Group items tagged

ARTICLE SUMMARY Introduction and evolution of Internet has revolutionized the way hotel operators and business in general approach daily activities and strategic planning. Internet is to modern business what electricity was to the industrial revolution. Internet has become a very important tool in generating revenues, lowering costs, increasing productivity, and increasing online visibility and therefore hotel and tourism operators need to utilize this tool to compete and be successful. The future of eMarketing in hospitality and tourism industries is bright and will serve the industry well for many years to come.

This article talks about e-marketing and how it is going to take over the industry. It mentions that the number of people on the interent is increasing and rapidly. E-marketing need to "create interesst, excitement and buy-ins at their hotels". Now with social media, e-marketing is becoming more accessible. "The level of emphasis and extent of experimentation varies greatly by hotel group and location, but growing importance, both for generating revenues, lower costs adn online visibility, is indisputable".

Are you a hotel eMarketer looking for ways to better communicate, educate and develop the role at your property/ies? This article explores some of the issues surrounding these efforts, complemented by a dose of perspective and a generous helping of best practices, all garnished, hopefully, by your own ideas and experiences. By Jitendra Jain

Conrad hotels launched a new video documentary through their facebook. That video documentary enabled guests to find meaningful connections with the cultures that sorround them. For instance, Conrad Seoul video shows not only Conrad's features but also introduces food cultures in Seoul including traditional and modern cuisine. This documentary video can be found on facebook.com/conradhotels. That kind of marketing via social media could be effective due to the easy access for whom to use SNS.

National Geographic designed a rigorous program to select the hotels they felt were aiming to satisfy guests while promoting the natural and cultural heritage of a region, as well as focusing on the environment.  This is a short article that briefly describes the selection process and lists the hotels that have "passed the test".  I found the three main questions posed by NatGeo to be very pertinent.  I am sure that as NatGeo launches the promotional campaign for the properties that made the list, others will want to join this select group. These other lodges and hotels will thus adjust their practices and policies, and essentially become greener and more focused on protecting and sustaining the environment. 

This articles discusses the importance of having an HRIS in place and knowing how to cope with it by having different staff members. Most hospitality business have a lot of multi cultural people that come from different background and speak different languages and have different believes. The key importance of HR is to make sure all feel welcomed and are being integrated properly into the work space. By feeling a safe workspace staff members do a better job and work with more moral.

The power of partnerships The tourism industry is partnering with other organizations to solve problems on how to bring a more sustainable tourism. Global impact is an international multi-stakeholders consensus to bring together companies, UN agencies, government and communities to support environment. The project need not only for NGOs to facilitate contracts but also for governments to have the right legislations dealing with sustainable tourism. Tourism can affect three key areas: * Communities: Tourism creates economic opportunity but should not affect negatively traditions and local cultures. * Individuals: Tourism should be creating the right safe working environment. * Environment: Tourism should not damage the environment. Any waste should be disposed of properly. Tourism can achieve positive impacts on the region such as funding wild life conservations. There are se several partnerships that develop to better control the tourism industry and its impacts on the region. To be successful a partnership must have appropriate stakeholders, mutually agreed goal and process, and sensitivity to the power members among other characteristics.

Internet is to business today what electricity is to industry and good living, we had 1 of 5 people on the planet already connect to the internet. And how much information and we can gain from internet, and the bigger challenge today is to ensure those who are following you can catch up. In the hospitality industry, the rift between tech-savvy users and those who're just sitting up and taking notice of the Internet revolution is even more pronounced. E-commerce and e-marketing are just starting to make a mark in the industry, much like revenue management did a while ago. So the future of e-commerce in the hospitality industry is guaranteed to be a bright one. And the savvy hotel emarketer has a lot to gain, including room to grow. While, to create interest, excitement and buy-in at your hotels. The path to achieving these lofty goals, there have some issues and opportunities: 1. Create an online culture included habits, attitudes and belifes. 2. 'e'ducate: Audit yourself, identify key tasks and projects that must be completed to bridge the gap between where you are as a hotel and where you want to be in terms of eMarketing prowess. 3.Obtain buy-in, communicate and report: Ensure that the decision-makers at the property/ies support all significant projects and hotel department heads are involved if issues affect their department in any way. Implement practices for daily, weekly, monthly and quarterly communication to keep things consistent and regular. 4.Reach all levels: Perhaps the hardest thing to do in hotels is to reach and communicate at most (if not all) levels of the organization. One solution is to create an "eTeam".5.Go back to basics: Computer Access,understanding the role of the internet in the hotel business and learning what the Internet is and how to send emails to family and friends. 6. Rinse and repeat. Persist. Enjoy. You may not accomplish everything you hoped to…or get across to everyone, but each little success and each new person

