HSMAI Honors Chapters with Frank W. Berkman Best of the Best Awards

The Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International (HSMAI) announced the recipients of the Frank W. Berkman “Best of the Best” Awards on January 29, 2025, at the HSMAI Mike Leven Leadership Conference in Orlando, FL. Named the Best of the Best in chapter leadership and operations, the chapter’s programs and accomplishments serve as best practices for all chapters as they continue to fuel sales, inspire marketing, and optimize revenue for HSMAI members on the local level.

How to Personalize the First-Time Guest Experience

Personalization has attracted a lot of hype in recent years. So much so that it has almost lost its meaning across most industries. For hotels specifically, as they tackle the day-to-day operational challenges, navigating through the complexities of catering to the individual needs of each guest may seem overwhelming, leaving many wondering where to begin.In this article, we put personalization into context for independent hotels and provide some practical first steps for independent hotels to implement personalization at scale for first-time shoppers

2025 hospitality trends to spark change at your hotel

Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift. That is why it is called the present. There’s something to be said about staying in the moment — living for the present and not for the future. Like when a guest walks into your hotel, you’re not going to ask them when they’re coming back before they’ve even checked in. No, you’re going to focus on things like that guest’s afternoon spa treatment — undisturbed and complete with a coconut mask, because it’s the preferred facial from their guest profile.

Celebrating 10 Years, HFTP Opens Applications for Entrepreneur 20X 2025

Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals (HFTP®) is pleased to celebrate a decade of its premier hospitality technology start-up pitch competition, Entrepreneur 20X (E20X), first held at HITEC 2015 in Austin, Texas. For its 10th year, E20X 2025 will be at HITEC 2025 in Indianapolis, Indiana. Applications to compete are now open and startups are invited to submit their cutting-edge platforms to be considered for one of the eight competition positions.

Don’t Make a Mythstake: Ten Business Myths You Can’t Believe

Some very popular business sayings are potentially detrimental to your organization. I recently wrote an article in my weekly Forbes.com column titled The Five Business Myths You Can’t Believe. It met with plenty of positive feedback, so I’m going to share those five myths with you, plus five more. I’ve written full articles about some of these topics in the past. I now share this compilation of 10 popular business myths. Don’t make the mythstake of believing them!

Templeton Garden, Miiro’s New London Property

Slated to open in April of 2025, Templeton Garden is located in a rare oasis of the cosmopolitan capital. The 156-room property is situated in leafy, historic Earl’s Court. Once a rural idyll, this neighborhood evolved into one of the capital’s most well-connected hubs, which Beatrix Potter, Alfred Hitchcock, and Agatha Christie all called home.

AI search is eating the world’s organic traffic

HubSpot’s organic traffic has experienced a pretty scary decline, losing 75% of its traffic in 2024. For a company that built an SEO empire from 5 million to 10 million visits in just two years, this kind of plunge—from 10 million to 2.5 million—deserves attention.

Geo-Based Hotel Pricing: A Bold Revenue Strategy or an Ethical Quagmire?

A recent discussion on Hospitality Net’s World Panel has reignited the debate over whether differentiating hotel pricing based on a traveler’s geographic location is a prudent revenue management strategy or an ethically fraught practice. The conversation stems from research suggesting that several major OTAs (Online Travel Agencies) appear to offer higher rates to users in more affluent regions—most notably the San Francisco Bay Area—compared to those in less affluent cities like Phoenix or Kansas City. According to SFGate, the discrepancies can be dramatic, sometimes reaching $500 more per night for the very same room and dates.