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Technology
Travel Review Innovation: From User Experience to Guest Experience
TrustYou | May 28, 2015
Let's talk about innovation. Specifically innovation and travel reviews. We all know by now that travel reviews are fundamental to the travel planning process, but their importance is about more than what they say or how many there are. Travel reviews have the potential to help innovate both the travel site user experience as well as the actual guest experience. Here are two examples of innovation with travel reviews from each of these perspectives. Hipmunk: Improving the travel research experience Just because the average travelers reads up to a dozen or more reviews before booking a hotel, doesn't necessarily mean that the traveler ac...
Moneyball: Big Data and Raising Your Hotel Company’s Batting Average
Aptech Computer Systems | May 28, 2015
'Outside-The-Box' Business Intelligence Analysis and Reporting Reveals Competitive Advantages that Lift Performance and Profitability By Cam Troutman, Vice President of Aptech Computer Systems May 28, 2015 - This viewpoint is about money and baseball. Hotel company financial executives are like the general manager of the baseball team in Michael Lewis' book, Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game. The book argues that the Oakland A's' front office took advantage of innovative analytical measures of player performance to field a team that could better compete against richer competitors in Major League Baseball. If you are in the h...
Mobile Strategy: Necessity or Fluff? – Join SHR for a free webinar
SHR | May 28, 2015
HOUSTON, TX, May 28, 2015- SHR, an innovative provider of advanced distribution technology and services for the hospitality industry, today announced their next webinar session, Mobile Strategy: Necessity or Fluff?, to be held on Wednesday, June 3, 2015 at 11 am CDT. The session will focus on consumer trends in mobile, and how those trends translate to the hospitality sector. SHR's team of industry veterans will break down the current use of mobile by hotels & resorts, how they see this use evolving, and whether or not a separate mobile strategy is really necessary for a hotel to compete in the coming years. To register for this fre...
Bright Outlook for Hotels This Summer Travel Season
TravelClick, Inc. | May 27, 2015
Hoteliers Advised to Focus on Early Reservation Opportunities to Capture Seasonal Demand NEW YORK - May 27, 2015 - Hotels in major North American markets experienced positive growth in rate according to data from the May 2015 TravelClick North American Hospitality Review (NAHR). TravelClick's data also reports that three quarters of the 25 markets measured are experiencing increases in committed occupancy and 90 percent are experiencing increases in average daily rates (ADR). "There is a bright outlook for the coming summer travel season as we're seeing strong year-over-year increases in the group, business and transient segments. To p...
Chelsea Hotel Toronto Doubles Upsell Revenue After Implementing TSA Solutions’ Front Desk Upselling
TSA Solutions | May 27, 2015
Front desk management and team members attribute additional $150,000 in annual revenue to enhanced TSA upselling strategies MINNEAPOLIS- MAY 27, 2015 - TSA Solutions, the industry's premier training and sales revenue enhancing specialist, helped double upsell revenue at the Chelsea Hotel in Toronto in just a month, following implementation of its Front Desk Upselling program at the property in February. Recognized as Canada's largest hotel, featuring 1,590 contemporary guestrooms and suites, the Chelsea Hotel has also significantly increased the overall effectiveness of its front desk team and began leveraging an increased ROI on its ex...
Rainmaker Names Joseph Flynn VP of Sales, Gaming and Hospitality
Rainmaker | May 27, 2015
ATLANTA, GA - May 27, 2015 - Rainmaker has named Joseph Flynn vice president of sales, gaming and hospitality. Flynn assumes the newly created position to continue driving aggressive growth in the traditional hotel and casino-hotel categories for the revenue management leader. Mr. Flynn has over 20 years of experience and a successful track record in delivering top-tier growth year- over-year with prior employers in the hospitality market, including Newmarket International and Hotel Information Systems (Softbrands, now part of Infor). Mr. Flynn will have responsibility for driving growth of all Rainmaker solutions into the hospitality m...
