Marketing During a Downturn
from Hotel News Now
Though marketers may be tempted to bury their heads in the sand to avoid the storm kicked up as travel softens and budgets shrink, they can still drive demand with a number of proactive strategies, according to experts. If your competitors are all hunkering down to try to wait out the storm, now ‘s the time to try to promote yourself,” said John Ely, senior vice president of marketing for Signature Worldwide, an international marketing and training company, whose past clients include Carlson Hotels Worldwide, InterContinental Hotels Group and Hilton Americas. “Now is the time to be proactive and not reactive,” said Greg Hanis, president of consultant firm Hospitality Marketers International. More

Seven Digital Marketing Strategies for Surviving
from Hotel Marketing
For marketers looking to not only survive, but possibly even thrive in these recessionary times, Geoff Ramsey, eMarketer CEO and co-founder, has identified seven strategies made possible by the Internet. More

Maximizing Hotel Revenue
from HSMAI via Wired Hotelier
The decisions you make today in your revenue management strategies will shape the profitability of your business over the next one to three years, says John Parke, President & CEO of Leadership Synergies in a recent HSMAI webinar. More

Will 2009 be the Year of Transparency?
from hospitalityNet
President elect Barack Obama talks about transparency in government as the bedrock of his administration and as tourists increasingly share information about experiences and holidays online, they will expect the same kind of openness from tourism organizations and businesses. In 2009, it will be hard to hide anything, keep things out of sight and the tourist will at the very least know you are hiding something. With the internet they can find nearly everything and tell nearly everyone. Transparency is associated with clarity, clearness, simplicity, precision, intelligibility and accuracy. Futurologist Dr Ian Yeoman talks about transparency, the tourist, brands, technology and business implications. More

Probing Hotel Expenses
from 4Hoteliers
Evaluating all expenses is essential for both long term successes and short term cash flow. The global economic news continues to be rather solemn. Declining occupancy in many markets, the lingering effects and seriousness of the terrorism in India, political protests in Thailand and Greece and the unknown relating to a number of industries worldwide are all having their toll on the hospitality industry. More