No worthy cause has attracted more than its share of controversy and backlash than the “Green Movement”. It is unfortunate because that often-rancorous debate has obscured the single most practical reason to think green: it’s good business, particularly for hotel owners. In my experience, there is an absolute advantage to being green. For starters, more and more corporations are examining hotels’ green policies when deciding where to book their employees. In my country, for exampl...

Pos t by Kerry Ranson, EVP and COO of Expotel Hospitality Services With business finally on the rise, you’re probably feeling the pressure to start spending on your properties again. But is demand really strong enough to justify th...

One year later...how's the hotel business on the Gulf Coast?   I’ve been asked that question a lot in the past few days. I tell them that the Gulf Coast and New Orleans in particular have seen some of their highest RevPAR numbers in years. Through catastrophe after catastrophe, we have truly seen this region’s resiliency and ability to continually reinvent itself. A year after the BP oil spill, hotels have fared very well, due in part to a large number of room nights generated from clean...

Post by Bill DeForrest The Americas Lodging Investment Summit opened Monday in San Diego. The skies were sparkling blue and cloudless, but the forecast for our industry, according to the opening panel, remain...

Posted by Kerry Ranson When the Treasury Department announced recently its intent to pour $500 billion into the financial community by way of bond purchases, the pundits weighed on both sides of the equation.  While the goal of the investment is to loosen the credit environment for investors, many worried that the influx of these dollars would lead to a depression of the dollar. I am certainly no fan of in...

Posted by Kerry Ranson It’s been called the hotelier’s heroin. It’s addictive and destructive—and breaking free will require resolution from franchisees and franchisors alike.  It’s the online travel agency—OTAs. Our collective addiction to this revenue source began innocuously. We were willing to deeply discount extra inventory on a highly selective basis.  Just after 9/11 and again when this current recession hit, we relied more heavily on these pr...

Posted by Eva Ferguson Last week, the IAHI had the great honor of presenting FelCor Lodging Trust Chairman—and former IAHI Chairman—Thomas J. Corcoran with the Kemmons Wilson award for community involvement and achievement. In 2008/2009 Tom led IAHI through the most difficult year any of us can remember. Whenever I reflect on that period, I always come back to the same phrase: the right man at the right time. When Tom assumed the chairmanship, our owners needed teste...

Posted by Eva Ferguson Leaving the 2010 IHG Americas Investors Conference, my feet hurt and my body was tired, but I was energized once again by this gathering. Energized because, to be surrounded by individuals who love what they do, who want to be part of delivering something great, who see beyond today and seek tomorrow, reaffirms everything that I know to be true about the hotel business. That truth? No matter what challenges we face today, we know tomorrow brings anothe...

Posted by Kerry Ranson The other day, while waiting for a plane and watching the news, I had a revelation.  The politicians ranting about the “fat cats” and “Wall Street versus Main Street” were actually talking about …  me.  And you.  And all small business people who are trying to keep their companies afloat and rev up this flailing economy.  “Main Street” is the heart of where I do business, not Wall Street.  As a company, we employ h...