Spokane Tribe Resort & Casino Partners With Travel Outlook to Elevate Guest Service Experience
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Debunking Common Myths About AI: Why Human Hotel Staff Are Still Irreplaceable
John Smallwood, President of Travel Outlook | September 17, 2024
Operations
Mitchell Hospitality Selects Hotel Equities to Operate Dual-Branded Four Points by Sheraton and Residence Inn by Marriott in British Columbia
Hotel Equities | February 25, 2019
Atlanta, GA – February 25, 2019 – Today, Atlanta-based hotel owner, operator and developer, Hotel Equities (HE), announced they have been selected as the management firm for the 258-room Four Points by Sheraton and Residence Inn by Marriott dual-branded hotel. The hotel site is located at in Langley, BC. Construction on the hotel, owned by Mitchell Hospitality, Inc., is anticipated to begin mid 2019 with plans to open in 2021. Dual-branded properties, while relatively new to the Canadian market, are becoming more attractive to developers who are reaping the benefits of the concept. "We are proud to partner with the owners on...
Top 3 Technology Trends Casinos Should Watch for at 2019 Oi Summit
Raj Singh | February 21, 2019
By Raj Singh, CEO, Go Moment Across the country, casinos and resorts are being disrupted by innovative, connected, "always-on" technologies. This disruption has been led largely by guest demand. Guests have come to expect instant answers and service at their fingertips by way of their mobile phones. Recently, Google's Chief Evangelist of Brand Marketing, Gopi Kallayil, said that the pervasiveness of this kind of connectivity has created "rapid, cultural shifts and changed the way people expect things from their brands." This has created "more curious, demanding, and impatient consumers." In Las Vegas today, only 34% of casino revenue co...
The Top 5 Things You Need to Know Now in Hotel Digital Marketing: February Edition
HEBS | February 21, 2019
By Margaret Mastrogiacomo, EVP Strategy This month, the latest digital innovations include Facebook allowing Page owners to participate in Groups, new video advertising opportunities through Amazon, and asymmetrical layouts making a splash in website design. From SEO to design, discover the top five things you need to know now in hotel digital marketing. SEO: Google+ is officially shutting down and all web integrations should be removed. Google+ will officially shut down on April 2, 2019 and Google+ social sharing buttons will stop working. Google sent notifications to publishers that have Google+ buttons or any web integrations with G...
Now Available: The Q1 2019 Hotel Marketer’s Whitepaper
HEBS | February 21, 2019
Now available for viewing and download, the Q1 2019 Hotel Marketer's Whitepaper, covers current trends and industry insights hoteliers should be paying attention to in order to have a strong digital presence. The whitepaper takes a deep dive into strategies that will help to reach different audiences. Read the whitepaper to learn about: What's Trending: Stay in the loop with the must-know trends of the quarter including the new redesign of the Google Hotel local pack, Pinterest launching traveler personas to help advertisers reach their best audience, and advances in voice search with the Google Assistant. From the Design Studio: Get in...
Evaluating Housekeeping in Minutes per Room
Larry Mogelonsky | February 20, 2019
By Larry Mogelonsky, MBA, P. Eng. (www.hotelmogel.com) While you may know your operations so thoroughly that you can trust your intuition to prudently guide your next move, we have now found ourselves in the age of measurement and analytics, letting us fall back on the data to make sound inferences to hone each and every task. Just as you would evaluate your rooms in terms of RevPAR or your guests in terms of RevPAG, there's another metric for your housekeeping department that can help give a reliable snapshot of the current state and where improvements are needed. As many executive housekeepers and management companies that already use...
Dr. Bryan K. Williams Selected as Keynote Speaker for Les Clefs d’Or Canada Congress in Banff
Bryan K. Williams | February 20, 2019
Washington DC (February 20, 2019): Les Clefs d'Or Canada recently held its 12th National Congress in stunning Banff, Alberta. The Congress welcomed elite concierges and travel professionals from throughout Canada for a 4-day event to Engage, Educate and Elevate. The golden keys worn by Concierge signify their membership in our organization and are granted exclusively to those who have not only consistently demonstrated an unsurpassed knowledge of their respective communities, but by those who demand excellence of themselves when meeting the needs of their guests. Dr. Bryan K. Williams was the keynote speaker and challenged all attendees...
