Those in the hospitality industry will tell you that property operations and distribution strategies are going through a rapid evolution.  Competitive pressures, marketing goals, new revenue opportunities, evolving guest expectations, emerging markets and new distribution channels all play a role in driving hospitality technology needs.  The pace of change in operations and distribution strategies requires hoteliers to use systems that can grow with them to remain competitive. 

Last month we offered customers an information webinar on Channel Connect best practices – ways to best leverage connections to online travel agents within your revenue and distribution strategy. To continue the discussion, we asked our Revenue Optimization team to provide more insight into the functionality of these connections and how they can help your strategy.

Happy New Year! We hope you enjoyed a well-deserved break at the end of the year and had time to reflect on 2012 and the start of 2013.

Recently the team at Web in Travel asked our President and General Manager, Felix Laboy, for his New Year reflections and predictions. Below is a recap of his answers. Enjoy, and wishing you a healthy and happy 2013.

Every Monday we bring you our weekly round-up blog to share last week’s interesting articles and blogs on marketing, social media, hotel distribution and other hospitality topics that we thought were worth sharing. This blog links to a few highlights from last week’s news.

2012 is already off to a busy start. To help you keep up with all the news we will continue to publish our weekly roundup blog every Monday to share last week’s interesting articles and blogs on marketing, social media, hotel distribution and other hospitality topics. Below we listed a few highlights from last week’s news that we found worth sharing.

2012 is already off to a busy start. To help you  keep up with all the news we will continue to publish our weekly roundup blog every Monday to share last week’s interesting articles and blogs on marketing, social media, hotel distribution and other hospitality topics. Below we listed a few highlights from last week’s news that we found worth sharing.

2012 is already off to a busy start.  To help you  keep up with all the news we will continue to publish our weekly roundup blog every Monday to share last week’s interesting articles and blogs on marketing, social media, hotel distribution and other hospitality topics. Below we listed a few highlights from last week’s news that we found worth sharing.

We hear you: there is a lot of news out there and not a lot of time to get through it.  Every Monday we bring you some of the previous week’s interesting articles on marketing, social media, hotel distribution and other hospitality topics that we found to be worth sharing. This article links to a few highlights from last week in the news.

We hear you: there is a lot of news out there and not a lot of time to get through it.  Every Monday we bring you some of the previous week’s interesting articles on marketing, social media, hotel distribution and other hospitality topics that we found to be worth sharing. This article links to a few highlights from last week in the news.

We hear you: there is a lot of news out there and not a lot of time to get through it.  Every Monday we bring you some of the previous week’s interesting articles on marketing, social media, hotel distribution and other hospitality topics that we found to be worth sharing. This article links to a few highlights from last week in the news.

Today’s hotel marketing landscape is changing rapidly.  The advent of new distribution channels has created more options to truly personalize a strategy to suit the needs of your property. With that in mind, it was no surprise when a recent survey of Sabre Hospitality customers revealed that understanding new distribution and marketing trends presented one of the top challenges to their business. When planning their online strategies, hoteliers regularly come to our team for guidance on choosing the top trends to follow. Mobile, social media conversion, and channel management are three key areas where some of the most significant trends for hotel marketers are emerging. This article intends to provide an overview of each and what to look for as you plan your 2012 strategy.

We hear you: there is a lot of news out there and not a lot of time to get through it.  Every Monday we bring you some of the previous week’s interesting articles on marketing, social media, hotel distribution and other hospitality topics that we found to be worth sharing. This article links to a few highlights from last week in the news.

This Thursday we will close our headquarters and the various offices across the U.S. for Thanksgiving, an American tradition of celebrating the harvest and giving thanks. In the spirit of the holiday, we asked Jennifer Barkley (Jennifer.barkley@sabre.com), manager of global community involvement at Sabre Holdings, to guest blog this week about Sabre’s employee giving efforts. One of things I appreciate most as a Sabre employee is the company’s commitment to corporate responsibility and to sustainability. Does your company have a CSR policy? Jennifer’s recap may offer a few ideas on how to get started on engaging your hotel or other business within its community.

We hear you: there is a lot of news out there and not a lot of time to get through it.  Every Monday we bring you some of the previous week’s interesting articles on marketing, social media, hotel distribution and other hospitality topics that we found to be worth sharing. This article links to a few highlights from last week in the news.

You may have read the announcements last week that Google finally launched their highly anticipated Business Platform for Google+. Google Business Pages allow businesses and brands to own a space on Google+ to connect and engage with consumers. While it can be exciting to have a new marketing channel and opportunity tap into, it is important that hoteliers consider the following before jumping right in:

We hear you: there is a lot of news out there and not a lot of time to get through it.  Every Monday we send you some of the previous week’s articles on marketing, social media, hotel distribution and other hospitality topics that we thought were worth reading. Below are a few highlights from last week in the news:

Last month, I was stuck in traffic on the way to a hospitality seminar just as the first news of Steve Jobs’ death was reaching the radio airwaves. The station invited listeners to call in with reactions to the news that Apple’s CEO and the icon who has been referred to as the greatest business leader of our time had just passed away. One of those stories continues to be stuck in my mind.

