The Tricycle of Guest Service Excellence: A Perfect Model For Remarkable Experiences
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Travel Outlook Partners With Thrio to Advance the Travel Industry Customer Service Experience
Travel Outlook The Premier Hotel Call Center | September 7, 2023
With Thrio's Revolutionary Cloud Contact Center Technology, Travel Outlook Is Taking Consumer Reservations and Customer Service to the Next Level SANTA FE, NEW MEXICO (September 2023): Travel Outlook, The Premier Hotel Call Center™, is pleased to announce a partnership with Thrio, a revolutionary contact center platform that’s making waves in the customer service industry. As the first and only call center certified by the Kennedy Training Network (KTN), Travel Outlook uses a unique, industry-leading sales approach developed exclusively by KTN to train their reservations specialists. With the KTN system, Travel Outlook closes up to ...
Crafting a Luxury Sleep Experience at the Equinox Hotel New York
Adam and Larry Mogelonsky | September 6, 2023
By Adam and Larry Mogelonsky Does the guarantee of a good night’s sleep influence a guest’s hotel choice? We say unquestionably yes. With the rise of sleep tourism where millions of people are starting to prioritize getting a solid seven-hour rest when traveling, hotels all over the world are responding in kind with newfangled or upgraded sleep programs. However, marketing that a brand cares about a guest’s sleep is a world of difference from the program’s execution. And as it relates to the execution, there’s no better place to look than a luxury hotel that has debuted a sleep program where every single detail has been meticu...
Augment Luxury Stays Via a Sense of Departure
Adam and Larry Mogelonsky | August 16, 2023
By Adam and Larry Mogelonsky Hotels excel at creating a strong ‘sense of place’ (sensorial brand identity) and ‘sense of arrival’ (first onsite impression), but we often neglect the ‘sense of departure’ (last onsite impression). According to the peak-end rule, this is perhaps the one area where hotels should refocus their efforts to get the most ROI. This is particularly important for luxury stays where travelers have a whole world of accommodation options. Luckily for the rest of us, many luxury hotels already have great departure SOPs that we can learn from to value-engineer a fantastic last impression in order to leave gu...
Independent Hoteliers: Centralize Your Data
Warren Dehan | August 16, 2023
To gain a competitive advantage, hotel operators must embrace centralized data practices to help them level the playing field against established brands By Warren Dehan It may not seem important, but is your hotel’s data centralized? Hospitality has parted ways with many traditions over the years, from physical room keys to guest books, but one thing that is never to return is guests’ and operators’ patience. No one likes to wait, whether checking into a room, requesting more amenities, or reacting to a guest’s needs at a moment’s notice. This goes for all operators, and as independent hoteliers continue to compete against ...
Knowland Wins 2023 Skift IDEA Award
Knowland | August 10, 2023
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The Latest Wine Trend for Fall Then 2024
Adam and Larry Mogelonsky | August 9, 2023
By Adam and Larry Mogelonsky If you know either of us, then you know that we are big fans of wine. Besides the actual taste and endless variety of production around the world, we write about wine because it’s a great way to ramp up restaurant revenues on a high-margin basis. But this only occurs when the wine is effectively marketed and sold. For reference (and to show we actually know what we’re talking about), we published a book about how to sell more wine last year, and we’ve written about how finetuning your wine strategy can be used to generate quick wins for the hotel. Today, we look ahead, first to Q4 2023 then to 2024. Sp...
RADCO Hotel Division Acquires Aloft Phoenix-Airport Hotel
The RADCO Companies | August 8, 2023
(Phoenix, AZ – August 8, 2023) – The RADCO Companies (RADCO), one of the nation’s leading opportunistic real estate developers, has acquired the 143-room Aloft Phoenix-Airport hotel in Phoenix, AZ. Bill Murney with Cushman & Wakefield’s Hospitality team in Phoenix brokered the sale on behalf of the seller. Additional terms of the deal were not disclosed. Aloft Phoenix-Airport is a select service boutique hotel located at 4450 East Washington Street, adjacent to the Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX), which served over 40 million passengers last year, and across the street from the airport’s Sky train station and t...
Meyer Jabara Hotels’ Journey Culture Reaping a 75% Employee Retention Rate
Meyer Jabara Hotels | August 8, 2023
Implementing principles of continuous cultural improvement is slashing the management company’s turnover rate through empowerment and accountability [Danbury, Conn., August 8, 2023] — Meyer Jabara Hotels is reporting a 24.20% turnover rate through the first half of 2023. With the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics citing 70% to 80% turnover annually as the industry norm, this 46-year-old hotel ownership and management group is obviously doing something right. With hotel operators still feeling the sting of the “Great Resignation,” MJH is revealing its secret to employee retention success. “Our biggest competitive advantage is wha...
