Opinion Articles

July 12, 2011

How to use social media to tap into the burgeoning market of Chinese travelers

As the American and European economies continue to struggle, Western hotels and travel companies have been turning to emerging countries for expansion and growth. And nowhere are there greater opportunities than in China, the biggest growth market in global tourism, according to the BBC.

By Daniel Craig, Founder & Chief Strategist, Reknown, Reknown Marketing

May 9, 2011

Life can be full of (pleasant) surprises

The Hotel business never ceases to amaze me - especially when a property sets their mind and hearts into doing it right - instilling a great service culture into the operation. And no more obvious and pleasing is this, than when you encounter staff delivering service beyond ones normal expectations.

By Terence Ronson, Founder & Managing Director, Pertlink Limited

Singapore

January 7, 2011

Domestic brands dominate China budget market

Budget hotel chains in China are expanding rapidly to meet the needs of a growing business travel market. Leading domestic brands Home Inns, Jin Jiang Inns, 7 Days Group and China Lodging Group will open hotels throughout China, focusing on second- and third-tier cities, such as provincial capitals. By the end of 2011, if their plans pan out, they will rival some of the biggest hotel brands in the world.

HotelNewsNow

December 6, 2010

Technology, Knowledge Sharing and Sweet Music - How well they all blend together...

Although I technically live in Hong Kong, which is adjacent to what's now often referred to as the Gaming Capital of The World - Macau, I still need a compelling reason to hop on a ferry and take the one-hour ride over. That opportunity came up recently when HTNG's Asia-Pacific Member's Meeting was held at The Four Seasons Hotel.

By Terence Ronson, Founder & Managing Director, Pertlink Limited

Macau

October 18, 2010

Mauritius - Country Snapshot

This article summarizes the key tourism statistics of Mauritius and outlines the current enhancements towards its further tourism development. The island of Mauritius, with approximately 1.3 million inhabitants (2009 United Nations estimate), is located in the Indian Ocean some 2,000 km off the southeast coast of Africa (Mozambique), about 800 km east of the island of Madagascar, and some 11,000 km off the west coast of Australia.

The next-gen metrics that move hotel P&L

Mauritius

Ad Guide

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Mews

Ad AI Hospitality

Ernest - Lighthouse's AI for hoteliers

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Lighthouse

October 5, 2010

Hotels in India – Trends and Opportunities 2010

This annual publication highlights the current trends and future opportunities for the hospitality industry across major cities in India. HVS has now been at the forefront of providing in depth consultancy services to the Indian hospitality industry and tracking trends in it for the past 14 years. After observing two economic downturns and a historic growth period, we are in a position to offer a unique perspective on the cyclicity endemic to the hospitality industry as well as the process of recovery that it currently finds itself in.

By Manav Thadani, Chairman - HVS Asia Pacific, HVS

September 24, 2010

Incredible India

A couple of weeks ago, I made a weeklong Business trip to India. In fact it was my first time to visit India, and I was full of excitement and also worry. Worry because I'd heard so many horror stories about upset stomachs, poverty, lack of infrastructure and the possibility to pick up some unwanted infection. So as a precaution, I visited my doctor who after some research on the CDC website gave me the appropriate shots and a course of anti-Malaria tablets. Armed with those and some emergency rations (mostly protein bars, nuts and some dried fruits), I embarked on my adventurous journey to Chennai and Mumbai.

By Terence Ronson, Founder & Managing Director, Pertlink Limited

September 20, 2010

China, the biggest opportunity of our times, requires a local approach that is driven by social media | Jens Thraenhart

While three flight hours south in Macau, the Pacific Asia Travel Association hosted its annual PATA Travel Mart, over 500 delegates gathered in Beijing on September 15-16 at the so far largest China Travel Distribution Summit. This key event for travel executives looking to understand how to distribute and market online to Chinese consumers, focused on the theme of “China, Consumer, Content”. For global companies, China is no longer the future. It is the present. China’s market share in the global tourism world is rapidly growing, and with over 420 million Internet users, China has the most online users in the world.

By Jens Thraenhart, Co-Founder, High-Yield Tourism

Opinion Article Operations & Strategy

August 8, 2010

Where Everybody Knows Your Name....

