Facebook Business Page Rollout – version 2014

Facebook is once again updating their interface. This time it’s for their Business Listings. This updated Facebook Business Page Rollout will include many things that affect Independent Lodging Properties. Here’s a short summary… Sometime soon when you log in, you will be ‘invited’ to join the waitlist. Later you will be ‘welcomed’ in with an…

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The Influence of Mobile Purchasing on Travel

The infographic below summarizes the behavior of mobile purchasing on Travel based on mobile users in the UK. This demonstrates why lodging managers should be checking to see how their websites and online booking engines appear on mobile devices -particularly tablets. Here are the key findings on mobile travel purchases from Tnooz. “The study also…

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New Trip Advisor Blackmail Tool for Lodging Managers

Real help for Hotel Reputation Management, Trip Advisor Blackmail Tool for Lodging, Hotels, Inns and B&Bs Ever have a guest tell you that if you don’t do ‘x, y or z’ that they will write a bad review about you or your property? Now there is help for hoteliers, it’s the Trip Advisor Blackmail Tool…

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15 Trending Travel Terms

Moving your hotel to an automated, online integrated system is a big step. Here are 15 Trending Travel Terms to help you with some of the new lingo. Property Management System (PMS) The application used by the hotel to control onsite property activities such as check in/out, folios, guest profiles, room status, requests, etc. PMSs…

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Today’s Travel Decision Cycle [TRAVEL INFOGRAPHIC]

Today, we look at how travelers increasingly use online media and mobile technology throughout the various stages of travel. The art of travel has changed and the Travel Decision Cycle has evolved. The former model that usually included a travel agent and resources like the OAG (Official Airline Guide) no longer fits. Today’s model includes…

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Is Your Hotel Facebook Nearby Ready?

Facebook Nearby is picking up momentum. It raises some important questions for hoteliers. Does your hotel have a Facebook Page optimized for business? Can people ‘check-in’ to your hotel on Facebook? How important are guest reviews to your business? Do you actively manage your reviews? And seek new ones? Will Facebook ‘Nearby’ be able to pick…

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Additional Revenue Model for Hotels

Catalin calls this hotel strategy The Catwalk Concept. It is fundamentally an additional revenue model for hotels that uses the concept of sponsoring brands that may be used within the hotel. Excerpt from Catalin at Cain: “A branded hotel can take three specific steps to capitalise on this opportunity: First, conduct research to identify specific brands…

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5 Stages of Choosing Travel

The travel outlook is positive, and with the rise of mobile, social and video behaviors, we are now seeing seeing travelers move through five key stages of travel. Here are some insights within each stage: Dreaming: 68% of business travelers watch travel-related online videos. Among them, 68% are thinking about a trip. Planning: The average…

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Naked truth about online hotel reviews [INFOGRAPHIC]

A great article and infographic on the nature of online hotel reviews. I find these statistics interesting and feel likely that they are accurate. The most interesting points here are that 81% of travelers find reviews important and 49% of travelers won’t book a hotel without reviews. This means that an important part of any hotels…

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Keeping Your Website Real

Posda Yum Kin sign

Recently, Chris, from Design4Real.net, and I ventured down to Posada Yum Kin Hotel in Tulum, Mexico to work on their next web update. It has been a little over a year since images and content throughout the website have been updated, so once again, it is time to refresh everything. Our trip went smoothly with…

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