This afternoon in Brussels, GBTA met various leaders including Mr. Tim Figures, Head of the Competitiveness and Market department as part of the Permanent Representation of the United Kingdom to the European Union on this historical day in the future of Europe.
The digital world is a vast, Amazonian river of intellectual property (IP)—software, brands, photos, video clips, music, guest information, guest reviews—flowing quickly in every direction. Almost any significant issue arising in this space highlights the juxtaposition between an IP owner’s desire—in some cases legal obligation—to control and protect its content (i.e. intellectual property) with the desire to have content exposed to more and different consumers and potential consumers, across ever proliferating channels. Ruth Walters of the Seattle-based law firm Garvey Schubert Barer provides some valuable legal insights and advice for us in the hotel world.
We are fortunate to work with some of hospitality's most respected ownership groups, and over the years, we've learned a lot from each other about what makes an effective hotel owner/manager relationship. Certainly, delivering great bottom line results will make for a successful partnership, but here are a few other tips to pave the way for a smooth ride.
"We're kicking off our fun old fashioned family Christmas by heading out into the country in the old front-wheel drive sleigh to embrace the frosty majesty of the winter landscape, and select that most important of Christmas symbols," Clark Griswold. This is and will most likely be our wave this Christmas season, as we pack up and desert the humdrum cities to follow the magic path leading to our ancestral land, origin, history, culture, and behold our roots.
With Marriott`s $13.6 billion acquisition of Starwood Hotels now complete, Marriott chief executive Arne Sorenson will be contemplating how to capture as much value as possible from the deal. As with all such M&A activity though the apparent benefits will only be realized with a well-implemented plan when it comes to bringing together what may be very different corporate cultures.
Marriott closed its acquisition of Starwood on September 23, 2016, following Accor's closing of its acquisition of Fairmont/Raffles on July 12, 2016. Other consolidations may already be underway. In any event, most of us in the hotel industry expect some very important consequences to result from such transactions.
Globalization is largely viewed as an opportunity for Tourism in general because it facilitates international travel and for the hotel industry in particular, which has seen its customer base grow with each passing year. This would truly be an ideal world if this growing strength of exchanges did not go hand in hand with troublesome secondary effects.
Choosing the Right Hotel Management Company is Imperative to The Success of Your Hotel. Here's What to Consider. Whether you have a hotel already, are in the process of acquiring one or have plans to build one in the near future, you're going to want to everything within your power to maximize your investment, right?
Airbnb is rapidly becoming one of those brilliant ideas gone bad. Growing concerns that the "sharing economy" company upsets the natural order of the housing market has spurred lawmakers to curtail the Silicon Valley startup wonder's growth. Now other cities are looking at banning, or limiting Aibnb and other similar companies from disrupting housing markets and neighborhoods.
This is one man's opinion. I am an Independent, so Democrats and Republicans alike will disagree with me. I am not a member of the Lodging Industry Association or the San Diego Hotel Motel Association, so I am not privy to their positions on these issues and many of them will disagree with me. Lastly, I do not own any land or property downtown that would give me any reason to prefer a certain outcome. I'm certain that many will assume I will benefit from my ideas; that goes with the territory. There is nothing here but a love for San Diego and the Chargers. Below are my thoughts.
LIAT Airlines has been a vital factor in the commercial and tourism life blood of the Caribbean for decades. However, the company has now had three CEOs and two Acting CEOs in the last seven years, evidence of LIATs challenges.
Having represented management companies and owner/developers in projects ranging from five-star mixed-use luxury branded resorts to limited-service highway franchised hotels, I have had the opportunity to work on many branded management agreements, third-party management agreements (non-branded) and franchise agreements. From my years of experience, I've compiled a list of key terms and tips for you to live by.
In the last 15 months, over 200 complaints alleging ADA accessibility violations have been filed by three individual plaintiffs against Arizona retailers, restaurants, and hospitality entities. These "tester" cases assert nearly identical allegations related to improper construction of restroom facilities and check-out counters, and, in the case of hotels, failure to provide a pool lift. Two of the plaintiffs claim to reside in Arizona and one resides out of state, but all threen seek the same remedies: injunctive relief to retrofit the property and attorneys' fees and costs.
