Tag Archives: Crime

Hospitality Industry Conference Update: “California Hotel Owner Conference”

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Come out and see Brad Durbin from Petra Risk Solutions in the educational session:

Hotel Cyber Liability:  Claim Trends & Cost Analysis

 

Last year’s Hotel Owner Conference was a huge success!  So back by popular demand, join the California Hotel & Lodging Association, June 11-12, 2015 at the historic, state-of-the-art Silverado Resort & Spa, in the world-famous Napa Valley. The conference will bring together hotel owners, brands, brokers, CEO’s and other hotel industry experts for a conference all about networking, deal-making and high-level education.

For more: http://bit.ly/1PQrLri

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Filed under Conferences, Hotel Industry, Management And Ownership, Risk Management, Training

Hospitality Industry Technology Update: “Best Tips for Creating Fast, Reliable and Secure Wi-Fi Networks”

Wi-Fi is a business driver that enables a comprehensive guest experience. Soon, hotels will leverage the power of Wi-Fi to expand on loyalty programs,Hotel wifi integrate with the in-room TV, and take part in other customer-engagement strategies such as location-based promotions and time-based offers.

Yaroslav Goncharov, CEO of Hotel Wi-Fi Test, has had a front row seat to the rise of Wi-Fi in the hotel industry. “It’s become a key amenity,” he says. “Some studies even claim it is second only to a comfortable bed.” At a time when basically every handheld device features Internet connectivity, guests place immense value on reliable wireless networks. This means that top-notch Wi-Fi services have changed from a nicety to a necessity.

When it comes to best practices, nothing trumps capacity. “While bandwidth growth has always been an issue for hospitality IT departments, the additional demands of Wi-Fi have accelerated the urgency,” says Alexandra Sewell, executive director, emerging markets, Comcast Business. She notes that many hotel guests carry two or three mobile devices, and they expect to be constantly connected when they travel. “And without the proper network capacity, Wi-Fi will be slow and frustrating,” she says. Kirk Hylan, owner of INsite Networks, a San Francisco IT company, says there’s no rule of thumb when it comes to determining how much bandwidth a hotel property needs. “With bandwidth, it’s really a matter of how much your pocket can afford because guests will use it all.”

“Technology is evolving faster than most of us ever imagined,” says Doug Gehret, general manager at Hilton Orlando. “We must be proactive to remain relevant.” Gehret’s hotel recently upgraded to the latest 802.11ac Wi-Fi standard and now touts its high-speed data rates (up to 10 times standard Wi-Fi) as a key selling point in promotion material. With the AC Wi-Fi standard now over a year old, hotels that haven’t upgraded may find themselves falling behind the competition. And a property’s Wi-Fi speed isn’t a secret anymore, as third-party reviewers like Hotel Wi-Fi Test provide free, easily accessible ratings of wireless services that potential guests may use when choosing hotels for their next stay or event.

For more: http://bit.ly/1K5JHXO

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Filed under Guest Issues, Hotel Industry, Management And Ownership, Risk Management, Technology

Hospitality Industry Crime Update: “Hotels Work to Curb Harrowing Trend of Sex Trafficking in Metro”

“O’Meara, an attorney, is Nebraska’s new human trafficking coordinator. He wants people to be aware so victims can be rescued…”What happens is the victim is convinced byTrafficking-620x330 the trafficker (that) the only value the victim has as a human being is the ability to make money through commercial sex acts for the pimp,” O’Meara said…Omaha’s upscale Magnolia Hotel was the first to train hospitality workers to spot sex trafficking.”

Local law enforcement is trying to educate hotel workers to recognize signs of sex trafficking. The hope is to rescue women often caught in a cycle of abuse, violence and neglect.

“I was petrified to go outside,” Melissa said.

She said that for more than three years, she was forced to sell herself for money.

“The brain-washing, psychological games — it takes years,” Melissa said.

She wants Omaha to know that prostitution is slavery, with a pimp in charge of every move.

“I just wasn’t allowed out of his sight,” Melissa said.

