Tag Archives: Cybercrime

Hospitality Industry Technology Update: “How Hotels Can Engage Guests Through Social Media”

As hotel guests continue to turn to social media as their primary source for information gathering and remote communication,SocialMedia hoteliers will be presented with numerous opportunities to create engagement among their guests via social media. If they succeed at connecting with guests on a social level, they can remain at the forefront of those customers’ minds when they book their next trip.

It’s no secret that social media plays a major role in the way the hospitality industry connects with customers. There are, however, more ways for hotels to use social media than to just attract guests before they book. With creativity and ingenuity, hotels can use this medium as a powerful marketing channel to build brand affinity and loyalty by engaging guests in conversations during their stays.

Below are simple but innovative ways a few major hotels are already using social media to create memorable guest experiences:

Installing Social Walls
The desire to connect with and meet new people is one that is shared by nearly all of mankind, but compelling any person to actively make connections with other guests during a hotel stay can be tricky. The Four Seasons Dallas, however, came up with a brilliant tactic to overcome this obstacle. During the Fourth of July holiday in 2013, the hotel unveiled “social walls” in its lobby. The walls consisted of screens that showed social posts of people staying at the hotel.

For more: http://bit.ly/1KcyOG4

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Filed under Guest Issues, Hotel Employees, Hotel Industry, Management And Ownership, Social Media, Technology

Hospitality Industry Risk Update: “Is Your Hotel Properly Collecting and Preserving Incident Related Evidence ?”

Videos can make or break a case. For example, in one case, video footage clearly showed that the plaintiff initiated the fist fight that was at the heart of his lawsuit.collecting evidence The video would have absolved the hotel from all liability, but the hotel failed to properly preserve this key piece of evidence.As a result, the case had to be settled instead of vigorously defended. Further, as digital surveillance systems continue to become the industry standard, judges have been less forgiving when it comes to claims that the pertinent footage was either lost or never preserved.

By the time a case reaches an attorney’s desk, all too often pertinent evidence either has been lost — or was never collected in the first place. California’s statute of limitations for a personal lawsuit is two years; consequently, an attorney’s first involvement in an incident on your property usually happens more than two years after the incident has occurred. If your hotel or resort has not properly gathered and preserved evidence, it becomes very challenging to recreate what transpired. Hence, it is imperative that; your hotel have formal written evidence retention policies; that first responders and security teams are properly trained on how to gather the evidence; and that hotel staff take steps to ensure that this evidence is preserved. Failing to collect and preserve evidence can turn a defensible case into a major settlement.

For more: http://bit.ly/1FPnjkz

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Filed under Crime, Employee Practices, Hotel Employees, Hotel Industry, Insurance, Management And Ownership, Risk Management, Training

Hospitality Industry Conference Update: “California Hotel Owner Conference”

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Come out and see Brad Durbin from Petra Risk Solutions in the educational session:

Hotel Cyber Liability:  Claim Trends & Cost Analysis

 

Last year’s Hotel Owner Conference was a huge success!  So back by popular demand, join the California Hotel & Lodging Association, June 11-12, 2015 at the historic, state-of-the-art Silverado Resort & Spa, in the world-famous Napa Valley. The conference will bring together hotel owners, brands, brokers, CEO’s and other hotel industry experts for a conference all about networking, deal-making and high-level education.

For more: http://bit.ly/1PQrLri

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Filed under Conferences, Hotel Industry, Management And Ownership, Risk Management, Training

Hospitality Industry Technology Update: “Best Tips for Creating Fast, Reliable and Secure Wi-Fi Networks”

Wi-Fi is a business driver that enables a comprehensive guest experience. Soon, hotels will leverage the power of Wi-Fi to expand on loyalty programs,Hotel wifi integrate with the in-room TV, and take part in other customer-engagement strategies such as location-based promotions and time-based offers.

Yaroslav Goncharov, CEO of Hotel Wi-Fi Test, has had a front row seat to the rise of Wi-Fi in the hotel industry. “It’s become a key amenity,” he says. “Some studies even claim it is second only to a comfortable bed.” At a time when basically every handheld device features Internet connectivity, guests place immense value on reliable wireless networks. This means that top-notch Wi-Fi services have changed from a nicety to a necessity.

