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Despite global instability and predictions that recovery to pre-September 11 levels will not come to the hotel industry until the fourth quarter, development in Asia continues unabated in Bali, China, [...]

Every disaster brings opportunity, and it is from the political and economic turbulence of the past year that franchisors hope to wrest enhanced distribution for years to come. The task [...]

While the hotel industry suffered in 2001, the timeshare segment managed to expand. 'Vacation ownership has certainly outperformed the hotel side, because hotels are measured by occupancy and RevPAR, and [...]

Traditionally HOTELS' January issue forecasts trading performance for the year to come, even assigning numeric projections for occupancies, ADRs and RevPARs around the globe. But this year, few analysts would [...]

Ease is a sense hoteliers around the world attempt to cultivate for their guests. And it is a feeling hoteliers Katherine Klauber Moulton, president and general manager of the Colony [...]

An account of a discussion on the effect of the Internet on hotel reservations, held at the meeting of the American Hotel and Motel Association, in Phoenix Arizona, during April 2000, is presented.

Issues concerning the growth of online booking of hotel rooms is discussed. The advantages and drawbacks for hoteliers, travel agents and guests of a new web site to provide online reservations in European hotels are explored.

Only 2000 marriages are performed annually in Venice, Italy, yet Starwood Hotels and Resorts' 3 luxury hotels along the Grand Canal all strive to attract this wedding business.

Cuba's tourism industry has significantly progressed as shown by the dramatic increase in visitor arrivals from 1990's 340,3000 to 1998's 1.4 million. Revenues from tourism totaled $1.8 billion in 1998 and is expected to further increase in the 21st century. Because of the country's booming travel industry, many foreign hotel companies, developers and hoteliers want to do business in Cuba, particularly those from the US. They are, however, prevented from extending their operations in the country because the US trade embargo is yet to be lifted.

Food and beverage are not only added sources of income for hotels and resorts but they can also help position these establishments in the market by becoming conduits towards achieving customer loyalty. Proof of the advantages of having targeted culinary concepts has been experienced by three hotels/resorts. These include Dublin, Ireland's The Merrion, Summerlin, Las Vegas, NV's The Resort, Tel-Aviv, Israel's David Inter-Continental and Indonesia's Sandals Resorts International.

A selection of luxurious suites and baths located in hotels from around the world is presented. Travelers who seek luxurious hotel facilities are sophisticates who want their destinations to be extraordinary. Guests are able to heighten their feelings about a place in the suites and baths because the decor and details increase the perception of culture and care. Among the suites and baths selected are from the Hotel Villa del Sol, Zihuatenejo, Mexico, Amangani, Jackson Hole, WY and Anassa Hotel and Spa, Polis, Cyprus.

Advances in Internet-based systems, PMS/central reservations systems (CRS) interfaces and three-tier architecture in addition to innovations in graphical user interfaces and high-speed communications have enabled hotels to enhance the scope of their CRS operations. The augmentation of CRS potential includes data mining at the same time lessening labor and communications costs. In effect, the innovative CRS systems enable hotel firms to use the Internet as a foundation for their central reservations operations., Developments in reservations technology prepare hotels for future innovations. Developments in central reservations systems have seemed slow moving and silent recently, but only in the sense that the earth's plates [...]

The percentage of hotels that offer dining roomservice is now in the minority because these services are not profitable. Hoteliers, however, maintain their roomservice operations because it augments their food and beverage services. Roomservice is also regarded as an amenity which adds value and persuades guests to pay higher room rates. Hotels which provide roomservice are faced with considerable staffing, managerial and meal production challenges., Adjustments to process and product maximize the efficiency of in-room dining operations. In the last decade, food and beverage operations have ripened, becoming a delectable source of hotel revenues. Profits [...]

Hotel reservations through the Internet or World Wide Web account for only 1% of the total reservations but still translates to millions of dollars in revenues. Despite rising costs of hosting a Web site, more and more hoteliers are reporting gains from using the Internet. Strangely enough, though the Internet has been forecasted to replace global distribution systems (GDSs), GDSs have still a long way to go and the Internet may only be regarded as additional reservations channel.