Maestro PMS Powers-Up Independents at HITEC 2015 with Apps, Mobile Solutions and Big Data Analysis
Maestro Property Management Solution | May 27, 2015
At HITEC Visit Maestro PMS in Booth #1029 June 15 to 18 at the Austin Convention Center Maestro Gives Independents Mobile Apps and Wi-Fi Flexibility for Personalized Guest Service, Greater Profitability and Productivity May 27, 2015 - Toronto - Maestro PMS™ will arrive at HITEC 2015 with a suite of new mobile solutions to give independent operators a competitive edge. Maestro's Housekeeping app, mobile tablet signature capture and curbside check-in, and mobile guest management modules will give independent operators leading edge tools to enhance guest service and productivity. Click here to learn more about Maestro's solutions for pr...
AH&LA Applauds Sen. Grassley for Urging FTC to Investigate Rogue Hotel Booking Sites
the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AH&LA) | May 26, 2015
Washington, D.C. - May 26, 2015 - The American Hotel & Lodging Association (AH&LA), the sole national association representing all segments of the 1.8 million-employee lodging industry, today applauded Senator Grassley, Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, for his support in calling attention to deceptive hotel booking sites, which trick consumers into thinking they are booking directly with a hotel. Chairman Grassley sent a letter to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) asking it to investigate the deceptive practices of rogue third party booking sites. "We are grateful for Chairman Grassley's support in calling attention to ...
The Island of Nevis Selects Regatta Travel Solutions to Power the Booking Engine on NevisIsland.com
Regatta Travel Solutions Inc. | May 26, 2015
Charlottesville, Virginia (May 26, 2015) - Regatta Travel Solutions announced today that the Nevis Tourism Authority has selected Regatta Travel Solutions to power the booking engine on their official destination website, nevisisland.com. Regatta will allow visitors to the destination website to book hotels, attractions and packages on the destination's official website. "We are very excited about bringing Regatta to the island of Nevis," said Greg B. Phillip, CEO of the Nevis Tourism Authority. "It is clear that aside from their advanced booking engine technology, this company is dedicated to working one on one with ...
Duetto Wins Gaming Industry Accolades, Announces Promotions and Additions to Global Casino Accounts
Duetto | May 26, 2015
Recognized Alongside Some of the Industry's Best Known Brands, Duetto Continues to Change the Game in Revenue Strategy for Casino Hotels and Grow its Team Worldwide San Francisco, May 26, 2015 -- Duetto, the market leader in hotel profit optimization technology, announced that its GameChanger revenue strategy solution won a Top 20 Most Innovative Technology award from Casino Journal magazine, and a Hospitality Operations Technology (HOT) award in Revenue Generation, from Casino Enterprise Management magazine. Duetto also announced that it named Stephanie Hall and Ben Parks as Sales Directors for Global Casino Accounts; and promoted ...
Using Review Data as Rich Snippets to Improve Your Search Rankings
TrustYou | May 22, 2015
Most hotels are focused on SEO, or are at least aware of the potential benefits of improving their search rankings. It allows them to stand out and ultimately generate more traffic (and direct bookings!). Content marketing is one way to improve search rankings, and travel reviews can play an important role in this content strategy. But that isn't the only place where travel review data can help hotels to improve their search rankings... Enter the rich snippet. Huh? What's that, you ask? Rich snippets are bits of extra info that appear on your site's search result listing above your meta description. They can easily be added within your ...
Sheraton Albuquerque Uptown Hotel Installs FlyteBoard to Keep Airline Crews On Time
Flyte Systems | May 21, 2015
At HITEC Visit Flyte Systems in Booth # 1637 June 15 to 18 at the Austin Convention Center Staff Delivers Real-Time Flight Information to Guests without 'Handheld Hypnotism'; FlyteBoard Airline Information Display lets Staff Make Eye Contact with Guests, not Mobile Devices CHICAGO, IL – May 21, 2015 – The Sheraton Albuquerque Uptown Hotel needed to correct a problem. Its airline crew-room contracts required meeting arriving flights on time and transporting crews back to the hotel for their stay. Easily done. Property staff just needed to be aware of when the appropriate planes arrived. Guests also wanted to know if their departing f...
