2013 is going to be the year of social media for ehotelier and we are making it easier for our community to interact with each other by presenting our new Facebook page. Here is the link: facebook.com/ehotelierdotcom/
To get this page happening as THE go-to destination for hospitality professionals to learn, stay informed, and share, we are offering a special to hospitality businesses who ‘Like’ our new Facebook page. We will offer our Premium Newsletter Advertising Package, usually priced at $2000 for 1 month, for $800 for a two-week duration. This package includes one half tower in the newsletter, on the latest news page, the monthly archive page and detailed article pages. To take advantage of this first-time offer, simply ‘Like’ our new Facebook site and send your advertising request for review to fback@ehotelier.net.

By Jean Francois Mourier, CEO of REVPAR GURU: Revenue management was created in the mid-1980s based on the practice of yield management in the airline industry. For as long as revenue management has existed, so has the debate over which revenue management metric is most effective to determine the success (or failure) of a propertys pricing strategy. Each revenue manager has their own personal preference, but in general, today most hoteliers use occupancy and ADR as the key metrics for evaluating their progress.  At REVPAR GURU, we dont believe that occupancy and ADR alone are sufficient to actually determine whether a pricing strategy is effective. As is, neither of these metrics truly evaluate how much money will be deposited to your propertys bank account but thats another story, for another article. For today, I want to discuss ADR specifically.

By GuestCentric: Encrypted search has been on the fast track. We are now seeing websites with over 20% of their Google visits coming from "(not provided)" keywords. This trend is recent and worrisome. Some websites that had only a few percentage points in June 2012 are now at over 20%!

By Alan Campbell: Guess what people; this year we the hospitality industry are going to have the last two letter generations in our lobby, each with different needs, all under one roof. Are we going to have fun! The golden ones, and the new techies. This is going to be a sight to behold, and we may well question how to stop them from killing each other when they get together.

By Tal Shnall: When we think about Rock Stars, we think about superstar performances. We get excited and enthusiastic, telling everyone how delightful the experience was. How can we create the same energy and excitement for our customers?

By Tomasz Tunguz: When interviewing product managers at Google, we ranked candidates on four metrics: technical ability, communication skills, intellect and Googliness. A Googley person embodies the values of the company – a willingness to help others, an upbeat attitude, a passion for the company, and the most important, humility.

Backed by robust growth in hotel shoppers and an expanding international user base, leading online platform for travel reviews TripAdvisor marked a 20% increase in its 2012 revenues. Despite macro headwinds and increasing long-term investment, TripAdvisor’s Q4 2012 revenue and net income witnessed 23% and 40% y-o-y growth, respectively.

By Andrea Domanick: With 17 sommeliers and three master sommeliers on staff, Bellagio is among the most wine-savvy resorts on The Strip. The hotel-casino now offers the opportunity to share in that knowledge with its new Master Sommelier’s Wine Classroom, a series of interactive seminars designed for guests to learn about the world of wine.

By Erin Steiner: Your hotel’s online reputation is incredibly important. As recently as a few years ago, you could still rely on travel agents, books, and magazines to talk up your property to potential guests. Now, though, people use the Internet to find out everything. When they are booking their vacations, they’re using Google to figure out where they want to stay. This is why you need to do everything you can to make sure that your reputation is amazing (in a good way, of course). Here are five ways to do that.

By Rajul: I recently met Mohamed Jajbhay, Revenue Director at the tiny Beaufort Hotel — a family-run business founded by his mother and father who apparently still exert a close influence just like proud homeowners. I
was keen to learn whether this type of property has a future in a market like London: luxurious and well-run but up against globally-recognised luxury brands and flamboyant "personality" boutique hotels. And I also wanted to explore the lessons applicable for other small luxury hotels operating in equally-competitive markets.