Spokane Tribe Resort & Casino Partners With Travel Outlook to Elevate Guest Service Experience
Travel Outlook, The Premier Hotel Call Center™ | October 2, 2024
Debunking Common Myths About AI: Why Human Hotel Staff Are Still Irreplaceable
John Smallwood, President of Travel Outlook | September 17, 2024
Operations
Maestro PMS Mobile-Enables ResWave Online Group Management
Maestro PMS | March 9, 2016
Group Leaders and Members Now Manage Rooming Lists and Reservations Online from the Palm of Their Hand to Simplify Group Management March 9, 2016 – Markham, ON – Maestro PMS just made group management and reservations easier. Maestro's ResWave Web Booking Engine now enables group organizers to manage rooming lists, track group block reservations, add meeting amenity requests, create shoulder rates for group members, and provide personalized landing pages for attendee self-booking online. ResWave is mobile-optimized to enable organizers and attendees to manage their group block and individual reservations from the palm of the...
HeBS Digital and Google Discuss How Hoteliers Can Implement a “Direct is Better: 2016 Action Plan to Maximize Revenues and Lower Cost of Sale”
HeBS Digital | March 9, 2016
HeBS Digital hosted a session with Google at their NYC headquarters, placing the spotlight on ways hotel digital marketers can maximize revenues from the direct online channel. The two companies collaborated to provide valuable insights on the industry's latest innovations, tips on how to lower distribution costs, best utilize Google's newest products, and steal market share from the competition and the OTAs. Following the overarching theme of "Direct Is Better," experts from Google and HeBS Digital covered an array of pressing hospitality digital marketing issues. Speakers laid the groundwork for direct online channel success by offer...
Orion Hotels Enters Agreement with Best Western for Multi-phase Expansion of 13 Hotels in South Africa
Best Western | March 8, 2016
PHOENIX, Ariz. (March 8, 2016) – As part of its dynamic development program in Southern Africa, Best Western Hotels & Resorts is growing its portfolio from one to 14 total properties in the region over the next 12 months. The multi-phase signing agreement with Orion Hotels is integral to the brand's expansion plans in Africa and provides travelers with a more geographically diverse portfolio at which to earn and redeem Best Western Rewards® points. Phase one will see the addition of Velmoré Hotel Estate (Erasmia) and Hotel Promenade (Nelspruit) to the Best Western Plus® portfolio and the Magoebaskloof Hotel to...
HeBS Digital Launches Tsogo Sun’s New Brand Website, a Digital Masterpiece for a Diverse Hotel & Casino Portfolio
Tsogo Sun | March 8, 2016
Summary: HeBS Digital announces the launch of Tsogo Sun's new hotels, gaming, entertainment and conference portfolio brand website www.tsogosun.com. Leveraging the latest website technology, HeBS Digital's smartCMS v7, adaptive design for the three screens, unique designs for the various hotel, gaming, conference and dining brands, best-in-breed merchandising opportunities, and much more, the new brand site aligns the entirety of Tsogo Sun's extensive hotels, gaming, entertainment and conference portfolio under one website. New York, NY – March 8th, 2016 – HeBS Digital, the leading hotel digital technology, full-service digi...
sbe Hotel Group Appoints Jason Hsiang as Senior Vice President of Development
sbe | March 7, 2016
March 7, 2016 – sbe Hotel Group, the Los Angeles-based leading lifestyle hospitality company that develops, manages and operates award-wining hospitality venues, announces the appointment of Jason Hsiang as Senior Vice President of Development. With over 15 years of hotel development and acquisition experience, Jason Hsiang will work in this newly created role to strengthen the company's development efforts and continue the commitment to grow sbe branded hotels & residential projects. In this new role, Hsiang will oversee the expansion of all sbe hotel brands including SLS, SLS LUX, Hyde and Redbury. In addition, Hsiang will a...
Hotel Equities Names Jackie Edmonds Regional Director of Sales in Texas Office
Hotel Equities | March 7, 2016
ATLANTA, GA (Manager March 7, 2016) – Atlanta-based Hotel Equities (HE) named Jackie Edmonds the Regional Director of Sales to the firm's regional office in Plano, Texas. She will report to Drew Salapka, Vice President of Sales & Revenue Generation. Ms. Edmonds works with a defined number of properties in the Hotel Equities' portfolio to assist, support and direct the sales efforts in those hotels. She also conducts training for the Directors of Sales at their respective hotels. "Jackie brings both longevity and a proven record of success in sales to our firm," said Mr. Salapka. "She has a depth of knowledge and experience wit...