Her message is the same one shared as part of a new pilot program in Omaha, which trains hotel workers to spot and report sex trafficking.

For more: http://bit.ly/1Jtnwg7

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Filed under Crime, Hotel Employees, Hotel Industry, Management And Ownership, Risk Management, Training

Hospitality Industry Conference Update: “Hospitality Law Conference”

Hospitality Law Conference

Presented by Anderson Kill and Petra Risk Solutions: Tuesday, June 2, 2015 at The Cornell Club in New York

Hospitality Law Conference

For more: http://bit.ly/1RdDoqn

 

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Filed under Conferences, Hotel Industry, Risk Management, Training

Hospitality Industry Management Update: “5 Social Trends Hoteliers Can Leverage”

“Everything is being rated and talked about, he said. And much of that is being done on mobile. For example,20150504_AmericInn_Levine he said a lot of hoteliers will say they aren’t interested in Twitter—but that’s where their customers are talking about them. Thus, hoteliers need to monitor it and join in on the conversation.”

A picture of a pet cat with a slice of bread on its head. A person standing in front of a waterfall and capturing a photo that makes it seem as if he or she is vomiting said waterfall.

The above two examples “broke the Internet,” according to Daniel Levine, director of The Avant-Guide Institute, a global trends consultancy for travel and consumer marketing, based in New York City. But they were short-lived fads and certainly not things to build a business plan around.

But building a plan around social trends? That might be the golden ticket.

“Trends are not specific to any one industry. Trends are what people are thinking and feeling, and they’re looking for these same trends to be answered in every part of their lives,” Levine said while speaking during the recent opening general session of the AmericInn 2015 Convention & Tradeshow held at Bally’s Las Vegas.

In other words: Hoteliers can adjust their operations to sell the answers to these trends, he said.

“The beauty of trends is that they resonate with people for reasons they may not even be aware of. They’ll go and beat a path at your door if you’re answering these trends in creative ways,” Levine said.

Here are five social trends hoteliers can capitalize on.

For more: http://bit.ly/1F91w8D

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Filed under Hotel Industry, Management And Ownership, Risk Management, Social Media, Technology

Hospitality Industry Conference Update: “Northern California Hotel & Lodging Conference”

CH&LA and AAHOA have once again partnered to present the annual Northern California Hotel & Lodging Conference.  This year the event is moving back to the DoubleTree San Jose.  Each year this event gathers together over 300 hoteliers who enjoynorcal-button-highres the free educational seminars, updates on industry topics and to attend the trade show.

The show will include the usual abundance of networking opportunities, general session luncheon, and of course the trade show, the largest of its kind in Northern California.  Over 100 vendors will be eager to show off the latest industry products, many who offer special rates and discounts for this conference.  There will also be a reception in the trade show at 4:00 pm, with appetizers, soft drinks, no-host bar and lots of networking.

For more: http://bit.ly/1zkW1gW

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Filed under Conferences, Employee Practices, Hotel Industry, Insurance, Liability, Management And Ownership, Risk Management, Social Media, Technology, Training, Workers' Compensation

Hospitality Industry Risk Management Update: “Settlement Deal Reached in Hotel Pool Electrocution”

The investigation showed that the Hilton Westchase did not meet city, state, and national electrical codes and that the pool did not have ground fault circuit interrupters (GFCI) on the pool lighting systemHouston Hilton – which are standard safety features in pool construction, or kitchen and bathroom design, where electrical systems might come in contact with water.

A final civil settlement was reached Monday in a hotel swimming pool electrocution death that a devastated family claimed was “gross negligence of epic proportions.”

Raul Hernandez Martinez, 27, died 6 days after the 2013 Labor Day weekend incident.

He and his family had gathered at the Hilton Houston Westchase hotel and several family members were in the hotel swimming pool when the pool lights came on.

Martinez’ little brother David Duran, 11, began to convulse in the deep end of the pool. Their mom, Maria Isabel Duran, tried to reach the boy but was shocked unconscious by the electrical current.

