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Three Tips to Create a Memorable Experience For Your Guests
Bryan K. Williams | August 22, 2016
by Bryan K. Williams Could it be? Is it even possible? What are the chances that every touchpoint is memorable? Each team member is engaged. All leaders act as though they are not just managers, but rather CEOs of their respective departments. Vince Lombardi famously said…. "We will chase perfection, and we will chase it relentlessly, knowing all the while we can never attain it. But along the way, we shall catch excellence." The real leaders live and breathe that philosophy. Good is never good enough. Only excellence will do. It usually only takes a few minutes, but I can always tell when I've encountered a culture of ...
Nobody Asked Me, But…No. 165: Hotel History: Hotel duPont, Wilmington, Delaware*
Stanley Turkel, CMHS | August 15, 2016
By Stanley Turkel, CMHS At its opening in 1913, the Hotel duPont was designed to rival the finest hotels in Europe. The new hotel contained 150 guest rooms, a main dining room, rathskeller, men's café/bar, ballroom, club room, ladies' sitting room and more. During the first week alone, after its gala opening, 25,000 visitors toured the new hotel, where no expense was spared. In the ornate public spaces, nearly two dozen French and Italian craftsmen carved, gilded and painted for over two and a half years. Suites with large sitting rooms all featured cozy fireplaces. Polished brass beds were made up with imported linen, wh...
Hotel Website Design and Usability: Top 10 Mistakes
Vikram Singh | August 9, 2016
By Vikram Singh Hotel website design, like any kind of design, is subjective. Nothing is more painful than a website design "discussion" where stakeholders talk for hours about colors, content and photos. For every extra person added to these meetings, more useless things get added and useful things get taken out. By the end of it, you have a website that is not usable for potential guests, which hurts your conversion rate and, more important, your revenue. So in this post, let's worry less about design and more about usability. To that end, here is a list of mistakes that can hurt your hotel website revenue, no matter how much you love...
Four Key China-Related Trends Shaping Asia Pacific Hotel Industry
JLL | August 8, 2016
Mainland Chinese investors exported over $5 billion into the hotel real estate sector across the globe in 2015, and the country accounted for nearly half of all cross-border investment out of the Asia region. As Chinese investors brought a new perspective to deal selection, what are the trends that will shape the sector in Asia Pacific going forward? Experts including Tony Ryan, Managing Director, Global Mergers & Acquisitions for JLL Hotels & Hospitality and Yuval Tal, a partner in law firm Proskauer, identify four major trends that are likely to influence the industry in the coming years. China as a safe-haven hotel investment...
Mixing Business With Leisure: China Fuels Australia’s Tourism Boom
JLL Real Views | August 8, 2016
A new generation of affluent Chinese are not only flocking to Australia for holidays – some are building a vested interest in the country's tourism boom by buying up some of its well known hotels. Chinese money accounted for a third (by volume) of Australian hotel transactions last year with investors picking up some big names such as Hilton Sydney for AU$442 million, and in 2014, Sydney's Sheraton on the Park for AU$463 million. "Chinese investors have picked up some of the cream of Australia's hotel crop in the past few years," says Peter Harper, Senior Vice President for Investment Sales, JLL Hotels & Hospitality. Besides s...
The Misconceptions of Millennials and Meetings
Robert Rauch | August 2, 2016
By Robert A. Rauch, CHA Originally posted on PrevueMeetings.com There are a number of misconceptions floating around the hotel industry about our largest growing demographic, the Millennials. This stems from an overgeneralization of the key trends that they have brought to the forefront of our industry. The Millennials, generally categorized as those born between 1980 – 1995, are a maturing group that prizes the use of technology for efficiency and ease of doing business. This is why it comes to the surprise of many that they actually prefer face-to-face meetings and events just as much if not more than previous generations. Often...
RAR Hospitality’s Founder Robert Rauch Promoted to CEO and Marc Potash to COO and President
RAR Hospitality | August 2, 2016
San Diego – August 2, 2016 - RAR Hospitality, a Southern California based hotel management and consulting company founded by "Hotel Guru" and hotelier, Robert Rauch in 1990, has kept a track record of continuous growth and reached a milestone, growing from 400 employees in January 2016 to 700 year-to-date, a 75 percent increase in employment. RAR Hospitality has a total of 20 hotels under management contracts with six hotels added to the company's hotel management collection in the first half of 2016 including Holiday Inn Carlsbad, Hampton Inn Carlsbad-North San Diego County and Best Western Plus San Pedro Hotel & Suites. RAR'...
Tourism Tidbits: Mass Versus Boutique Tourism: The Advantages and Disadvantages of Both
Dr. Peter Tarlow | August 1, 2016
by Dr. Peter Tarlow A major debate and buzz word within the tourism industry is what is often called "sustainable tourism". In reality there is no one definition of what the word means an even less people are sure of how to apply the term. The word has become so over used that often it has become meaningless. Often, but nor always, the debate around sustainable tourism revolves around the concept of "mass tourism", another word without a precise definition. The literature is filled with questions such as: 1) How many tourists are too many? 2) Are there tourism cohorts that threaten the tourism environment? 3) If too many (or too few) to...