Meet Hotelogix at HITEC to Learn the Fastest Way to Get on the Cloud PMS
Hotelogix | May 21, 2015
In just one minute, small- and mid-size hotels can easily get started with Hotelogix PMS and manage their room inventory, rates and revenues above property; Visit Hotelogix at HITEC Booth # 139 [SAN JOSE, CALIF. — MAY 21st, 2015] — Today small- to mid-size hotels are managing their property-management systems in the cloud to more effectively compete for bookings in the online marketplace. Hoteliers looking for a hotel management solution that self-enables them to run their businesses simply, efficiently and cost-effectively are finding the Hotelogix PMS extremely easy to use and adapt to their operations. The cloud-based PM...
Newmarket Wins 2015 ACE Customer Excellence Award
Newmarket | May 21, 2015
Achievement of Customer Excellence for 9th Year in a Row Portsmouth, New Hampshire: For the 9th year in a row, Newmarket, an Amadeus company, has been awarded an Achievement of Customer Excellence by Confirmit, an independent third party evaluation agency. The Award celebrates an outstanding achievement in building Voice of the Customer and Voice of the Employee programs that deliver tangible business improvements. "The Voice of the Customer is not just part of the business process. When built into the fabric of these companies...it not only improves business results, but delivers culture change across the company," said Henning Hansen...
Room77 Increases Traveler Engagement with TrustYou Meta-Reviews™
TrustYou | May 21, 2015
New York, NY and Munich, Germany – May 21, 2015 –International online reputation management leader TrustYou, and travel site, Room77, partnered in August 2013 to provide Room77's travelers with a more user-friendly way to interact with travel reviews. And travelers are, indeed, interacting: they are engaging longer with content and showing increased intent to book. As part of Room77's mission to be the world's best hotel search engine, the site integrated TrustYou's Meta-Reviews™ onto its site. Meta-Reviews™ offer travelers overall ratings for hotels (excellent, very good, mediocre, etc.) based on verified reviews from across th...
Hotel Occupancy Continues to Surprise in 2015 According to PwC US
PwC US | May 20, 2015
NEW YORK, May 20, 2015 -- An updated lodging forecast released today by PwC US expects another year of solid revenue per available room ("RevPAR") growth in 2015, with a stronger-than-previously-expected increase in occupancy levels, offset by softer than anticipated growth in room rates. Despite weak U.S. economic performance driven in part by unseasonably harsh winter weather conditions, the U.S. lodging sector registered solid demand performance during the first quarter of 2015, with a year-over-year increase in RevPAR of 8.0 percent, and increasing demand levels driving RevPAR increases to a larger extent than previously anticipated...
RMS to Unveil Cloud PMS Enhancements at HITEC
RMS Hospitality Cloud | May 20, 2015
As hotels continue to manage their property-management systems above property, RMS Hospitality Solutions continues to improve functionality with the introduction of RMS 9+ Visit RMS in Booth 2207 at HITEC [SAN DIEGO, CALIF.- May 20, 2015] - Hoteliers attending HITEC next month in Austin, Texas, will be introduced to new digital tools from RMS Hospitality Solutions that will greatly improve the way they manage real-time data and how they communicate with guests. For the first time at HITEC, RMS will showcase "The Hospitality Cloud" (also known as RMS 9+). This suite of a la carte technologies (including PMS, channel management, guest mar...
Groupize Unveils Instant Bookings for Small Groups on Groupize.com Affiliate Sites
Groupize | May 20, 2015
Groupize.com introduces real-time bookings and new demand for small group and meeting business online, bringing more revenue to participating hotels and reducing the requirement to respond to eRFPs BOSTON, Mass., May 20, 2014 - Groupize today announced the eagerly anticipated launch of Instant Bookings on Groupize.com and the affiliate sites powered by its white label solution. Now online planners of groups, meetings, events, weddings, tours and sporting events can benefit from the ease of shopping, booking and managing their group room blocks in real-time. Groups and meetings planners appreciate the simplicity of the mobile-first booki...
