The Westin Tabor Center’s new Executive Boardroom, designed by PSAV® Presentation Services here, creates such a favorable impression with prospective meeting clients that it could be considered an unofficial member of the hotel’s sales team.

The Knowland Group, the world’s leader in hotel group intelligence, found hotels in the busy San Antonio meeting and conference market have experienced only a slight decline in business this month, even in the face of heavy media coverage over possible swine flu cases in Texas. Knowland Group research found that San Antonio hotels have successfully reassured guests that the flu is being managed properly, avoiding any significant business drop off stemming from customer fear of the illness.

From the Arabian Hotel Investment Conference (AHIC) in Dubai, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE: HOT) announced today the signing of a hotel within The Luxury Collection brand in Ajman, United Arab Emirates. The new-build, 207-room property is expected to open in 2012, and is illustrative of Starwood’s market leading growth in the region and around the world.

Hilton Garden Inn, one of the fastest growing brands within the Hilton Family of Hotels, is pleased to announce the opening of the 135-room Hilton Garden Inn Chesapeake/Suffolk in Harbour View Commerce Park in Suffolk, Va., representing another addition to the brand’s growing collection of 450 Hilton Garden Inn locations across North America, Europe and Central America.

Travelzoo (NASDAQ:TZOO), a global Internet media company, announced today that Chris Loughlin, the managing director of Travelzoo in Europe, was named the “2009 Young Entrepreneur of the Year”, by The British Travel & Hospitality Industry Hall of Fame. The award recognises one individual aged 35 or under, whose passion and drive has lead to a significant entrepreneurial success within the British travel industry.

White Lodging, one of the fastest growing independent ownership, development and management companies in the country, has found a way to reduce its overall labor costs by 25 percent during this economic downturn. Working with Miami-based MTech and its flexible PMWorks preventive-maintenance program, White Lodging adjusts its PM labor model from a quarterly program to a 3-times-a-year schedule whenever individual property occupancy drops below a predetermined level.

"In the past few months, we have received a surprising amount of feedback regarding the impact of our eye-catching airport display and interactive texting program," said Brian Bork, Vice President of Marketing for MGM MIRAGE's Mississippi Operations, which includes Beau Rivage Resort and Casino in Biloxi and Gold Strike Casino Resort in Tunica. "We can definitely attribute an increase in inquiries to the ability of these unique tactics to engage travelers."

Great Hotels Organisation (GHO: ), a luxury sales and marketing alliance, has announced the launch of a new promotion aimed at the meeting and incentive market, offering added value and exclusive benefits to the MICE buyer.

Effective social media marketing relies on consistency for sustained results. For this reason, you may find it useful to create a checklist of tasks to complete as part of your daily routine. As a hotel manager or marketer, what are these tasks, and how often should you perform them?

The Board of Governors of the Ecole hôtelière de Lausanne (EHL) has regretfully accepted the resignation of Ruud J. Reuland, General Director of the establishment for the end of the year. This decision, made for personal reasons, comes after eight years of service during which he greatly contributed to reinforcing the international reputation of the first hotel school in the world.

The HVS Middle East Hotel Survey for 2009 encompasses 140 hotels (a total of 39,500 rooms) and our sample includes branded four-star and five-star hotels but excludes super-luxury hotels,as they could skew the results of this survey. We have chosen to include in our annual survey only those hotels with an operating history of more than three years; this is to avoid the distortion due to the initial years of a hotel operation.

Guests at the Metropark hotel got a thoughtful gift Sunday: a box of Godiva chocolates sent to each room. "Please accept my profuse apologies for the horrendous inconvenience," read a note with the sweets. "You have earned tremendous respect from us Hong Kong people, and we would like to say thank you, from the bottom of our heart." It was signed by York Chow, Hong Kong's secretary for food and health.

A lot has been written and talked about hotel brand and price erosion in the past few months and years. Hotels have vocally expressed their disgruntlement about the commoditization caused by online travel agencies. Indeed the increase of online distribution in the hotel and travel industry has created a high level of price transparency and rate parity strategies contribute to the commoditization of the hotel product and services.

Today the Ontario Restaurant Hotel & Motel Association (ORHMA) applauded the McGuinty government's announcement of an increased investment of $32 million this year in the Ontario Summer Jobs program. This investment is welcomed support for small and medium sized hospitality operators who, in the midst of an economic recession, need as much financial assistance as possible to sustain their businesses.

Fred Kleisner, President and CEO of Morgans Hotel Group, said: “In an increasingly difficult environment, we continued to manage our cost structure and balance sheet in a proactive and aggressive manner to preserve shareholder value. We implemented an additional $10 million in annualized cost savings in the first quarter of 2009 and ended the first quarter with over $87 million in cash on hand. We are confident that we are taking all the right steps to get us through this challenging period, while at the same time maintaining our unique brand experience so that we are well positioned for growth when the economy turns around.”

Hilton Hotels Corporation today announced the entry of the Doubletree by Hilton brand into the Middle East with the signing of a Management Agreement with Mohamed Ahmed Ali Hassan Ruqait for the Doubletree Suites by Hilton Ras Al Khaimah in the U.A.E set to open Q1 2010.

Less than an hour drive from Beirut, InterContinental Mzaar Lebanon Mountain Resort & Spa is known for its outstanding effort to satisfy its clientele, and thus will undergo exceptional achievements aiming to further its success.

WIT-Web In Travel’s Start-Up Pitch will be supported by TourismROI LLC (), the world’s first global source of information for Travel & Tourism management and investment opportunities, based in New York.

A lesson I have learned in my career is that blending high tech with high touch is required today for optimal results. Using guest history is not high tech – it is the fundamentals of many successful hoteliers today, ranging from Bed & Breakfast operators to gaming to resorts to business oriented properties.

As a member of the revenue management team, you are no doubt aware of the impact that your central reservations office or independent 800 voice representation service has on your property’s bottom-line profits. Depending on your market mix, the contribution from central reservations offices (CRO’s) might be anywhere from 10% to more than 35% of your overall transient business. So it only makes sense to give them every available tool for maximizing call conversions.