We hear you: there is a lot of news out there and not a lot of time to get through it.  Every Monday we send you some of the previous week’s articles on marketing, social media, hotel distribution and other hospitality topics that we thought were worth reading. Below are a few highlights from last week in the news:

Leaders from various corners of the hospitality industry came together last week with a few of Cornell University students to participate in a Sustainability Roundtable at the Cornell Center for Hospitality Research. Our representative, Lina Serpil, sent us three of the top tips she gathered from the sessions to pass on to our hotel followers who are managing their sustainability:

We hear you: there is a lot of news out there and not a lot of time to get through it.  Every Monday we post some of the articles on marketing, social media, hotel distribution and other hospitality topics that we thought were worth reading. Below are a few highlights from last week in the news:

While browsing last week’s industry news I came across this trend report published by Rate Gain showing rate parity patterns observed for hotels in major European cities. It is surprising to see hotels not offering parity even with the vast tools and resources available to revenue managers today.  This picture perhaps confirms that the economy is still in distress and hotels are turning to the online travel agencies (OTAs) to drive occupancy.  Is this the wrong move? 

Every Monday we post a few highlights in marketing, social media, hotel distribution and other news that we think you might want to read. Below are a few articles from last week in the news.

This month Sabre Holdings employees around the world are reaching into their communities and joining forces with their teams to raise company-matched funds for good causes. We have asked some of the leaders of Sabre’s Global Corporate Responsibility initiatives whether they would be willing to share some best practices for hotels who want to contribute to reducing their footprint, being involved in the communities they serve, and promoting sustainable tourism. This week Leilani Latimer guests blogs on “Upping” the hotel green game:

Each Monday we post a few highlights in marketing, social media, hotel distribution and other news that we think you might want to read. Below are a few articles from last week in the news.

Each Monday we post a few highlights in marketing, social media, hotel distribution and other news that we think you might want to read. Below are a few articles from last week in the news.

Earlier this year when we asked hoteliers what they are reading for their hotel marketing and distribution news, we heard from many about the time it takes to read more than just a small handful of publications each week. Our new weekly round-up blog includes a summary of some of the highlights of last week in the news and out in the field related to marketing, social media, hotel distribution and other hospitality news. Here are just a few of the items from last week that we thought were worth sharing:

Earlier this year when we asked hoteliers what they are reading for their hotel marketing and distribution news, we heard from many about the time it takes to read more than just a small handful of publications each week. Our new weekly round-up blog includes a summary of some of the highlights of last week in the news and out in the field related to marketing, social media, hotel distribution and other hospitality news. Here are just a few of the items from last week that we thought were worth sharing:

We are excited to have Don Dunnington, an expert on online marketing and currently teaching a graduate level online communication course at Rowan University in Glassboro, NJ.  Don’s “Short Takes on Travel” series will provide insight and commentary on topics relevant to the online travel industry.  This month’s post talks about the pitfalls of charging for wireless Internet connectivity in hotels.

Throughout the year, our Corporate Responsibility team is busy finding new ways for us to give back to the communities we work in. Sabre Hospitality Solutions recently participated in a global volunteer week, where all of our employees had the chance to come together and volunteer for different local organizations. Below are photos from a few of our offices...maybe you’ll recognize some of us in action!

Overview: The increasing online advertising landscape

Online advertising is a big business. According to recent eMarketer estimates, online display spending is supposed to exceed $10.1 billion in 2011. The continued influx of ad dollars is due, in part, to the emergence of branding funds into the online media budget, but can also be attributed to the fact that online media buys are becoming increasingly targeted.

Overview

The abundance of information available on the Internet today has made selecting a Website cumbersome, at best, for many of its users. The Google +1 button attempts to alleviate this issue by incorporating recommendations from friends and family into Search Engine results.

Overview

On February 3, 2011 Google announced a new Ad format nicknamed ‘Extended Headlines.’ Google has found that the new format “results in higher click-through rates for ads that are shown with the longer headline, as well as other top ads that appear beside them.”  To generate the new format Google takes the first line of the ad copy, appends it to headline and inserts a hyphen as a separator.  The extended headlines will only appear when the ad is positioned in the most prominent ad space at the top of the search results page.

I am pleased to welcome you to the official Sabre Hospitality Solutions Blog. A dedicated space for our in-house industry experts to provide you with the most up-to-date news about innovative tools, market strategy, design and distribution that has a direct impact on your ecommerce results.

We are passionate about our craft and happy to share our expertise to help power your progress. We look forward to sharing news, in-depth analysis and to help you better understand the industry and gain an edge over the competition.

Have you already investigated the impact of Google's search changes and optimized your property's search results using Google's new Place Search?  If not, it's a good idea to start of 2011 by looking at your SEO strategy and making sure it's up to date.  Google Places is a good place to start.

Place Search is essentially a mash-up of a business’ traditional Web Result and its Google Places (formerly Google Local) listing.  Previously, the Google Places results were separated from the corresponding business’ Website in what Google coined the Seven Pack.