Amir Nahai, CEO for AccorHotels Group Food & Beverage Takes on Company Procurement Responsibilites
AccorHotels | March 4, 2016
Paris - March 4, 2016 - Amir Nahai, Chief Executive Officer Group Food & Beverage, is now also responsible for the Group's entire Procurement activity and for the Procurement departments of the countries where AccorHotels operates. In this capacity, he will ensure that procurement makes a growing contribution to Group profits, will define the objectives of the Procurement activity and will develop synergies with partners and suppliers. Amir joined AccorHotels in September 2015. Prior to this he was a partner at Bain and Company's New York office, where he spent over 15 years as a consultant in the hospitality, gaming, media/entertai...
Burt Cabañas and Benchmark Hospitality International Present The Chairman’s Award of Excellence to Kaitlin Soto Of Eaglewood Resort & Spa, Chicago
Benchmark Hospitality International | March 4, 2016
The Woodlands (Houston), Texas, March 2016 … Benchmark Hospitality International® announces that Kaitlin Soto, restaurant and beverage cart server for Eaglewood Resort & Spa, located in Chicago, Illinois, is the recipient of the Chairman's Award of Excellence. The annual award, which was created in 2005 by Burt Cabañas, founder & chairman of Benchmark Hospitality International, recognizes an employee of the leading U.S.-based hospitality management company who has exhibited extraordinary service throughout the previous year. Ms. Soto was presented with the prestigious award recently in a special ceremony at Ben...
Legislation in Virginia to Rein In the Rise of Commercial Operators in the Short-Term Rental Marketplace
AH&LA | March 4, 2016
Washington, D.C. – March 4, 2016 – The American Hotel & Lodging Association (AH&LA) applauded the Virginia Senate's passage of the SB 416. The Limited Residential Lodging Act was amended in recent days to ensure a thoughtful study of this important issue over the coming months before any legislation is enacted. The bill, which now goes to Gov. Terry McAuliffe for consideration, had in its original form codified the preferred collection method of Airbnb while preempting local governments from further regulation of the short-term rental platform's business model. "Yesterday was a victory for Virginia's small inns and b...
HeBS Digital Releases the smartCMS v7, Technology that Transforms the Hotel Website into the Primary Distribution Channel
HeBS Digital | March 4, 2016
NEW YORK, NY – March 4, 2016 – HeBS Digital, the leading hotel digital technology, full-service digital marketing and website revenue optimization consulting firm, has launched a major update to its award-winning smartCMS, world-class hotel website technology specifically created to maximize direct hotel bookings. For a second year in a row, the smartCMS won a Gold Stevie® Award in the Best Software Programming/Design Category in the 2015 American Business Awards, the nation's most prestigious software-for-business awards program. This is the seventh generation of HeBS Digital's proprietary hotel website technology, whic...
NewcrestImage Set to Open Hampton Inn & Suites Dallas Downtown in Historic Allen Building
NewcrestImage | March 3, 2016
Dallas, Texas, March 3, 2016 – Hampton Inn & Suites Dallas Downtown will open this month in the former Allen Building, a historic, ninety-three-year-old tower near some of the city's most popular attractions and trendy districts. NewcrestImage, a hotel development, construction and management firm based in Lewisville, Texas, owns the hotel. The 176-room modern, high-rise hotel is a short walk to Dealey Plaza, the Majestic Theatre, Thanks-Giving Square and Deep Ellum. Guests can enjoy convenient excursions such as shopping at the Neiman Marcus flagship store across the street, entertainment events at the American Airlines Cente...
Good News for the European Business Travel Market
AccorHotels | March 3, 2016
Are European companies too conservative when it comes to planning their spending on business trips? Each year we tend to see the same phenomenon: the company plans to reduce the amount of travel undertaken by its employees in order to save money. And yet, they end up doing just the opposite. The figures from the American Express Business Travel Barometer prove it: in 2015, European companies' travel expenditure saw an increase of 1.4%, when a year earlier it had been forecast at +0.7: spending increased twice as much as predicted! And in 2016, companies foresee an increase of 1%, however, all the economic indicators point towards a chan...