When it comes to best practices, nothing trumps capacity. “While bandwidth growth has always been an issue for hospitality IT departments, the additional demands of Wi-Fi have accelerated the urgency,” says Alexandra Sewell, executive director, emerging markets, Comcast Business. She notes that many hotel guests carry two or three mobile devices, and they expect to be constantly connected when they travel. “And without the proper network capacity, Wi-Fi will be slow and frustrating,” she says. Kirk Hylan, owner of INsite Networks, a San Francisco IT company, says there’s no rule of thumb when it comes to determining how much bandwidth a hotel property needs. “With bandwidth, it’s really a matter of how much your pocket can afford because guests will use it all.”

“Technology is evolving faster than most of us ever imagined,” says Doug Gehret, general manager at Hilton Orlando. “We must be proactive to remain relevant.” Gehret’s hotel recently upgraded to the latest 802.11ac Wi-Fi standard and now touts its high-speed data rates (up to 10 times standard Wi-Fi) as a key selling point in promotion material. With the AC Wi-Fi standard now over a year old, hotels that haven’t upgraded may find themselves falling behind the competition. And a property’s Wi-Fi speed isn’t a secret anymore, as third-party reviewers like Hotel Wi-Fi Test provide free, easily accessible ratings of wireless services that potential guests may use when choosing hotels for their next stay or event.

For more: http://bit.ly/1K5JHXO

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Filed under Guest Issues, Hotel Industry, Management And Ownership, Risk Management, Technology

Hospitality Industry Conference Update: “Hospitality Law Conference”

Hospitality Law Conference

Presented by Anderson Kill and Petra Risk Solutions: Tuesday, June 2, 2015 at The Cornell Club in New York

Hospitality Law Conference

For more: http://bit.ly/1RdDoqn

 

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Filed under Conferences, Hotel Industry, Risk Management, Training

Hospitality Industry Management Update: “Airbnb Grows to a Million Rooms, and Hotel Rivals Are Quiet, for Now”

In Austin, Tex., each 10 percent increase in Airbnb listings resulted in a 0.35 percent decrease in monthly hotel room revenue,airbnb according to a study by Boston University. Less expensive hotels and those focused on leisure travelers were most affected when Airbnb developed in their area, the study found.

By any measure, Airbnb’s growth has been stunning since the company was founded in 2008. It now has more than a million rooms available in homes, apartments and even former barns — more places to sleep than hotel giants like Marriott and Hilton.

Despite this growth, though, the big hotel chains, at least outwardly, have yet to take substantial action to counter the potential threat from the upstart lodging service.

One reason is the strength of the travel market over all. Spending on hotels this year is projected to be even higher than last year’s robust outlays, according to Douglas Quinby, an analyst for Phocuswright. Other reasons include the ingrained habits of travelers, particularly older ones and business travelers on expense accounts, who see no reason to change their ways.

For more: http://nyti.ms/1zWgiir

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Filed under Guest Issues, Hotel Employees, Hotel Industry, Management And Ownership, Risk Management, Social Media

Hospitality Industry Management Update: “5 Social Trends Hoteliers Can Leverage”

“Everything is being rated and talked about, he said. And much of that is being done on mobile. For example,20150504_AmericInn_Levine he said a lot of hoteliers will say they aren’t interested in Twitter—but that’s where their customers are talking about them. Thus, hoteliers need to monitor it and join in on the conversation.”

A picture of a pet cat with a slice of bread on its head. A person standing in front of a waterfall and capturing a photo that makes it seem as if he or she is vomiting said waterfall.

The above two examples “broke the Internet,” according to Daniel Levine, director of The Avant-Guide Institute, a global trends consultancy for travel and consumer marketing, based in New York City. But they were short-lived fads and certainly not things to build a business plan around.

But building a plan around social trends? That might be the golden ticket.

“Trends are not specific to any one industry. Trends are what people are thinking and feeling, and they’re looking for these same trends to be answered in every part of their lives,” Levine said while speaking during the recent opening general session of the AmericInn 2015 Convention & Tradeshow held at Bally’s Las Vegas.

In other words: Hoteliers can adjust their operations to sell the answers to these trends, he said.

