Brands play a big role in our decision making and identification process.

Wikipedia clinically defines a Brand as “…a collection of images and ideas representing an economic producer; more specifically, it refers to the descriptive verbal attributes and concrete symbols such as a name, logo, slogan, and design scheme that convey the essence of a company, product or service."

But Brands in the Hotel industry today are more than just a name and the “concrete symbols” associated with them…today they represent a lifestyle choice and create a whole new meaning system. Hotel brand experts now aim for ‘loyalty beyond reason’ so clearly associated with international heavyweights like Coke, Nike, Apple, Starbucks and more.

Since we last reported on the new hotel management school on the block, GATE Nepal (The Global Academy of Tourism & Hospitality Education) has added to it’s repertoire of successes. GATE recently celebrated the official signing of an affiliation with SSTH (Swiss School of Tourism & Hospitality, located in Passugg, Switzerland). GATE has also announced a strong drive towards adopting international standards and has obtained ISO 9001:9002 certifications. The hotel school has further developed strong ties with global Coffee company Illy Cafe and will introduce a branch as well as Barista training courses in the future.

It is the year 2020. The past twelve years have been a flurry of development in the areas of design, nanotechnology, robotics, medicine, the internet, security and law. Contrary to popular opinion, the hotel industry has not been slow on the uptake. It’s been the decade of hospitality renaissance. A coming of age, an evolution of service as it should be…and a tribute to true personalization.



Here’s a look at the hotel guest experience in the year 2020 and how guests have helped the industry become truly magnificent:

Exclusive video snippets of the Sheraton G.O.O.D (Global Out of Office Day) launch on Monday.



Official Release: Fortune 500 Company Relocates Headquarters to Central Park as Sheraton Hotels Hosts First-Ever "Global Out of the Office Day" on Monday, Sept. 15: Hundreds of New Yorkers Ditch their Desks to Join More than 600 Starwood Hotels Associates Working in Central Park at 34,000 Square Foot "Link@Sheraton" Technology Lounge Sheraton Announces Free Wi-Fi in Sheep Meadow for Month of September and Summer 2009 Sheraton Work-Life Study Reveals 87% of Workplace Professionals Take PDA to Bed

Are PDA’S Replacing Pillow Talk? 87% of Workplace Professionals Take Their PDA to Bed, According to Work-Life Study
85% Say New Technology Means We’re Never Off the Clock, but 84% Say it Means More Quality Time with Family and Friends
WHITE PLAINS, NY – September 15, 2008 – Technology-addicted professionals just can’t keep their hands off their personal digital assistants (PDA’s), as new technology continues to transform the way we live and work. In a new work-life study from Sheraton Hotels & Resorts today, 85% of U.S. professionals surveyed said that because of modern technology, they feel compelled to be connected to work 24/7 and 81% say they work harder now than they did five years ago.

Google's Youtube is launching yet another in a series of excellent analytics tools this week. Called "HotSpots" the Youtube analytics tool will allow users to analyze how their videos are viewed and how parts of their video are received by their audience. An article by AdAge takes a look at the new feature:

HotSpots plays a video alongside a graph that maps whether the audience is lower or higher than average for a particular length of video. When the graph goes up, the video is "hot," and more viewers are watching -- because there's either less attrition or some viewers are fast-forwarding or rewinding to isolate a particular point in the video. When the graph goes down, the video is "cold" because viewers are leaving the video or skipping to another part of the content. Another service, Visible Measures, also measures this sort of audience engagement within a video, among other things. Source

tags: youtube, google, analytics, videos, hotspots

The world's been abuzz with speculations, cheers and doomsday chants since the announcement that LHC (the Large Hadron Collider) was finally going to be switched on. A project decades in the making...and something that will eventually help us understand what matter is made of, how the big bang created everything...and perhaps even rethink Physics is indeed something to be hailed for its ingenuity and courage. Those who do not understand the nature of the experiments fear that the miniscule collisions will create black holes that will suck in the earth :). Want to understand more? Watch the excellent amateur "rap video" created by the scientists at CERN, to explain what they're doing:

Ever wondered where all the great new hotel brand and room design ideas come from? An MSNBC article that takes a peek at hotel room development and concept testing:

All of the big chains operate labs to develop fresh ideas, which are important in an ever-more-competitive lodging landscape. Starwood, best known for its cutting-edge Westin and W Hotels, maintains test rooms in a warehouse near its headquarters in a New York suburb. London-based InterContinental has model rooms in San Diego for its new Hotel Indigo chain. The new look of Hyatt's Summerfield Suites brand is being hammered out in a basement of the chain's Chicago headquarters. And market-leading Marriott, legendary for its research- and focus-group-driven brands, maintains its hotel laboratory deep in a sprawling subbasement of its worldwide headquarters in Bethesda, Md.

Dubai and shortly thereafter, the world, was abuzz with rumors and speculations after a fire broke out at The Atlantis Hotel yesterday morning. The fire was contained in a few hours and was mainly isolated to the lobby and the impressive central dome over it, however the damage has been done. The hotel is set to open its doors to the public on 24th September 2008 but the incident has cast doubts over if this really will be possible. The official hotel stance is that the opening will not be delayed... the rest only time will tell.

Starwood Preferred Guest(R) Takes Its "No Blackouts" to New Heights: First-of-its-kind SPG FLIGHTS Program Allows Members To Book Air Travel on HUNDREDS of Airlines With NO BLACKOUTS Using SPG Starpoints(R)



In a hotel industry first, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE:HOT) and its award winning hotel loyalty program Starwood Preferred Guest(R), are taking its groundbreaking NO BLACKOUTS policy to new heights with the introduction of SPG Flights. Launching today, SPG Flights lets members book flights on hundreds of domestic and international airlines with NO BLACKOUT dates. Members can simply go to WWW.SPG.COM/FLIGHTS, search for and select their preferred flight and class of service, and redeem their Starpoints for the entire cost of the flight. Members may even earn airline miles when booking airfare through SPG Flights.

Google has just announced the Beta release of its long awaited open-source browser, called "Google Chrome". Just downloaded it ...it features a very Apple / Safari style look and it was built on the same development platform. Love the dazzling speed and general feel of the browser! Google's official line on the new software: "Google Chrome is a browser that combines a minimal design with sophisticated technology to make the web faster, safer, and easier."