Minority Report: Predictive technology is here

Minority Report: Predictive technology is here

There’s a scene in Minority Report – the 2002 Spielberg-directed movie – where Tom Cruise sees ads popping up that anticipate his needs. Jason Aaronson explains in a 2002 ClickZ article: For those who haven’t seen the movie, the relevant part for this article is the depiction of electronic billboards and displays. Using a retinal...

Continue reading

Hotelier Highlights: July 24-30

Hotelier Highlights: July 24-30

Happy Saturday everyone, and welcome to this week’s Hotelier Highlights: the best hotel marketing posts, tech news, and any other...

Jul 31, 2010 No Comments

Julia Forsyth explains how hotels can improve guest feedback with BigEars automated telephone surveys

Julia Forsyth explains how hotels can improve guest feedback with BigEars automated telephone surveys

Julia Forsyth of UK-based BigEars wants to revolutionize the way hoteliers experience guest feedback. Read our interview with her interview...

Jul 30, 2010 5 Comments

This Week in Hotels, July 28: Eliminating the front desk and concierge, usefulness of Foursquare, and more

In this week’s episode of This Week in Hotels, Guillaume and I discuss: Can Foursquare (and other geo-location apps) really...

Jul 29, 2010 No Comments

Four Seasons Denver is using a Flickr group to build pre-opening buzz

Four Seasons Denver is using a Flickr group to build pre-opening buzz

In preparing to write this on Best Hotel Amenities, I came across something cool from the soon-to-open Four Seasons Denver....

Jul 29, 2010 2 Comments

Is the Facebook fanbase for big brands less interactive?

Is the Facebook fanbase for big brands less interactive?

In my article on how to encourage Facebook discussion, I used examples of big brands: Virgin America, Hilton, Ritz Carlton,...

Jul 29, 2010 1 Comment

Retweet for credibility (It helped when Scoble and Newmark passed along my story…)

Retweet for credibility (It helped when Scoble and Newmark passed along my story...)

Mashable put together a nice article with some tips for managing your brand identity on the web. The most important...

Jul 28, 2010 3 Comments

Which phrases should you monitor for hotel reputation management?

Which phrases should you monitor for hotel reputation management?

If you’re setting up Hootsuite or Google alerts, which phrases should you use to monitor the web for mentions of...

Jul 28, 2010 6 Comments

Interview with Robert Patterson, Director of Social Media and Analytics at MMG Worldwide

Interview with Robert Patterson, Director of Social Media and Analytics at MMG Worldwide

Robert Patterson, Director of Social Media and Web Analytics at MMG Worldwide My day to day is analyzing marketing opportunities...

Jul 27, 2010 3 Comments

Does the internet really improve hotel profitability?

Does the internet really improve hotel profitability?

Fabrice Burtin asked this question in a comment here on the blog: The Internet in the hotel industry has been...

Jul 26, 2010 17 Comments

Want more Facebook interaction? Post on Saturday

Want more Facebook interaction? Post on Saturday

According to research from Dan Zarrella, your hotel will get a lot more interaction on Facebook updates made on the...

Jul 24, 2010 6 Comments

Hotelier Highlights: July 17-23

Hotelier Highlights: July 17-23

Welcome to this week’s Hotelier Highlights: the best hotel marketing posts, tech news, photos, and any other inspiring or entertaining...

Jul 24, 2010 7 Comments

This Week in Hotels, July 22: Using video, Tech amenities, and more [Video]

In this week’s episode of This Week in Hotels, Guillaume and I discuss: Different ways your hotel can use video...

Jul 23, 2010 3 Comments

David Morton explains why guests don’t book with you directly (and how to fix that) [Audio]

David Morton explains why guests don't book with you directly (and how to fix that) [Audio]

David Morton is a revenue specialist with Bamboo Revenue in London. Today, we discuss what you need to know about...

Jul 22, 2010 8 Comments

I’ll pay for 10 hotels to try Google Advertising…

I'll pay for 10 hotels to try Google Advertising...

[Important: This is time-sensitive - I can only provide this to the first 10 hotels that apply at the bottom...

Jul 21, 2010 1 Comment

The future of banner ads

The future of banner ads

Peter, a hospitality professor in Berlin, asked me this question the other day: I realize this is not your field, but...

Jul 21, 2010 3 Comments

How Martin Dishman created The One Hotel: Forbes’ #1 most exclusive hotel in the world

How Martin Dishman created The One Hotel: Forbes' #1 most exclusive hotel in the world

Martin Dishman is founder of The One Hotel collection, recently rated the world’s #1 most exclusive hotel by Forbes. (Another good...

Jul 20, 2010 4 Comments

Join Good Hospitality (And help hotels improve their communities)

A few colleagues and I are starting a new community to encourage innovation around social responsibility and environmental sustainability. Here’s...

