Latest News
STR reports US hotel pipeline for April 2012
The total active U.S. hotel development pipeline comprises 2,770 projects totaling 292,806 rooms, according to the April 2012 STR/McGraw Hill Construction Dodge Pipeline Report. This represents a 9.0-percent decrease in the number of rooms in the total active pipeline compared to April 2011. The total active pipeline data includes projects in the In Construction, Final Planning and Planning stages but does not include projects in the Pre-Planning stage.
Wednesday, May 16 - 2012
Does Guest Review Management Really Pay Off?
Lodging Interactive's Guest Review System provides an easy way for hoteliers to collect and respond to comments in real time while CoMMingle monitors social media channels such as Facebook, Twitter, Google+, YouTube and blogs; A FREE trial of Lodging Interactive's Guest Review System is available now through June 28
Wednesday, May 16 - 2012
Sheraton Hotels Partners with Wine Spectator to Launch Premium Wine Program
Sheraton Hotels & Resorts in cooperation with Wine Spectator magazine today announce the global launch of Sheraton Social Hour, a first-of-its-kind, brand-wide premium wine program. The new program, developed by today"s premier wine experts and the brand"s global food and beverage team, offers guests a specially curated menu of premium wines and weekly tasting events at more than 240 participating Sheraton hotels around the world. In North America, the program will feature 90+ rated wines by Wine Spectatorserved in Riedel stemware to ensure that each varietal is presented in the perfect stemware that artfully enhances the wine"s flavor and aroma.
Wednesday, May 16 - 2012
Sandals Resorts International Optimizes Profitably with Big Data
"Data tells an important story, you just have to know how to present it." This business insight comes from Ms. Joanne Pearson, Director of Corporate Reporting for Sandals Resorts International. Sandals operates a total of 22 luxury resorts carrying the Sandals, Beaches and Grand Pineapple brands and employs 10,000 people. She is also crystal clear when it comes to managing by the numbers, "The only way you can maintain company profitability is to know precisely where you are against budget and how you got there." Ms. Pearson, a Fellow of the Chartered Association of Certified Accountants, should know. Prior to 2003, Sandals manually collected and analyzed data for an international property portfolio that extends from Jamaica to the Bahamas, Antigua, St Lucia, and Turks. "We relied on hand-populated spreadsheets. There was no way to gather and process all the data we needed from our entities in a reasonable time to make intelligent business decisions," Pearson said. Sandals brought Mrs. Pearson onboard expressly to develop a timely standardized process of key performance analysis reporting. "The first thing the executive team and I ascertained was that Sandals needed a dedicated hospitality business intelligence system that would automate data gathering from our entire Hotel Group, which had multiple systems, and perform timely, in-depth what-if analysis and performance reporting." In 2003 Sandals" executive team implemented the Execuvue® web-based hospitality Business Intelligence system (BI) developed by Aptech Computer Systems, Inc. "The right tools are essential to carry out the extensive analysis required for an enterprise as large as ours. The BI automates the daily data collection from our entities and we created KPIs for occupancy, staffing, food costs, utility use and other expenses, as well as spend-per-room," Pearson said. The system consolidates data from all Sandals" resorts in a data mart where Pearson and her team access and analyze it. The data that once took a month to collect is now in their hands daily. Sandals focuses on operating performance and how to increase it "Since property information is available and current each day, we focus our attention on analyzing performance and how to increase it," Pearson said. "We generate daily management reports that include month-to-date (MTD) revenue, staffing, F&B and utility costs and forecasts with comparison to budget, YTD, and same period last year. This data enables us to monitor performance daily and take corrective action by mid month so we can address trends before they become problems." Pearson"s team also creates