More than 5,000 people have signed a petition demanding higher standards at Disneyland Paris. Thousands claims the French theme park is 'literally falling apart' with broken rides, reheated food and cancelled shows.

By feature writer Lily Lin, MBA, Ph.D.: Michel Gehrig is the Vice President of Talent Development at the Kempinski Hotels’ Geneva headquarters. He has spent most of his career in F&B working as the Executive Chef for a number of well-known international hotel chains. A year ago, Kempinski made a surprise move and offered Michel Gehrig his current position. He explains how success has come to him by taking the attitude of the employees of a Michelin-star restaurant.

By feature writers Naomi L. Stark and Amy Bair: Do your Housekeeping & Maintenance departments still use manual tracking? (Most still do!) How much paper do you think they use? These two departments are definitely the last to go “paperless” in hotels.  We’ve updated and upgraded most departments in our hotels except those.  Why is that? Perhaps today’s article will be a tipping point, permanently shifting our industry forward, at least for you.

By Jim Butler and the Global Hospitality Group®: The case of USA v. Koger is significant because it is a criminal case. It involves big names in the hotel industry — a significant hotel brokerage firm, the largest lodging REIT in the country and other well-known industry players in the roles of good guys and bad guys. This kind of problem is certainly not the norm of hotel brokerage, nor even very common. The acts complained of here, however, are flagrant and outrageous.

By feature writer Brett Patten: And even more importantly, why should they give their trust and loyalty to your business? What makes your hotel organization or business brand so special from all the other hotels in the marketplace? Before answering this question, I would like you to evaluate these three examples before you respond.

Global Staff Movements for September 2013 (part 1) provided by Spectrum International.

By feature writer Patrick Landman: There have been many new online travel website initiatives launched over the last 2 years. Meta-search and social travel platforms are changing the hotel distribution landscape forever. In particluar, websites like AirBnB have shaken up the travel market. However there are a few which might be taking the peer 2 peer travel concept a bit over the top.

By Brittany Aller: It's time to kick the old Frommer's guides and outdated maps to the curb and start using your hotel standalone website as a one-stop shop for guests seeking area info. They already skimmed through your website while searching for hotels in the area and then booked a room online. Now, start positioning the site as a helpful tool for the guest to reference while staying at the hotel.

Shares of Marriott International Inc. and Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. climbed in U.S. trading after China’s richest man Wang Jianlin said he has hired two investment banks to buy hotel management companies.

By feature writer Steve Curtin: Too often, customer service is viewed as a department, a designated employee’s job role or, someone else’s responsibility. Because of this limited view of customer service, many employees are content to simply execute a series of mandatory job functions until the end of their shifts—blissfully unaware of the myriad opportunities forfeited to make lasting positive impressions on their customers.