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Siegel Sez: Not Your Father’s Power Socket
September 3, 2021
Siegel Sez September 3, 2021 Maybe my age is showing, but I miss the times where Walter Cronkite (OK, that was actually before my time), Dan Rather, Peter Jennings and Tom Brokaw gave us the news we needed every night. Today, thanks to the rapidly changing world of social media, news comes from thousands of sources and probably half of it is made up. I bring this up because recently a few people reached out to me asking if HITEC was canceled. Of course, no one could explain specifically where they had heard this information, but it made me laugh. I guaranteed them that HITEC will not cancel. There are thousands of people in the industry fro...
Rethinking Cybersecurity for the Rest of 2021
Larry and Adam Mogelonsky | September 1, 2021
By Larry and Adam Mogelonsky The pandemic is top of mind, but throughout its entirety there have been a number of daunting reports of major cybersecurity breaches and malware attacks infecting leading multinational corporations. So, while you must do your diligence to continue to protect guests from COVID-19, cybersecurity is perhaps the next most likely disaster to strike your hotel if you aren’t careful. Notably, the pandemic led numerous properties to expand their tech stacks in order to meet the shifting travel demands and safety regulations. In turn, this increased the number of potential points of vulnerability in the system. Al...
Amadeus Launches Agency360+ to Expand Hotelier Access to Leisure and Business Travel Insights
Amadeus | August 31, 2021
By deepening visibility into GDS channel performance, Agency360+™ users can now view additional agency and corporate business production, enhanced with data from Amadeus’ Demand360® More than a year into COVID-19, hoteliers are recognizing that the pace of recovery as well as the segments influencing the return of travel will look different worldwide. Leisure travelers have been driving the most demand for hotels, with business travel gradually increasing. Today, data from Amadeus’ Agency360® shows that the professional services, healthcare, technology, financial, and aerospace/defense sectors are providing the highest contribution...
Travel Outlook Launches ExpressRez®, an Innovative and Affordable Call Center for Inns and B&Bs
Travel Outlook Premium Hotel Call Center | August 26, 2021
SANTA FE, NEW MEXICO (August 26, 2021): Travel Outlook Premium Hotel Call Center (“Travel Outlook”) announces the launch of ExpressRez®, an affordable voice reservations service for inns, bed and breakfasts, and vacation rental management companies. ExpressRez® is a simplified and cost-effective service to enable any small property to optimize voice reservations, enhance customer service, and maximize call conversion. ExpressRez® (US Patent 10,257,358) resulted from Travel Outlook addressing challenges faced by inns and B&Bs that want to use a third-party central reservations service in an original and sophisticated way. The ...
Understanding Tech Is Key Heading Into Fall
Larry and Adam Mogelonsky | August 25, 2021
By Larry and Adam Mogelonsky This year’s HITEC near the tail end of September is bound to be a riot for two main reasons. To start, if you exclude last year’s virtual event, this will one of the first marquee gatherings since lockdowns rolled out in March 2020. Second would be the pandemic itself which may have irreversibly disrupted the hotel operating model to favor a heavier tech stack to support a hyper-efficient labor model. But fundamental to HITEC, any vendor demo or any implementation is to have a vision for how the technology will improve operations, both in hard as well as in the soft, intangible ways. Investing in technol...
Human Interaction – The Hallmark of a Luxury Travel Experience
Travel Outlook | August 25, 2021
In an Increasingly Digital World, The Importance of Human Interaction Remains High in the Hospitality Industry The last year has changed the way the world operates, and obviously, the travel industry has been impacted significantly. Now that 2020 is behind us, the industry has been reignited, with the demand for travel soaring to new heights. If you’ve flown recently, you would have noticed that airports are once again full of life. All types of travelers are taking to the skies and the road in search of much-needed adventure and relaxation. Travelers embarking on their first trip since 2020 will notice that many aspects have chan...
Where Are All These Guests Who Supposedly Prefer Humanless Hotel Experiences?