Radisson Hotel Group Enters Bursa With Signing of Turkey’s First Radisson Branded Hotel
February 19, 2019
Brussels/Bursa - February 19, 2019 - Radisson Hospitality AB, publicly listed on Nasdaq Stockholm, Sweden and part of the Radisson Hotel Group, is proud to announce the signing of the first Radisson branded hotel in Bursa, Turkey. The agreement with the Turkey-based real estate and construction company IHY Gayrimenkul İnşaat Sanayi ve Ticaret A.Ş. increases the Radisson Hotel Group's portfolio in Turkey to 25 hotels and more than 4,600 rooms in operation and under development. The hotel is scheduled to open its doors in Q4 2020. Elie Younes, Executive Vice President & Chief Development Officer, Radisson Hotel Group, said: "We're ...
MJH Bringing New Look, New Technology to Fairfield Inn by Marriott Charlotte Northlake
Meyer Jabara Hotels | February 19, 2019
Meyer Jabara Hotels refreshes this North Carolina property's exterior and invests in new technologies including Marriott's Guest Room Entertainment solution, high-speed guest Internet, virtual concierge, PBX, guestroom phones and mobile-key enabled RFID door locks [Danbury, Conn., Feb. 19, 2019] — Today the Fairfield Inn by Marriott is competing head-on with hotels in the Charlotte/Northlake area now that its owner, Meyer Jabara Hotels (MJH), has refreshed the property's exterior and installed new technologies. Reaction to the renovation has been exceedingly positive, with guests and local patrons praising the hotel's new look fea...
New 193-Room Radisson Blu Opens in Vadistanbul, Turkey Led by General Manager Atakan Altug
February 18, 2019
Brussels/Istanbul - February 18, 2019 - Radisson Hospitality AB, publicly listed on Nasdaq Stockholm, Sweden and part of Radisson Hotel Group, is proud to announce the opening of the Radisson Blu Hotel, Vadistanbul in the heart of Istanbul. The hotel offers the perfect combination of business and leisure facilities, and is located in one of Istanbul'smost prestigious emerging residential and commercial areas. Michel Stalport, Area Senior Vice President Eastern Europe, Russia and Turkey, said: "With this stunning property, we further strengthen our position as the leading international hotel group in Turkey. We're immensely proud to add ...
Compensation for US CEOs in Lodging: Fair Pay Is a Real Issue
Keith Kefgen | February 18, 2019
(February 18, 2019) - AETHOS New York Managing Director Keith Kefgen, in his annual review of CEO compensation for a variety of hospitality disciplines, shares candid insights as a result of his latest look at CEOs of U.S. lodging companies: "What we have found over the twenty years of studying CEO pay, is that the many public boards did a poor job at linking CEO pay to company performance," observes Kefgen. "In fact, that was the goal of creating our pay-for-performance model." The AETHOS Pay-for-Performance Model analyzes key financial metrics such as market capitalization, stock appreciation, EBITDA growth, and to...
Free Service Excellence Training at the Baltimore Convention Center, Led by Dr. Bryan Williams
BWTV | February 18, 2019
Washington DC (February 18, 2019): Delivering world class service is what separates a good experience from a world-class, memorable experience. Visit Baltimore and its partners the Baltimore Convention Center and Centerplate invite the Baltimore business community to join us for a Day of Customer Service Training. Dr. Bryan K. Williams, a service excellence and leadership effectiveness expert will lead these sessions (Watch Bryan's Video). The goal is to assist organizations in various industries to elevate their service experience to world-class levels for both internal (team) and external customers. Bryan noted, "I'm looking forwa...
Best Western Hotels & Resorts Launches Vib Brand in Asia With Opening of Vib Best Western Sanam Pao in Bangkok
February 15, 2019
Phoenix, Arizona (February 15, 2019) Best Western Hotels & Resorts today announced the opening of its inaugural Vīb Best WesternSM hotel in Asia Pacific, the brand new Vīb Best Western Sanam Pao in Bangkok. A cutting-edge, tech-savvy midscale hotel for the modern generation, Vīb Best Western Sanam Pao perfectly captures the brand concept with its central location and modern design. Connectivity is at the core of Best Western's Vīb brand (pronounced "vibe"), which allows guests to feel the beat of the city and stay connected at all times. Sleek and stylish, this innovative concept focuses on integrated technology and social inter...