Global Hotel Industry Faces Mixed Fortunes Amid Rising Costs and Varied Demand
HotStats | August 3, 2023
The global hotel industry is experiencing mixed fortunes as it navigates the post-pandemic landscape. In the United States, the Gross Operating Profit (GOP) margin has seen a year-on-year (YOY) decline of three percentage points (ppt), primarily due to a three ppt increase in total labor cost margin and a 0.5 ppt rise in utilities cost margin. This has led to a 1% ($1.25) YOY drop in Gross Operating Profit Per Available Room (GOPPAR). Undistributed expenses, including Sales and Administration & General (A&G) expenses, have surged by 12.9% YOY, reversing the savings made in these areas during the pandemic. Specific cost items such a...
Controlling Hotel Labor Costs With New Integrations to Business Intelligence Platforms
Adam and Larry Mogelonsky | August 2, 2023
By Adam and Larry Mogelonsky HITEC in June 2023 came and went with lots of incredible outings from vendors. While AI was perhaps foremost on the mind, what really stood out for us was the ability for integrated platforms to offer actionable insights to guide incremental profitability for hotels. Speaking from experience, the two of us have worked extensively on helping hotels increase their net operating incomes (NOI), which then has positive second-order effects elsewhere, including the flexibility to innovate in other areas or even to seek more favorable terms from the bank. Driving NOI as well as topline revenues is the name of the g...
Nomadix Earns ISO/IEC 27001 Security Certification from BSI
Nomadix | August 2, 2023
LOS ANGELES – August 2, 2023 -Nomadix® Inc., bringing connected experiences to life, today announced the company has received its ISO/IEC 27001 Security Certification, awarded by BSI, a leading conformity assessment body and the originator of the standard. Certification by this internationally recognized program demonstrates that Nomadix has the security practices in place to protect all corporate, partner and customer information. ISO/IEC 27001 is the latest iteration of the information security management system standard that aligns with the 114 comprehensive ISO information security controls, which cover organizational issues,...
Hospitality Group and Business Performance Index From Knowland and Amadeus Shows Q2 2023 Group Revenue Recovery in Fourteen of Top Twenty-Five US Mark
Knowland | August 1, 2023
Group business shows most significant improvement at 102 percent of the same period in 2019 ARLINGTON, Va. — Aug. 1, 2023 — Knowland, the world’s leading provider of data-as-a-service insights on meetings and events for hospitality, and Amadeus, a global leader in hospitality technology, today present the metrics from the companies’ Hospitality Group and Business Performance Index, for the second quarter of this year. The Index, which combines event data from Knowland with hotel booking data from Amadeus to give both individual and aggregate views of the key drivers of hotel performance, was first launched in June and is updated...
The Drayton Hotel Savannah Joining Curio Collection by Hilton
Curio Collection by Hilton | July 31, 2023
SAVANNAH, Ga. — The Drayton Hotel is excited to announce it will join Curio Collection by Hilton beginning Tuesday, Aug. 1, marking the brand's debut in Savannah. The Drayton Hotel Savannah, Curio Collection by Hilton was hand-picked by Hilton for its individual character and personality, allowing the hotel to offer its elevated hospitality in the heart of Savannah’s Historic District with the added benefits of the Hilton Honors Program. Opened in 2019, the hotel reinvents one of Savannah’s oldest buildings dating from the 1890s and was carefully restored to embrace the building’s 19th century exterior and the charm of the surro...
Cloudbeds Announces Partnership With Vrbo
Cloudbeds | July 27, 2023
Full API integration will grant Cloudbeds customers access and visibility to a worldwide market of vacation rental-focused travelers San Diego, July 27, 2023 — Cloudbeds, the hospitality management platform powering more reservations and happier guests for lodging businesses around the globe, today announced its integration with Vrbo. Through a full API connection, owners and operators can manage all aspects of their Vrbo listing through the Cloudbeds platform. The integration creates a superior user experience with automation in onboarding, managing rates and availability, reconciliation, and more. As one of the world’s premier ...
LasoExperience Empowers Hotels With Seamless Integration of Maestro PMS for Enhanced Guest Interactions
Maestro | July 25, 2023
Rollout of the joint technology is underway at three iconic East Coast properties [CAMBRIDGE, Mass., July 25, 2023] — LasoExperience, a guest-experience SaaS platform that builds meaningful relationships with guests, and Maestro PMS, a web browser based cloud and on-premises all-in-one property-management system for independent hotels, luxury resorts, conference centers, vacation rentals, and multi-property groups, announces an integration partnership that will empower hotels to deliver exceptional guest experiences through personalized and relevant interactions, such as booking their stay, mobile check-in/out, mobile keys, purchasing ...
Stay Hospitality Selects Mews to Automate Operations and Enhance the Overall Guest Journey
Mews | July 20, 2023
The American short-term vacation rental and hotel management group leverage Mews and its vast hospitality marketplace to upgrade their hotel operations. [NEW YORK– 20th of July 2023] Mews, the innovative hospitality cloud, has been chosen by Stay Hospitality to automate and enhance their growing hotel operations. As a hotel and short-term vacation rental management team, Stay Hospitality handles all aspects of the guest experience for visitors traveling to South Florida. “We love how Mews enables our guests to check in online, ahead of their arrival, saving us a lot of time and labor. Their incredible tech stack supports our visi...
