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Vrijwel alle landen en alle universiteiten beseffen dat ondernemerschap het geheim is voor groei en werkgelegenheid. The Economist beschrijft hoe overheden pogingen doen om ondernemerschap te stimuleren en op wat voor manieren dat helemaal fout loopt.
Overheden verwarren ondernemerschap met technologische vooruitgang en met start-ups. Dat leidt tot vele beleidsfouten:
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Smartphones and tablets are giving travelers a reason to wait until the last minute to book a hotel: discounts if you reserve a room for the same day using an app. Kayak, Priceline, Orbitz, Travelocity and Expedia all offer apps that let travelers search for available hotel rooms, often discounted 10 to 50 percent for stays that begin the day you book. The apps have different features — and flaws — but they basically use a device’s GPS to show where you can find a room near you. The information is displayed on a map or a list that you can sort by price, distance or rating.
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A Hotelier’s Measure of Success
Jul 25, 13 | 12:08 am
By Alan Campbell
In a previous article of mine, I made the following observation:
There are many general managers, hotel CEOs, owners, and other high executives in the hospitality industry who are in this business solely for the money—I’ve met and know several of them, and I feel sorry for them, for even though they may get rich from their efforts, they will never be happy with that effort; they will be incapable of feeling any sense of accomplishment, any sense that what they’ve done means anything.
And earlier today, while taking a trip through cyberspace, I came across the following quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson:
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Most Anticipated Hotels For 2013
- The Quin Hotel – New York, US
- The Langham Chicago– Chicago, US
- Shangri – La Hotel, London, UK
- The Peninsula Paris – Paris, France
- Rosewood – Beijing, China
- Cheval Blanc Randheli – Maldives
- The Ritz – Carlton – Abu Dhabi
- Mahali Mzuri – Kenya
The Quin hotel – New York, US
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We have come a long way since the earliest inns for weary travelers sparsely, very sparsely, dotted what would become the American landscape.
More times than not, America’s early weary traveler, mostly men, slept “under the stars”, taking advantage of the Good Lord’s hospitality, or in this or that barn—probably free of charge, if at a farm; most likely for a price, if a town stable.
As the population increased and people ventured West for cattle and farmland, towns formed to take care of the people.
A General Store, a Stable, and a Saloons were the first buildings to go up, followed by an all-grade Schoolhouse and a Church.
Many towns never got past that stage, but for those that did, the weary traveler, rather than staying at the only lodging available, a spare room at the Saloon, with all the noise and carousing cacophony that went with that type of environment, now had the choice of either an hotel or a boarding house; sometimes both.
Competition, except between saloons, was almost never a problem; at least not until many of those towns grew into either larger towns or cities.
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These are qualities that OTAs cannot deliver as effectively as your hotel’s website, social media presence or reservations team. Once they become paramount priorities at your hotel, acquiring more direct bookings will follow.
While J.D Power reports that customers who booked via an OTA such as Expedia were 45 points less satisfied than those who booked directly through a hotel’s site, hotels continue to make it difficult to book direct is exacerbated by the fact that OTAs make it so easy to book and spend so much more money on advertising and technology. As they continue to capture bookings and grow their loyal customer bases, hotels remain laggers and are missing a crucial opportunity for acquiring more business.
Whether your guest is preparing for their stay, checking-in at the front desk or engaging on your hotel’s Facebook page, he/she wants the same things:
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