The Shrinking Value of Hotel Loyalty Programs
My work revolves around travel. Every night away from home is spent at a hotel or Airbnb property. I was recently asked about my hotel brand preferences and which loyalty…
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The Ultimate Guide to Email Marketing for Hotels
Hotel email marketing has become more important than ever. The cost of click- and impression-based marketing on search engines and social networks continues to rise, not just for generic terms, but also…
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My Top 6 Articles of 2016
2016 was a very interesting year and will surely be a memorable one. I have had the opportunity to grow and flourish personally and professionally thanks to support from many people.…
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BookingSuite: A Lesson in Direct Revenue Strategy
Throughout my career in revenue optimization for the hospitality and travel industry, I have always stressed the importance of owning your digital assets. This means having control of your domain,…
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Hotel Website Design and Usability: Top 10 Mistakes
Hotel website design, like any kind of design, is subjective. Nothing is more painful than a website design “discussion” where stakeholders talk for hours about colors, content and photos. For every…
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Super Metrics for Hotel Marketing & Online Revenue Optimization
Analytics metrics have evolved over the past few years. In my last article, I discussed the dinosaur metrics that have fallen in value since the last mass extinction event. Since…
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Dinosaur Metrics Are Taking a Bite Out of Your Hotel Marketing Performance
Marketing is evolving as I am typing this sentence. I’m here to make sure you are not wasting your time, energy and marketing budgets by focusing on outdated metrics. Many of…
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Do You Really Need a Separate Brand for Millennials?
Almost every other week, there is an article about how hotels are trying to “embrace” the Millennial traveler. Basically, anyone born from the 1980s to the early 2000s is in this…
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My Top 6 Articles of 2015
2015 was a phenomenal year for my site. I would like to thank all of my subscribers for participating, sharing, and spreading the “Words.” I love writing for you guys! This year my…
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Marriott’s Acquisition of Starwood: Winners and Losers
Marriott’s acquisition of Starwood is great news for investors, but unfortunately not for Starwood hotel guests and employees. The quote that sums up the reasoning behind this deal came from Starwood Chairman Bruce Duncan. “We…
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Hotel Brands’ Struggle to Understand Airbnb: The IHG Edition
When I’m on Twitter, I’m usually catching up on some of my favorite comedians (mostly comediennes) and posting my own material. But every now and then, some non-comedic items capture my…
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The End of Hotel Rate Parity: Much Ado About Nothing
Over the past few months, there has been a lot of talk about the imminent “end of hotel rate parity” and what it means for the hotel industry. Rulings in favor of…
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Your Marketing Focus Must Shift To Hotel Value Over Price
It’s amazing how much time and energy gets poured into deciding the price of a hotel room. There are STR reports, RMS Reports, and booking engine reports to go along…
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The Free Website Trap: Lessons From Priceline’s Rebranding of Buuteeq
Last year, Priceline.com made a splash when it acquired Buuteeq, a digital marketing and website “cloud-based system” for independent hotels, for what looks like $98 million. My detailed analysis of…
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Google’s Mobile Update: Keep Calm and Get With the Program
Every time Google issues an update, hotel marketing agencies have a field day writing articles and trying to give you a reason to panic about your online presence. To provide you with…
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Let’s Keep It Real: The Truth About Hotel Meta Search
Hotel marketing types love trends. Every day there is the same old story about a new thing that changes everything. It’s always a thing that, if the hotels would only start doing…
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Expedia Acquisitions Signal Tougher Times Ahead for Hotels
Expedia, Travelocity and Orbitz walk into a bar. “We do not serve second and third rate Online Travel Agents here,” says the bartender. “Well, they are now with me,” answers…
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