http://www.austin-hospitality.com/blog Just another WordPress weblog Fri, 08 Jan 2010 23:28:32 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Do you find enough conveniently located power outlets in your hotel room? If you're like most travelers these days, you probably leave home equipped with all sorts of electronic gadgets - whether a Bluetooth headset; Blackberry, iPhone or Palm; laptop; hair straightener or electric razor or maybe your kids' DVD player or (with ... http://www.austin-hospitality.com/blog/?p=332 Why do casinos smell like they do? No, not the smell of menthols, sticky drinks and desperation. That's everywhere. Rather, why does the Bellagio smell like the Bellagio and why does the Venetian smell like an old man who has been wearing the same cologne for 40 years and steadily ... http://www.austin-hospitality.com/blog/?p=329 If you want the VIP treatment at hotels these days, show up with an entourage. Hotel companies have long extended room-rate discounts and perks—such as free breakfast and Internet access—to big corporate and leisure groups who book dozens of rooms. But now, facing a decline in business travel, some hotels are ... http://www.austin-hospitality.com/blog/?p=321 While presenting at the Hospitality Leadership Forum in early November, Mark Lomanno, president of research firm Smith Travel Research, made a statement ominous enough to send chills up the spines of revenue managers everywhere. “On an inflation-adjusted basis,” he began, “ … it’s going to probably take eight to 10 years ... http://www.austin-hospitality.com/blog/?p=317 1. PCI Compliance and Certification PCI compliance and certification is number one on the priority list for 2010 because of the consequences of non-compliance.  The PCI standards guidelines stipulate that by July 1, 2010, all credit card acquirers must ensure all merchants that use payment application software, utilize only hotel software ... http://www.austin-hospitality.com/blog/?p=313 With the growth of email marketing bombarding inboxes, it's time to get smarter and more creative as to how you use this marketing method. Here are a couple of ideas to think about coming into 2010 that will help you generate some other ways to look at this medium.  Promote ... http://www.austin-hospitality.com/blog/?p=311 2009 will be forgettable - at best - for many of the nation’s hoteliers, from a disastrous first quarter to what is shaping up to be a less-than-robust recovery as 2010 fast approaches.  Although we aren’t pessimistic about the future state of the hotel industry, we also don’t believe that ... http://www.austin-hospitality.com/blog/?p=308 Are you tracking the return on investment from your website? Do you know how many visitors your site receives every day? Are you analyzing the metrics on the pages they viewed, the time they spend on your site, and the exit pages? Do you know how they were directed to ... http://www.austin-hospitality.com/blog/?p=303 In 2009, social media Web sites completed the transition from being a source of procrastination for young adults to a mainstream cultural phenomenon. With Twitter-and to a slightly lesser extent, Facebook-leading the way, 2010 will see social media become firmly entrenched as a powerhouse marketing platform. At both the brand ... http://www.austin-hospitality.com/blog/?p=300 While Nervous Nellies are still ruling the roost, signs of an industry rebound are finally becoming tangible. During the last couple of months many industry insiders were saying a recovery was afoot, but the evidence was anecdotal. Now it looks as if there are some provable signs – and the ... http://www.austin-hospitality.com/blog/?p=297