Siegel Sez: Not Your Father’s Power Socket
September 3rd, 2021
The Most Important Hotel “Salesperson” Right Now Is Working Behind Your Front Desk
Doug Kennedy | July 22nd, 2020
Messaging and the Art of Simplicity
Alan Young | April 15, 2015
How Travel Technology Companies Can Create Effective Messages That Will Resonate with Your Prospects and the Press by Alan Young, President, Puzzle Partner Ltd. Companies frequently ask me how to refine or redefine their corporate messaging so that it will resonate with their audience and make their brand stand out. I have discovered that as companies grow or decide to position themselves for new markets, one of the paramount challenges they face is ensuring prospective clients understand what they have to offer and how it can benefit them. Hotel and travel technology companies have become encumbered by explanation. Is it a solution or ...
Hotel Development in Three Phases
Larry Mogelonsky | April 15, 2015
By Larry Mogelonsky, MBA, P. Eng. (www.lma.ca) Of late, our agency has been involved in several new property developments. All are coming along quite successfully and appear to be on track to meet their launch dates. To put it bluntly, the process of initiating a new property is not for the faint of heart. Far from it. It takes an excruciating toll from all those involved in the process. Many have asked me if there is a formula for success, to which I reply with a simple-yet-pervasive, three-part answer. 1. Vision It starts with a vision from the developer - what they hope to deliver to the marketplace. For a hotel/resort this includes ...
Big Agreement Equals Big Potential Threat
Georges Panayotis | April 9, 2015
by Georges Panayotis Each week brings a new survey by a travel or tourism expert that reveals the Top 10 most popular destinations, the most visited cities, the most stayed at hotels to the good consumer public, without really letting it be known just who decided this ranking. Generally realized based on the hits received by an online site that wants some free publicity, these famous "surveys" have nothing scientific nor very deontological about them. The Age of Internet, with its ability to connect millions of people very rapidly, generated new practices that only pervert market analysis under the guise of offering objective informatio...
Where Have The Real Hotel Marketers Gone?
Larry Mogelonsky | April 8, 2015
By Larry Mogelonsky, MBA, P. Eng. (www.lma.ca) In my role as hotel industry consultant, marketer and blogger, I am often asked to provide advice to hoteliers and suppliers. One such call came in a couple of weeks ago. The call's nature provides a keen insight into the current state of hospitality marketing. The call was from an advertising agency who was tasked with the requirement of building a traditional media plan for this hotel chain. The amount was in the multi-millions of dollars, not small change given the meager amounts spent these days. I was asked - pro bono I might add - to see if I could give any recommendations. My first q...
What Is The Most Important Question Your Reservations Sales Agents Should Ask?
Doug Kennedy | April 6, 2015
by Doug Kennedy If you're like most hoteliers these days chances are you are looking to reduce distribution costs by increasing direct bookings. If so, perhaps it's time to update your reservations sales processes. Based on my experience running a hotel reservations mystery shopping business, I can definitively say that these days the majority of front desk and reservations agents offer little more than what I call "website search support." In other words, they do nothing more than what the caller could have done themselves by visiting the website; find out the dates, the number in the party, click enter, and then read off a list of the...
Learning to Cope with Airbnb
Larry Mogelonsky | April 1, 2015
By Larry Mogelonsky, MBA, P. Eng. (www.lma.ca) Despite what many have dismissed as a mere blip on the radar, Airbnb is a force to be reckoned with and we have yet to see just how widely it will impact our livelihoods. But before we discuss this disruptive company and its effects on the hospitality industry, let's look to Uber and how it is changing the way we utilize vehicles for hire. Starting out as a niche taxi service provider reliant on smartphone geolocation technology, it's now far more than just a trendy accessory for millennials living in San Francisco or Brooklyn. Founded in 2009, it has already expanded into over 200 cities a...
Meet the Money® 2015 Conference: The Window of Opportunity is Open – Choosing the Right Deals
Meet the Money by JMBM | March 30, 2015
May 4-6, 2015 in Los Angeles March 30, 2015 - LOS ANGELES - Meet the Money® 2015 will mark the 25th year that hotel owners, operators, developers, consultants, investors, brands, lenders and other capital providers convene in Los Angeles to explore opportunities for hotel development and deals. "Industry fundamentals are strong, interest rates are low, debt and equity are flowing, and overseas investors are lining up to invest in hotels," said Jim Butler, Chairman of JMBM's Global Hospitality Group®. "The window of opportunity is wide open. The challenge now is to choose the right deals for you and your company." Meet the Money® 2015...
Nobody Asked Me, But… No. 139; Hotel History: The Equinox (1769)
Stanley Turkel, CMHS | March 30, 2015
My Latest Book: "Hotel Mavens: Lucius M. Boomer, George C. Boldt and Oscar of the Waldorf" By Stanley Turkel, CMHS 1. Hotel History: The Equinox, Manchester, Vermont* Known in various times as the Marsh Tavern, Thaddeus Munson's New Inn, Widow Black's Inn, Vanderlip's Hotel, The Taconic, The Orvis Hotel, and Equinox House, Equinox today stands as a symbol of the history and lifestyle of New England over the past two centuries. It was at the Marsh Tavern that the local Council of Safety held its first meetings and that Ethan Allen's younger brother, Ira Allen, proposed confiscating the property of Tories to raise money to equip a regime...