Midas Hospitality Opens 119-Room Residence Inn Charlotte Steel Creek in North Carolina
Midas Hospitality | February 14, 2019
St. Louis, Mo., Feb. 14, 2019 - Midas Hospitality – a leading hotel development, management and investment firm – recently opened its third Marriott property in Charlotte, NC. Located at 5110 Trojan Dr., the 119-room Residence Inn by Marriott is a four-story, 82,000-square-foot hotel. The Residence Inn Charlotte Steele Creek has studio, one-bedroom and two-bedroom suites. The hotel features an outdoor swimming pool, patio with barbecue grill, fitness center, meeting room, and business library. Located in the Steele Creek Business Park next to the Charlotte Premium Outlets, the hotel is conveniently located seven miles from C...
3 Distinctive Hotel Openings Highlight the Growth of The Olympia Companies
The Olympia Companies | February 14, 2019
February 14, 2019. Portland, ME. The Olympia Companies has just come off a year of remarkable growth and development with the completion of three extraordinary new hotels: SOPHY Hyde Park in Chicago, IL; The Glen House in New Hampshire's White Mountains; and Hyatt Place & Hyatt House Quad Cities in East Moline, IL. Olympia, a leader in high-profile real estate development, equity investment and hospitality management projects, took an individualized approach to each of these three very different hotel projects, situated in radically different locations: a revived historic neighborhood in America's 3rd largest city; a riverfront Midw...
MacArthur Place to Streamline and Standardize Operations With Knowcross
Knowcross | February 14, 2019
Washington D.C., February 14 2019 - KNOWCROSS, the preferred service quality management platform of the finest hotels across the globe, has been chosen by MacArthur Place Hotel & Spa, Sonoma Valley, to help increase back-of-the-house efficiencies and enhance service delivery quality. The property is the latest to join Knowcross' increasing clientele in the US. MacArthur Place has decided utilize the advanced technology and innovation of the Knowcross platform to empower their teams to boost operational excellence and raise the level and quality of service delivered to their esteemed guests. "With the debut of our reimagined MacArthu...
The Mobile-First World Creates Tremendous Revenue Potential for Hoteliers
HEBS Digital | February 14, 2019
By Max Starkov Hoteliers face a challenge in 2019: Creating and managing a robust digital presence in an increasingly mobile-first environment. This means investing in mobile technology and marketing that enables the best user experience while achieving maximum engagement, regardless of device. The explosion of mobile customer engagements creates a tremendous upside opportunity for smart hoteliers who invest in and take advantage of this rising tide of mobile-obsessed travel consumers. The shift from desktop to mobile and tablet devices continued its steady pace in 2018. More than 58% of web visitors and more than 51% of page views wer...
Radisson Hotel Group Signs Master Development Agreement With SunnySeeker Hotels in Cyprus
Radisson Hotel Group | February 13, 2019
Brussels/Cyprus, 13 February 2019 - Radisson Hotel Group, one of the largest and most dynamic hotel groups in the world, is delighted to announce the signing of a Master Development Agreement with SunnySeeker Hotels in the Republic of Cyprus. Building on an already-successful partnership, the new deal will see the group grow its existing portfolio in the country to six hotels and almost 1,000 rooms by 2025. SunnySeeker Hotels has been a partner for Radisson Hotel Group in Cyprus since 2015. This new agreement is a valuable opportunity for both companies to capitalize on each other's industry expertise, market position and global presenc...
The Hidden Benefits of Tasting Events
Larry Mogelonsky | February 13, 2019
By Larry Mogelonsky, MBA, P. Eng. (www.hotelmogel.com) Finding myself away at a mountain resort for a food and wine festival last year, it was the perfect opportunity to not only participate in a wine tasting conducted by a vintner from a prominent Oregon winery as well as reflect upon the staying power of these types of events. For the two dozen participants, it was a chance to get close and personal with the wine. Here, we were guided through the nuances of several wines of the same grape variety, allowing us to understand the nuances created by the vintage and cellaring processes as well as furthering our knowledge and appreciation o...
