How well does your company meet the demands of the connected traveller? Thirty-five percent of travelers who have an unsatisfactory mobile experience with a hotel, airlines or booking site won't book again. With the mobile travel booking pie projected to be $25 billion, can you afford to alienate travellers?

By Kenneth Rapoza: Emptying out the Louis Vuitton store of Neverfulls in Paris is so 2010. Affluent Chinese don't just want to shop til they drop, though they will still continue to do just that. What they want are VIP tickets to a Lakers game and to meet Prince Albert II of Monaco at a dinner party on the sidelines of a yacht sales event. For the uber-rich of China, traditional luxury has now gone post-luxury.

By Sule Aygoren: The profit outlook for full-service, resort and convention hotels is bright. However, the forecast for limited-service hotels is decidedly less sunny. The hotel industry overall is expected to see 6.5% compound annual growth in room revenue through 2016, resulting in a CAGR of 6.1% percent in total hotel revenue during the same period.

Forbes Travel Guide has today announced its expansion into Europe, bringing its globally recognised Star Rating programme to central London's top hotels and spas. Six hotels and two hotel spas have been awarded the coveted Forbes Travel Guide Five-Star rating.

By Kitty Yancey: Those who travelled to Las Vegas last year were less likely to gamble, but more likely to spend money on shopping and lodging. That's according to the recently released 2012 Las Vegas Visitor Profile Study. The study, done for the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, was based on interviews with about 3,600 out-of-towners aged 21 and older at sites around the city.

By Hugo Martin: Despite all the money and effort hotels put into selecting comfortable beds and soft pillows, a new study suggests that hotel guests are more likely to choose a hotel based on the water pressure in the shower.

By Aoife Dowling: Baccarat, the renowned French crystal company, is moving into another luxury arena with ultra high-end residences, hotels and resorts with spas. The company plans to open six hotel/resorts/residences by 2016 – three of which will be located in Morocco.

By Tricia Carr: The CEO of Starwood Hotels & Resorts said at the American Express Publishing Luxury Summit 2013 that the world is experiencing an age of change, which is altering the definition of luxury.

By Sue Wiker and Sara O’Brien: There are a number of digital marketing initiatives that generate direct bookings, incremental revenues and high ROIs to the direct online channel such as SEO, SEM, email marketing and online media. Over the past few years several new revenue-generating digital marketing initiatives have emerged that, until recently, were only available to OTAs and major hotel brands. Requiring sophisticated CRS access, advertising middleware technology, and out-of-range minimum monthly spends, these initiatives have traditionally been inaccessible to independent properties, smaller and mid-size hotel and resort brands, and casinos. One such revenue-generating opportunity is the Google Hotel Price Ads (HPA) program.