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LEADERSHIP
August 14, 2019225 | LinkedIn Means Business: How to use social media to grow
It’s not what you know, it’s who you know. That career adage is about 100 years old, but it still rings true today, especially when it comes to social media. If you’re not tuned into social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn, it’s time to reconsider. With more than 3 billion people read more
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DIVERSITY
August 7, 2019224 | Mixed Message: Multicultural and heritage tourism is big business
Most people the world over think of the United States as a multicultural melting pot. We are still quintessentially American, but from north to south and east to west, our cities and outlying communities are dotted with districts defined by residents’ ethnicity and culture. Today, the more developed and culturally defined areas are attracting visitors read more
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DIVERSITY
July 31, 2019223 | Grading Curves: NAACP diversity report card reveals weaknesses in hotel companies
“Equal opportunity for people of color in the United States remains an unrealized goal.” That is the opening statement in a recently released study by NAACP. The same opening statement appears in the organization’s 2012 report on diversity in the U.S. hotel industry. The 2019 study titled “Opportunity & Diversity Report Card: The Hotel & read more
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DESIGN & DEVELOPMENT
July 24, 2019222 | Flying Solo: What it takes to go from franchised to independent
Independent hotel supply in the U.S. has decreased in the past 10 years, reports STR. The lodging-data company reports independently owned and operated hotels account for less than 40 percent of all hotels. About 1 percent of those close each year. But that trend may take a turn. It appears more and more hoteliers who read more
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HOME SHARING
July 17, 2019221 | Home Sharing’s Heavy Hitters: Airbnb’s genius is branding (Part 2)
Last week, part one of our report on Airbnb looked at the home-sharing giant’s impact on hotel business performance. We reported on a study that shows for every 100 percent increase in Airbnb accommodations in a market, hotel RevPAR declines by an average 3 percent. We also reported a growth in the number of whole read more
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HOME SHARING
July 10, 2019220 | Disruptive Innovator: Measuring Airbnb’s impact (Part 1)
More than 10 years ago, the short-term home rental industry began to shapeshift with the birth of Airbnb. The technology company has quickly grown from a small peer-to-peer home-sharing platform into a virtual behemoth with more rooms than any hotel company on the planet. Today, Airbnb has more than 4 million listings in nearly 100,000 read more
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EMPLOYEE RECRUITMENT & RETENTION
July 3, 2019219 | Train and Retain: Hospitality apprenticeship fills high-level jobs
It’s no secret the hospitality industry in America is in dire need of skilled employees. Many hotel owners and operators continually seek ways to attract and keep talent. The Bureau of Labor Statistics says the hospitality industry has a turnover rate of nearly 75 percent per year, compared to a healthy rate of 10 to read more
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DIVERSITY
June 26, 2019218 | Yes, Girls Allowed: More women venturing into hotel investment
Who invests money better, men or women? Fidelity Investments found surprising answers to that question when it surveyed nearly 3,000 people. The group was almost evenly divided between the sexes. Yet only a tenth of women said their investments would outperform men’s. Meantime, a separate analysis by Fidelity shows women consistently generated larger returns on read more
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LODGING LEADERS
June 19, 2019217 | Rainy Days Ahead: Hotels advised to prepare for a downturn
Many hotel-business experts believe an industry downturn is at hand. Some say it will happen as soon as next year. Others expect business to slow in 2021. So, is the forecasted slowdown based on fact, an economic algorithm, or is it more of a gut feeling? In this episode of Lodging Leaders we try to read more
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GUEST SERVICES & PROGRAMS
June 12, 2019216 | Wellness Travel: Get your business in shape for an emerging trend
Wellness … However you define it, we all want it. The hospitality industry is one of the business sectors where consumers of wellness seek it. The Global Wellness Institute reports wellness tourism is a $640 billion industry. In North America alone, travelers made 204 million trips and spent $242 billion on wellness in 2017. In read more
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CRIMES IN HOTELS
June 5, 2019215 | Hotel Crime: How to manage a high-profile case
When a hotel becomes a crime scene, there is little an owner or manager can do to ward off publicity. But a hotel can recover from a crisis and save its image if it has a plan in place to deal with the aftermath of a high-profile incident. Hotel crime has escalated around the world, read more
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CANNABIS HOTELS
May 22, 2019214 | The Weed Frontier: How hotels are capitalizing on cannabis
Marijuana consumption in America has lost its stigma, and it is on track to become a $23 billion U.S. market over the next couple years. Hotels in states that have legalized recreational and medicinal marijuana are just beginning to think about how to incorporate the trend into their businesses. The laws can be confusing. Cannabis read more
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LODGING LEADERS
May 15, 2019213 | Event Entrepreneur: What’s behind The Lodging Conference success
Harry Javer is founder of The Lodging Conference, one of the hospitality industry’s must-do events. This year, The Lodging Conference will mark its 25th anniversary. Lodging Leaders talks with Harry about the genesis of The Lodging Conference, what it offers industry leaders, as well as newcomers to the hotel business, and how attendees can make read more
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LODGING LEADERS
May 8, 2019212 | Can We Talk? Why women don’t negotiate
This episode of Lodging Leaders explores why women in business often don’t negotiate and why they don’t win at the negotiating table as often as their male counterparts. We identify some fundamental stumbling blocks and barriers to women’s ability to get what they want. And we offer experts’ advice on how to craft a negotiation read more
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DESIGN & DEVELOPMENT
May 1, 2019211 | Triple Whammy: Tri-branded hotels change playing field
Nashville, Tennessee, is home to the country’s first tri-branded Marriott hotel. Developed by North Point Hospitality Group, the 470-room limited-service property consists of transient brands AC Hotel and SpringHill Suites, and Residence Inn, an extended-stay hotel. Located in downtown’s SoBro neighborhood where government offices are located, the $140 million complex is also across from Music read more
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DIVERSITY
April 24, 2019210 | Black-Owned Hotels: NABHOOD opens doors to opportunity
African American travel is a $63 billion industry. That’s how much black leisure travelers generated for the U.S. travel and tourism economy in 2018, reports Mandala Research. The December report is a follow-up to Mandala Research’s 2010 study on the same topic. The new information shows a $25 billion increase in travel spend by African read more