Why the Tech-Enabled Workplace Tops the Corporate Wish List
JLL Real Views | July 29, 2016
By William Polk While some recent office construction plans have focused entirely on open-plan layouts and stand-up desks, one particular feature of the modern workplace has shot up the priority list of many companies – interactive technology. Ten years ago, technology costs represented about seven percent of a company's interior construction budget. Now, they can consume 25 percent or more of a total build-out cost. Companies are much more focused on digitization and connectivity, with common examples including more sophisticated conference rooms featuring interactive audio/visual technology and smart TVs, as well as cloud-based ...
A Fresh Start for U.S. Hotel Brands in Cuba?
JLL Real Views | July 28, 2016
Behind the colonial facades of Havana's historic hotels, times are changing as Cuba and the United States start to rebuild their fractured relationship. The recent opening of the Four Points Havana marks a significant milestone in the easing of economic restrictions between the two countries. Managed by Starwood Hotels & Resorts, it is the first American-operated hotel in Cuba since the 1959 revolution effectively ceased diplomatic relations between the two countries. It's far from being the last – Starwood will assume management of a second hotel, the Gran Caribe Inglaterra, at the end of August, and Marriott International ha...
How Islamic Finance is Shaping Europe’s Property Markets
JLL Real Views | July 27, 2016
As Middle Eastern money continues to make its way into global property markets the number of investors seeking specialist, Sharia-compliant advice and financing is on the up, especially in the UK and, increasingly, in Germany. While many wealthy Muslim investors own expansive property portfolios in the UK capital, for example Qatari investors now own £1 billion worth of luxury property in London's exclusive Mayfair district, others are snapping up stakes in new developments and regeneration projects. The Shard, Battersea Power Station and Chelsea Barracks – three iconic construction projects – were all three built usi...
Asia Pacific First-Half Hotel Transaction Volume Rises 13.2 Percent
JLL | July 26, 2016
Japan seen dominating investment volume for the rest of the year SINGAPORE, 26 July 2016 - Asia Pacific hotel investment volumes in the first half of this year climbed 13.2 percent to US$3.8 billion compared to the same period last year as yields recovered to pre-global financial crisis levels, according to a report by real estate consultancy JLL. During the first six months of this year, a total of 14,025 keys traded across the Asia Pacific region, higher than the 10,976 keys achieved over the same period a year ago, according to JLL's Hotel Investment Highlights report. Japan lent considerable weight to the rankings, representing five...
Why Timing is Everything for Convention Center Hotels
JLL Real Views | July 21, 2016
By Maggie Nichols Visit any major convention center in the U.S. and chances are there's a sizeable hotel development either on site or just around the corner. These convention center headquarters (HQ) hotels have sprung up over the last two decades in major cities including Los Angeles, Washington D.C., Chicago, Boston, Austin and Nashville, to name a few. They're continuing to grow in number – Cleveland opened a new HQ hotel in June, Houston will open its second one with 1,000 rooms in the fall, and Chicago will open its second HQ hotel in 2017. Furthermore, there are large HQ hotels in the planning stage in Kansas City, Miami Be...
A Special Edition of Tourism Tidbits – July: Tourism’s Trying Half-Month
Dr. Peter Tarlow | July 18, 2016
By Dr. Peter Tarlow The month of July has not been an easy month in the world, and especially in the world of tourism. Until recently, tourism oriented nations experienced one or another form of crisis on a tri or bi-monthly or monthly basis. During the last few weeks, the crisis du mois seems to have become the crisis de la semaine (the crisis of the week). During the last few weeks, the Middle East, especially Iraq and Saudi Arabia, and the Asian sub-continent have witnessed an upsurge of violence. Attacks have not only been against tourist hotels but also against restaurants, in such diverse places as Dacca, Bangladesh and Bagdad Ira...
Six Ways Cities Are Changing How They’re Perceived
JLL Real Views | July 15, 2016
By Natalie Holmes Cities are becoming increasingly innovative in their quest to attract visitors and residents, and to stimulate the local economy—giving rise to a number of initiatives that aim to draw the eyes of the world. "Competition among cities is greater than ever thanks to increased global mobility and connectivity," says Jeremy Kelly, Director of Global Research at JLL. "City leaders are being forced to pay more attention to building stronger city identities, whether by improving branding or adding new functions in order to compete globally. For example, many cities are establishing themselves as convention hubs or devel...
Luxury Hotels Heading Underwater to Deliver the Wow Factor
JLL Real Views | July 14, 2016
By Neasa MacErlean Luxury hotels with underwater features are offering unusual experiences for their affluent guests who want to dine below the waves and sleep nearly nose-to-fin with the local sea life. The world's largest underwater restaurant opens at the 5-star Hurawalhi Resort Maldives in August – in a setting worthy of James Bond on the Lhaviyani Attol in the Maldives. The 5.8 Undersea Restaurant will offer guests 360 degree views of sea life as well as its luxury menu and wine cellar. But the food and wine will probably seem like small bait in comparison with the dancing manta rays, butterflyfish and brightly colored damsel...
Serviced Apartments: The Rising Star of the Hospitality Sector?