NewcrestImage Names Executives For Dual-Brand Property, the AC Hotel by Marriott and the Residence Inn by Marriott, in Downtown Dallas
NewcrestImage | March 3, 2016
A unique project that is reviving one of downtown Dallas' last remaining vacant buildings -- conversion of the 21-floor Mercantile Commerce Building into two separate upscale brands -- is progressing toward an opening in March of 2017 with developer NewcrestImage naming two senior executives for the property. Kellie Adams, a 20-year hospitality veteran, becomes General Manager and Monica Weagel, with more than 12 years of hospitality experience, becomes Director of Sales. Ms. Adams has been recognized with numerous industry awards for outstanding performance in operations, sales, and customer service. The Mercantile Commerce Building, o...
Marriott and Starwood Clear Antitrust Review Paving Way for Proposed Acquisition
Marriott International | March 2, 2016
Bethesda, Maryland and Stamford, Connecticut, March 1, 2016 – Marriott International, Inc. (NASDAQ: MAR) and Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE: HOT) announced today that yesterday the waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976, as amended (the "HSR Act"), expired in connection with Marriott's proposed acquisition of Starwood through a business combination. The expiration of the waiting period means the parties have cleared the premerger antitrust review in the United States, satisfying one of the closing conditions of the pending combination transactions. In addition, the compan...
I Heard It Through The Greece Vine
Larry Mogelonsky | March 2, 2016
By Larry Mogelonsky, MBA, P. Eng. (www.lma.ca) Maybe it's cheesy to borrow from a Marvin Gaye song, but while the snow beats down against my window pane, all I can think of is sunny, hot days against calm, azure water. And if a nation like Greece happens to have a god of wine its pantheon (Dionysus), then you know the grapes are good. In fact, Greece's wine culture goes all the way back to its time as Mycenae (Greece before it was called even that) when our modern pedigree of grape vine was developed and perfected for growth in the dry summers, ample sunlight and mild winters of Southern Europe. While the country fails behind three big ...
Hard Rock International and Luneng Real Estate Group Launch Development of Hard Rock Hotel Dalian in China
Hard Rock International | March 1, 2016
ORLANDO, Fla., March 1, 2016 -- Hard Rock International – with 23 Hotels & 11 Casinos from Bali to Ibiza and San Diego to Singapore – expands its portfolio with the announcement of Hard Rock Hotel Dalian, in collaboration with China-based Luneng Real Estate Group. Located in China's northeastern Liaoning Province, the 200-room Hard Rock Hotel Dalian, a new-build, oceanfront resort will soon rise on Dalian's Golden Beach. With projects currently underway in Shenzhen and Haikou, Hard Rock Hotel Dalian will be the brand's third property in Mainland China upon completion in 2018. "With the Chinese travel ind...
El Mangroove in Costa Rica Joins Autograph Collection Hotels
Autograph Collection Hotels | March 1, 2016
March 1, 2016 - Miami, Florida - Autograph Collection Hotels, Marriott International's growing collection of strikingly independent hotels, is celebrating further expansion across the Caribbean and Latin America, and the brand's second hotel in Costa Rica, with the addition of El Mangroove. Exactly like nothing else, El Mangroove, located off the Gulf of Papagayo, is a sustainable boutique, lifestyle resort that boasts a modern design which incorporates Costa Rica's natural beauty through wood and water elements along with bamboo, stone and natural furnishings that merge all indoor and outdoor spaces. The hotel has 85 luxuri...
Expedia’s Accelerator Program – The Final Nail in the Coffin of Hotel Profitability
the Author and HeBS Digital | March 1, 2016
By Max Starkov Background Though Expedia's new Accelerator Program has not officially launched, it has been widely discussed by the company's top management during investor calls and TV interviews. It is also being promoted to hotels in a number of locations by Expedia's market managers. What exactly is the Accelerator program? Simply put, it is a "bid for position" commission program in which hoteliers are encouraged to provide Expedia with a higher commission in exchange for better visibility (read higher ranking) of the property listing in Expedia's search/availability results pages. The idea is that if a property is in a dire occupa...