Food and beverage services for wedding receptions offered by hotels require careful planning to ensure that the total experience of the guests will prove to be satisfactory. Wyndham Hotels and Resorts senior vice president of food and beverage operations Patrick Colombo claims that food is not the primary concern for a wedding banquet. The social aspects of the event such as meeting and greeting their guests also form an important part of the occasion.

Hotel owners and operators have realized the profit potential of catering to local diners as well as hotel guests. Attracting local diners by featuring authentic cuisines of foreign cultures can assure hotel companies of a steady stream of business. Some destination restaurants resort to gimmicks to attract diners. Food can easily attract diners, but atmosphere and ambiance can keep them coming back. Some restaurants have show kitchens that entertain diners while waiting for their orders., In recent years, experimentation in the form of fusion foods and fantastic decor has marked hotel restaurant forays into finer dining. But the newest emerging concepts distinguish themselves with their [...]

Show plates can be valuable marketing tools for hotels. These can attract clients and help promote a hotel's image. Artful table settings also enhance a customer's dining experience by encouraging perceptions of quality, service and luxury. The Luxor Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, NV, has even begun selling its show plates to enable guests to have a memento of their stay. Different show plate designs are presented., Show plates don't just sit there looking pretty. While hoteliers traditionally have economized by de-emphasizing, and even discontinuing, the use of these over-sized service pieces, show plates are coming into [...]

The choice, preparation and cooking of food in conference hotels for delegates is discussed. Menus, ideas and techniques used by caterers Dolce International in hotels in the US and Europe are described.

Inter-Continental Hotels Group Staff Vice Pres of Engineering Reiner Boehme shares several tips on how hospitality establishments can reduce energy and water use. Boehme recommends that hoteliers continuously encourage their employees to participate in energy management programs. They should also develop in them a conservation-conscious behavior. Hoteliers may also opt to recover wastewater and heat from steam systems, boilers, dry-cleaning and washing machines to serve as a low-cost heating source.

New York-based Manhattan East Suite Hotels uses the Marketing and Guest Information Center (MAGIC), a guest database system, for quality service. MAGIC provides a system that can be used for marketing, direct mail and even allows advertising staff to take advantage of the traditional database marketing routines. The system also enables Manhattan East Suites to provide a comprehensive customer care service which includes analysis of guest preferences.

Telecommunications services have long been a significant source of hotel revenues. However, rising costs in the 1990s caused revenues from such telecommunications services to decline steadily in all hotel classes. Fortunately, innovations such as Internet services and 800 numbers are increasing revenues again without creating signifiant new costs, allowing many hotels to once again derive good incomes from such guest services.

Hotel firms are unsure whether they should install in-room Internet systems in their properties. This is because of the great variety of systems to choose from and the costs to be incurred. A survey conducted by in-room entertainment systems maker Quadriga indicated that as much as 25% of European travelers based their hotel selection on the availability and level of technological facilities of hotels. When in-room systems are in place, hotels should make sure that guests know that they are available.

Hotel restaurants are coming up with some innovative ways of serving breakfast to their guests. For instance, Norma's at the 700-room Le Parker Meridien in New York City, NY, serves breakfast at all hours. Its design motif is similar to the all-night diners found in the city's corners. Its menu features such basics as pancakes and French toast. At the Four Season Hotel in Atlanta, GA, diner traffic increased when food and beverage director Olivier Bottois introduced a new brunch service featuring Chinese dimsum dishes., The best breakfasts combine elements of sport: they're fast, familiar and fun. There are those guests who will never eat breakfast at the hotel. They want nothing more in the [...]

Several hotel chains have installed smart card-based locking systems designed to give a high level of security for their guests and staff. For instance, the Hotel Oresund in Landskrona, Sweden, installed the TimeLox DC-One system to monitor every passage in and out of the rooms. The hotel management can determine who opened the door and at what time since the system has a 400-entry audit trail. Another hotel, the 405-room Hilton and Towers in East Brunswick, NJ, has put in place the SafeLok system, also for locking and parking access purposes., Futuristic security systems just starting to offer guests and employees the protection they desire. Smart cards symbolize the level of intuitive service hoteliers hope to provide for their guests in [...]