Putting the Cart Before the Horse…
Georges Panayotis | March 26, 2015
by Georges Panayotis France's tourism supply isn't making headway. Just a slight understatement... The small bound observed in the growth of the hotel supply last year came after five consecutive years of contraction. Here's hoping we've hit bottom, but there's no guarantee a kick will bring us back up for air very soon. While the exit of old properties, with poor standards and well below market expectations tends to be a good thing, it only compounds the lack of new offers. This is particularly true for new hybrid concepts that are more innovative and will fill the void that is forming and compete with established properties. It is im...
Five Uses for Tablets in a Mature Market
Larry Mogelonsky | March 25, 2015
By Larry Mogelonsky, MBA, P. Eng. (www.lma.ca) Tablets are soon to be classified as a 'mature' technology product, if they aren't already. What this means is that there are many competing devices in various sizes available for purchase - even those besides the industry leading iPad and its little nephew, the iPad Mini - and that many consumers have already or plan to make such an acquisition. Moreover, true mobile and smartphones already fulfill many of the tasks that the larger tablets are best suited for. Tablets aren't as light as mobile devices, making them a tad more cumbersome for transport, and on the other end, they aren't as ad...
JMBM Has Sourced More than $700 million of EB-5 Financing for New Development Projects
Jonathan Bloch | March 23, 2015
By Jim Butler and the Global Hospitality Group® 23 March 2015 Click here for the latest articles on EB-5 Financing. The buzz continues on EB-5 financing for development projects. EB-5 financing is an important and viable source of construction financing for hotels, hotel enhanced mixed-use, and other development projects. Five years ago, when JMBM started helping hotel developers with EB-5 financing, many worried about whether this is a legitimate and reliable financing source. Now, after billions of dollars of development have been funded with EB-5, this type of financing is regarded as mainstream, and is used by many institution...
Do You Always Get Your Money’s Worth?
Georges Panayotis | March 19, 2015
by Georges Panayotis Experts generally agree: the keys to facing the challenges of this 21st century are agility, reactivity, creativity. It is primordial to be able to continuously adapt to changing market conditions, to implement original propositions and play with a certain flexibility of prices in order to win and keep clients. This naturally happens through the modern tools the digital universe offers but also through adapting rates to circumstances while maintaining sufficient margins. And this is where things get trickier. The expenditures in a hotel's operating account keep rising. Add increases in distribution costs, in taxes &...
Group Sales Promotions in Ten Steps
Larry Mogelonsky | March 18, 2015
By Larry Mogelonsky, MBA, P. Eng. (www.lma.ca) Ten step formulas are in vogue when it comes to conveying a simple guideline for marketers to follow. Here is one designed for making better group sales promotions. 1. Set your objectives. We've all heard of SMAC principles (Specific, Measureable, Achievable, Comparable) as an approach to business management. Start by clearly stating objectives and defining them holistically. Take your time with this one because if you start off on the wrong path, changing course is all the harder to do. 2. Identify the competition. Do your research. Understand the properties that you compete with for group...
Nobody Asked Me, But… No. 138; Hotel History: Bedford Springs Resort & Spa (1806)
Stanley Turkel, CMHS | March 16, 2015
My New Book: "Hotel Mavens: Lucius M. Boomer, George C. Boldt and Oscar of the Waldorf" By Stanley Turkel, CMHS 1. Hotel History: Bedford Springs Resort & Spa, Bedford, Pennsylvania (216 rooms)* Few properties can boast the historic significance of Bedford Springs Resort, located in the Allegheny Mountains of south-central Pennsylvania. For more than 200 years, the eight mineral springs located on the resort's property served as an important gathering place. Eventually, the resort would be the site of many significant moments in American history, hosting a long list of celebrities, wealthy clientele, corporate magnates and dignitari...
The Hotel Narrative is Written by Guests
Larry Mogelonsky | March 11, 2015
By Larry Mogelonsky, MBA, P. Eng. (www.lma.ca) Hotels are all about delivering an experience; bestowing guests with an uplifting story to enrich their lives. At least that's the aspiration. Sadly, we fall short sometimes. Whenever we breach this topic, we often discuss a hotel in terms of the 'narrative' it offers to those who visit. But this narrative must change from the hotel's point-of-view to that of each individual guest. Although it's a step in the right direction to even contemplate what a property's narrative is, any efforts along these lines may prove to be a tad blindsided or self-centered if you are only considering what the...
How International Hospitality Enterprises Encourages More Direct Bookings
Doug Kennedy | March 10, 2015
By Doug Kennedy March 10, 2015 Like most hotel companies, International Hospitality Enterprises is looking to reduce the costs of customer acquisition by encouraging more direct bookings. IHE, which operates 7 upscale and luxury hotels in Puerto Rico under flags such as Marriott's Renaissance and Courtyard, Hilton's Doubletree, and Best Western as well as 3 independents, works hard to foster direct relationships with its guests. "We strongly value our OTA relationships and work closely with all of the major providers," says Peter Hopgood, Vice President of Sales & Marketing, "Yet we also do all we can to encourage our frontline coll...