Guyana Selects Regatta Travel Solutions to Power Booking Engine on ExploreGuyana.org
Regatta Travel Solutions Inc. | May 19, 2015
Charlottesville, Virginia (May 19, 2014) - Regatta Travel Solutions announced today that the Tourism & Hospitality Association of Guyana has selected Regatta Travel Solutions to power the booking engine on their official destination website, exploreguyana.org. Regatta will allow visitors to the destination website to easily search for and book accommodations in the destination. Regatta will also help the Association drive traffic to the destination website in order to attract a higher volume of bookings. "We are proud that Guyana has selected Regatta for its official website," said Ashwin Kamlani, Founder & CEO of Rega...
Marriott Annapolis Waterfront Selects Teledex E Series Phones
Marriott Annapolis | May 19, 2015
Colorado Springs, CO, May 19 2015 - The Marriott Annapolis Waterfront Hotel in Annapolis, MD has selected Teledex E Series micro-footprint hotel phones for its 150 guest rooms. Located in downtown Annapolis on Chesapeake Bay with views of the bay and Annapolis Harbor, the hotel selected Teledex E Series E100-4GSK single-line analog corded speakerphones that feature 4 programmable guest service keys and patented OneTouch voicemail retrieval. According to Gary Burke, General Manager of the Marriott Annapolis Waterfront Hotel, "We liked the compact size of the Teledex E Series phones, since they save space on the nightstand and desk, and h...
Lodging Interactive Wins Communicator Award for Hotel Website Design
Your Lodging Interactive | May 19, 2015
The digital marketing firm adds to its 2015 accolades with an award from AIVA. Parsippany, NJ - May, 19, 2015 - Lodging Interactive, the digital marketing and social media engagement firm exclusively serving the hospitality industry, has a new distinction to add to their multiple website design award wins in 2015. The New Jersey based agency, which has provided customized website design, reputation management and social media marketing services to over 750 properties in 45 countries, was selected as a 2015 Communicator Award of Excellence winner in the Websites - Hotel and Lodging category for their design of the Marriott Pleasanton web...
PAS Solves Integration Heartburn with pasUNITY Integration HUB (IHUB)
PAS | May 18, 2015
Integration no longer needs to be difficult With hundreds of connections already in place, pasUNITY Integration HUB (IHUB) already connects to a majority of applications in any given hotelier's financial ecosystem. "pasUNITY IHUB, a next generation technology, that's built specifically around hospitality, leverages our experience in connecting over 1,000 hotels across the globe to revenue generation, labor, payroll, banking and other auxiliary systems for hourly, daily, weekly, monthly and year-end transaction load, reporting and consolidation," says Bill Euler, President and CEO of pasUNITY. Hoteliers require data, and lots of it. This...
Fixed Expenses Aren’t Really Fixed!
Kirby D. Payne | May 18, 2015
By Kirby D. Payne, May 15, 2015 In most hotel P&Ls, usually towards the bottom, is a heading called Non-Operating Income and Expense, formerly known as Fixed Expenses. Few costs are uncontrollable in a hotel. There are simply some expenses which take longer to reduce than others! Somewhere on most hotel financial statements, usually towards the bottom, is a major heading called Non-Operating Income and Expense. Before the 11th Edition of the Uniform System it was known as Fixed Expenses. I firmly believe that General Managers and Comptrollers created the former title for two reasons: Either owners handled the items bundled in there...
Google Doorway Page Algorithm Update: Action Plan for Hotel Vanity Websites
the Author and HeBS Digital | May 18, 2015
By Max Starkov and Asher Fusco Background: On March 16, Google announced the rollout of an algorithm change intended to minimize the visibility of spam content on search engine results pages. The update, known as the "Doorway Page Algorithm Update," targets pages with thin, low-quality content and unnatural keyword usage. Google wants to dissuade sites from creating shallow content pages that are designed primarily for search engines, rather than human beings. These pages attempt to rank for keyword terms without providing users any unique or useful information. This falls in line with the search engine's goal of giving users the quicke...