The latest hotel revenue management systems (RMSs) have the ability to forecast customer behaviors. The IDealL/Yield system used at Keystone Resorts in Colorado, for instance, determines the cross-price elasticity of demand when room options and opened and closed. RMSs can also compare potential revenues from individual and group bookings and contain performance measurement functions to allow the verification of system forecasts., As more hotels adopt improved revenue management strategies and systems geared specifically to the lodging industry, the question hoteliers are asking themselves is no longer 'How do we set room [...]

Latin American hoteliers forecast better times ahead, and they are developing for the future. THE GIST * Brazil, with a diversified economy and a burgeoning population, is the focus of [...]

Attracted by the promise of powerful performance, hotels are adding spas and taking them to new levels of profitability. Learning how to massage profits out of the booming spit business [...]

The big are getting bigger, but the small are getting bigger, too. Companies of all sizes experienced growth, rather than attrition, during one of the industry's strongest years. For companies [...]

In Part 1 of the HOTELS' 2001 Worldwide Technology Survey, a follow-up to a similar study published in 1998, we offered a look at how hoteliers worldwide are using technology [...]

Hotel companies continue to consolidate across the continent, even as trading performance falters. While for most hoteliers unparalleled celebrations inaugurated the year 2000 and paramount successes followed, this year immediately [...]

The Gist * Rotana achieves growth through regional specialization. * Malmaison's occupancies and profits soar, a result of staying small and exploiting the booming boutique market. * Dolce defined the [...]

Governments are instituting financial reforms, and occupancies are rising Investors believe Asia hit bottom and is headed back up. It may have been the year of the dragon, but the [...]

ASIA The Singaporean Thakral family intends to dispose of their approximate 40% stake in the Australian-listed tourism and property group Thakral Holdings, the third largest hotel ownership company in Australia [...]

Revenue management strategies depend on clearly defined notions of competition and kin. A new term, fair-share forecasting, has entered the lexicon of revenue management professionals. Fair-share forecasting implies that no [...]

Sun International's Paradise Island properties celebrate cooking exhibition-style. When the Atlantis resort, Paradise Island, Bahamas, more than doubled its occupancy through US$125 million renovations and the construction of a new [...]

Hotels discover that a single property management solution can effectively meet the needs of multiple properties. Centralization often provides a company's key to cost-cutting and efficiency. On an individual basis, [...]

Hot bars promise big profits. Here, F&B directors tell how to draw a crowd. Hotel bars provide a ready source of income, and properties such as the Inter-Continental Berlin and [...]

Individual properties have practiced outsourcing energy management programs for years. Starwood Hotels & Resorts takes the tactic to a new level. Outsourcing is key to the successful operation of many [...]

F&B promotions encourage guests to come and stay. They provide rewards for F&B staff, as well. A 70% increase in covers. A 60% increase in revenues. The reasons for holding [...]

Simple touches transform French tabletops. The French restaurant has long been a bastion of fine dining. 'It sounds a little pretentious, but people strive to be at the level of [...]

Around the world, hotels big and small are discovering efficient point-of-sale and sales and catering solutions. When the 129-room Chateau Cartier, Aylmer, Quebec, was sold two years ago, the new [...]

Hotels install telecom systems that handle growing demands for low costs and high bandwidth. Wireless communications clearly have had an impact on consumer lifestyle. With an estimated 552 million mobile [...]

Chefs around the world reveal their favorite tools of the trade. Heightened food safety concerns have brought a refined focus to kitchen equipment innovations in recent years. 'We're in a [...]

The growth of combined long-stay and transient-stay business in US hotels is discussed. The mixed use can result in high occupancy of rooms, high RevPAR, reduced housekeeping costs and greater customer loyalty.

The 5th annual European Hospitality Technology Exhibition and Conference in Switzerland featured educational programs and attracted over 1,000 delegates. The February conference dealt with industry specific issues of electronic commerce.