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Super Metrics for Hotel Marketing & Online Revenue Optimization
Vikram Singh | June 15, 2016
by Vikram Singh Analytics metrics have evolved over the past few years. In my last article, I discussed the dinosaur metrics that have fallen in value since the last mass extinction event. Since online marketing and digital advertising are rapidly changing, looking at outdated metrics can allow you to be completely blindsided in regards to your online revenue and profitability. In this article, I cover the five super metrics that now dominate the analytics and marketing world. These metrics have been around forever but are more relevant today than ever. These metrics have always been are near and dear to my heart – this is not jus...
The Orlando Terrorism Attack: A Special Edition of Tourism Tidbits
Dr. Peter Tarlow | June 14, 2016
by Dr. Peter Tarlow The June 12th attack at the popular Orlando Nightclub "Pulse" has once again brought terrorism to the tourism industry. The recent attack is not the first terrorist attack on nightclubs. For example, as far back as 1998 the world witnessed the terrorist bombing of Cape Town's "Planet Hollywood". That incident ought to have served as a wake-up call for the tourism industry. In 1998, however, it was still rare to attack tourism centers. Such attacks were still a rarity. Over the years, unfortunately, terrorism has both changed and evolved. What was once a rarity has become all too common and today we real...
Nobody Asked Me, But… No. 162: Hotel History: Hotel Monteleone*
Stanley Turkel, CMHS | June 13, 2016
By Stanley Turkel, CMHS 1. Hotel Monteleone (1886), New Orleans, Louisiana (570 rooms) The oldest hotel in the French Quarter is the Hotel Monteleone, with its ornate baroque facade, which was built in 1886 in the Beaux-Arts architectural style. It remains one of the few longstanding family-owned hotels in the U.S. Antonio Monteleone arrived in New Orleans from Sicily in 1880 and set up his cobbler's shop on Royal Street. In 1886, he bought a small hotel on the corner of Royal and Iberville Streets and merged it with the Commercial Hotel. Since then, the Hotel Monteleone has expanded five times. In 1908, when 300 new rooms were adde...
Food to Go: New Delivery Services Reshape the Restaurant Industry
JLL Real Views | June 10, 2016
by Natalie Holmes Gone are the days when take-out options were limited to greasy fast food. Today, hungry city-dwellers can enjoy meals by top chefs in the comfort of their own home, or hotel room, thanks to a swathe of third party delivery services that are revolutionizing the restaurant industry. Over the past few years, a growing number of delivery start-ups have made waves in the market by providing an online platform for ordering food and taking care of the real-world logistics. London start-up Deliveroo made its debut in 2013 and after several rounds of investment, has expanded to major cities worldwide. Competitors such as Doorda...
Fact or Science Fiction? The Office of 2021 Tells All: Facility Managers Will Need to Think Like a Concierge
JLL Real Views | June 8, 2016
Picture yourself at the office in 2021, five short years from now. An app on your smartphone reserves your favorite cubbyhole—you don't have a fixed desk. You settle in, using a different app to set the lighting and temperature to your liking, and play your favorite background music. A colleague comes by with a question, so you wirelessly connect your laptop to a nearby whiteboard to share a presentation. Far-fetched? Not for some corporations. Offices are evolving faster than at any time in history, and becoming more accommodating of individual choice. Five years from now, the office could be nearly unrecognizable—particul...
Contact Centers Say Farewell to the Cubicle Farm
JLL Real Views | June 7, 2016
'Call centers' are dead; long-live the multi-channel 'contact center'. Today, customer service is just as likely to happen via email, online chat or social media as it is to happen over the phone. In today's digital world, providing multiple communication channels has become a necessity for many customer service organizations. Voice traffic in contact centers is steadily dropping, while digital (non-voice) traffic is mushrooming, driven by the habits of young adults. Over three quarters of customers between the ages of 18 to 24 now use smartphones to contact customer support, and just under half use live online chat. For contact center ...
Tourism Tidbits: Tourism, Transportation, and Security, Part 1 of a Two Part Series
Dr. Peter Tarlow | June 6, 2016
by Dr. Peter Tarlow The connection between tourism and transportation is so close that often people use "travel" as a synonym for tourism. In fact, in many languages, tourism is another way to express travel. Even in English it is hard to miss the connection between the words "tour" and "tourism". Transportation methods allow us to travel. Unfortunately, in an age in which elegance has given way to a form of pedestrian practicality, and terrorism is psychologically connected to transportation systems, the tourism industry cannot avoid transportation issues. With the exception of hiking, transportation companies are linked to tourism in ...
A Slow Start, But Will It Continue?
Robert Rauch | June 2, 2016
By Robert Rauch Midyear Forecast Update At Woodstock, Neil Young got up to the microphone and said, "this song starts out slow and fizzles out altogether." Well, this year started out slow but it will not fizzle out. Contrary to those pundits who feel the party is over, 2016 will continue the trend line of 2015 albeit with a somewhat muted feel and as mentioned, a slow start. This summer will jump with average rate growth due to unprecedented leisure demand stimulated by low gasoline prices and that American mindset: "It is my birthright to travel and visit my friends and family!" Because the headwinds we expect in 2017 will not have fu...