Jul 17, 2010 2 Comments

Hotelier Highlights: July 10-16

Hotelier Highlights: July 10-16

Happy Saturday, everyone, and welcome to the newest installment of Hotelier Highlights: the week’s best hotel marketing posts, tech news,...

Jul 17, 2010 3 Comments

Best iPad Apps for Hoteliers

Best iPad Apps for Hoteliers

I’ve been playing around with my iPad the past few weeks, and here’s my top 10 apps for hotel people...

Jul 16, 2010 6 Comments

Patrick Bruce: ad agencies are “bamboozling” hotels, here’s how to avoid being a victim [Video]

Patrick Bruce: ad agencies are “bamboozling” hotels, here’s how to avoid being a victim [Video]

Pat Bruce is a marketing analyst with over 25 years in the hotel industry. He’s sick of seeing ad agencies...

Jul 15, 2010 No Comments

Does the internet really improve hotel profitability?

Does the internet really improve hotel profitability?

Fabrice Burtin asked this question in a comment here on the blog: The Internet in the hotel industry has been...

Jul 26, 2010 17 Comments

Should your hotel use Tumblr instead of WordPress?

Should your hotel use Tumblr instead of Wordpress?

Ever since I started blogging about eight years ago, I’ve been a huge supporter of the WordPress blogging software. I...

Jul 06, 2010 27 Comments

Setting expectations for happier guests

Setting expectations for happier guests

For some odd reason, I receive a few emails like this each week from unhappy travelers – guests at hotels...

Jun 14, 2010 22 Comments

15 Well-Designed Hotel Websites (And Why I Like Them)

15 Well-Designed Hotel Websites (And Why I Like Them)

Web design is best shown through examples. As with all visual art, you need to show examples to illustrate style....

May 19, 2010 20 Comments

7 Important Updates We Made With My New Blog Design

7 Important Updates We Made With My New Blog Design

I’ve wanted to re-design this blog for a very long time, and now its finally live! My friend David did...

Apr 19, 2010 23 Comments

120 Marketing Ideas for Hotels in 2009

120 Marketing Ideas for Hotels in 2009

Everyone loves a good list.  To help you plan for the upcoming year, I’ve put together some of the best...

Jan 06, 2009 18 Comments

Parisian hotelier Isabelle Lozano shares her secrets to running a successful boutique hotel

Parisian hotelier Isabelle Lozano shares her secrets to running a successful boutique hotel

This week, I spoke with the charming and insightful Isabelle Lozano, owner of Paris’ Apostrophe Hotel. Below is an excerpt...

Jul 07, 2010 13 Comments

How Mosaic House Re-designed Their Website & Added 800 Facebook Fans Before Opening

How Mosaic House Re-designed Their Website & Added 800 Facebook Fans Before Opening

Megan Harrod is the director of marketing for Mosaic House. I’ve been watching them develop a new website for their...

Feb 23, 2010 4 Comments

Competitive Cooperation: The Story of How 24 Cape Town Guesthouses Came Together…and Won

Competitive Cooperation: The Story of How 24 Cape Town Guesthouses Came Together...and Won

For the past 11 years, Christiane von Ulmenstein, owner of the Whale Cottage Guest Houses in South Africa, has been...

Dec 01, 2009 2 Comments

How Mariquel Waingarten – a new hotelier – created the top guest-rated hotel in Buenos Aires

How Mariquel Waingarten - a new hotelier - created the top guest-rated hotel in Buenos Aires

A highlight of my trip to Buenos Aires last week was visiting the Tailor Made Hotel, and talking with owner...

Nov 19, 2009 3 Comments

Does your hotel have a soundtrack?

Does your hotel have a soundtrack?

I know, I know…I promised to be exclusively guest blogging this week on the new Blog for Guests site to...

Oct 07, 2009 2 Comments

Instead of price promotions, try this in your email newsletters

Instead of price promotions, try this in your email newsletters

Today I read an email marketing case study on Monmouth Plantation, a historic luxury Mississippi inn. Because of the recent...

Aug 14, 2009 No Comments

A Practical Guide to Hotel Marketing Budget Planning

A Practical Guide to Hotel Marketing Budget Planning

Many hotels are working on their marketing budgets right now. I have received multiple requests for advice on budgeting this...

Sep 08, 2009 4 Comments

My Vision for Every Hotel

My Vision for Every Hotel

From time to time when I get reflective, I ask myself why I do what I do. What am I...

Aug 03, 2009 No Comments

The concierge approach to hotel marketing online

The concierge approach to hotel marketing online

While planning for a recent trip, I found myself conducting dozens of web searches to find information on my destination....

Jun 30, 2009 4 Comments

Content Marketing: The key to staying relevant in the new web

Content Marketing: The key to staying relevant in the new web

Think like a publisher Create informative content our readers will love Distribute it as far as possible That has been...

May 11, 2009 5 Comments