Transforming the F&B Department in F&F
Larry Mogelonsky | March 4, 2015
By Larry Mogelonsky, MBA, P. Eng. (www.lma.ca) In the good old days of hospitality, food and beverage was part of the core. Management treated the department with the lofty respect it deserved, not only in differentiating the property, but also because of the profits it delivered. The iconic hotel dining room was an important meeting place in the community it served, often considered the best table in town. Times have changed. Food is clearly important, as witnessed by a myriad of great chefs and restaurant brands associated with and located within hotels. But the drink side of the equation has taken a heavy blow. Alcoholic beverages ar...
Those Who Deliver Know Better
Georges Panayotis | March 3, 2015
by Georges Panayotis After a period of portfolio cleanups, hotel groups are back in the battle with a new wave of hotel brands that symbolize a more segmented approach and a will to remain focused on the specific expectations of guests. The brand is returning full force as an element of differentiation and recognition in marketing, but is that enough? A hotel brand brings core values that should go far beyond any fine advertising campaign. It can only come to life and become legitimate if it succeeds in finding its legitimacy and creating the right combination between the product and the women and the men who make it live, and the clie...
Your Leaders Will Also Need Mentoring
Larry Mogelonsky | February 25, 2015
By Larry Mogelonsky, MBA, P. Eng. (www.lma.ca) According to a benchmark study in 2012, US companies alone spend almost $14 billion annually on leadership development with the cost of customized offerings from top business schools reaching upwards of $150,000 per person. No one can doubt that it's important. But molding the next generation of hospitality leaders (keeping this price tag in mind) is far easier said than done. There are lots of tricks to develop and coach leaders without spending excruciating amounts of money. You start by choosing only those individuals who possess the most essential capabilities for business success such ...
Nobody Asked Me, But… No. 137; Hotel History: Mohonk Mountain House (1869)
Stanley Turkel, CMHS | February 23, 2015
My New Book: "Hotel Mavens: Lucius M. Boomer, George C. Boldt and Oscar of the Waldorf" By Stanley Turkel, CMHS 1. Hotel History: Mohonk Mountain House, New Paltz, New York (267 rooms)* A spectacular natural setting in the heart of a 26,000-acre area in the Shawangunk Mountains makes the Mohonk Mountain House one of the most popular resorts in the United States. Alfred and Albert Smiley, devout Quaker twin brothers, created the resort in 1869 when they bought Mohonk Lake, a tavern and 300 acres of surrounding land from John F. Stokes. As the Smileys expanded the hotel, they operated in accordance with their Quaker beliefs: no alcohol, d...
A Checklist for Your USP
Larry Mogelonsky | February 18, 2015
By Larry Mogelonsky, MBA, P. Eng. (www.lma.ca) Central to building your property's awareness and sales generation, is its 'voice' or unique selling proposition (USP). Specific to the hospitality industry, a USP is defined as the single most identifiable benefit a property can give to consumers. In this day and age of endless distractions and screen bombardment, you have at best five to ten seconds, or one short phrase, to impress a prospective guest - not much time to communicate the full extent of your brand value. But this should be enough for you to get across one clear idea or selling point. From a marketer's point of view, an ironc...
Succession Planning for the Family-Owned Hospitality Business
JMBM | February 16, 2015
By Jim Butler and the Global Hospitality Group® Hotel Lawyers - Authors of www.HotelLawBlog.com 16 February 2015 Succession planning for the family-owned hospitality business: protecting your family and your business The hospitality industry has been kind to families over the centuries, providing a good living for many, and significant wealth for others. Whether your family owns a hotel management company or hotels - involved with one or two small properties or a large chain of hotels - the responsibilities of your family-owned business are as profound as the advantages. Ensuring that the business continues to operate and provide for t...
Understanding Your Hotel’s Glanceability
Larry Mogelonsky | February 11, 2015
By Larry Mogelonsky, MBA, P. Eng. (www.lma.ca) Is your hotel glanceable? I know that's a made up word, but that doesn't diminish its importance. What I mean by 'glanceability' as it relates to hospitality is how noticeable or different a property is with respect to the average guest's preconceived notions. When consumers research hotels online - whether for business or leisure - statistics indicate that typically browse twenty different sites. Glancing through so many properties, what makes yours pop? It's interesting to note how this harks back to the neuroscience concept of Pre-Attentive Processing, whereby most stimuli to reach our b...
The Hotel Industry Must Begin its Inner Journey
Georges Panayotis | February 10, 2015
by Georges Panayotis Today's fascination for artificial intelligence leads many to imagine a future where computers would make a major contribution to all the operations in all sectors of day-to-day life. After CAD and CAP, has the time has come for CAH - Computer Aided Hospitality? The development of Revenue management has encouraged modeling behavior, the creation of nearly magical algorithms to optimize revenues. Customer relations, meanwhile, has been entered into the equation of very sophisticated CRM software that is able to send reminders for birthdays, preferences for comforters and colors of bouquet, capable of tailoring offers...