Nobody Asked Me, But…No. 161: Hotel History: The Island House Hotel (1852), Mackinac Island, Michigan (92 rooms)*
Stanley Turkel, CMHS | May 24, 2016
My New Book "Great American Hoteliers Volume 2: Pioneers of the Hotel Industry" Is Available Now By Stanley Turkel, CMHS 1. The Island House Hotel (1852), Mackinac Island, Michigan From its beginning over 150 years ago as a waterfront beach house to the family-restored hotel it is today, the Island House has opened its doors to over a million tourists from around the world. With its handsome Victorian structure and family-owned intimacy, Mackinac Island's oldest hotel is a tradition not be missed. Originally constructed for Charles O'Malley in 1852 as beachfront resort, the Island House was one of the first summer hotels on Mac...
Australia’s Hotels Reach for the Stars
JLL Real Views | May 23, 2016
by JLL Staff Reporter As Australia readies itself for a new lease of life in its ultra-luxurious hotel sector, the industry is debating whether it needs a new rating system to cater for this new era of development. Over 60 hotels from established luxury brands are planned across the country in the coming years. "The developers of these hotels believe that the time has come to define a new category of luxury and they are pushing for a six-star rating to differentiate themselves," says Julian Whiston, Executive Vice President – Strategic Advisory, JLL Hotels & Hospitality Group. "The current debate centers on whether a new rati...
JLL: London’s Economy Hotel Segment Sees Significant Growth
JLL's Hotels & Hospitality Group | May 18, 2016
A new report by property consultant JLL and London & Partners, the Mayor of London's promotional company, indicates that London's budget hotel sector has seen significant growth since the city hosted the 2012 Olympic Games. More than half of the 18,000 hotel rooms that have opened in London since 2012 have been in the budget sector. In addition, 33 percent of the 7,000 rooms due for completion this year will also be in the same sector. The London Hotel Development Monitor has found that low-cost hotels now make up 20 percent of the total room stock across the city. Development Hotspots Traditionally, investment in hotels in ...
The Big Tech Drive to Encourage Loyalty
JLL Real Views | May 18, 2016
By Natalie Holmes Technology is proving to be something of a double edged sword for the big hotel chains. On the one hand it's helping them to engage with guests through easily scalable and cost-effective initiatives and drive loyalty in new ways. Apps and interfaces allow integration with other relevant products and service providers, and encourage customer engagement through multiple touchpoints. On the other hand, rapidly evolving technology is fueling fierce competition from online travel agencies. Nevertheless, "employing tech is one of the best ways to drive loyalty for hotel chains," says Dale Nix, Hospitality Consultant at Aven...
Where Are the STRONG Leaders?
Bryan K. Williams | May 16, 2016
By Bryan K. Williams What does it mean to lead? At least two conditions must be met. First, you must have a clear destination in mind. Secondly, at least one other person has to be following. If no one is following, then you are not leading. As John Maxwell once wrote, "if you think you are leading, but no one is following, then you are just taking a walk." However, strong leaders do more than just influence others to follow. Strong leaders are lifters. They encourage, inspire, challenge and recognize performance on a regular basis. Count yourself as blessed if you have ever been led by a strong leader. You may or may not have liked bei...
How Cutting Edge Science is Bringing Buildings to Life
JLL Real Views | May 12, 2016
By Jim McClelland Most of us think of modern buildings as inert structures – the shell for all the activity that goes on inside. Advances in science and technology, however, are creating new types of biological and metabolic materials which are essentially turning a growing number of buildings into living, breathing organisms. In general, the state-of-play in active solutions is evolving rapidly, with both product innovation and market acceptance on the rise. As Rachel Armstrong , Professor of Experimental Architecture at Newcastle University, explains: "Functional materials – such as smog-eating surfaces, carbon-fixing pain...
Where Two Hotel Brands Are Better Than One
JLL Real Views | May 11, 2016
By Neasa MacErlean Building one strong brand has long been a basic rule in running a successful hotel – but some operators are now looking to improve margins by running two brands on the same property. Late next summer a new dual branded hotel is due to open in downtown Denver – even if many of the guests who stay there will be unaware of what makes it rather special. Just over half of the 495 rooms will be part of the full service Le Méridien brand while the remainder will operate under the select service AC Hotels flag. These two brands were owned by separate companies, Le Méridien by Starwood and AC Hotels b...
U.S. Hotels Make Chinese Travelers Feel at Home
JLL Real Views | May 9, 2016
by Laura Agadoni In a growing number of U.S. hotels, fried noodles and congee are joining the bacon and eggs on the breakfast buffet, chopsticks are lining up alongside the forks and staff are being trained to say "huanying" as well as "welcome". Chinese travelers are flocking to America – where they're being welcomed with open arms particularly following a 2014 visa agreement, which extends business and tourism visas from China to the US (and vice versa) from one year to 10 years. The US government is aiming to encourage Chinese travel to the US to help boost the tourism sector as well as the wider economy. And for good reason &n...
