple locations all sorted onto...


10 Key Trends for Revenue Management in 2016 | By Maeve Walls
The past few years have given birth to a wide variety of revenue management 'best practices' and tools. What's the equation for success? Two of the major factors affecting a modern revenue manager's success are the tools they are using, and how well...


9 Hotel Waterpark Resorts Coming to Colorado | By Jeff Coy
- including the addition of an indoor waterpark where the conference center once stood. The hotel, located on I-25 Exit 153 at InterQuest Parkway in north Colorado Springs stood empty and partially finished since 2009, a victim of the Great Recession...

June 2016

Dubai Parks and Resorts on track to open in October | By Patience Lelo Klaas
Dubai Parks & Resorts (DPR), the Middle East's largest integrated theme park destination, is set to open its many gates to the public in October this year.This massive amusement park in Dubai will incorporate motiongatetm Dubai, Bollywood Parkstm...


Hospitality and Restaurant Industry Must Read Articles | By Deven Bhagwandin
I'm working on the next phase of my Owning a Restaurant series but in the meantime, I've come across another set of service and hospitality industry news articles that I think you'll be interested in reading. All of these are quick reads. As always...


2016's Most Important Digital Marketing Trends for the Hospitality Sector | By Edward Jones
2016 was always set to be a year of shiny-new toys to play with from a hospitality marketing perspective. From video conferencing to remote training opportunities to the most simplified centralised management systems to date, the IT takeover really...

July 2016

An HVS Guide to Hotel Revenue Management | By Justin Kaminski and Breanna Smith
often frequently throughout the day--and make tactical decisions on rates over the next 90 days. It is extremely important to have longer-term strategic pricing guidelines in place that are determined annually in strategy meetings with hotel leaders...


Neither revPAR nor occupancy are ideal indicators of hotel profitability - it's all about the ARPAR! | By Kiran Sunny
There's no denying that room sales is the life-source of most hospitality businesses. But while establishing high occupancy is indeed important, it shouldn't be the sole focus of a modern hotel. When considering profitability, concentrating on...


The Ultimate Luxury Hoteliering 101! Part 2 | By L. Aruna Dhir
What is it that the luxury traveller really seeks from his hotel experience? When money is not the consideration, what do premium places of stay bring out on the silver platter to this discerning set of guests for whom luxury is a way of life? How do...

August 2016

Hot industry trend: Video marketing for hotels | By Sarah Came
Two years ago, in Think with Google's report The 2014 Traveler's Road to Decision, Google called video "the new frontier" for hotel marketing, yet many hoteliers have been slow to include video in their marketing mix.While still images and the...


Chinese Investment Trends in U.S. Hotel Real Estate | By Li Chen and Kirsten Z. Smiley
including hotels--has become increasingly pronounced every year since.[1]Hotel and Hotel Portfolio Investment out of ChinaThe following tables show major single-asset transactions made by Chinese investors in the last five years. The two transaction...


Heads in beds: refining room inventory management | By Estefania Escobar
Considered one of its most precious assets, a hotel's inventory is what keeps the business running. As part of revenue management strategies, inventory management is a key concept for hoteliers. We have five suggestions to improve it now. Figuring out...

September 2016

4 Lessons Airbnb's Marketing Strategy Can Teach Hoteliers | By Michael Innocentin
more than any major hotel brand – Airbnb has set its sights on business travelers. It announced in July that it had inked a partnership with a trio of travel management companies: American Express Global Business Travel, BCD Travel, and Carlson...


Why should hoteliers bet on video marketing? | By Estefania Escobar
Although video advertising for hotels has mixed opinions in the industry, social media, and new technologies are challenging those points of view. Go beyond photos and let's see how to use this powerful tool to get more bookings and enrich your hotel...


12 Reasons Travel and Hospitality Brands Should Boost Their B2B Content Marketing in 2017 [INFOGRAPHIC] | By Alan Young
and planning time for 2017. I am sure you already see the paradigm shift in the travel and hospitality technology industry ---and it is truly tougher than ever to break through the noise. There's a reason why CMOs at the largest tech brands report...

October 2016

HVS Market Pulse: Baton Rouge, LA | By Bunmi Adeboye
Baton Rouge, aka the "Red Stick," was so named by 17th century French explorers who came upon a native boundary marker at the top of a bluff, in the form of pole painted red. Now the capital city of the state of Louisiana, Baton Rouge is also the...


2017 Digital Marketing Roadmap: What You Need To Know | By Alicia Wahlen
It is not about following the latest technology or social media channel, but more about knowing how your target customers are navigating the internet, where they are most likely to find your brand online, and what it takes to get them to buy. Here is...


The High Cost of Low Employee Engagement | By Joshua M. Evans
Engaged Employees are great! They are genuinely more likable, more committed to their work, and are often more optimistic about the companies they work for. While everyone can appreciate employees that are engaged, few companies understand the HUGE...

November 2016

Marketing Strategies for a Competitive Advantage in 2017 | By Robert A. Rauch
According to Geoffrey Moore in his book Living on the Fault Line: Managing for Shareholder Value in the Age of the Internet, stock price is a measure of future potential based on present competitive advantage. Competitive advantage consists of two...


Strategies to a successful digital marketing campaign | By Josephine Wawira
Capitalizing on online channels as elements of new media to promote brands, and sell products/services is perhaps the best approach to reach out to potential and existing online customers in this digital era. The Main aim is to make it possible for...


WATG Hospitality Trends Forecast 2017 | By Muriel Muirden
WATG have been breaking ground in hotel design for over 70 years, designing some of the most innovative and award-winning destinations around the globe. With a finger firmly on the pulse, WATG Trend Forecaster Muriel Muirden has rounded up the top...

December 2016

Robert Rauch's Top 10 Trends in Hospitality for 2017 | By Robert Rauch
Just 10 years ago, Facebook morphed into a mainstream business tool, Twitter arrived, the iPhone exploded on the scene and Android phones were born. Today, the pace of change has accelerated dramatically. In his new book, Thank You for Being Late...


Travel and Hospitality Predictions for 2017 | By Mihaela Lica Butler
There's something special about the end of the year, as industry experts in every niche look ahead with hope, trying to predict what the future will change and bring new in their respective fields. Hospitality follows the trend, and I have been...


Three Game-Changing Hospitality Trends for 2017 | By Tammy Farley
There is an old adage that says, "The only constant is change." Although attributed to Heraclitus, a Greek philosopher who lived around 500 B.C., apparently that statement is as true now as it has ever been - perhaps even more so. 2016 has proven to...

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