Kimpton San Antonio Celebrates Its Topping Out on Schedule
Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants | July 20, 2023
SAN ANTONIO, TX (July 20, 2023) - White Lodging and its partners are pleased to announce that they have officially topped out the first Kimpton Hotel in San Antonio. The construction milestone on the 10-story building keeps the project on schedule after breaking ground in October of last year. Kimpton San Antonio, located at 423 S Alamo in downtown San Antonio, is set to open in the fourth quarter of 2024. As a part of IHG Hotels & Resorts’ luxury and lifestyle portfolio, Kimpton San Antonio stands at the forefront of a new wave of hospitality destinations in the city, offering a truly exceptional luxury lifestyle hotel experience. N...
Chatbots Represent the First Step in Changing Booking Behavior
Adam and Larry Mogelonsky | July 19, 2023
By Adam and Larry Mogelonsky Chatbots have been around for a while, but ChatGPT has brought them forth into the spotlight, while large language models (LLMs) now present a host of different utilities for evolving both how various hotel systems talk to one another as well as how guests book. The important term here to remember and break out at your next cocktail party is ‘technological determinism’. Because chatbots are all the rage right now, this will propel more travelers to start to try them out for planning their next trip, which in turn due to recursive learning will help to augment the accuracy and usefulness of these new plat...
CoMMingle Launches Review Management and Social Media Services for Restaurants
Lodging Interactive | July 19, 2023
CoMMingle:Engage not only monitors customer restaurant review websites 24/7 but also has its team of professional analysts write direct responses to each review on behalf of the restaurant. Lodging Interactive, an award-winning digital marketing, reputation management, and social media engagement agency exclusively serving the hospitality industry since 2001, is excited to announce the expansion of its flagship product, CoMMingle:Engage, to cater specifically to the restaurant industry. CoMMingle:Engage, the preferred solution for hotel customer review response and social media marketing, now off...
Noble Acquires Ten Asset Portfolio of WoodSpring Suites Hotels
Noble Investment Group | July 18, 2023
Atlanta, Georgia (Tuesday, July 18, 2023) – Noble Investment Group ("Noble") today announced the acquisition of ten WoodSpring Suites hotels located throughout the southeastern United States. The firm plans to make physical improvements across the portfolio to enhance market positioning and accelerate performance. The portfolio is located in markets throughout Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Kentucky, characterized by positive net migration, job growth, and wage growth. The extended-stay, apartment-like offerings are highly desirable for relocations, traveling health professionals, government workers, and infrastructure ...
Knowland Reports Meetings and Events Growth for June at 30.3 Percent
Knowland | July 12, 2023
Austin and Nashville performances shine brightly ARLINGTON, Va. — July 12, 2023 — Knowland, the world’s leading provider of data-as-a-service insights on meetings and events for hospitality, reports June meeting and event volume is up 30.3 percent over June 2022. This data is sourced from Knowland’s sales intelligence platform designed to help hoteliers build and protect a hotel’s revenue base. The top 25 markets in the U.S. are 90 percent recovered for year-to-date June 2023 performance compared to 2019. Austin, TX, and Nashville, TN, were the stars, with growth topping 74 percent and 42 percent, respectively. This reflect...
Instagram: The Rising Phoenix of Social Media Marketing?
Lodging Interactive | July 11, 2023
In a recent article, we discussed numerous inaccurate predictions of Facebook's downfall by many self-proclaimed "experts." In a similar vein, we now consider how Instagram offers savvy hotel marketers a true business advantage. The phrase "Instagram is dead" echoes through digital corridors, causing concern among hotel marketers. If I were to collect a penny for every time this is stated, the scent of the Caribbean's salty sea breeze would gently blow through the shutters of my private island. Yet, I understand this sentiment, as Instagram’s ever-changing landscape seems to be creating insurmountable roadblocks to follower growth and en...
KTN President Doug Kennedy Addresses Questions About His Monthly Training Webcast Series
Doug Kennedy | July 11, 2023
Each month, Doug Kennedy presents a live webcast from the KTN headquarters office in Florida, reaching hotel and lodging professionals of all levels around the globe. The rotating menu of topics includes content for all disciplines within the industry, including rooms operations, sales, and even F&B. Some topics have a broad-based theme, such as hospitality & guest service excellence, while others are very specific such as training tips, transient reservations sales, and hotel group and event sales. Everyone who registers receives a link to a live recording which they can view later if they missed the live event, or select segments...
Red Carnation Centralises Commercial Teams With an Agile Revenue Strategy
IDeaS | July 6, 2023
Founded in 1952, the Red Carnation Hotel Collection is a family-owned and operated portfolio of properties comprising 18 luxury properties around the world, each renowned for its dedication to providing exceptional guest experiences with a local flavour. The management wanted to revitalise its strategic approach to revenue management and consolidate the function within a centralised commercial team. Sarah Glanville, Red Carnation’s director of revenue, had seen the value of IDeaS’ RMS data in informing the wider commercial function and managing performance metrics. “We typically use IDeaS for most things like last room availabilit...
