The following article appeared in the newsletter of the Lee County CVB recently:
The Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International (HSMAI) has returned to southwest Florida.
The HSMAI Southwest chapter closed a few years ago, but last spring the Southeast Chapter and members from the former Southwest chapter converged to form the new HSMAI South Florida Chapter.
The new chapter launched with an evening networking reception at the Hyatt Coconut Point Resort & Spa. More than 50 people attended the event, including the president and chapter board. A second meeting took place June 18 at the Crowne Plaza Bell Tower, Fort Myers. The HSMAI South Florida Chapter will host quarterly meetings in southwest Florida, with the next meeting scheduled for Oct. 22. The location is to be determined.
HSMAI is the largest international association of travel sales and marketing professionals. Founded in 1927, HSMAI is an individual membership organization with members worldwide, dedicated to enhancing sales and marketing management skills in the travel and hospitality industry through education.
HSMAI is also the producer of sales and marketing shows like Affordable Meetings. The association hosts training webinars and provides research and market trends to the travel industry.
For more information on the Southwest Division of the South Florida Chapter of HSMAI, contact Beth Rice of Visit Florida at (850) 205-3868 or brice@visitflorida.org, or visit www.hsmaisouthflorida.org.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Friday, July 18, 2008
“Table of Eight” – HSMAI South Florida Chapter - July 2008
As you may know, our “Table of Eight” is usually a chatty recap of our monthly meetings including the latest inside scoop gleaned from attendees. My apologies, but since taking on the duties as our Chapter’s Managing Director, I haven’t had much chat time at our meetings.
In any case, I wanted to tell all of you who missed our July 16th luncheon at the Turnberry Isle Resort in Aventura how great a meeting we had. For once, I was happy for the last minute rain which meant that we had some no-shows, allowing us to seat all our additions for a completely packed house. Eighty people filled every seat available to hear speaker, Peggy Nordeen of Starmark outline ways to market travel in these trying economic times.
If you haven’t been to Turnberry in awhile, as I hadn’t been, you’ve certainly missed some amazing changes to the property. And it’s always a good thing to check out and know your competition.
One of the items in Ms. Nordeen’s presentation included a mention of a new opportunity for targeted advertising. It seems that in their desire to generate extra revenue, several of the major airlines are going to start publishing ads on the boarding passes that customers print at home. The ads and information listings will be based on the destination.
A recent newspaper article mentioned that this is just the start of a whole new way to tap a growing customer base. Some airlines are already putting ads on tray tables, overhead bins, airsickness bags, etc. And some airports are increasing their ads in various outlets and on baggage carousel conveyor belts. In addition, it has been reported that the TSA has approved the selling of ads on the bins used at security checkpoints. There’s no question that this will mean increased exposure for the advertisers. Its effectiveness in translating to sales, however, will still depend on the strength and relevance of your message.
Our next meeting is on Wednesday, August 20th at the Tropical Acres Restaurant in Fort Lauderdale. Make sure you register online by the deadline date (August 15) so you won’t be left out. Hope to see you there!
As you may know, our “Table of Eight” is usually a chatty recap of our monthly meetings including the latest inside scoop gleaned from attendees. My apologies, but since taking on the duties as our Chapter’s Managing Director, I haven’t had much chat time at our meetings.
In any case, I wanted to tell all of you who missed our July 16th luncheon at the Turnberry Isle Resort in Aventura how great a meeting we had. For once, I was happy for the last minute rain which meant that we had some no-shows, allowing us to seat all our additions for a completely packed house. Eighty people filled every seat available to hear speaker, Peggy Nordeen of Starmark outline ways to market travel in these trying economic times.
If you haven’t been to Turnberry in awhile, as I hadn’t been, you’ve certainly missed some amazing changes to the property. And it’s always a good thing to check out and know your competition.
One of the items in Ms. Nordeen’s presentation included a mention of a new opportunity for targeted advertising. It seems that in their desire to generate extra revenue, several of the major airlines are going to start publishing ads on the boarding passes that customers print at home. The ads and information listings will be based on the destination.
A recent newspaper article mentioned that this is just the start of a whole new way to tap a growing customer base. Some airlines are already putting ads on tray tables, overhead bins, airsickness bags, etc. And some airports are increasing their ads in various outlets and on baggage carousel conveyor belts. In addition, it has been reported that the TSA has approved the selling of ads on the bins used at security checkpoints. There’s no question that this will mean increased exposure for the advertisers. Its effectiveness in translating to sales, however, will still depend on the strength and relevance of your message.
Our next meeting is on Wednesday, August 20th at the Tropical Acres Restaurant in Fort Lauderdale. Make sure you register online by the deadline date (August 15) so you won’t be left out. Hope to see you there!
Friday, July 11, 2008
July Update
The Florida Department of Environmental Protections recently awarded the Comfort Suites A/P Cruise Port in Fort Lauderdale its Green Certification and welcomed it to the Florida Green Lodging Program. The Hotel presented a $500 check to the Broward County Parks for use towards plantings and reforestation.
There are now ten certified green lodgings in Broward. Are you doing anything to adapt cost-saving green practices that reduce waste and conserve natural resources? Let us know.
Best wishes to Liberty Suites on celebrating its 10th anniversary. Congrats to Joe Van Enron and Jack Zimmerman, co-proprietors. This superior small lodging which caters to the Gay and Lesbian markets has won numerous awards. You may know Joe from the original Visit Florida GLBT Task Forces.
Jungle Island just celebrated their birthday bash by offering a special buy one regular admission get one free offer. Congrats to Jungle Island.
