By Larry Mogelonsky, MBA, P. Eng: Heather McCrory has been called a "Hotel Superwoman" for her abilities. I asked her how she manages the seemingly impossible task of being GM of Canada's largest hotel, let alone her other responsibilities?
Revenue ManagersStart Your Calculators!
By Alan Campbell: Many of you in the hospitality business may remember the days when people had only three ways to make a reservation: by mail, by phone, by walking in, and the price-rack rate-for that room was the same for all three categories. Enter the Revenue Manager (RM): part statistician, economist, trends reader, number of guests guesser, and room rate setter: the daily, weekly, monthly, yearly supreme prognosticator.
To Truncate or Not to Truncate? That Is the Question
By Tiffany DeShazo: It seems that in this age of tweets, texts, status updates, and character limitations, formal writing with correct grammar and spelling has gone right out the window. Acronyms, shortcuts, and abbreviations abound to save time and space. Words and phrases like ‘great', ‘see you tonight', ‘talk to you later', and ‘thanks for your help' are typed as ‘gr8t', ‘c u 2nite', ‘TTYL', and ‘thx 4 ur help'. But is this method of communicating right for your business? You see, the way you communicate to your customers still matters.
Business Travel On Upswing as Consumers Look for Value
By Claudette Covey: Despite the challenges of the economy, budget cuts and new travel fees, business travel has been on the upswing over the past five years, according to Embassy Suites fifth annual business travel survey. Only one in five survey respondents has travelled less for business since 2008.
Hyper-Personalization Is Your Company Ready?
By EyeforTravel: Personalization means going far beyond just acknowledging that the customer is valued. Understanding what it is the consumer wants, needs and indeed when they want to hear from you and how, sets brands aside from their competitors and wins sales. You can only do this however, if the tools you have permit. Thankfully such tools are advancing.
Zagat Picks the USA’s Most Iconic Restaurants
By Gary Stoller: Many business travellers return regularly to cities' iconic restaurants, places where a famous dish, local cuisine, decor, service or history make an out-of-towner feel as though they're a part of a city or even a regular customer. Restaurant guidebook and online publisher Zagat has chosen iconic restaurants in 15 cities.
Indulge in Wishful Thinking
By Jackie Cooperman: It's hard to find an elite travel company that doesn't offer packages with spectacular suites and access to private islands. But today's top-grade services go further, customizing over-the-top trips for you and yours.
Five Ways to Engage and Reward Loyal Customers
When devising new business growth strategies, consider the "80/20" rule. Often, 80 percent of revenue comes from just 20 percent of a business's customers. As well as being extremely valuable right now, your most loyal customers are also the future of your business – so engaging them and keeping them loyal is crucial.
China – Now Worlds No. 1 Tourism Source Market
Over the past decade China has been, and still is, the fastest-growing tourism source market in the world.
A Blueprint to SEO Success: Creating Professional and Engaging Copy for the Hotel Website
By Erica Garza: The property website continues to be the hotelier's most important distribution and marketing channel. The main goal of any hotel website is to turn lookers into bookers. A number of factors help to achieve this goal, including eye-catching design and a user-friendly layout. The look and feel of a website may initially grab the user's attention, while the copy contains the core information about the hotel that will convince that visitor to make a booking. Accurate, engaging, and relevant content – all written with the brand's voice in mind – is what gives users that final push to click "Book Now."
