The war between direct online travel sales vs middlemen / 3rd party sellers goes on.. now a new survey claims that direct bookings are on the increase. A lot of savvy surfers are using 3rd parties to compare and pull rates from a variety of sources and then booking directly, much to the delight of travel and accommodation providers.

"Internet monitors Hitwise said although website visits to online travel agents remained stable in 2005, visits to hotel and airline websites grew almost 20 per cent."

Web travel bookings cut out middlemen - Breaking News - National - Breaking News

tags: hopsitality

Carol Verret discusses the effect of the improved hotel economy and the effect on Group Room revenues - the healthy growth and strong demand guarantee good times ahead for Sales, but how can Sales Teams maximize revenue and go in for the kill?

She offers advice on some common issues which occur in such a scenario, like letting go of old accounts that insist on sticking to old rates, mining for higher rated business, looking beyond the 'will they still like me?' factor and more.

Read the article: Selling Up! Taking Group Room Revenue To A New Level! - By Carol Verret :: Hotel News Resource

tags: sales

Leah Woolford discusses the power and effect of Work of Mouth Marketing and the role that Blogging and iPods / Podcasting play in today's Marketing and PR world. These are developments and technologies no "e" savvy marketer can ignore - and adopting these the right way can go a long way in terms of maintaining and building on your marketing/PR base.

"In the past couple of years, the hot topics were CRM (Customer Relationship Management) or eCRM -about making sure that you manage customer relationships and marketing. Today and tomorrow, one of the hottest topics is Word of Mouth Marketing online, as it crosses all demographics and proves to be one of the most effective ways to build brand equity online and extend reach and response."

Read the article here: Beyond the Browser

tags: marketing

Guest loyalty is a key driver when it comes to repeat business and the hotel bottom line. Hotels are going all out to capture guests' minds and hearts, in a bid to gain their loyalty. From the Ritz Carlton, where personalized, fully-focused attention to guest needs is considered paramount, to the Four Seasons and Kimpton, luxury hotel chains are adopting key hospitality loyalty-building tactics to keep their guests happy..and coming back.

""One of the basic principles of the company is remembering . . . what it is that guests prefer when they are in your hotel," explained (Ritz Carlton) spokeswoman Vivian Deuschl. "Our employees," she said, "carry around little notepads and jot down observed guest preferences," whether it be a favorite magazine, music, etc. "We try not to be intrusive, but 99 percent of the time our guests are blown away that we learn such things.""

Read the whole article: Chicago Tribune | How do hotels reward loyal guests?

tags: hospitality

Rising Tourism, Growth in Number of Retail Outlets and Booming Local Demand Stimulates Development of USD 12 Billion Market

Increasing demand for international food products and rising disposable incomes are combining to make the Middle East a “hot market” for foodstuff producers and distributors in 2006, as well as creating new opportunities for manufacturers of kitchen equipment, processing technology and packaging machinery.

Analysts predict that a number of GCC states in particular –the United Arab Emirates, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Qatar - are now major growth markets for the food industry.

With the rebound in tourism, hotels worldwide are looking at ways to streamline and bring in new technologies to make guest stays more comfortable and personalized. From music device docking stations to super-smooth self check-in's, hotels are going all out to ensure that guest needs are met in the easiest, most flawless way possible (a difficult task by any means, esp. when it comes to technology).

"Some chains like Starwood's (Research) Sheraton hotels have installed kiosks that allow guests to swipe their credit card, get a room key in minutes, and bypass the front desk altogether.
Intercontinental's (Research) Holiday Inn chain is testing its "eCheck" system in Duluth, Ga., that allows guests to print boarding passes as they head out for the airport."

Read the article here: Checking into the hotels of the future - Feb. 15, 2006

tags: hospitality

By Rick Hendrie, President, Remarkable Branding

The moments of truth are so precious in every interaction with your guest. The ones which cut across most businesses are:

Hello
Welcome
I will do what it takes to WOW
Thank You
Good Bye

The human component elevates these above mechanical ‘Moments of Truth”, even as those have great impact. I was in Denver recently and stayed at a respectable mid-price property. When I arrived, the desk clerk asked me “to wait a minute” before he checked me in. No problem. He returned 2-3 minutes later with a Coke cup filled with what I guessed to be Coke. I thought, “I see. My time is less important than his thirst.” Bad start.