Scholars of tourism know that the travel and tourism industry are far from static. New challenges seem to arise as quickly as mushrooms sprout up after a warm rain. Despite the constant changes, however, there have been a number of issues that have become constant problems for the industry and with which it has had to learn to live. Here are some of these issues and a few suggestions on how to begin to handle them. The recent stock market ups and downs are a real indication of the turbulence that may impact tourism in 2016 and present new challenges to tourism professionals around the world. -High Taxation on the Tourism Industry. There is a mistaken belief that visitors and tourists do not pay taxes. Nothing could be further from the truth. Instead tourists are some of the highest taxed and under represented people in the world. We only have to examine am airline ticket, rent a car, or stay at a hotel to realize how much we spend on travel. These taxes not only add a great deal to the cost of travel, but they also have become nuisances. For example, leaving too many places requires and exit payment and in all too many other locations visas is nothing more than an additional way to victimize tourists. Because tourists are generally not citizens of the places that they are visiting, they have no political voice. However, the local members of the tourism industry can act as their voice. Tourism, just as any other product has an economic saturation limit and if taxes become overly burdensome local tourism business will see a diminution in their profits. -Increase of mass tourism resulting in straining the tourism infrastructure. Many places around the world have seen large numbers of tourist arrivals but are simply not prepared to handle the influx. Tourism is much more than merely selling or marketing. There has to be a product and the product must be composed not only of the attraction and or activity but also the personnel who deliver the product. This means that if the number of visitors is greater than the capacity of a location to absorb these visitors, the locale will suffer numerous problems. Often too many visitors to a place that is ill prepared for non-sustainable numbers creates a sense of tourism euphoria in the short run, but introduces long term tourism problems that may become deadly to the sustained health of a tourism industry. An easy check on if a particular tourism product's infrastructure is over extended is to determine the percentage of visitors wish to return. If few visitors desire to return, then this may be an indication that the price-tourism structure continuum is reaching unsustainable limits. -Physical plants that are no longer adept for modern tourism. Perhaps the biggest problem exists in the realm of airports. Many airports are simply not equipped to handle a large number of passengers arriving at the same time. This lack of infrastructure combined with often poorly trained personnel (or personnel who simply do not care) creates long lines and unpleasant memories. Tourism officials need to remember that first and last impressions are key components in their marketing efforts. Local Infrastructure problems. Too many tourism destinations are not prepared for the visitors. They lack good sanitation facilities and water treatment plants. Likewise both roads and sidewalks are not well maintained creating hazards not only for the local population but also for the visitor population. It is essential that local governments take into consideration that a good tourism environment also impacts the local culture and environment. Heavy taxes with poor road and street quality are sure not only to upset citizens but are a warning sign that tourism may be headed toward future problems. Customer service is the key to a healthy tourism industry. The least expensive and most important part of the tourism experience is the customer –visitor interaction. Smiles and a friendly handshake or nod of the head cost nothing and can change a negative impression into a negative one. Unfortunately tourism personnel often forget that the visitor is their employer and that when visitations cease so do their jobs. Too many people who work in tourism are civil servants who cannot be fired.. Job protection needs to be a reward and not a right. When there are no consequences for bad behavior or rudeness on the part of tourism personnel not only is the product's reputation diminished but so too the quality of the tourism offering. Providing quality customer service is an ongoing challenge for many parts of the tourism industry. Although it is the lease expense challenge to face, it has proven to be one of the hardest challenges to meet and overcome. Below here are some suggestions to help face these problems. Develop a tourism vision. You cannot begin to create an infrastructure if you do not know what form of tourism your locale desires. Not every form of tourism is correct for every locale, and no locale can be all things to all people. Think through what forms of tourism best meet your community's needs and how tourism will add to the quality of life for your community, Once you have the vision of what type of tourism you desire, you can then begin to analyze if the vision is realistic and obtainable and finally what obstacles stand in the way of creating this vision - Buddle taxes. Most tourist entities cannot control what governments choose do when it comes to taxation, but the industry is now powerless. Do everything possible to ease the taxation burden and to make payments as easy as possible. For example, include airport, bus station or seaport entrance and exit fees in the cost of a ticket. Forcing visitors to go from one line to the next in order to depart wins the local tourism industry few friends and creates a negative final image of the locale. -Simplify currency exchange laws and procedures. Tourism can produce a great deal of hard currency for any particular location. However, when exchange centers such as banks and hotels overcharge for the purchase of local currency, there is a tendency to go to the black market, not to respect local laws, or put oneself in danger. Post rates of exchange and where currency can be exchanged legally and at what times. Post prices whenever possible in both the local currency and in an international currency such as dollars or euros, and Chinese yuan. -Seek out-of-the-box solutions. The bottom line is that no matter what the problem may be do not give up. Be creative, smile and remember that tourism is all about turning challenges into new and exciting opportunities. Find new partners, for example seek the aid of law enforcement, the local school boards, or hospitals to create new solutions to old problems.
We know what hoteliers do during their working day but how about when they are off duty? In this limited edition series, Conor Kenny talks to well-known hotel people about how they spend their day off. "On My Day Off" by John Gately, Managing Director, Montenotte Hotel. I generally take Sunday off every week. There is usually nobody looking for me on Sunday and you hope with the right people in place you can forget about the operation for one day anyway.
On August 18, 2015, the FCC announced a $750,000 civil penalty and formal Consent Decree with Smart City Holdings for blocking consumers' personal Wi-Fi access at various convention centers, meeting centers and hotels around the United States. Smart City is an internet and telecommunications provider for such facilities, and had been blocking personal mobile "hotspots" being used by convention and meeting attendees.
Don't dismiss this hastily — it could happen to you.... On an unusually warm spring night at New York's Hotel Pennsylvania, Security Supervisor Ruben Hernandez had just begun his shift when he received an urgent call for help. The call was for an unconscious male, not breathing and not showing a pulse. Ruben immediately removed the onsite automated external defibrillator (AED) from its box and responded to the location.
Since 2012, Wyndham Worldwide has been boxing with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in an unprecedented bout that has forced us to take a hard look at how data security and privacy are enforced in the United States.
What key components have contributed to the growth of RAR over the last 6 months? At RAR we are actively and continually involved in all facets of the tourism and hospitality industry. We have focused on bringing the latest trends to each hotel with a focus on driving revenue and building loyalty. After generating revenue, we concentrate on optimizing that revenue and converting it to net income. We are always cognizant of asset value and net income is what measures that value.
The hotel industry has seen a proliferation in the number of players and stakeholders that can and should be involved in a successful hotel. Hotel brands, owners and management companies have created permutations and combinations of operating models that, when used appropriately, will increase profitability, make a project more attractive to lenders and add value to guests. Given this, the question owners must then ask themselves is: What model is right for my hotel? This article aims to provide a brief overview and comparison of leases, franchises and management agreements.