This week in the news, hotel prices increased by 39% after the plane crash in San Fancisco. Every time these stories hit the press, the hospitality industry looks mercenary. What can be done? On a lighter note, a new online hotel room-sharing program, Easynest, was launched — will people organise to share rooms to cut costs or has cost got nothing to do with it?
From our feature writers — last week we asked if OTAs were crushing hotels and this week we have had a great response from Sam Weston detailing how to reduce your OTA dependency. Check out L. Aruna Dhir’s article describing the top traits of a hospitality professional. Do you possess them? Carla Caccavale gave us a new definition for SEO and explains how to turn “ouch” into an opportunity with some well crafted management responses. Finally, in the never ending debate over free wi-fi, Larry Mogelonsky looks to how airport lounges are handling the situation and finds lessons for hoteliers.
Hotels — How to Reduce OTA Dependency by Sam Weston
Reducing OTA dependency is certainly not an overnight affair; these strategies will take time. However, lay the foundations now and you'll begin to reap the rewards in a matter of months. Ignore the increasing OTA dominance of the online hospitality industry and you risk damaging the profitability and sustainability of your digital presence.
Top Ten Traits of A Hospitality Professional by L. Aruna Dhir
A Professional has the power to add a spark to or ruin your day. A Professional can set the tone for a great day ahead just as a non-professional can spoil it so badly for you that the bitterness or exasperation of the exchange carries on into your other interactions and spheres of work.
So, what are you and who do you wish to be? The choice is in your hands.
Refining SEO: What to Say to Your Guests by Carla Caccavale
The next time you think there should only be one SEO budget, think again. You need a two-pronged SEO approach. Go back to the core of hospitality and invest (not just funds, but time as well) in your online reputation. SEO in our sense of the acronym can be quite powerful for WOM (word of mouth). Positive WOM translates into more guests and right there you have your ROI for SEO investment (which revolves around ORM).
Free WiFi: Learn from the Airports! By Larry Mogelonsky
I read a lot of online hotel reviews for properties all over. My goal is to try to figure out what simple things can be done to improve the reviews. So, is it fair that people are dishing out one-out-of-five stars reviews and the sole reason given is a lack of free WiFi? No, but that’s just the way it is. Free WiFi is an easy excuse for online ridicule, but it’s also an easy problem to fix. And in terms of remedying the problem, hotels can learn quite a lot from how airport lounges and waiting areas are coping with the same situation.
About Anne Edwards
Anne Edwards combines her love of language, travel, and different cultures as Editor in Chief of ehotelier.staging.wpengine.com. Prior to this position, Anne lectured in Cross Cultural Studies at the Blue Mountains International Hotel Management School in Australia and currently consults to the Australian Federal Government on subjects such as Leadership and Building Productive Partnerships. Anne has travelled and worked internationally for twelve years, holding various positions in the field of education, most notably as linguistic advisor to the Crown Princess of Thailand for two years where she sampled some of the best hotels in the world. Her love for travel spans the freedom of wandering on a shoe-string budget to the finest standards of service in world-class properties. As Editor in Chief of one of the largest hotel news sites in the world, Anne has a birds-eye view of what is happening in the industry internationally.