Mariott International Inc. reports a 25 percent increase in quarterly profits, spurred by strong demand and higher room rates.

Read the story here: Marriott profit rises 25 pct on higher room rates | Reuters.com

tags: hospitality

The battle over unpaid hotel occupancy taxes rages on, as San Diego sues over a dozen Internet travel booking providers, including Travelocity.com, Priceline.com and Hotels.com. In this lawsuit filed in a Superior Court, seeking over $30 million, the city claims that the sites have collected taxes based on retail rates from customers over the past 5 years and paid the city only a tax based on wholesale rates.

Read the story here: SignOnSanDiego.com -- City seeks millions from travel Web sites

tags: ecommerce

by Aditya Luthra

Today, tourism is among the world's largest industries. Millions of tourists traipse around the globe, visiting sites, taking photographs, reading guidebooks, straining to listen to tour guides and purchasing postcards and souvenirs. The past two centuries have witnessed an increase in the co modification of tourist sites across the world. Everything from historic monuments to exotic holiday destinations have been redesigned and packaged for mass consumption via various venues of mass media, scholarship and popular myth. As a result, the histories of specific structures, spaces and sites have been reconceptualized. Some have been preserved and celebrated, whereas others are left to decay. In this process of amplification and suppression, buildings, cities and entire countries have been remapped by Tourism initiatives to serve political, cultural, economic and scholarly goals.

Anil Saxena takes a fresh look at Corporate Politics..and how one can do well at their jobs AND move up. There is no office or organization that is devoid of politics - this is just part of human nature exhibited in every group of individuals. Many people complain that they could do their jobs well or wish that there was no politics...Dream on.

Read the article here: Mastering the Art of Office Politics

tags: jobs

Good news for Airlines and Hotels.. Stephen Bleach of the Sunday Times takes a look at the growing surge in online bookings and the choice between booking direct vs. third parties.

The verdict, it seems looks promising for airlines and hotels - while 3rd parties offer enticing guarantees and promises, it is often better to book direct for the best rates. 3rd Parties are an excellent source of research though...and with the new breed of slick meta-search engines like Kayak, Dohop, etc leading the way, direct hotel and airline sales look even more lucrative.

Read the article: You paid how much? - Sunday Times - Times Online

tags: hospitality

AOL and Yahoo may soon start charging companies the equivalent of postage to assure that emails get to the recepients for sure...bypassing the junk and bulk mail folders and spam guards.

While the companies claim this will be a good way to reduce the ever-increasing amount of spam, it seems clear that companies like Yahoo and AOL will definitely be the biggest winners in such a scenario.. not only will they net millions of dollars in rvenues for such e-"postage" fees, but this realistically speaking, is not the best way to protect consumers. After all, email marketers and other companies could very well spend their budgets on such "direct-marketing" efforts to reach consumers .. but is this really very different from spamming? Or will this be the era of paid, assured SPAM!?

Read the story here: AOL and Yahoo put price on e-mail - Technology - International Herald Tribune

tags: email

InterContinental Hotels Group is to introduce a virtual Concierge or Information system for guest through its eHost system. eHost is expected to go live at 14 Holiday Inn properties this week.

Read more: Hotels & Resorts - Holiday Inns Unveils Virtual Concierge Service

tags: hospitality

Researchers at WebSideStory Inc. (WSSI) claim that online search engines do a better job of converting lookers into bookers...or surfers to buyers, compared to other sites featuring ads and marketing messages.

Bookmarked or directly visited sites had the highest conversion rate of approx 4.23% and search engines came through with a conversion of approx 2.3%...pretty good compared to 0.96% for other forms, like banner ads, etc.

