-
Biggest Meeting Industry Trend Is Increasing Use Of Technology
The Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International’s (HSMAI) Affordable Meetings® National and Event Technology Expo™ pre-show survey revealed that planners are noticing an increase in the amount of technology used for meetings, big and small. Respondents to the survey are planning to attend the Affordable Meetings® National Conference & Exposition and Event Technology Expo™, Sept. 10-11, 2008, at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C. The majority of meeting and event planners (57.5 percent) said they are incorporating technology into their meetings with the use of online registration, followed by video conferencing (20.4 percent), social networks (17.7 percent) and blogs (14.2 percent). Others mentioned the increasing use of electronic surveys, cyber cafes, and podcasts.
-
An IH&RA Update | By President Dr. Ghassan AIDI
Dear industry friends, Sustainable tourism is on the rise : consumer demand is growing, travel industry suppliers are developing new green programs, and governments are creating new policies to encourage sustainable practices in tourism. But what does sustainable tourism really mean and how can it be measured and credibly demonstrated to build consumer confidence, promote efficiency.
-
Consistency – the Key to Success | By Rob Rush
OK, let’s get down to the bottom of this. Please stand up and raise your hand if you’ve been "WOW-ed" lately. At the supermarket, dry cleaner, health club or hotel. Where have you had your socks knocked off…and then cleaned, pressed, folded and put away? How about a truly awful experience? Give me a shout out if you’ve been mistreated, ignored or taken for granted. Where have you had an experience that brought you from a simmer, to a slow boil... and then to a frothing, steaming, spewing cauldron of frustration?
-
Rezidor announces 3 new hotels in Russia
The Rezidor Hotel Group once again increases its portfolio in Russia and announces 3 new hotels with a total of 969 rooms: The Park Inn Volgograd (173 rooms) is scheduled to open in Q2 2010, followed by the Park Inn Kaliningrad (276 rooms) in Q1 2011 and the Radisson Grand Hotel Rostov-on-Don (520 rooms) in Q3 2011.
-
Institute Of Travel And Tourism Endorses Passport To The World Curriculum
The Global Travel and Tourism Partnership (GTTP), the industry supported not-for-profit educational organisation, today announces their global curriculum, Passport to the World, is now endorsed by the Institute of Travel and Tourism, the UK’s leading membership body for the travel and tourism industry. Approximately 495,000 students around the world currently study the GTTP curriculum from countries including the UK, Ireland, Brazil, Canada, Hong Kong, Hungary, Jamaica, Russia and South Africa.
-
World's Decadent Hotel Amenities | forbes.com
The hotel industry started more than a century ago when stagecoach outposts gave overland travelers a refuge from the elements--and little else. Nowadays, however, five-star properties offer well-heeled guests spa treatments, personal butlers and even room service for pets. Such popular services and experiences could be helping keep occupancy rates high. Luxury hotels have yet to suffer from the sluggish economy, with occupancy falling just 1% between January and May 2008 as compared to the same time period in 2007, according to Smith Travel Research, which collects data on the lodging industry.
-
Olympic Vacancies Haunt Beijing Hotels | businessweek.com
The Games sparked a hotel building boom, but the hordes of tourists failed to arrive. What can innkeepers do to recoup? Last year, management of the Red Hotel Beijing took over a drab Stalinist-era style hotel on the eastern side of Beijing and decided to give the old place a facelift. Located one block north of the stadium and arena scheduled to host the Olympic soccer and boxing matches, the hotel had a location that seemed a sure moneymaker for the Beijing games. So the Red Hotel invested $1.5 million to nearly double the number of rooms to 75, add a fresh coat of brick-red paint to the facade, and install wireless Internet access. Eager to recoup its investment, management—in the days before the opening ceremony on Aug. 8—started charging room rates of $262 a night, a sixfold increase over the old rates. Even with such big price increases, management figured they could fill at least 70% of their rooms with tourists during the Games.
-
DNC | Denver Hotels ready to roll | denverpost.com
The hotels, convention center and transit systems are ready for the wave of Democratic Party delegates set to flood Denver starting this weekend. In fact, the Democratic National Convention isn't the biggest act Denver has seen or will see. "There might be a few more people on every flight, but we're not going to notice," said Denver International Airport spokesman Chuck Cannon. "We've had larger conventions. When the Shriners come, they bring 50,000 people," Cannon said. The DNC is expected to bring about that many people to Denver. And one week later — with a bigger economic impact — the Custom Electronic Design & Installation Annual Fall Expo comes to town.
-
Wi-Fi is Biggest Tech Demand, Says Report on U.S. Hotels | successmtgs.com
Wireless Internet access, or Wi-Fi, is nearly pervasive at U.S. hotels, according to a new survey of hotel executives conducted by the American Hotel & Lodging Association. Eighty-six percent of hotels now offer Wi-Fi, and about one-fifth of the remaining hotels plans to add the service within the next five years, according to the survey "Current and Future Use of Technology in the Hospitality Industry," released in June. Wi-Fi deployment is about equal at chain hotels versus independent hotels (87% vs. 84%).
-
Apple Enterprise pimping Macs to hospitality industry | arstechnica.com
Apple has posted a new online seminar, called "Mac for Hospitality." The seminar pitches various digital solutions for the hospitality industry featuring Mac hardware running Nanonation software. The seminar demonstrates a variety of ways Macs can be used to enhance a customer's experience, including an iMac-based digital concierge, Mac mini-based on demand video services, and Xserve-controlled display systems. Nanonation's Nanopoint and Commandpoint software, combined with Apple hardware, make setting up and maintaining such systems easy. And iMacs and Mac minis have a style cachet that Windows PCs or generic set-top boxes don't.
|
Hospitality News