weekly reports for revenue managers that show revenue spending with actual sales performance and MTD vs. budget evaluation for all profit centers. To keep a tight rein on expenses, Sandals pulls data from all property P&Ls with side by side comparison to budget for current period, prior MTD, and YDT totals. "Property expense reporting goes straight to our managers for review and corrective action if necessary," Pearson explained. Pearson gained so much expertise shaping Sandals" data analysis and reporting that she suggests new BI development ideas to Aptech. Sandals is unique among most North American resort companies because it operates in three currencies. "I discovered how to input our different currencies – Jamaican dollars, USD, and Eastern Caribbean dollars – with current exchange rates for set-periods and then perform analysis to assess performance in multiple currencies. I also learned how to use Execuvue to create budgets at month-end with updates from current property data," she said. "With so much data to analyze, it is essential to report it in understandable, actionable formats, this is one reason we upgraded to the newest Execuvue version. The system lets me create more attractive reports and send them as password-protected Excel spreadsheets, graphs, and PowerPoint extracts so our managers can act on the information more quickly," Ms. Pearson says. "With complete performance data at your finger tips you can plan proactively for the future and execute more effectively on your plan." About Sandals and Beaches Resorts Sandals and Beaches Resorts has a worldwide reputation for providing two people in love with the most romantic vacation experience in the Caribbean. Currently, there are 16 Luxury Included® Sandals Resorts located in Jamaica, Antigua, St. Lucia and The Bahamas plus 6 Beaches Resorts in Jamaica, Turks and Caicos and Antigua. Each offers stunning beachfront locations; a choice of à la carte restaurants, from white-glove dining to barefoot elegance; all premium brand wine and spirits, including an exclusive partnership with California's legendary Beringer Vineyards; luxurious accommodations in a range of categories; unrivaled watersports including the Caribbean's largest PADI certification program; Butler Service for truly indulgent pampering; Sandals Weddings by Martha StewartTM; and signature Red Lane® Spas, with services and treatments inspired by the region. Sandals Resorts has been voted the Caribbean"s Leading Hotel Brand at the World Travel Awards for 16 years in a row, and World's Leading All-Inclusive Company for 14 years in a row. For more information, call your local travel agent or 1-800-Sandals (1-800-726-3257) or visit www.sandals.com. Going to HITEC 2012 in Baltimore? Visit Booth 1813 to meet the Aptech team and get a personal demonstration of all Aptech"s systems.
Wednesday, May 16 - 2012
Digital Alchemy CRM Lets Madison Concourse Hotel Connect With Guests Quickly, Personally
The Madison Concourse Hotel and Governor"s Club had been having trouble communicating electronically with guests. The CRM software previously in use by The Madison Concourse was sending booking confirmation emails too slowly—often 30 minutes after booking—and the lag was making customers nervous, resulting in unnecessary follow-up phone calls and even duplicate bookings.
Wednesday, May 16 - 2012
G1 Group plc Prepares for Further Expansion with MICROS
MICROS Systems, Inc.(NASDAQ:MCRS), a leading provider of information technology solutions for the hospitality and retail industries, is pleased to announce thatG1 Group plc, a leading leisure operator in Scotland, has selected MICROS as its technology partner for its estate of restaurants, bars, clubs, cinemas and hotels. All 40 of the G1 outlets will implement MICROS RES, MICROS Materials Control, MICROS Enterprise Management, MICROS XBR Loss Prevention, and rugged MICROS point-of-sale hardware. The G1 hotels will implement MICROS OPERA, with its largest sites utilizing Mobile MICROS.
Wednesday, May 16 - 2012
Summer Travel Forecast Sunny For U.S. Travelers | TripAdvisor Reports
TripAdvisor®, the world"s largest travel site*, today announced the results of its annual summer travel survey of more than 1,800 U.S. respondents. Eighty-six percent of travelers are planning leisure trips this summer, up from 81 percent that traveled last summer.
