Hospitality Net: Latest Industry News

Expedia Releases 2012 Flip Flop Report: Study Examines Beachgoer Behavior and Preferences Across Five Continents

Fri, 18 May 2012 13:29:56

Expedia.com®, the world's largest online travel agency, today released the results of the 2012 Flip Flop Report, an analysis of behavior and preferences among beachgoers in North America, South America, Europe, Asia and Australia. Harris Interactive, on behalf of Expedia.com, conducted the online study among 8,599 adults in 21 countries. Global study reveals attitudes toward price, beach quality, sharks and nudity; Expedia responds to surge in beach interest by launching the biggest Summer Sale in its history and the "Expedia Beachgoer" Facebook App

Sleep Inn and MainStay Suites Introduce Dual-Branded Combination Hotel Prototype

Fri, 18 May 2012 13:19:11

Today at the company's 58th annual convention, Choice Hotels International unveiled a new dual-brand combination hotel prototype for its Sleep Inn and MainStay Suites brands. The combined Sleep Inn and MainStay Suites hotel design joins two great brands under one roof. With a highly efficient design and operating model, it allows for unique construction options in markets that could support more than a standalone Sleep Inn or MainStay Suites hotel.

Choice's Comfort Brands To Open First Hotel to Feature New Truly Yours Design

Fri, 18 May 2012 13:15:52

Announced today at its franchisor's 58th Annual Convention inLas Vegas, the first-ever Comfort hotel to feature the brand's entirely new design package is scheduled to open next month -- the Comfort Inn & Suites hotel of SpokaneValley, Wash.As the first hotel to boast the new Comfort design, the recently-converted Spokane Valley Comfort Inn & Suites hotel replaced all of its existing furniture, fixtures, and equipment to incorporate the new Comfort Truly Yours prototype design package.

W Hotels Worldwide Selects Rising International DJs to Participate in 2012 W Hotels & burn studios DJ Lab

Fri, 18 May 2012 13:06:24

W Hotels Worldwide, in collaboration with burn studios, an innovative music platform developed by burn®, a globally leading energy drink from The Coca-Cola Company, today announced the new international DJs who have been selected to participate in the second annual W Hotels & burn studios DJ Lab. In addition, a global search has launched on whotels.com/musicto find the final DJ, representing Asia, to join the curated group. The DJ Lab is designed to bring together the most exciting rising DJ talent from around the globe and provide them with unprecedented mentorship and valuable tools to help them realize their full potential. The chosen participants will polish their skills during a weeklong DJ "boot camp" at W Retreat & Spa Bali – Seminyak this July in preparation for a global tour hosted at W Hotels and Retreats around the world.

Market Overview Madrid vs Barcelona | HVS

Fri, 18 May 2012 13:02:45

By Esther Gladen. The article deals with the hotel and tourism markets in Madrid and Barcelona, reviewing 2011 data and comparing with previous years. The reader will learn about visitation, performance, supply, especially the five-star segment in both cities. Barcelona´s hotels are achieving a better overall performance than Madrid at the moment and this may not only be related to overall lower supply, which it has when comparing the number of visitors per hotel room. There are several other factors in the game. Certainly the nature of this destination city, close to the beach and the mountains, plays an important role. Last year Barcelona saw nearly one million more international visitors than Madrid and these may have been the reason why Barcelona, with 17 per cent fewer visitors in total, achieved nearly the same number of guestnights as Madrid.

Middle East/Africa hotel pipeline for April 2012 | STR Global

Fri, 18 May 2012 12:56:21

The Middle East/Africa hotel development pipeline comprises 494 hotels totalling 126,606 rooms, according to the April 2012 STR Global Construction Pipeline Report. Among the Chain Scale segments, the Upper Upscale segment accounted for the largest portion of the total active pipeline with 31.5 percent and 39,844 rooms. Three other segments each accounted for more than 15 percent of rooms in the total active pipeline: the Luxury segment (20.6 percent with 26,102 rooms); the Upscale segment (+20.1 percent with 25,486 rooms); and the Unaffiliated segment (16.1 percent with 20,384 rooms).

Europe hotel pipeline for April 2012 | STR Global

Fri, 18 May 2012 12:54:28

The Europe hotel development pipeline comprises 908 hotels totalling 145,437 rooms, according to the April 2012 STR Global Construction Pipeline Report. Year-to-date 2012, 82 properties have opened totalling 10,071 rooms. There are 197 more properties planned to open in 2012 with 30,851 rooms. The Upscale segment is expected to add the most rooms in the remainder of 2012 with 44 properties comprising 7,213 rooms, followed by the Unaffiliated segment (43 properties with 5,406 rooms) and the Upper Midscale segment (34 properties with 5,074 rooms).

Asia/Pacific hotel pipeline for April 2012 | STR Global

Fri, 18 May 2012 12:53:41

The Asia/Pacific hotel development pipeline comprises 1,591 hotels totalling 365,507 rooms, according to the April 2012 STR Global Construction Pipeline Report. Among the region"s markets, New Delhi, India, reported the largest expected room growth (+43.3 percent) if all 11,049 rooms in its total active pipeline open. Other markets to report expected room growth of more than 20 percent: Mumbai, India (+25.3 percent with 4,907 rooms); Bali, Indonesia (+24.6 percent with 8,403 rooms); Manila, Philippines (+23.6 percent with 4,883 rooms); and Jakarta, Indonesia (+22.6 percent with 6,779 rooms).