“The beauty of trends is that they resonate with people for reasons they may not even be aware of. They’ll go and beat a path at your door if you’re answering these trends in creative ways,” Levine said.

Here are five social trends hoteliers can capitalize on.

For more: http://bit.ly/1F91w8D

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Filed under Hotel Industry, Management And Ownership, Risk Management, Social Media, Technology

Hospitality Industry Conference Update: “Northern California Hotel & Lodging Conference”

CH&LA and AAHOA have once again partnered to present the annual Northern California Hotel & Lodging Conference.  This year the event is moving back to the DoubleTree San Jose.  Each year this event gathers together over 300 hoteliers who enjoynorcal-button-highres the free educational seminars, updates on industry topics and to attend the trade show.

The show will include the usual abundance of networking opportunities, general session luncheon, and of course the trade show, the largest of its kind in Northern California.  Over 100 vendors will be eager to show off the latest industry products, many who offer special rates and discounts for this conference.  There will also be a reception in the trade show at 4:00 pm, with appetizers, soft drinks, no-host bar and lots of networking.

For more: http://bit.ly/1zkW1gW

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Filed under Conferences, Employee Practices, Hotel Industry, Insurance, Liability, Management And Ownership, Risk Management, Social Media, Technology, Training, Workers' Compensation

Hospitality Industry Management Update: “The Real Value of Dual-Brand Hotels”

“Based on the analysis of the seven subject properties, it appears that operating efficiencies do not come automatically for all dual-branded properties. Throughout all facets of the lodging industry, attention must be paid to the fundamentals.dual branding Dual-branded hotels provide the opportunity to achieve operating efficiencies, but management still needs to optimize shared resources to earn their efficiencies.”

The pace of new hotel construction is picking up. According to STR, there were 1,003 hotels under construction in the United States as of January 2015, up 31.8 percent from January 2014. The most active under-construction segments of the hotel industry are upper-midscale (37.9 percent of total projects) and upscale (34.5 percent of total projects).

One way developers are taking advantage of the popularity of these segments is to build dual-branded hotels. The majority of dual-branded properties in the United States consist of affiliations within the upper-midscale and upscale segments. For the purpose of this article and analysis, we defined dual-branded hotels as single buildings that contain two distinctly branded operations. More often than not, the dual-branded properties contain separate entrances, front desks, and elevators for each brand but share back-of-the-house operations and guest amenities, such as meeting space and pools.

According to Kallenberger Jones & Company, there were 30 dual-branded hotels in the United States as of year-end 2014, offering a total of 12,193 rooms. Another 24 projects, with a total of 10,284 rooms, were under construction as of January 2015.

For more: http://bit.ly/1PvBD67

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Hospitality Industry Management Update: “Marriott International Announces Energy Conservation Results on Earth Day”

Since 2013, Marriott International has used Green Hotels Global to track the environmental footprint of each managed and franchise hotel in the company’s portfolio.Earth_Day_-_Earth_from_Space The data in Green Hotels Global allows the company to identify and drive programs to support the reduction of energy, water, greenhouse gas emissions, and waste.

As part of its global sustainability strategy to address climate change, Marriott International (Nasdaq:MAR) announced the company’s global energy intensity decreased cumulatively by 2.6 percent over 2013, 13.1 percent compared to a 2007 baseline.

Across the majority of the company’s four global regions, energy results continued to decline. In The Americas, Asia Pacific and Europe, energy intensity for managed hotels decreased over 2013 by 3.0 percent, 0.7 percent and 1.3 percent respectively. In the Middle East and Africa, energy intensity increased by 1.2 percent over 2013 as the region stabilized and travel increased.

“Our global decrease in energy intensity demonstrates the commitment Marriott International has made to attain its sustainability goals,” said Denise Naguib, vice president, sustainability and supplier diversity, Marriott International. “As Marriott’s global footprint expands, we continue to look for new ways to conserve energy at our more than 4,100 properties.”

For more: http://bit.ly/1ySMvaf

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Filed under Employee Practices, Green Lodging, Hotel Employees, Hotel Industry, Hotel Restaurant, Management And Ownership, Risk Management, Technology, Training