Doug Kennedy | August 17, 2021
By Doug Kennedy For probably a decade now, I have almost daily been reading articles and blog posts about how today’s hotel guests prefer to interact with technology rather than humans. Of course, it is not by coincidence that most of these are authored by executives who are peddling the latest “essential” guest technology. Often these articles and blogs are accompanied by survey results to supposedly support the theme. Yet when I look for details on sample size and methodology, I usually find there is no mention of these, or I find that the survey was conducted “online” with a very small, self-selected sample size. At fir...
Paramount Lodging Advisors Successfully Transacts Godfrey Tampa
Paramount Lodging Advisors | August 17, 2021
Paramount Lodging Advisors (PLA) has successfully executed the sale of the Godfrey Hotel & Cabanas Tampa. The PLA team representing the seller was led by Bennett Webster, Brent Clemens, and Brian Guernier. The sale allowed the lender to unwind their existing interest on the $45MM non-performing loan. “Despite the ongoing national and regional challenges in the current market, our team remains very bullish on the longer-term industry rebound. We believe Florida will remain at the forefront of the recovery,” stated Bennett Webster The sales add to Paramount Lodging Advisors’ continued and unprecedented success over the cou...
Keith Frisley Appointed Executive Chef at Four Seasons Safari Lodge Serengeti
August 16, 2021
Keith Frisley has been appointed Executive Chef at Four Seasons Safari Lodge Serengeti, with him trading the vibrant city life in Johannesburg for the serene beauty of the Serengeti National Park. Formerly Executive Chef at Four Seasons Hotel The Westcliff, Johannesburg, Frisley is a native South African, who has worked across a number of leading luxury hotels in Johannesburg. He has also traveled internationally to represent his country in the national culinary squad, following an extensive career working alongside multiple Michelin star chefs. Arriving to the savannah, Frisley is excited to play host to guests discovering their buck...
Paramount Lodging Advisors Successfully Transacts in Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma With Seven-Asset Portfolio Sale
Paramount Lodging Advisors | August 12, 2021
Paramount Lodging Advisors (PLA) has successfully executed the sale of the Courtyard Houma LA, Staybridge Suites Laredo TX, Holiday Inn Express & Suites Cotulla TX, Fairfield Inn & Suites San Angelo TX, Staybridge Suites San Angelo TX, Springhill Suites Ardmore OK and Hampton Inn Denton TX via online auctions. The hotels were part of a larger portfolio. The PLA team representing the seller was led by Kami Burnette, Brent Clemens, and Bennett Webster “Despite the ongoing national and regional challenges in the current market, our team remains very bullish on the longer-term industry rebound and we believe Texas will remain at...
Genting Opens Hyatt Regency JFK Airport at Resorts World New York
Resorts World New York City | August 6, 2021
QUEENS, N.Y., Aug. 6, 2021 -- Hyatt Regency JFK Airport at Resorts World New York celebrated its ribbon cutting today in Queens, which featured executives from Genting, which owns the hotel and casino, and Hyatt, as well as local elected officials and community leaders. The hotel officially opens today for guests to experience New York City's newest play, stay, dine, shop and be entertained destination. Hyatt Regency JFK Airport at Resorts World New York is an eight-story, luxury hotel, featuring 400 residential-inspired guestrooms and premium suites with energizing design and insightful in-room technology. The hotel also features the w...
The New Wave of Brand Loyalty
Travel Outlook | August 3, 2021
How Your Hotel’s Voice Channel Can Influence and Shape Traveler’s Buying Behavior Travel has gone through a year of unprecedented challenges. 2020 was, without a doubt, the single most difficult year in the hospitality industry in recent history. With that behind us, we enter unchartered waters where anything is possible. Now, as travel emerges from a slumber, hoteliers have a unique opportunity to reshape customers' purchasing habits that were all but forgotten. Travelers, like all consumers, are habitually minded. Changing a person’s purchasing behavior is no easy task. Habits dictate nearly half of every decision we make, an...
