The SEC recently released a proposal that could lead to required use of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) by U.S. publicly traded companies in 2014. According to experts, the question is not if the U.S. will require the hospitality industry to change to IFRS but when. As a result, major accounting firms are advising their […]

Most hoteliers intrinsically understand the concept of a sense of arrival. Broadly defined, this is that glorious moment (or what’s intended to be glorious) when a guest arrives at the threshold of your establishment. The goal of this is to quite literally wow your arriving guest from the get-go to reaffirm their hotel selection. I […]

I once met with a hotel owner, not long after taking over management of his group of hotels, to tell him how I planned to reenergize the lackluster and ineffective sales effort I found in place. I told him that I planned to create a new position of Divisional Sales Manager and promote a “sparkplug” […]

As a long-time hospitality executive I did not even know what ‘task force’ was until I was in the job! It sounded a bit like the title of a Chuck Norris movie, not the genteel world of the hospitality professional. Task Force operations have come into their own in the last few years to provide […]

Terrorist attacks and threats against the hospitality industry, whether large international chains or individual properties, have grown alarmingly since 9/11. It is my conviction that this trend will continue to grow in terms of numbers and level of sophistication. Modern day terrorism, which until the second half of the 20th century was mainly focused on […]

The “guest experience” is possibly the most talked about aspect of the industry. Delivering a great (memorable, unique, motivating, etc.) experience is the business we are in – our competition can copy everything we do – maybe even do it  better than we do —  but they cannot copy the experience the guest enjoys in […]

Breaking down Barriers Between a Hotel and Its F&B Franchise When it comes to thinking broadly about food and beverage, hoteliers can either opt to supervise and operate their hotel F&B programs internally or they can work with a partner who will manage the culinary branding. This decision can determine the type of consumer dining […]