http://www.hsmaieconnect.org/ Latest Sales and Marketing News by HSMAI eConnect en-us Copyright ©1995-2010 Hsyndicate. All rights reserved. Sat, 20 Mar 2010 03:00:16 GMT Sat, 20 Mar 2010 03:00:16 GMT Hsyndicate RSS Generator 10 http://www.hsmaieconnect.org/news/154000370/4045900.html A team of 4 MHA students from the Ecole hôtelière de Lausanne (EHL) won the 3rd Student Strategic Challenge held at the IHIF in Berlin on 7 March with their project called e-Loyalty. The IHIF is Europe's leading Investment Conference for the hotel industry, attended this year by 1600 senior executives representing owners, CEOs and hotel operators/developers, investors and lenders. The EHL victory in the competition, open to European hotel schools by invitation, was the 3rd in a row. http://www.hsmaieconnect.org/news/154000370/4045900.html Fri, 19 Mar 2010 15:01:21 GMT http://www.hsmaieconnect.org/news/154000370/4045899.html 2009 has gone into the history books as one of the worst for the hotel industry. Revenue per average room (RevPAR) practically collapsed as travelers stayed away. Companies reined in travel expenditure and tourists stayed at home. Business is suffering against all measures and we have seen hotel stocks fall in value around the world. Despite this, hotel closures and large-scale forced sales of distressed assets have not materialized in the Europe, Middle East, India and Africa (EMEIA) region in any great number. Cash-rich funds continue to wait in the belief that the bottom of the market has not yet been reached. Similar trends are also being experienced in other regions of the world. http://www.hsmaieconnect.org/news/154000370/4045899.html Fri, 19 Mar 2010 14:35:28 GMT http://www.hsmaieconnect.org/news/154000370/4045898.html Neil Cornelssen says he misses the free cookies in the evening at one hotel and the daily newspaper outside his door at others. He's also noticing that bath towels in a growing number of hotel rooms are shabby and need to be replaced. Cornelssen, a sales manager in Marlton, N.J., is one of many frequent travelers who say they see the tangible effect that the recession has had on the nation's hotel industry. Among them: run-down rooms with fewer bathroom amenities, closed club lounges, fewer concierge staffers, slow room service, reduced hours at restaurants and bars, and infrequent airport shuttles. http://www.hsmaieconnect.org/news/154000370/4045898.html Fri, 19 Mar 2010 13:45:12 GMT http://www.hsmaieconnect.org/news/154000370/4045895.html During a general session at the International Hotel Investment Forum earlier this month, Mark Lomanno, president of STR and chairman of STR Global, said hotel performance in Europe is still bleak, despite some hints of optimism. “There is still reluctance to embrace (demand) and raise room rates,” he said of average daily rate growth. “It’s going to be up to hoteliers to say, ‘Do we have trust that demand is coming back enough to accelerate rates?’” http://www.hsmaieconnect.org/news/154000370/4045895.html Fri, 19 Mar 2010 13:30:56 GMT http://www.hsmaieconnect.org/news/154000370/4045894.html The festive nature of St. Patrick’s Day provided a perfect backdrop for economist Rajeev Dhawan on Wednesday during the opening session of the 22nd annual Hunter Hotel Investment Conference. “A simple fact of life is that all hangovers are lousy,” Dhawan said as he explained the current global financial situation to the hotel-industry executives in attendance. http://www.hsmaieconnect.org/news/154000370/4045894.html Fri, 19 Mar 2010 13:28:35 GMT http://www.hsmaieconnect.org/news/154000370/4045890.html Researchers in both industry and academe are invited to submit proposals for presentations for the inaugural Cornell Hospitality Research Summit (CHRS), scheduled for October 6-8, 2010, at the School of Hotel Administration on the beautiful Cornell campus in Ithaca, New York. Created and organized by the Cornell Center for Hospitality Research, this "thought leadership" summit will feature keynote addresses from five or six top international industry executives and scholars. The CHRS will bring together faculty, corporate partners, and other industry leaders to develop new ideas, theories, and models that improve strategic, managerial, and operating practices. http://www.hsmaieconnect.org/news/154000370/4045890.html Fri, 19 Mar 2010 10:03:58 GMT http://www.hsmaieconnect.org/news/154000370/4045885.html Attending the importance of cooperation among the different entities in the tourism sector to strengthening the development of tourism in the Caribbean, Caribbean Alliance for Sustainable Tourism (CAST) and Confederación de Organizaciones Turísticas de América Latina (COTAL) has signed a Memorandum of Cooperation to the joint support of both institutions for initiatives that promote sustainability of Caribbean tourism industry. http://www.hsmaieconnect.org/news/154000370/4045885.html Thu, 18 Mar 2010 16:50:21 GMT http://www.hsmaieconnect.org/news/154000370/4045884.html The Hotel Industry Pulse Index (HIP) posted a slight recovery in February, according to economic research firm e-forecasting.com in conjunction with STR. After edging down 0.5 percent in January, HIP improved 1.3 percent in February. http://www.hsmaieconnect.org/news/154000370/4045884.html Thu, 18 Mar 2010 16:44:34 GMT http://www.hsmaieconnect.org/news/154000370/4045881.html Results from a new survey of unmanaged business travelers in Best Western’s loyalty program, Best Western Rewards®, provide further indication that the effects of the recession are easing and that more people plan to hit the road for business again in 2010. http://www.hsmaieconnect.org/news/154000370/4045881.html Thu, 18 Mar 2010 15:59:39 GMT http://www.hsmaieconnect.org/news/154000370/4045878.html As we enter 2010, words like, “economic downturn” and “recession” are still lingering in everyone’s minds. The service industry among others was significantly impacted by the events commencing in the fall of 2008 and unfortunately, hotel spas were not immune. Hotel spa operators reported that they began to feel the impacts of the economic events early on in 2008, especially those within the luxury hotel segment. http://www.hsmaieconnect.org/news/154000370/4045878.html Thu, 18 Mar 2010 15:08:50 GMT