New Research Reveals Price No Longer Primary Driver of Travel Decisions
Expedia Group | July 28, 2021
SEATTLE — July 28, 2021 — New research from Expedia Group reveals shifting views on travel, including positive sentiment on vaccine passports, increased budgets, and an enduring demand for safety and financial security. The Traveler Value Index examines the views of 8,000 people in eight countries to understand their values and expectations as the pandemic becomes more controlled in many parts of the world. “As vaccination rates rise and borders open across the globe, people are ready and eager to travel. However, the months of uncertainty are weighing on their travel decisions and shifting the conventional belief that price is the ...
Five Ways Tech Builds the Next Stage of Local Authenticity for Hotel
Larry and Adam Mogelonsky | July 21, 2021
By Larry and Adam Mogelonsky Coming out of the pandemic, guest demands have irreversibly changed. They don’t want cookie-cutter rooms; they want experiences. This harks back to the push over the previous decade to make our properties more ‘locally authentic’. Now, with lean teams and skeleton crews, the only way to effectively meet this demand is through technology. For the post-pandemic travel landscape, local authenticity means more than just a cursory immersion in the arts, culture and heritage of one’s locale. It also equals peace of mind because, in light of the residual anxiety over COVID-19, guests need to feel as though ...
An Old Soul With a Fresh Twist, Crystalbrook Kingsley Embraces Technology and Sustainability With Solutions From McLaren Technologies
McLaren Technologies Asia Pacific | July 20, 2021
Sophisticated and with a nod to the area’s history, the new hotel is offering a fully contactless and paperless guest experience. Sydney, Australia (July 20, 2021) - A commitment to responsible luxury by Newcastle’s first five-star hotel, Crystalbrook Kingsley, has prompted a partnership with Asia Pacific’s leading hospitality solution specialist, McLaren Technologies. The new hotel was keen to embrace mobile-first guest experience technology and environmental change to enhance, not compromise, the quality of its guest experience. The new hotel, which opened its doors on June 9, worked with McLaren to tailor its approach to techno...
Mazen Saleh Appointed General Manager of Upcoming Four Seasons Hotel and Residences Fort Lauderdale
Four Seasons Hotel and Residences Fort Lauderdale | July 20, 2021
Fort Lauderdale, FL - July 20, 2021 - Eighteen-year Four Seasons veteran Mazen Saleh has been named General Manager of Four Seasons Hotel and Residences Fort Lauderdale. The brand’s fourth hotel in South Florida is anticipated to make its debut in late 2021, bringing an inspiring sense of possibility to this next-generation coastal city. At this prime beachfront address, every detail is about unrivalled style and service. “We’re balancing the traditions of a classic yacht with a vibrant contemporary attitude," says Saleh. “It’s the celebrated vacation lifestyle of Fort Lauderdale with the sophisticated touch of Four Seasons....
Hotel Call Centers and Storytelling
Travel Outlook | July 15, 2021
How Independent Hotel Call Centers are Outshining Many Hotel Brands Using Customer Feedback When you think of call centers, your first thoughts may be of elevator music hold tunes, generic pre-recorded dial-in options, and of course, insincere agents. When it comes to properly trained hotel call centers, that could not be further from the truth. As I’ve written in a previous story, The Return to Genuine Hospitality, call centers and call center agents are valuable tools for hoteliers that have the potential to increase bookings significantly, while freeing up hotel staff to focus on the current guests' experiences. Additionally, p...
IDeaS Gears Up for 2021 AAHOA Convention
IDeaS | July 15, 2021
As the franchise community gathers in Dallas for AAHOACON21, revenue management leader IDeaS prepares to tackle industry challenges MINNEAPOLIS—July 15, 2021—IDeaS Revenue Solutions, the world’s leading provider of revenue management software and services, announced it will participate as a Platinum Level sponsor at the upcoming Asian American Hotel Owners Association (AAHOA) convention and trade show in Dallas, August 3-6, 2021. IDeaS is planning a host of events and contact points to engage the franchisee and owner community in preparations for the new challenges of the post-COVID era. Elements of the expanded partnership with A...
