By: James Houran, Ph.D.Managing Director at AETHOS Consulting Group and J. Bruce Tracey, Ph.D. Professor at Cornell University’s School of Hotel Administration Pine and Gilmore’s (1999) famous concept of the “experience economy” – introduced nearly 25 years ago – asserts that businesses intent on competition or differentiation must deliver “memorable events” for consumers because such […]
By Mark Legg With the 2010s decade in our rearview mirror, the gaming industry experienced considerable changes. This past decade the gaming industry experienced the cumulative effects of competition. To combat a more competitive environment, casinos have looked to technological advancements, more specifically data-mining capabilities and mobile gaming apps. In addition to greater investments in the […]
By Christian E. Hardigree, J.D. Today’s hospitality conversations are rife with dialogue about sustainability, initiatives ranging from linen reuse programs, to donating toiletries, to auto dimming lights, to food sourcing, etc. Hospitality practitioners’ quest to define the ROI (return on investment) is often at foiled by a concept that includes intangible metrics and differing definitions of […]
By Suzanne Bagnera While TripAdvisor has been in operation since 2000 (TripAdvisor, 2012), the adoption of the website by hospitality industry professionals was rather delayed. However, in more recent years, hotel operators and other hospitality institutions have acknowledged the benefits that this service can provide and have embraced it more fully. With the advanced review […]
By Ingrid Lin “You wouldn’t build anything in most parts of Asia without having feng shui consultants come in and help you.” – Neil Jacobs, the president of global hotel operations for Starwood Capital. Feng Shui: real, phony, or magic? The western world might consider feng shui to be a mystical and mysterious art, […]
By Peter Szende and Pooja Reddy Front-of-House & Front Desk Have you ever really noticed the front desks of the hotels that you visit? Chances are, you don’t think twice about it—because more and more, the front-of-house area is designed to be subtle and unobtrusive. If you are aware of the front desk area, it’s […]
By Tarik Dogru, Makarand Mody, and Courtney Suess If you are in the hotel industry, chances are that Airbnb has come up in conversation at some point or another. The sharing economy phenomenon and the economic, social, and technological changes fueling its growth have challenged the hotel industry to rethink its experiential value proposition to […]
By Nick Cohen The year is 2001, and the world is still recovering from the tragedy of September 11th. The travel industry is in a downward spiral as fears of flying and terrorism ripple across the United States and beyond, and hotels have lost significant occupancy due to a decrease in demand. Simultaneously, a fledgling […]
By Courtney Suess, Makarand Mody, & Gabrielle Guarracino What words come to mind when you think of a hospital room? Chances are, your results might sound something like this: Stark. Sterile. Bare. Clinical. These don’t paint a very attractive picture, nor do they engender any comfort for those who find themselves needing to stay at […]
By Tarik Dogru and Osman Pekin The sharing economy has become a major phenomenon; Airbnb, Uber, ZipCar, Kickstarter and many more comprise the rapidly expanding list of pioneers in the world of the sharing economy. This new concept has introduced an alternative platform for consumers, widely known as peer-to-peer marketplace, in which participants are motivated […]