IHIF 2014: Optimism Returning to the Global Hotel Industry

Optimism about hotel development, financing and property values prevailed among the 2,000 delegates from 73 countries who attended the 17th annual International Hotel Investment Forum (IHIF) , which took place last week at the InterContinental Berlin.

The positive tone was reflected in presentations by 200 speakers during the three-day event. There was consensus that property values are increasing, banks are more willing to lend at sensible loan-to- value ratios and substantial growth in the Asia Pacific region will continue to dominate the development agenda.

Kerry Gumas, president & CEO of Questex Media Group, the conference's producer, summed up the mood among Berlin attendees – from economists to global CEOs and at panel discussions and networking sessions – as "confidence returning to the sector."

He observed than more than 25 percent of the delegates were chairmen or chief executives of their companies, demonstrating that IHIF "brings together the leadership of the industry."

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Source: (www.hospitalitynet.org)

6 Hotel Hospitality Industry New and Current Trends You Should Know About

As a hospitality sector business, you would like to stay in-sync with the latest trends in the global hotel industry. This is rather important since trends that are increasingly engaging attention soon can become a standard demand from your guests. Following are some of the new hotel trends that are making their presence felt across the globe. Read about these to decode how they might affect the type/range of services you offer or how you manage your business.

1. More Emphasis on Hotel “Lobbying”

Perhaps, hotels are realizing that merely having a decorated lobby isn’t sufficient to gain customer loyalty or guests are seeking more, inside-the-hotel time—either way, the hotel lobby is fast making a comeback as an important section of the hotel environment. Mobile recharging consoles are on the rise.

Vibrantly-colored interiors along with free access for checking emails are also being offered.While bigger hotels can afford to offer docking stations for iPhones too, smaller hotels are attempting to ensure that eat-as-you-move kind of snacks/drinks is offered in their lobbies.

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Source: Maansi Sanghi (www.hotelogix.com)

Top 5 Trends in Hospitality for 2014

The faculty experts at the Kendall College School of Hospitality Management recently released its trends outlook for the hospitality industry for 2014. The hospitality management program is highly regarded in the Chicago for preparing students for careers in the hospitality industry. With the combined collaboration of the entire faculty from the hospitality program, they were able to come with this infographic that provides a lot of insight into the top trends within the hospitality industry for the upcoming year. I’ve highlighted some of the more interesting findings below:

• According to the faculty experts, the #1 hospitality trend for 2014 is the demand for international knowledge. Global travel to the U.S. will continue to see strong growth according to The U.S. Department of Commerce which projects an annual growth rate of 3.7-4.2% which will equal roughly 84.6 million visitors. This shows a need for hospitality providers to have more international knowledge and to train their staff’s accordingly.
• Digital Rankings and Referrals mean business. User generated online ratings means more to the hospitality industry then it ever has before. Digital review sites like Yelp, and TripAdvisor are viewed as extremely important by consumers. The power of what’s posted on the web and digital word of mouth can severely impact businesses revenue for better or for worse.

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Source: Matt Zajechowski (blog.hftp.org)