Neiman Marcus at Sawgrass Mills is holding their end of season clearance sale July 16th through August 2nd. Gabriele is offering our members a special invite and group sales offer. If interested, contact her at Gabriele_gannaway@neimanmarcus.com
Hope to see you next week at Turnberry Isle Resort and Club for “Travel Marketing in a Recession”. It should be a great presentation by Peggy Nordeen, President of Starmark International. Note that online/pre-registration closes on Monday, July 14th at noon.
The Florida Department of Environmental Protections recently awarded the Comfort Suites A/P Cruise Port in Fort Lauderdale its Green Certification and welcomed it to the Florida Green Lodging Program. The Hotel presented a $500 check to the Broward County Parks for use towards plantings and reforestation.
There are now ten certified green lodgings in Broward. Are you doing anything to adapt cost-saving green practices that reduce waste and conserve natural resources? Let us know.
Best wishes to Liberty Suites on celebrating its 10th anniversary. Congrats to Joe Van Enron and Jack Zimmerman, co-proprietors. This superior small lodging which caters to the Gay and Lesbian markets has won numerous awards. You may know Joe from the original Visit Florida GLBT Task Forces.
Jungle Island just celebrated their birthday bash by offering a special buy one regular admission get one free offer. Congrats to Jungle Island.
Neiman Marcus at Sawgrass Mills is holding their end of season clearance sale July 16th through August 2nd. Gabriele is offering our members a special invite and group sales offer. If interested, contact her at Gabriele_gannaway@neimanmarcus.com
Hope to see you next week at Turnberry Isle Resort and Club for “Travel Marketing in a Recession”. It should be a great presentation by Peggy Nordeen, President of Starmark International. Note that online/pre-registration closes on Monday, July 14th at noon.
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Giving Your Guests a Good Night's Sleep
Some times as hoteliers, we focus so much on marketing our myriad services and amenities trying just to keep up with the next best thing. We forget that the basics of our industry are putting "heads in beds". If our guests are not getting a good night's sleep, we just haven't done our jobs.
In this era of high stress, hotels are jumping on the band wagon to provide sleep aids.
One way different hotels are trying to help our visitors is through a pillow menu -- a choice of different materials, stuffings, scents, etc. The list of items has expanded from just pillow choices to items as varied as soft linens, sleep masks, ear plugs, scented sachets or aromatherapy sprays, chocolates with melatonin, CD with lullabies, clips to close drapes to shut out the light,
There are even spa hotels that are taking a more aggressive or medical approach to assisting with sleep problems. In some places you can get an assessment regarding insomnia, snoring, and frequent waking at night. You can opt for a clinical sleep study, take in a lecture, have customized sleep counseling, partake of sleep-inducing meals, acupuncture, or even try meditation.
So what are you doing South Florida to provide a better night's sleep for your guests? Have you added sound-proofing or black out curtains? Let us hear from you about your solutions.
Some times as hoteliers, we focus so much on marketing our myriad services and amenities trying just to keep up with the next best thing. We forget that the basics of our industry are putting "heads in beds". If our guests are not getting a good night's sleep, we just haven't done our jobs.
In this era of high stress, hotels are jumping on the band wagon to provide sleep aids.
One way different hotels are trying to help our visitors is through a pillow menu -- a choice of different materials, stuffings, scents, etc. The list of items has expanded from just pillow choices to items as varied as soft linens, sleep masks, ear plugs, scented sachets or aromatherapy sprays, chocolates with melatonin, CD with lullabies, clips to close drapes to shut out the light,
There are even spa hotels that are taking a more aggressive or medical approach to assisting with sleep problems. In some places you can get an assessment regarding insomnia, snoring, and frequent waking at night. You can opt for a clinical sleep study, take in a lecture, have customized sleep counseling, partake of sleep-inducing meals, acupuncture, or even try meditation.
So what are you doing South Florida to provide a better night's sleep for your guests? Have you added sound-proofing or black out curtains? Let us hear from you about your solutions.
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Luxury Hotels -- OK For Now
From everything that I've been reading, it seems that nationally, our luxury hotels are holding their own occupancy wise with no sign of a downturn, yet. The theory is that the demand for high-end properties is not as affected by the economy as other hotel categories. Supposedly, affluent people or those traveling on business are a bit insulated from the general trends.
On the other hand, in this cooling economy, guest expectations are more acute. People feel they deserve some value in with their luxury. They want everything they are paying for. They are using everything they can and in the case of toiletries/amenities when they don't use them on property, they're taking them home.
A trend in high-end hotels is personalization -- everything from making the properties and rooms less stuffy and formal to keeping a dossier on personal preferences. The theory is that in addition to attracting those big spending baby boomers, they'll also reach those travelers in their 30's (and even 20's) who travel a lot and want a hipper sophisticated and more individualized environment.
Experts say that the luxury market is somewhat exempt from the sliding economy, but can't predict how long this will last.
So, what are you doing South Florida to adjust to the economy?
From everything that I've been reading, it seems that nationally, our luxury hotels are holding their own occupancy wise with no sign of a downturn, yet. The theory is that the demand for high-end properties is not as affected by the economy as other hotel categories. Supposedly, affluent people or those traveling on business are a bit insulated from the general trends.
On the other hand, in this cooling economy, guest expectations are more acute. People feel they deserve some value in with their luxury. They want everything they are paying for. They are using everything they can and in the case of toiletries/amenities when they don't use them on property, they're taking them home.
A trend in high-end hotels is personalization -- everything from making the properties and rooms less stuffy and formal to keeping a dossier on personal preferences. The theory is that in addition to attracting those big spending baby boomers, they'll also reach those travelers in their 30's (and even 20's) who travel a lot and want a hipper sophisticated and more individualized environment.
Experts say that the luxury market is somewhat exempt from the sliding economy, but can't predict how long this will last.
So, what are you doing South Florida to adjust to the economy?
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