Roomza, the trailblazing hotel startup known for its commitment to personalization and flexibility, proudly announces the opening of Roomza Times Square at Pestana CR7 hotel in the heart of midtown Manhattan. This boutique hotel-within-a-hotel experience, set to open its doors to guests on December 15, represents a novel venture in the hospitality landscape.
AAA projects 55.4 million travelers will head 50 miles or more from home over the Thanksgiving holiday travel period*. This year’s Thanksgiving forecast is an increase of 2.3% over last year and marks the third-highest Thanksgiving forecast since AAA began tracking holiday travel in 2000. The top two years were 2005 and 2019, respectively.
Yesterday, Booking.com, one of the world’s leading digital travel companies, announces the launch of Cruises as a new travel vertical for customers in the United States. The new offering meets traveler demand in the largest market for cruise bookings globally, representing 58% of the entire industry*, and becomes available through a partnership with leading cruise agency World Travel Holdings (WTH). Through the newly introduced product vertical, Booking.com is providing US customers with more travel options than ever before and added benefits across the cruise trip planning journey including:
HSMAI Foundation hosted a series of three Americas Faculty forums, with faculty specializing in hospitality sales, marketing, and revenue education. We gathered each group to discuss emerging trends, prevailing challenges, and how HSMAI and the HSMAI Foundation can partner to shape the future of hospitality education. These discussions highlighted a shift towards integrating technological advancements and strategic thinking into the curriculum.
Nothing beats staying at a place that is rumored to be haunted during Halloween. To get into the Halloween spirit, and deliver a truly thrilling experience beyond just trick-or-treating and costume parties, we present six spooktacular stays in some of America’s most haunted places.
Tambourine, the Fort Lauderdale-headquartered digital marketing technology company serving hotels, resorts, and tourism destinations worldwide, is celebrating thirteen Travel Weekly Magellan Award wins with its clients.
Noble House, a collection of 18 diverse properties across North America, has been a Revinate customer for a decade, using Revinate Guest Feedback to manage online reviews and guest surveys, Cart Abandonment to convert unbooked Web visitors and Revinate Reservation Sales, RezForce and Lifecycle to nurture leads, coach agents and drive revenue on the voice channel. In March of 2019, the group added Revinate Marketing to its toolset, excited by the opportunity to unify all the data across the entire portfolio. Little did they know at the time of purchase that Revinate would soon become their most powerful driver of direct revenue.
Northview Hotel Group is a leading owner and operator of remarkable hotels, resorts, and resort communities throughout the United States. The company is committed to providing guests with the highest level of service and luxury amenities while continuing to innovate and improve operations.
According to the latest Longwoods International tracking study of American travelers, 92% of them have travel plans in the next six months, and 33% of them plan to spend more on holiday travel this year compared to a year ago. Only 16% of travelers plan to spend less on holiday travel this year, while 52% expect their holiday travel spending to be comparable to last year.
Airbnb, VRBO, and vacation rentals did surprisingly well during the pandemic. Many travelers choose to stay in home-sharing or vacation rental facilities over hotels for a reason. That shows how strongly consumers demand a new type of lodging product.
The Washington, D.C., chapter of the Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International today invited hospitality professionals from throughout the metropolitan area to attend its annual Directors Roundtable & Conference on Oct. 18 at the Washington Marriott Capitol Hill.
The question is fallacious, as it's set up in black-and-white terms. We're stuck in this loop of "traditional hospitality good, alternative hospitality bad." But, you know what? We have to stop thinking like that! Travelers certainly don't; for them, hospitality is hospitality, no fancy labels needed.Do vacation rentals speed up gentrification?
The impact of inventory loss within the travel and hospitality sector's key markets is a multifaceted issue with far-reaching consequences for both businesses and their clientele. These markets are often the lifeblood of demand, making any decline in resources a matter of significant concern.
I believe the vacation rental industry is to blame itself for these very restrictive regulations and all of its recent woes. For years it fought against licensing its hosts. Fought against including local hotel taxes in its pricing as if their customers didn"t need public infrastructure and safety, street lighting, etc.
The ability to source detailed information based upon complex questions is an extremely powerful tool. The time saving possibilties from the travel research perspective are tremendous. While there is critique of the quality of feedback and recommendation at what is still a relatively early stage, this will continue to improve as information portals increase their suitability for access of their information to the various AI tools.
In the near term, the biggest opportunities AI provides for driving direct revenue revolve around creating richer, more personalized experiences at each stage of the guest journey. Hotel marketers can use AI to better segment potential guests based on behaviors and deliver content and offers — at scale — that match those segments' intent. Increasingly, you can let the AI select and orchestrate campaign messages, images, and offers that align with the needs of potential guests, and drive conversion. Similarly, these tools can provide intelligent rate displays and offer attractive upsell opportunities to guests to improve the revenue you achieve during each stay. Real-time guest service during the booking process, including chat, can help improve that experience and increase conversion rate.
The goal of OTA1s has always been a one stop shop. Whatever ChatGPT-based travel planning toolkits they will have access to - Brand.com will also have, so the question is as it always has been, how to get Brand.com to stand out and entice guests enough to book directly. AI can have its shining moment here as well.
AI can certainly do a lot of things and holds great promises at various levels in business and tourism. But let's not kid ourselves - OTAs are way ahead of the game not only in providing great platforms to book on - UX, imagery, etc.
I spoke at a conference in Norway last week and had the privilege of attending a keynote by Terry Jones. He said something that really resonated with me: "AI is the new UI." In traditional UI, the focus is primarily on how users interact with a system.
According to the latest Longwoods International tracking study of American travelers, they are planning more travel for every trip category this fall when compared to 2022. For example, 66% are planning to visit friends and family this fall, up from 56% a year ago, and 53% are planning fall road trips, up 10% from 2022.
The Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International (HSMAI) Sales Leader Forum will take place in Long Beach, CA on Nov. 8, 2023. This year’s event, organized by HSMAI’s Sales Advisory Board, will focus on “Leading the Way,” when it comes to important trends, critical insights, and evolving customers and what they mean for leading hotel sales teams today and in the future.
The Broadmoor is a legendary 700-room, Forbes Five-Star and AAA Five-Diamond resort in Colorado Springs with impeccable service and distinctive amenities. Here, the spirit of the West inspires the adventurer within, providing endless opportunities to explore the picturesque mountains, streams, and canyons.