As Beijing residents get back to life after the Olympics, it appears most visitors have taken the first plane out. Beijing’s hoteliers said goodbye to the majority of their guests just a day after the Games. Hotels across Beijing were only one third full by Tuesday 26 August according to data from STR Global. During the Games, the average room occupancy across Beijing was 79 percent and remained relatively constant until closing ceremony night, where occupancy was still 75 percent. This dropped suddenly to 42 percent on the first day after the Games and declined further to 33 percent the following day.

The U.S. hotel industry experienced occupancy and RevPAR declines during the week of 17 – 23 August 2008, according to data from STR. Average daily rate increased. In year-over-year measurements, the industry’s occupancy fell 3.8 percent to end the week at 65.5 percent. Average daily rate increased 3.1 percent to finish the week at $105.75. Revenue per available room for the week decreased 0.8 percent to finish at $69.27.

Accor, the world's fourth-largest hotel group, announced a new round of cost savings on Thursday as it warned of tough times ahead and said the U.S. slowdown was accelerating "week after week". The French hotels and services group, which operates the Ibis and Sofitel hotel chains, gave a full-year profit target slightly below forecasts and also said hiving off its services unit was not currently on the cards.

Cash-strapped travelers may finally get a break on rising hotel prices this fall -- courtesy of airline cutbacks and high gasoline prices. Airlines' service cuts and rising fuel costs have damped travel demand to several popular resort destinations. That has spurred some hotels to offer plentiful deals and to temper rate increases to woo reluctant vacationers -- an about-face from recent years, when soaring demand for hotel rooms led to record room-rate increases.

Swisscom and Barceló UK today announced a partnership to provide guests staying at any Barceló UK property with Swisscom’s Premium Internet guest services. Barceló UK, previously known as Paramount Group of Hotels, comprises 21 luxury and high-end properties in England, Scotland and Wales, with a total of over 2’800 bedrooms and 160 conference rooms. Swisscom’s suite of Premium Internet guest services includes a range of tailored solutions for guest rooms, meeting rooms and the hotel lobby. Thanks to Swisscom’s web portal Guestroom 2.0®, for instance, hoteliers can propose a bouquet of added-value services to their guests including remote printing, real-time flight information and online access to hundreds of e-newspapers, among others, at no extra charge.

The American Hotel & Lodging Educational Institute (EI) will revive a long-standing tradition when it hosts the Celebration of Excellence breakfast for Certified Hotel Administrators and Master Hotel Suppliers on Monday, November 10, 2008, at the Jacob Javits Convention Center during the American Hotel & Lodging Association Fall Conference in New York.

The American Hotel & Lodging Educational Institute (EI) has published the fifth edition of Hospitality Sales and Marketing, written by James R. Abbey, Ph.D., CHA. This textbook goes beyond theory to focus on a customer-oriented and practical approach for effectively marketing hotels and restaurants. The book explores the “four Ps” (price, product, promotion, and place) as they relate to specific market segments, providing students with a customer-focused perspective.

Remember when: - Restaurants, B&B’s and small resorts said that they did not need to have a web site or even advertise, because their business was based upon families and friends who have visited for generations. - Guests and Visitors, who had a complaint, either had to phone or write in long hand to the Manager/Owner, the Mayor’s Office or the head of the Chamber or CVB and then hope for a response. - Written Comment Cards were our only means to gather information about Customer Satisfaction or their Experience at our Retail business. - Promotion of our lodgings or restaurants was deferred to AAA or Mobil or Michelin, as they were the only game in town.

Welcome Break Group UK, the second largest MSA operator in the UK with a portfolio of 21 hotels, has signed an agreement to roll out the new Web 3.0 Channel Management and Internet Distribution platform from BookingBooster to enhance its business processes. The new systems have been trialled at two of the hotels and the remaining hotels are scheduled to be rolled out ongoing over a period of 2 months.

Brad Wilson has been named chief operating officer of the New York-based Denihan Hospitality Group (DHG), which operates Affinia Hotels, The Benjamin and The James hotel brands. As DHG's first-ever COO, Wilson is charged with developing new infrastructures at the corporate level, and orchestrating an integrated effort to ensure the continued growth of the brands.