Read the whole article: Study: Search engines deliver higher conversion

tags: ecommerce

The Bedding wars all started when Westin launched its Heavenly Bed concept in 1999...since then the war has raged on...but who's really benefited, asks Christopher Elliott in his article?

Business Travellers would rather have free Internet access than a plethora of spread and pillows that they just don't know what to do with. As the wars come to an end..experts and hotel professionals evalute the fall-out.

Read the original article: Détente in the Hotel Bed Wars - New York Times

tags: hospitality

Carmine Gallo takes a look at the great communicators of our time...and the pointers that they offer. Profiles include Jack Welch, Steve Jobs, Meg Whitman, John Chambers, Michelle Peluso, David Neeleman, Howard Schultz, Suze Orman, Rudy Giuliani, John Thompson, Klaus Kleinfeld, Larry Ellison and Richard Branson.

See the slideshow here:The Great Communicators | BusinessWeek

tags: communication

SANTA CLARA, Calif. and SEATTLE, Wash.– January 31, 2006 – SideStep, Inc. (www.sidestep.com), the Web’s leading travel search engine, and Amazon Services, an Amazon.com Inc. company (NASDAQ:AMZN) today announced the launch of an updated travel store on the Amazon.com Web site. SideStep, an innovator in travel search, now provides travel services through Amazon.com. Customers begin their travel search in the Amazon.com travel store and are delivered results powered by SideStep. Through this relationship, Amazon is providing customers convenient access to the best deals on airfare, hotels, car rentals and vacation packages and SideStep is poised to expand its user base.

Leading Search Site Also Debuts New Logo and Other Site Upgrades

NORWALK, CT - January 26, 2006 - Continuing to push the travel search envelope by developing the latest technology and convenience for consumers, Kayak.com, the comprehensive travel search site, today introduced Fare Watch and KayakBot. Kayak.com's Fare Watch allows users to track an unlimited number of trip itineraries and receive email notification when the fare meets or beats a traveler's specified price. KayakBot provides travelers with flight, hotel, rental car and flight status search capabilities from the convenience of AOL Instant Messenger.

Westin's decision to ban smoking in its North American properties has caught on with other operators...and some say it may be the beginning of a new trend! Westin says only about 8% of guests requested smoking rooms - it's decision to go smoke-free was based on providing a cleaner, healthier experience (and of course, it also saves costs for the hotel in terms of cleaning, etc!).

Read the whole story here: USATODAY.com - Westin touches match to smoke-free trend

tags: hospitality

InterContinental Hotels Group plans to sell 7 hotels in Europe over the next nine months, with a total value of approx $1.06 Billion Dollars.

Read the whole story here: InterContinental to Sell Seven Hotels | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle

tags: hospitality

Excerpt:
Marriott International, Inc. has launched a guest service initiative called “Spirit To Serve Our Guests.” The program has five key elements, which begins with quickly recognizing a guest’s personal preferences when a reservation is made, to helping a Marriott Rewards member track points.

Read the whole story here:Marriott Rolls Out Guest Service Program

tags: hospitality

Gregg Lamm discusses the issue of pilferage in hotels and rising Insurance costs...and what some hotels are doing to combat the problem.

Excerpt:
"The Marriott Corp., for example, pioneered the practice that has hotel staff approaching guests and offering assistance. Rogers said the practice makes guests feel they are being taken care of by hotel staff, and also serves notice that the hotel is watching anyone who might walk in off the street looking for an easy mark."

Read the original article: Hotels are on alert for guests who pilfer: Guarding against losses

tags: hospitality

Francine Parnes takes a critical look at travel...through not-so-rosy colored glasses.

Excerpt:
"who needs industry statistics about airplane orders and hotel occupancy rates when the beleaguered business people who are sitting in the planes and sleeping in the hotels are testing another kind of boundary: the limits of humiliation, weirdness, fear and revulsion? Wouldn't you rather hear their stories? Here are some of them."

Read the whole article: The Romance of Business Travel and Other Myths - New York Times

tags: travel