Wednesday, May 16 - 2012
Wyndham Rewards Adds Dream, Night and TRYP by Wyndham Brands to Loyalty Program
Wyndham Hotel Group today announced that Wyndham Rewards®, the world"s largest lodging loyalty program as measured by participating hotels, has added the Dream®, Night® and TRYP by Wyndham™ hotel brands to its stable of earning and redemption options. With these brands, Wyndham Rewards not only broadens its reach with uniquely designed properties in some of the most well-traveled locations around the world, but allows its members the benefit of staying and redeeming with properties that represent the full scope of Wyndham Hotel Group"s portfolio.The Dream hotel collection offers an imaginative lodging experience with five properties in four acclaimed destinations including two hotels in New York City, N.Y. (Dream Midtown and Dream Downtown); and Dream hotels in South Beach, Miami, Florida; Bangkok, Thailand; and Cochin, India. These intelligently designed properties sit at the forefront of the industry"s concept hotels, highlighted by award-winning, locally popular restaurants and nightlife hot spots including roof-top bars with panoramic views.Night Hotels is a bold lifestyle brand that turns the traditional hotel concept on its head. The brand is about transforming typical hotel concepts into casual and social spaces that offer amenities such as free wireless access, comfortable work areas and music program stations that allow guests to plug in and listen. Night is an affordably stylish brand that takes the best of the boutique and lifestyle concepts while being accessible to the value-minded traveler. Currently, there is a Night hotel in New York City, N.Y. (Midtown Manhattan) and in Dallas, Texas.Wyndham Rewards members can both earn and redeem points or airline miles at all Dream and Night locations.TRYP by Wyndham is an urban contemporary hotel brand catering to business and leisure travelers in cosmopolitan cities. Attuned to the distinct needs of today"s travelers, it offers several specialty guest room types including a Family Room with bunk beds and a Fitness Room complete with exercise equipment and a complimentary fitness kit. Wyndham Rewards members can currently earn points at all TRYP hotels. They can both earn and redeem points at three hotels in New York City, N.Y.; San Jose, Costa Rica; and Quebec City, Canada. About Wyndham RewardsWyndham Rewards, the guest loyalty program of Wyndham Hotel Group, is the world"s largest lodging loyalty program as measured by number of participating hotels and offers more than 7 million active members the chance to earn and redeem points for stays at more than 6,500 hotels throughout 36 countries worldwide.In addition to free stays, members may redeem their points for hundreds of reward options, including airline travel, resort vacations, event tickets, gift certificates for leading retailers and restaurants and more. Free stays start as low as 6,000 points, while other reward options start as low as 2,200 points. Members may also choose to earn airline or rail miles with 20 leading carriers. For more information, visit www.wyndhamrewards.com.
Wednesday, May 16 - 2012
Hyatt French Quarter Opens in New Orleans
Hyatt Hotels Corporation (NYSE: H) and the owner of Hyatt French Quarter, a joint venture between Carey-Watermark Investors and HRI Properties today announce the opening of Hyatt French Quarter in New Orleans. This marks the third Hyatt hotel to enter the New Orleans market within the last year. Hyatt French Quarter connects the downtown Central Business District with the French Quarter, providing both business and leisure travelers with a luxurious and convenient location in The Big Easy.
Wednesday, May 16 - 2012
Hyatt Announces 2012 Beijing Architecture Forum
Hyatt Hotels Corporation (NYSE: H) today announced that the "2012 Beijing Architecture Forum" will be held in Beijing on Thursday, May 24. Coinciding with the "Pritzker Architecture Prize", which is often called "the Nobel Prize of architecture," the conference will be co-hosted by the Beijing Municipal People"s Government and the Hyatt Foundation; and jointly organized by the Beijing Municipal Commission of Urban Planning, Hyatt Hotels Corporation and the School of Architecture, Tsinghua University. It aims to provide a unique opportunity to gather many of the world"s most recognized international and Chinese architects, academics and future leaders in the field to collaborate on and debate a wide range of architectural topics of relevance today with a focus on urban harmony.
Wednesday, May 16 - 2012