Cornell Center for Real Estate and Finance Offers New Report Series

Fri, 18 May 2012 12:51:52

With reports explaining a new series of hotel real estate indices and an analysis of gateway cities, the new report series from the Center for Real Estate and Finance (CREF) at the School of Hotel Administration fills a gap in publications for the hospitality real estate and finance industry. "Our faculty have been actively publishing in the discipline academic journals," observed CREF executive director Jan deRoos. "What we are doing here is to make this valuable research accessible to the industry, students, and other academics." All CREF reports are available at no charge.

TRUMP HOTEL COLLECTION™ Installs EzRMS™ at its Two Most Recent Property Openings

Fri, 18 May 2012 12:22:03

Leading global provider of SaaS Revenue and Yield Management solutions, Easy (Ez) Revenue Management Solutions Ltd. (EasyRMS) proudly announces two important additions to its rapidly growing portfolio of prestigious properties around the world. An EasyRMS client since March 2007, the TRUMP HOTEL COLLECTION"s™ latest properties Trump Ocean Club® International Hotel & Tower Panama and Trump International Hotel & Tower Toronto® have been deployed with the EzRMS™ Revenue Management solution, ensuring each of their collection of luxury properties maximize their market potential and revenues.

NCR Launches ‘Key’ to Seamless Hotel Check-in

Thu, 17 May 2012 14:20:26

NCR Corporation today launched NCR Express Keya hotel check-in kiosk that lets guests who have checked in online or via a mobile collect their room key without queuing at reception, meeting consumers" needs for the same convenience and speed they get with airline and car rental check-in.

Renaissance Bo'ao Resort & Spa to Open in China in 2015

Thu, 17 May 2012 14:11:54

Marriott International, Inc. (NYSE: MAR) today announced it has reached the milestone figure of 250 open and signed hotels in Asia, with the 250th hotel to be located in Bo"ao in China. This represents 129 open hotels plus our development pipeline of 121 projects - totaling more than 75,000 rooms in 15 countries.

Online Advertising: It's not the tool but what you do with it that counts | By Ritesh Gupta

Thu, 17 May 2012 14:08:37

Interview: Getting results from an online advertising campaign may not be easy but Barbara Pezzi, Director of Analytics & Search Optimisation at Fairmont Raffles Hotels International, says it is possible. Here she shares some tactics for delivering online advertising benefits in a multi-channel world with EyeforTravel"s Ritesh Gupta

Roger Smith Hotel Drives Mobile and Facebook Bookings with Pegasus Solutions

Thu, 17 May 2012 14:02:10

New York"s Roger Smith Hotel is now driving mobile and Facebook reservations through tools provided by Pegasus Solutions. The Midtown Manhattan boutique has launched a mobile site leveraging OpenFlex from Open Hospitality, a division of Pegasus, and has tapped the OpenView booking engine to capture "Facebookings."

Newport Hospitality Group Celebrates 21 Years of Success

Thu, 17 May 2012 13:58:20

Newport Hospitality Group (NHG) held its 21st annual General Manager Conference at Kingsmill Resort on April 15 to April 18, 2012. The conference ran three days with marketing presentations, idea sharing sessions and safety and security workshops all designed to promote continued improvement in the 35 hotels managed by this Williamsburg based hotel management company. The conference culminated on its final night with the annual awards dinner where NHG leaders recognized the exceptional performers of 2011.

Video: U.S. Hotel Profits: Prosperity Spreads | PKF Reports

Thu, 17 May 2012 13:49:11

The U.S. lodging industry recovery may have begun in 2010, but it wasn"t until 2011 that the improved prosperity was shared by nearly all hotels in the country. In 2011, 80.5 percent of the properties that participated in the 2012 Trends® in the Hotel Industry survey enjoyed an increase in total revenue, while nearly three-quarters (72.3%) of the participants achieved growth in profits.

ContactPoint, Maker of LogMyCalls, Announces Partnership with Kennedy Training Network

Thu, 17 May 2012 13:42:01

ST. GEORGE, Utah – May 17, 2012 – ContactPoint today announced an alliance partnership with Kennedy Training Network (KTN) to integrate its LogMyCalls platform into KTN training, call assessment and coaching services. This means that KTN now offers its training, coaching and mystery shopping clients a new alternative to traditional "shop calls."

How To Maximize Your PPC Budget: Use Negative Keywords

Thu, 17 May 2012 13:34:59

While many businesses may be engaged in Pay Per Click advertising, there may be a few who are not taking advantage of using negative keywords. In this article, we will outline the importance of using negative keywords, and we"ll begin by listing the adverse effects of not doing so.

Technology – A Hoteliers Best Friend Or Worst Enemy? | By Tom Costello

Thu, 17 May 2012 13:33:27

I read an interesting post today from Michelle Schumate who is a Regional Director of Operations with The Hamister Group. Michelle and Hamister"s idea about "Treating Guests As Friends In The Extended Stay Industry" helps to remind all of us who are involved in the hospitality industry that hotel guests deserve attention that goes well beyond check in, a clean and comfortable room, and a receipt upon check out. So the question becomes is technology beginning to create barriers that are isolating hoteliers from their guests?

RateGain's Hotel Pricing Trends - Europe (May - Jul 2012)

Thu, 17 May 2012 13:30:53

Data trends on cheapest hotel rates as well as median rate for three months of three, four and five star hotels across some of the major cities in Europe. This set covers May to July 2012, taken in the 1st week of May 2012 (all rates are in US dollars for two adults for a one-night stay).