PolyU Study Advises Hotels to Look Ahead Accurately Basing on Publicly Available Data
February 12, 2019
Given that tourism is a global industry consuming a diversity of goods and services, the prediction of future trends needs to take account of the wider economic context, according to Professor Brian King and Dr Stephen Pratt of the School of Hotel and Tourism Management (SHTM) at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University and a co-author. In a recently published study, the researchers use publicly available data to improve predictions about hotel occupancy rates in different classes of Hong Kong hotels. Their method can be adopted by individual hotels that have insufficient resources to collect expensive data, or for employing consultants, to...
Snow King Resort Hotel in Jackson, Wyoming, Purchased by KDG Capital
KDG Capital | February 12, 2019
BENCHMARK® will continue to operate popular destination resort. The Woodlands (Houston), Texas, February 2019 … KDG Capital, a Florida-based real estate private equity firm, has purchased the Snow King Resort Hotel in Jackson, Wyoming. BENCHMARK®, a global hospitality company, will continue to operate and market the 230-room property, located at the foot of Snow King Mountain in the Grand Teton mountains, just minutes from the center of Jackson Hole, Wyoming. KDG plans to invest $5 million in capital improvements to the property. Snow King Resort Hotel is part of Benchmark's signature Benchmark Resorts & Hotels brand....
Radisson Hotel Group Partners With Zaghloul Holdings for Six-Hotel Portfolio in Egypt
Radisson Hotel Group | February 12, 2019
Brussels/Cairo - February 12, 2019 -- Radisson Hotel Group is proud to announce the signing of six new hotels in Egypt as part of a portfolio deal across a number of its brands. The agreement was signed with existing business partner Zaghloul Holdings, a Cairo-based business conglomerateoperating in real estate, contracting, tourism, commercial retail, entertainment and sports investment industries. The six hotels: Radisson Collection Hotel Cairo Heliopolis, Radisson Blu Serviced Apartments Cairo Heliopolis, Radisson Blu Hotel Cairo Golf City, Radisson Hotel New Cairo, Radisson Hotel & Resort Ain Sokhna and Radisson Blu Hotel & ...
Shiji Helps Marriott International to Complete Successful System Switch in China
Shiji | February 12, 2019
Working with Shiji Group Professional Services teams, Marriott International successfully completed a full system migration of 167 former Starwood hotels in China in late December 2018. The project was managed by Marriott in conjunction with Shiji teams using efficient project management methods and exclusive tools built to ensure the process happens smoothly. The migration of 167 hotels across China realized successful Opera system switch and connection with Central Reservation System to Marriott International Group standards. The migration was completed from start to finish in three months and was started in September 2018. It is part...
5 Easy Ways to Reduce Turnover at the Front Desk
Cathy Cook | February 11, 2019
By Cathy Cook With one of my main roles at KTN being to conduct front desk hospitality training worldwide, one issue that always seems to surface is turnover at the front desk. Turnover everywhere in the hotel staff is a major challenge in tight labor markets most hotels operate within, however it seems to especially be an issue at the front desk. Certainly, working at the front desk can be a stressful job as we are dealing with guests who are arriving after a long day of travel disruptions and frustrations and therefore prone to over-reaction to even the smallest challenges. Also, regardless of where any gap in service occurs during a ...
Dr. Bryan K. Williams to Receive the ISPA Dedicated Contributor Award
Bryan K. Williams | February 11, 2019
Monday, 11 February 2019 - The International SPA Association (ISPA) is pleased to announce Dr. Bryan Williams as the recipient of the 2019 ISPA Dedicated Contributor Award. As an international speaker and author, Williams first spoke to ISPA members in 2006 and continues to inspire with his focus on service excellence and leadership effectiveness. "Bryan's passion to inspire leaders and elevate the importance of providing unparalleled customer service has left a lasting impression on the International SPA Association," said ISPA President Lynne McNees. "We are grateful for his continued support and dedication to the ISPA community." Wil...
