2015 was a busy year for the hotel industry. ADR, Occupancy and RevPAR achieved record highs. We saw extensive merger and acquisition activity, culminating at the end of the year with the acquisition of Starwood by Marriot and Fairmont by Accor (and don’t forget Expedia’s Orbitz acquisition, of course). Favorable
As consumers have moved to digital channels and digital interactions, competition for the hotel consumer has increased dramatically. Now, hotels not only compete with each other, but also with third-party online distributors, and even new disruptors from the sharing economy like AirBnB. However, hotels have one advantage that these other
Revenue management is a relatively young discipline in the hotel industry. Hotels only started to broadly adopt revenue management processes and systems in the late 90s and early 2000s. While the discipline has achieved success and gained visibility over the last decade and a half, it is still relatively new
with Natalie Osborn, Senior Industry Consultant, Hospitality and Gaming Practice, SAS We’ve taught analytics 101 through the last couple of blog posts, and now that you have passed that course, you are ready to take an advanced course in analytics. Ok, not really, we won’t subject you to that, but
with Natalie Osborn, Senior Industry Consultant, Hospitality and Gaming Practice, SAS This week, we continue our fall “back to the basics” refresher series on analytics for hoteliers. Last week, in part one, Natalie and I reviewed the analytic methods that can be utilized by hoteliers. This week we will explore
with Natalie Osborn, Senior Industry Consultant, Hospitality and Gaming Practice, SAS. It’s back to school time, and back to school reminds me of getting back to the basics. So, we thought we’d start the fall with a “back to the basics” refresher series on analytics. To accomplish this, Natalie and
We’ve been talking about data recently at the Analytic Hospitality Executive. I’ve advocated to use whatever data you have, big or small, to get started today on analytic initiatives that will help you avoid big data paralysis. In this blog, I’m going to get a bit more technical than usual
With all of the discussion about big data these days, it is easy to think that every problem is a big data problem. Yes, there is a lot of data out there these days, and of course we all love a nice big data set, but you don’t always need
We have spent a good deal of time at the Analytic Hospitality Executive advocating for the value of big data for hospitality. Just a few months ago, for example, I wrote a two part series on how Big Data was a “big opportunity” for hotels and casinos. Our goal at
In a noisy distribution environment, hotels are in significant danger of becoming commoditized. Differentiating themselves not only from the competition, but from the third party distributors, will be crucial to maintaining a competitive edge, or even just maintaining profitability. In an effort to connect better with guests, most hotel companies
We asked our partners at the Cornell Center for Hospitality Research to poll the research faculty at the Hotel School to understand their guidance about what to expect in 2015. We were also able to get a preview of what the faculty will be working on in terms of research
We asked our partners at the Cornell Center for Hospitality Research to comment on what they are seeing in terms of trends that will impact the hospitality industry in 2015. Cathy Enz, full professor in strategy and The Lewis G. Schaeneman Jr. Professor of Innovation and Dynamic Management at the
By now you have seen dozens of articles with trends and predictions for what the hospitality industry should expect in 2015. I’m not going to add to those, or rehash them exhaustively here. You’ve all probably read them yourself and gathered the highlights: optimism, more acquisitions, transaction volumes will stay
Well, Analytic Hospitality Executives, the year has once again flown by, and here we sit just before the holidays looking back on 2014, and figuring out what it all means for 2015. I traveled even more than usual this year (if that’s even possible), spending a significant amount of time
I generally don’t use this blog to air my personal experiences, but recent events have reminded me of a few things that I think would benefit our Analytic Hospitality Executives and their organizations to also be reminded of. This past week, I took my fifth trip to Asia this year.
Big data is of no use unless you can turn it into information and insight. For that you need big analytics. Every piece of the analytics cycle has been impacted by big data, from reporting, with the need to quickly render reports from billions of rows of data, through advanced
By infusing analytics through every phase of the guest journey, hotel managers can help shore up the complicated balance between the guest experience and revenue and profit responsibilities – delivering memorable and personalized guest experiences, while maximizing revenue and profits. To accomplish this, hotels need to be able to collect,
Next week Breffni Noone, Associate Professor, The Pennsylvania State University and I will be hosting a discussion at the Cornell Hospitality Research Summit on how user generated content impacts the purchase choices of the unmanaged business traveler. The discussion will take place on Monday October 13 at 2:15pm in Statler 396.
By Cathy Enz, PhD., Lewis G. Schaeneman, Jr. Professor of Innovation & Dynamic Management, Cornell School of Hotel Administration. It seems that everyone loves to talk about innovation these days, but sadly the overuse of the word to describe minor tweaks and ordinary activities has turned it into a confusing
With the growing popularity and availability of online reviews and ratings, consumers have more information than ever before when purchasing a hotel stay. In order to build effective pricing and positioning strategies, hotel managers need to understand how consumers are using all of this user generated content with price to