This article is in essence about the broken tipping system within American culture today. The title in my opinion is a bit exaggerated but is truthful nonetheless. People within the service industry are being horribly mistreated by being underpaid and forced to rely upon tips for wages. The issue with this is that specifically women are being forced to dress skimpy and act a certain way (possibly flirtatiously) In order to possibly get better tips. With their salary being on average around $2 an hour, without tips they are being forced to live far below the poverty line. So, it's not tipping that makes you inadvertently sexist, it's that tips contribute to woman acting in a more appealing way to male customers in order to pull the standard tip percentage (20% to 25%).

This article shows that internet becomes more and more popular in people's daily life and at the same time e-commerce and e-marketing are just starting to make a mark in the industry, so hospitality industry should take this opportunity to focus on the importance of e-marketing.

This article is based on the new trend of traveling & what the travel agents need to stay aware of. Climate change and global warming is on the rise and the majority of the people are starting to make a change. Yes, people are switching vehicles to fuel efficient but are starting to recycle a lot more but people are also changing their traveling motives. Instead of spending a week in the sun at a luxury resort, travelers are wanting more of a cultural experience and yearning to learn about other ways of life. There is a shift in activities which people are starting to take up. A more personal and low key tour of a family or small village is the ideal excursion now. Travelers are also taking into account the carbon emissions they are producing while traveling to their destination. Traveling by train or boat is making a come back instead of flying or driving.

In the hospitality industry, the rift between tech-savvy users and those who're just sitting up and taking notice of the Internet revolution is even more pronounced. E-commerce and e-marketing are just starting to make a mark in the industry, much like revenue management did a while ago.The level of emphasis and extent of experimentation varies greatly by hotel group and location, but the growing importance, both for generating revenues, lower costs and online visibility, is indisputable. So the future of e-commerce in the hospitality industry is guaranteed to be a bright one. But what can hotel eMarketers do to ensure interest and support at hotels? How do you create a culture of understanding and mutual growth? It still should to be think about by the future hotel managers.

The new trend of ecommerce in 2012 is to move to mobile. Based on the research, customers who are doing online mobile businesses have increased fast during recent years, and it is anticipated that the number of customers doing mobile ecommerce will continue to increase in the future, therefore, many online retailors turn to move their businesses to mobiles. There are some reasons why online retailers need to move to mobile. First, there is a growing usage of mobile devices, such as smart phones and tablets. 30 percent of tablet owners have used their devices to shop online, and 25 of smart phone owners have used their phones to do the same. Second: Mobile is convenience. Mobile-users can do online shopping at anywhere without a heavy laptop or a computer. However, there are some challenges. Smartphone has a reduced screen size and the limited capability of mobile device browsers. Online retailers need to supply their websites in a smartphone-friendly version. And for the tablets, a technology called Flash is not supported by all tablets. These changes can arise some costs for the retailer. In a word, it is a time to go mobile, online retailors need to realize this"cultural shift" and take action or they will get left behind. In my own opinion, I still prefer to use computer to do online shopping, because it is more secure and reliable. However, if the mobile ecommerce become mature, I will not reject to try to use it to do online shopping.

The Sorell Hotel Ador is a leader in hotel sustainability. In this article they discuss the many different ways the hotel is sustainable. Not only are they installing products that will reduce environmental impact, but they are also working with other programs outside of their hotels. They are also focusing on important factors of sustainability such as economic issues, cultural issues and of course as mentioned before environmental issues.

The focus of the article is to highlight how the event industry is becoming more popular among the hospitality industry in Nigeria. It mentions the Events Market Nigeria (EMN) group aims to provide a places that allows for growth and development within the event industry with the newcomers and experienced event planners. The event that was hosted by the EMN, provides free gathering that offer different speakers to offer advice and their experience to those attendees willing to listen. Throughout the article, it states that the country of Nigeria has a population of "almost $200 million people and a reputation for an ostentatious culture", which makes it a perfect place to invest in the event industry. Especially due to the fact that the industry is a source of a more favorable return on investment even though other sources in Nigeria are considered more attractive. What makes the event industry profitable, is the ability to venture with other businesses such as venues, catering, event planning and more. But with all the good, the article does point out the issues such as liability and the lack of rules that are set for the industry. I think that it's an important topic to consider because hotels are implementing a source of revenue with renting out meeting spaces and catering services to outside companies. With more and more events being planned, I think it's a great business to venture in. The ability to have an events department within a hotel or even a restaurant gives the establishment to produce more revenue within other departments. Such as a hotel, the planning of a meeting not only brings in the revenue of the space being rented but also to Food and Beverage with the catering aspect and the front desk with the rooms being occupied by the clients and attendees.