Nobody Asked Me, But… No. 251: Wish You Were Here: A Tour of America’s Great Hotels During the Golden Age of the Picture Post Card
Stanley Turkel | July 14, 2021
by Stanley Turkel, CMHS Hotel History: “Wish You Were Here” by Barry Zaid (1980) In February 2000, there was a unique exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York: “Walker Evans and the Picture Postcard”. Evans was a titan of 20th-century photography who portrayed broken-down plantations, sharecropper families and bone-dry Southern farms during the Depression, grimy factories in the North and the facial expressions of New York subway passengers. Evans collected picture postcards throughout his life during the golden age from 1900 into the 1920s. This phenomenon was spurred by the United States postal service...
Bleisure as Usual and Five Other Factors to Boost the Groups Segment
Larry and Adam Mogelonsky | July 14, 2021
By Larry and Adam Mogelonsky Now firmly in summer and it’s safe to say that the leisure segment is back online from the druthers of 2020 – groups, not so much. While every hotelier wants meetings and events to strike back in a similar fashion, there are a few almost irreversible considerations for the post-pandemic groups landscape. Rather than try to make it 2019 again, the wise hotelier will accept these changes and pivot operations to meet the new types of demand that are emerging. For meetings and events, this will mean fewer large-scale conventions and open-for-all receptions, and more limited, invitation-only gatherings. Start...
ASSA ABLOY Global Solutions Provides Contactless Digital Key Technology at Grand Hyatt Al Khobar Hotel and Residences to Provide Clean and Safe Guest
ASSA ABLOY Global Solutions | July 13, 2021
Grand Hyatt Al Khobar Hotel and Residences in Saudi Arabia maximizes its guest convenience providing a safer alternative to front desk check-in and guestroom entry. Stockholm – July 13, 2021 – ASSA ABLOY Global Solutions as a leading provider of contactless technology for the hospitality industry, has announced the successful implementation of digital key and mobile check-in functionality at Grand Hyatt Al Khobar Hotel and Residences. The newly opened luxury hotel and as the first Grand Hyatt-branded property in Saudi Arabia, Grand Hyatt Al Khobar Hotel and Residences is one of the latest Hyatt branded properties in the region ...
What Exhibitions Tell Us About MICE Recovery
Larry and Adam Mogelonsky | July 7, 2021
By Larry and Adam Mogelonsky Freeman (www.freeman.com) is the global leader in exhibition management. Family-owned and operated, they are the ‘go to’ folks behind numerous convention centers with a bevy of services to create memorable, large-scale events. If you’ve ever had the opportunity to stay behind at the end of a tradeshow, or for that matter set up a booth, you’ll be amazed at the speed and capabilities of their team members. I recently had an opportunity to chat with Mickey McClay Wilson, the company’s Chief Marketing Officer. My interest was simple: can Freeman shine a light on the recovery of a business inextricably...
Chatham Bars Moves Into Summer Recovery With Knowcross
Knowcross | July 7, 2021
Chatham Bars Inn opts for the Knowcross platform to manage and streamline their operations so that they can focus on what matters most, the Guests. As the summer kicks off at the Chatham Bars Inn and the Veranda tables are full, with families having lunch and admiring the view of Chatham Harbor, the far dunes and the Atlantic Ocean in the distance. Commercial fishing boats moor next to sailboats, creating an impossibly picturesque view. Just inside the hotel’s front doors, the lobby is a flurry of activity and in the beautifully appointed salon and library, all chairs and tables are occupied with families playing board games and talking....
Cycas Hospitality Opens Hyatt Place London City East
Hyatt Place | June 30, 2021
London (June 30, 2021) – Hyatt Place London City East, the third Hyatt Place hotel in London, is officially open, expanding the Hyatt Place brand’s footprint globally in markets that matter most to guests and World of Hyatt members. The new hotel features the Hyatt Place brand’s intuitive design, casual atmosphere and practical amenities, such as free Wi-Fi and 24-hour food offerings. Hyatt Place London City East is managed by Cycas Hospitality. Because Hyatt’s efforts are grounded in listening and fueled by care, Hyatt Place hotels combine style, innovation and 24/7 conveniences to create an easy to navigate experience for today...