Dinosaur Metrics Are Taking a Bite Out of Your Hotel Marketing Performance
Vikram Singh | May 4, 2016
By Vikram Singh Marketing is evolving as I am typing this sentence. I'm here to make sure you are not wasting your time, energy and marketing budgets by focusing on outdated metrics. Many of the metrics you're using have become irrelevant because of the seismic change in how people are researching and booking travel today. If you are still measuring what does not matter, you will end up getting blindsided. Don't let a false sense of security, or an unwillingness to change, cost you market share and revenue. Outdated Online Marketing Metrics Traffic Measuring straight up year-over-year traffic is a quick way to lead yourself into the lan...
How a New Type of Coworker is Changing Office Life
JLL Real Views | May 3, 2016
Your coworkers sitting nearby probably know how you take your coffee or the song you play when you need creative inspiration. However, in the modern office you are engaging more than ever with a different, quieter teammate that also recognizes your preferences, from email spam to office temperature. This colleague doesn't gossip or eat lunch with you—but they greet you every morning, and sort your emails overnight. This coworker plays a critical role on your team, adding intelligence and data that make everything you do possible. This coworker is, in fact, a cognitive computing program—a close cousin to the robots that scie...
The Chargers, Convention Center and Taxes: A Primer
Robert Rauch | May 3, 2016
By Robert A. Rauch This is one man's opinion. I am an Independent, so Democrats and Republicans alike will disagree with me. I am not a member of the Lodging Industry Association or the San Diego Hotel Motel Association, so I am not privy to their positions on these issues and many of them will disagree with me. Lastly, I do not own any land or property downtown that would give me any reason to prefer a certain outcome. I'm certain that many will assume I will benefit from my ideas; that goes with the territory. There is nothing here but a love for San Diego and the Chargers. Below are my thoughts. Chargers Clearly, the Chargers...
Tourism Tidbits: Tourism and Migrations
Dr. Peter Tarlow | May 3, 2016
by Dr. Peter Tarlow Around the world, immigration and refugees are a hot topic. Europe is locked in a debate as to how to handle the millions of people who seek to migrate there. The US also has a similar debate running through its Presidential election process. This article does not address the issue of immigration and refugees but it does look at how the movements of people impact the tourism industry. Tourism is much more than merely about the movement of people from one place to another. It is also the exchange of cultures and the appreciation of the "other". Tourism movements are not only about people from one place visiting anothe...
Nobody Asked Me, But… No. 160: Hotel History: The Harbor View Hotel (1891), Edgartown, Massachusetts (114 rooms)*
Stanley Turkel, CMHS | May 2, 2016
My New Book "Great American Hoteliers Volume 2: Pioneers of the Hotel Industry" Is Available Now By Stanley Turkel, CMHS 1. Hotel History: The Harbor View Hotel, Edgartown, Massachusetts The Harbor View Hotel opened in 1891 overlooking Martha's Vineyard's Edgartown Lighthouse, Edgartown Harbor and Chappaquiddick Island. The grand opening was by invitation only with 400 islanders and hotel guests for an unforgettable evening. The hotel's verandas were hung with Chinese lanterns, the parlors were brightly decorated and the entire hotel was colorfully illuminated. Mattie Josephine Atkins of Denver provided the entertainment and...
When Less is More in Hotel Design
JLL Real Views | April 29, 2016
by Neasa MacErlean Wardrobes, trouser presses and fruit bowls have long been among the hallmarks of hotel bedrooms – but their days are numbered in many major mid-range chains. Next time you stay in a hotel look at the length of the mirror in your bedroom. If it is reaches from ceiling to floor, the chances are that you staying in a luxury establishment or, if not, that the brand has not gone through a recent re-think to maximize efficiency. "Tall mirrors are a housekeeper's nightmare," says Richard Harris, Head of JLL Capital Work Services in EMEA, part of the Hotels & Hospitality Group." They have to be cleaned every day and...
How Business Travel is Driving Asia’s Serviced Apartment Boom
JLL Real Views | April 20, 2016
In Asia, a rising number of companies are sending employees on short-term secondments to fill skills gaps and save on relocation costs. by Beelin Ang For the business travelers spending weeks, if not months, away from home it's presenting something of an accommodation rethink. Staying in hotels may work for a few nights but ultimately many prefer a different type of space to call home over longer periods of time – one which comes with comforts such as private outdoor space for hosting friends or an oven to cook their own dinner. This is where serviced apartments come in: In Asia, they're increasingly the preferred housing option f...
Industry Visionary Vikram Singh Joins The Rainmaker Group as VP, Hotel Demand Generation
Rainmaker | April 18, 2016
ATLANTA – April 18, 2016 – A global thought leader in the hospitality and travel industry, Vikram Singh is the new VP, hotel demand generation for The Rainmaker Group. In his new position, he is responsible for the formulation and execution of Rainmaker's demand generation strategy for the hospitality industry. According to Rainmaker President Tammy Farley, "Vikram is one of the genuine stars in our industry and a natural leader, whose vast knowledge in hospitality and technology is matched by the positive force of his personality. We are truly excited to put his insights and leadership to work for Rainmaker." Before joining...