Doral Arrowwood Resort Embarks on Multi-Million Renovation of Guest Rooms & Enhancements to Provide Next Generation Technology
Doral Arrowwood Resort | February 29, 2016
Rye Brook, New York, February 2016 … A $4 million renovations program will bring major technological advances, refurbished guestrooms and conference rooms, and enhanced, efficient guest services to the legendary Doral Arrowwood, the New York metro area's only resort. With expanded WiFi, enhanced operational software, new audiovisual equipment and the refurbishment of conference rooms and 200 guestrooms, Doral Arrowwood is meeting the demands of both the conference and leisure markets for greater connectivity, affordable luxury and a unique meeting experience. The changes are being spearheaded by Benchmark Hospitality Internationa...
Paramount Lodging Advisors Assists In Seventh Successful Indiana Transaction In Five Months
Paramount Lodging Advisors | February 29, 2016
Paramount Lodging Advisors (PLA) is pleased to announce the sale of the Holiday Inn Express Merrillville. PLA represented the seller, RLJ Lodging Trust, with Senior Managing Director Scott Griemsmann, and Managing Directors Bennett Webster and Brent Clemens leading the efforts on the transaction of the 62-room, limited service hotel. Clemens noted, "This deal marks PLA's seventh successful transaction in Indiana in the preceding five months, and maintains our team's continued success in the I-65 corridor from Chicago to Indianapolis." "We were pleased to assist RLJ in the disposition of one of their non-core assets and look forw...
Best Western Promotes Tammy Lucas to VP of Marketing and Bruce Wienberg to VP of Operations
Best Western Hotels & Resorts | February 29, 2016
Phoenix (February 29, 2016) – Best Western® Hotels & Resorts today announced the promotions of Tammy Lucas to vice president of marketing and Bruce Wienberg to vice president of operations. These promotions come at an exciting time in the brand's history – just months after unveiling a new look and new name for the iconic brand. Both Wienberg and Lucas will play key roles as Best Western continues to refresh the brand, ensuring today's Best Western is inviting, stylish and fresh, and surpasses the expectations of today's travelers. With a diverse collection of more than 4,100 properties in more than 100 countries, Be...
Google’s Move Away From Right-Rail Ads: The Hotel Marketer’s Action Plan
the Authors and HeBS Digital | February 29, 2016
By Asher Fusco and Carmine Fischetti Google rolled out a major change to its search engine results display in late February, phasing out text ads from the right side of its desktop search results. This substantial adjustment to the search engine's ad display approach will have far-reaching implications on search engine marketing, return-on-ad-spend (ROAS) and ultimately the hotel's bottom line. Hotel digital marketers can stay ahead of the curve and adjust to Google's latest change by monitoring search engine marketing (SEM) performance and cost-per-click (CPC), while also focusing on organic search, retargeting, and emerging paid searc...
Hilton Worldwide Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2015 Results with Net Income of $814 million Compared to $158 million in the Year Ago Quarter
Hilton Worldwide | February 26, 2016
MCLEAN, Va.--Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. ("Hilton," "Hilton Worldwide" or the "Company") (NYSE: HLT) today reported its fourth quarter and full year 2015 results. Highlights include: EPS for the fourth quarter, adjusted for special items, increased 29 percent from the prior year to $0.22 and increased 17 percent to $0.81 for the full year; without adjustments, EPS was $0.82 for the fourth quarter and $1.42 for the full year Net income attributable to Hilton stockholders was $814 million for the fourth quarter and $1,404 million for the full year Adjusted EBITDA for the fourth quarter increased 7 perc...
Hotel Equities Selected to Operate Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott in Colorado Springs, Colorado
Hotel Equities | February 25, 2016
Atlanta, GA–February 25, 2016 – Atlanta-based Hotel Equities (www.hotelequities.com) recently announced its selection as the management firm for the Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Catherine Ramirez serves as the General Manager. "Expanding our management portfolio into Colorado is of significant importance to our firm as we expand to the west," said Joe Reardon, Senior Vice President of Marketing and Business Development for Hotel Equities. "The Colorado Springs location appeals not only to Air Force Academy visitors and business travelers but to tourists and vacationers as well. O...
