Lodging Daily News

Searching for hotels and travel information on the Internet has become a whole different ball game. That’s mainly because searching for information via the Internet has changed drastically since the initial days of keyword searches. Today’s Web surfers generally search for information by asking questions, expecting to get a direct response to their query. Recognizing this fact, Forbes Travel Guide, formerly Mobil Travel Guide, will soon debut a new website tailored to hotel seekers looking

The STR hotel performance forecast for summer 2011 reveals several good developments in store for the overall industry. For forecasting purposes, we consider summer to encompass June, July, and August. We expect room demand, which has continued its rebound over the last year and a half, to increase by an additional 2.5 percent this summer over the demand in summer 2010. In July of 2010 we reported that the total number of rooms sold was

Lodging companies are investing more into business intelligence and performance improvement. Hotels and hotel brands alike are coming to the realization that if you continue to craft operational strategies based solely on historical data, then you are ignoring upcoming trends and may repeat history—whether you like it or not. Considering the past couple of weeks of group bookings outlook, it may be wise to seek guidance from the future 12-month horizon as an input into

On paper, the formula for success at an extended-stay hotel is very sound. By accommodating guests for an extended period of time, these properties are able to “cover up” the soft spots on their calendars and achieve extraordinary annual levels of occupancy. In addition, the combination of limited services and amenities leads to increased employee productivity and high profit margins. As PKF Hospitality Research (PKF-HR) has noted in previous analyses, niche lodging products will achieve

It’s been 20 years since Hoyt Harper II answered the advertisement in The Chicago Tribune that would change the direction of his career. At the time, the Milwaukee native was working as an admissions counselor at Marquette University. “A travel company was hiring people to work in resorts,” he recalls. The travel company turned out to be Sheraton Hotels & Resorts, and Harper got the job and left Wisconsin for the sun and beaches of