Where Everybody Knows Your Name.... is the theme song from the 1980s hit television sitcom Cheers. The melody kept humming at the back of my head when I returned to the Ritz Carlton Pu Dong (Shanghai). Without missing a beat, The Bellboy outside of the Hotel's front doors ran up to me as soon as he caught sight of me trundling up the pathway with my roller-bag, and blurted out in perfect pitch - "Welcome Back - Mr. Ronson". I should not have been surprised by this. I am absolutely convinced that my mug shot had been pre-circulated to 'The Ladies and Gentlemen' of the Ritz Carlton Pu Dong after I documented my experience during my first visit. But to their credit, they lost no time to make sure all memories of that stay were no more.

Pertlink Limited

Shanghai, China

April 12, 2010

Unraveling the Chinese Golf Markets

The evolution of the golf markets in China has been dramatic over the past several years. This evolution, coupled with the prospects of economic growth, the global economic recession and the overbuilding of the golf markets in North America, bring an allure to the prospects for golf in China. For those in the golf industry that were not the early adapters in China, many are now investigating the possibility of business growth in China.

By Jonathan Barsky, Clarabridge (former Market Metrix)

April 12, 2010

All bets are on Macau hotels

Last year, Macau overtook the Las Vegas Strip as the world’s No. 1 gaming revenue market. But how are casino hotels in Macau handling this growth? Can they keep up with new competitors in Asia and how do they compare to legendary Las Vegas?

Macau

February 22, 2010

Bring On 2010!

2009 has been a bad year for China’s hoteliers, says DAMIEN LITTLE, Director of HORWARTH HTL in Beijing. “2010 can only get better.” But, he asks, will hoteliers have to cut room rates to bring about this “improvement”?

HYB

January 22, 2010

Ten Trends Influencing Hospitality in India: How the Game is Changing

This article addresses the ten "game changers” that have influenced the Indian hospitality sector in the past decade and will continue to do so in the years ahead. The year 2000 was an important one for HVS India; we grew from a team of two members to four. The year 2010 is also an important one as we have grown ten-fold in as many years. Our growth story seems to mirror that of the Indian hospitality sector.

By Manav Thadani, Chairman - HVS Asia Pacific, HVS

Ernest - Lighthouse's AI for hoteliers

Ad AI Hospitality

"Just tell me why my weekend pickup dropped." With Ernest, now you can ask your commercial data anything, and act on the answer.

Lighthouse

Opinion Article Development

January 20, 2010

Marriott bullish on India

Marriott International’s strategy for India includes a heavy emphasis on the Courtyard by Marriott brand, according to the company. Courtyard, Marriott’s “upper moderate” product, is critical to Marriott’s growth in India, said Rajeev Menon, Marriott’s area VP for India, Pakistan, Maldives & Malaysia. Four Courtyards recently opened in India: The 164-room Courtyard by Marriott Hyderabad; the like-sized Courtyard by Marriott Ahmedabad in Gujarat; and the 199-room Courtyard by Marriott Gurgaon each opened in November. The Gurgaon property is Marriott’s first foray into the National Capital Region of Delhi.

HotelNewsNow

Opinion Article Markets & Performance

January 18, 2010

Indian Hotel Industry | Looking Back

2009 has been a difficult year for the Indian hotel industry; hurt by the worst-ever economic crisis and the unfortunate terror strike on Mumbai, the industry was brought to a grinding halt. This article seeks to ‘look back’ at the year gone by.

Opinion Article Technology

December 18, 2009

Evaluating Hotel Management Software | ROI and TCO Perspective

The growth in the Indian economy and the hotel industry has resulted in a clutter of new Hotel Management software companies vying to increase their footprint in the Indian market. This has not only started a price and promise war amongst the new entrants, but has also been creating immense doubt and confusion in the minds of the IT Managers and decision makers in order to differentiate between many. Besides this, the assumption that the value of a Hotel Management Software is obvious and can be rarely defined either in abstract or practical terms fuels the confusion further.

IDS NEXT

November 19, 2009

Hotel Pricing Trends This Winter in India

As Indian hotels smarten up for business this winter, we look at some pricing trends that can be put to practice to allow recovery in business volumes and improved occupancy performance. The cliché phrase "Global meltdown" is a convenient reference to describe the slow and low performance of the hotels in India in the first half of the current fiscal year. The months of September and October have traditionally been eyed by the hotel Sales teams as the best time to relook pricing structures and in the last five years the trend has always seen an upward revision in published room rates as well as negotiated corporate rates.