The article describes the main cyber threats that the hospitality companies face. Over past few years, nearly every major hotel group has been attacked. The same is true for the F&B industry. One of the reasons for that is that the hospitality companies are the ones that process credit card information more than in any other industries. Moreover, hotels and restaurants have many access points for the malware: from wifi networks to POS's. The attackers may also use the third party suppliers (for example, OTA's) to access the hotels' systems. Verizon 2017 Security Payment Report states that less than a half of all hospitality businesses have full credit card payment security compliance. The main type of the attack is POS intrusion. Denial-of-Service Attacks constitute about 20% of the total number. Although they are not so dangerous in terms of sensitive information, they can disturb the company's operations causing significant losses as well. Thus, the hotels and restaurants need to invest in early detection protection provided by the effective firewalls and antiviruses. However, it is also very important to understand that no technology may ever fully substitute the security culture of the company's employees. Many attacks are conducted due to the personal weaknesses of the associates answering the calls, for example. So, in my opinion, in addition to the cyber security systems, there should be appropriate personnel training as well as well elaborated procedure protocols.

This article greatly described the importance and significance event management has for the tourism industry. Special events definitely draws individuals in to multiple destinations, which delivers a huge boost for the tourism industry.

This article talks about how different types of events are important for tourism. Events such as mega, hallmark, major and local events attract more tourists such as the olympic games or the Superbowl. Some destinations are visited only for special events, driving more tourism to that destination. As tourism has become very dependent on effective event management, small events such as arranging tours in a destination have led to an increase in tourism. The development of tourism and the introduction of new destinations reveals the huge perspectives for the growth of event management. The majority of most social activities, such as festivals, and other recreational events have become possible due to the successful event management and the travelers that they attract.

Event Management can be both local and global, it is the management of various activities including conventions, meeting and other major activities. Tourism is not considered a part of event management; it is classified as a set of tourism related activities. Tourism is thus divided into various niche activities. No matter what tourism type you choose, event management will always be a part of the activity. There are various types of classifications. Events may be condsidered Mega, Hallmark, Major or local. It is necessary to recognize the importance of events to the tourism product, and as such, you should never take for granted the need for proper and effective coordination. It is also important to note that events such as cultural activities also aid in destination development. A key factor in having these events is to promote the destination and attract more visitors, particularly at times in the season when things are slow. The introduction of events can serve to stimulate local economies and draw attention to unseen parts of the destination, as well as aid in the building of infrastructure in those communities. It is also important to note any event requires significant planning, the who, what, where and how allows a better understanding of how a proposed event may impact a destination's image and can help with building a stronger global brand. The significance of tourism in event management is centered around possible offshoot activities such as tours and entertainment or any other economic benefits that maybe be derived beyond the event itself. By creating such signature activities, it is likely that you broker relationships with visitors, which could likely create loyalty to your brand.

Robots can increase efficiency and productivity in hotels, but they also pose challenges which include cost, skill deficits, and changes to the culture of hotels. With the COVID-19 pandemic there is more interest in developing these robots in hotels to limit human interaction. These systems would require someone for upkeep to the robots and software involved.

Restaurants have long focused on improving kitchen efficiencies, but they now need to also focus on data efficiencies. Analyzing sales and labor reports on a daily basis rather than weekly allows managers to make more timely decisions that impact revenue and profit. Data should also be presented in simple, meaningful terms which benefit managers and line staff. Owners and GMs need to foster a "data first" culture when seeking to improve efficiency, service, and value.

The future of e-commerce in the hospitality industry is guaranteed to be a bright one. And the savvy hotel emarketer has a lot to gain, including room to grow, experiment and "wow" (from SEO to SEM, blogging to social networking, there's plenty to keep the eager hotel eMarketer busy experimenting). But what about those in the industry just climbing on-board, especially employees in hotel operations and those struggling to make sense of the opportunities and challenges presented by the Internet? What can hotel eMarketers do to ensure interest and support at hotels? How do you create a culture of understanding and mutual growth? The answer is simple…create interest, excitement and buy-in at your hotels.