JLL | July 12, 2016
According to research from JLL, serviced apartments are soon set to become an established asset class as demand for the sector grows due to the rise of the 'bleisure' market. Since 2008 investment volumes in the UK have grown from £7.3 million to £325 million in 2015. JLL predicts that transaction volumes will grow as a result of the attractive yields compared to other asset classes. Over the next three years there are around 3,500 serviced apartments planned in the active pipeline, three times more than 3-star hotels. While London is seeing the majority of this (around 40%) regional hubs such as Manchester and Edinb...
Robots: Coming Soon to a Hotel Near You?
JLL Real Views | July 12, 2016
by Natalie Holmes From hotel lobbies to restaurant floors, robots have started servicing customers' basic requests. In March, Spencer began escorting lost travelers to their gates at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport. That same month, robot hosts welcomed visitors to big trade shows like ITB in Berlin while the Hilton McLean Virginia in Washington, D.C, welcomed Connie the robotic concierge. Then there's the robotic receptionist at Belgium's Ghent Marriott. Not only can Mario speak 19 languages, he does so while dancing to Michael Jackson. While these may have a certain novelty factor for now, it's behind the scenes where artificial intell...
Third-Party Management Companies Move to Embrace New Technology
Concord Hospitality | July 8, 2016
Technology is a non-negotiable in the lodging industry. The exciting news is that hotels are able to use technology to provide value-added services and conveniences that personalize the guest experience in more ways than ever. The challenge is that technology is advancing at a pace that makes it nearly impossible to keep up. This is one of the areas in which a third-party management company can be especially valuable. Hotel brands typically dictate basic requirements like core property management systems, but third-party management companies have the flexibility to innovate beyond these systems and exceed basic requirements. Here are a ...
The Lodging Landscape: 2016 Midpoint by Robert A. Rauch, CHA
Robert Rauch | July 6, 2016
The first half of 2016 included a bit of a negative impact from China's economy, some terrorism events and a softer than predicted first half in terms of financial performance. Here is a primer on where we are in this noble institution of hospitality as of the 2016 midpoint. The Cycle and Baseball Analogy The typical analogy of what inning we are in is fairly easy. We are in the 8th inning and the real question is, what happens when the game ends and the cycle is over? Nothing. We are headed toward a soft landing in 2017 and that is not bad news. Gross Domestic Product growth of 1-2 percent will likely lead to slowing RevPAR growth for ...
Nobody Asked Me, But… No. 163: Hotel History: The Otesaga Hotel, Cooperstown, New York*
Stanley Turkel, CMHS | July 5, 2016
By Stanley Turkel, CMHS 1.Hotel History: The Otesaga Hotel (1909), Cooperstown, New York (132 rooms) This magnificent Federal-style structure with an imposing front portico supported by massive 30-foot columns occupies 700 feet of lakefront on the southern shore of Lake Otsego. The Otesaga Resort Hotel was named for the Iroquois word for "A Place of Meetings" when it was built in 1909. It is one of Americas great lakeside hotels. The Otesaga Hotel was developed by Edward Severin Clark and Stephan Carlton Clark, two grandsons of Cooperstown's prominent benefactor, Edward Clark. The family's other building projects inclu...
Tourism Tidbits: Tourism, Transportation, and Security, Part 2 of a Two Part Series
Dr. Peter Tarlow | July 1, 2016
by Dr. Peter Tarlow As noted in the June edition of Tourism Tidbits there is a symbiotic relationship between tourism and transportation. Tourism, as we know it, cannot survive without a good and safe transportation system. Although the inverse is not absolutely true, much of the transportation industry depends on tourism. Although, some forms of transportation would appear to be independent of tourism, for example the trucking industry, tourism is such a major economic factor that without it even the trucking industry would have fewer goods to deliver and thus suffer. Thus, although there is not a perfect symbiotic relationship between...
Data Center Outages: Why Humans Can be a Building’s Biggest Hazard
JLL Real Views | June 29, 2016
Somewhere in the world, someone spills a cup of coffee in a data center. In millions of homes and businesses across the United States, televisions go dark just as Jordan Spieth aims his final putt in the U.S. Open golf tournament. Possible? Absolutely. To err may be human, so preventing costly business interruptions should include the human factor as well. Even a simple spilled beverage can create a major problem, as happened in a 2015 incident that that knocked out 300,000 Bloomberg data terminals. In fact, an estimated 22 percent of data center outages in 2015 were attributed to human error—not including cyber-crime. The price i...
Infor Enhances Hotel Management in the Cloud
Infor | June 20, 2016
Infor HMS with Advanced Mobility Helps Speed Daily Operations and Improve Guest Experience for Hotels and Casinos NEW YORK - Jun 20, 2016 - Infor, a leading provider of beautiful business applications specialized by industry and built for the cloud, today announced the availability of Infor Hospitality Management Solution (HMS) version 3.7.4 to help hospitality customers promote a superior guest experience with enhanced industry-specific features. In today's competitive market, utilizing an integrated suite of industry-tailored applications such as Infor HMS can be a critical function to help drive brand loyalty and facilitate measu...
