Commemorating Anniversaries: The Strategic Utility of Wooden Key Cards
Wooden key cards with custom anniversary engravings provide hotels a professional tool to enhance guest recognition while supporting brand positioning and sustainability goals.
Sales & Marketing
Expedia Group Study Reveals Travelers Are High-Value Consumers, Spending $500+ Per Trip On Non-Travel Purchases
Survey of 3,500 travelers reveals they spend an average of $500 on non-travel purchases per trip, creating marketing opportunities for brands outside the travel industry.
The Military Esports League Announces Strategic Partnership with ALHI to Elevate Global Hospitality Standards for Gaming Events
ALHI becomes official hospitality partner for esports events serving active-duty military, veterans, and their families across all branches.
Reclaiming Revenue: How Hotels Can Win the Direct Booking Renaissance with a Unified PMS
SiteMinder data shows direct bookings generate 60% higher revenue per reservation than OTA bookings, while BookBetterDirect research found direct rates beat OTAs in 59% of cases.
By Lisa Jane Wheaton, Senior Project Strategist, Maestro
The Hotel Industry Has a Demand Origin Problem. It Has Been Misdiagnosing It for Twenty Years.
The author argues hotels have misunderstood their core challenge: controlling guest introductions, not just optimizing marketing channels or technology solutions.
By Andrew Paul, Managing Director, Americas Great Resorts
Reducing OTA Reliance - How Sleeping Bear Hotels took a leap of belief
Sleeping Bear Hotels reduced OTA bookings from 60% through operational streamlining, strategic partnerships, and direct booking focus.
Ryan Haynes, Director/Lead Consultant, Hoteliers' Voice Podcast/ Haynes MarComs Ltd
Aethos Challenges the Conventions of Luxury Hospitality in ‘The Rules Are Different Here’ Brand Campaign
Aethos unveils its second brand campaign featuring celebrity models at Aethos Mallorca, with Milan pop-up activations and programming across all properties.
What does SMERF mean for hotels and the hospitality industry?
The guide explains how hotels can tap into Social, Military, Educational, Religious, and Fraternal groups to boost off-season occupancy through targeted marketing and group rates.
IHG Expands Reward Offering In Germany Through PAYBACK Partnership
German guests can now earn PAYBACK points instead of IHG points when staying at participating hotels, redeemable across retail partners.
Hotels Can Win Visibility with Agent Engine Optimization (AEO)
The article explains how AI systems like ChatGPT now limit hotel recommendations to fewer than five options, requiring structured data and consistent information across all channels for visibility.
The Vanishing Passport: Strategies to Revive or Replace International Travel
The article outlines alternative revenue strategies for hotels to offset declining international travel through youth sports, construction crews, workations, wellness experiences, and corporate segments.
By Theresa Hajko, Regional Director of Revenue Management, Spire
The Mystification of Hotel Sales
The author argues hotel GMs lack proper sales oversight, focusing on superficial metrics rather than lead conversion tracking and systematic follow-up processes.
By Doug Kennedy, President of the Kennedy Training Network, Kennedy Training Network (KTN)
The Agentic AI Guest: Why Your Hotel Sales Team Is Now Competing With Chatbots
Corporate travel buyers now use AI agents to research hotels, benchmark rates, and analyze reviews before contacting sales teams, fundamentally changing the negotiation dynamic.
By Muhammad Tanveer, Author - The Sales Leadership Brief (Linkedin Newsletter), The Sales Leadership Brief
What Can Wood Do? Continue the Journey with GCSTIMES Wooden Bookmarks
GCSTIMES promotes wooden bookmarks as sustainable hotel amenities that enhance literary-themed guest experiences while reinforcing eco-conscious branding.
TikTok Has Entered the Chat: Metasearch
TikTok is beta-testing hotel metasearch cards that appear in user feeds, redirecting to OTAs like Expedia and Booking.com for reservations.
By Sienna Crawford, Senior Marketing Manager, Cogwheel Marketing & Analytics
The Suite Spot Podcast Powered by Travel Media Group Celebrates Milestone 200th Episode
The hospitality podcast reaches 200 episodes after eight years, adding co-host Cassady Quintana to focus on social media strategy.
No, Luxury is not Dying
Argues that luxury demand remains strong despite conference narratives claiming otherwise, with social media simply changing how status symbols are displayed rather than eliminating them.
By Martin Soler, Partner, Soler & Associates
Tethered to the Truth: When Internet Tall Tales Check Into Hospitality
The article argues hospitality brands must maintain verified property data to prevent misleading claims across digital channels and influencer partnerships.
Condé Nast Traveller announces seven natural wonders of the world
Condé Nast Traveller selected seven remote natural landscapes across Mongolia, Canada, Madagascar, Indonesia, Brazil, Dominica and USA as the world's greatest natural wonders.
Hotel Customer Journey: The Guest Experience Guide
The guide examines how AI and social media have transformed guest expectations, with direct bookings gaining ground over OTAs as hotels focus on seamless tech-enabled personalization.
By Emma Näpänkangas, M.Sc. Student in Hospitality Management, EHL