Family members pulled her from the pool where she was revived via CPR. Martinez, meanwhile, reached his little brother and pushed him to the edge where others pulled the boy out.

But Martinez became motionless as the current continued to surge through the pool.

Rescued and revived, he never recovered and was removed from life support 6 days later.

For more: http://bit.ly/1PSDdPN

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Filed under Claims, Guest Issues, Health, Hotel Industry, Injuries, Insurance, Liability, Maintenance, Management And Ownership, Pool And Spa, Risk Management

Hospitality Industry Management Update: “The Real Value of Dual-Brand Hotels”

“Based on the analysis of the seven subject properties, it appears that operating efficiencies do not come automatically for all dual-branded properties. Throughout all facets of the lodging industry, attention must be paid to the fundamentals.dual branding Dual-branded hotels provide the opportunity to achieve operating efficiencies, but management still needs to optimize shared resources to earn their efficiencies.”

The pace of new hotel construction is picking up. According to STR, there were 1,003 hotels under construction in the United States as of January 2015, up 31.8 percent from January 2014. The most active under-construction segments of the hotel industry are upper-midscale (37.9 percent of total projects) and upscale (34.5 percent of total projects).

One way developers are taking advantage of the popularity of these segments is to build dual-branded hotels. The majority of dual-branded properties in the United States consist of affiliations within the upper-midscale and upscale segments. For the purpose of this article and analysis, we defined dual-branded hotels as single buildings that contain two distinctly branded operations. More often than not, the dual-branded properties contain separate entrances, front desks, and elevators for each brand but share back-of-the-house operations and guest amenities, such as meeting space and pools.

According to Kallenberger Jones & Company, there were 30 dual-branded hotels in the United States as of year-end 2014, offering a total of 12,193 rooms. Another 24 projects, with a total of 10,284 rooms, were under construction as of January 2015.

For more: http://bit.ly/1PvBD67

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Filed under Hotel Industry, Management And Ownership, Social Media

Hospitality Industry Management Update: “Marriott International Announces Energy Conservation Results on Earth Day”

Since 2013, Marriott International has used Green Hotels Global to track the environmental footprint of each managed and franchise hotel in the company’s portfolio.Earth_Day_-_Earth_from_Space The data in Green Hotels Global allows the company to identify and drive programs to support the reduction of energy, water, greenhouse gas emissions, and waste.

As part of its global sustainability strategy to address climate change, Marriott International (Nasdaq:MAR) announced the company’s global energy intensity decreased cumulatively by 2.6 percent over 2013, 13.1 percent compared to a 2007 baseline.

Across the majority of the company’s four global regions, energy results continued to decline. In The Americas, Asia Pacific and Europe, energy intensity for managed hotels decreased over 2013 by 3.0 percent, 0.7 percent and 1.3 percent respectively. In the Middle East and Africa, energy intensity increased by 1.2 percent over 2013 as the region stabilized and travel increased.

“Our global decrease in energy intensity demonstrates the commitment Marriott International has made to attain its sustainability goals,” said Denise Naguib, vice president, sustainability and supplier diversity, Marriott International. “As Marriott’s global footprint expands, we continue to look for new ways to conserve energy at our more than 4,100 properties.”

For more: http://bit.ly/1ySMvaf

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Filed under Employee Practices, Green Lodging, Hotel Employees, Hotel Industry, Hotel Restaurant, Management And Ownership, Risk Management, Technology, Training

Hospitality Industry Management Update: “Getting Serious About Risk Management”

“To be successful, an organization must do a good job of communicating the importance of risk management, which should raise awareness and provide how-to information to employees.Employers must understand that educationrisk-management needs to occur in order to drive continual improvement and adoption of a risk management mindset. This communication should bleed through all levels of the organization in a consistently open and honest manner.”

Success in today’s complex business environment is greatly dependent upon workforce productivity. Creating a proper work environment—one that is safe and secure for employees, customers and data—is vitally important. It means minimizing downside risk and creating a risk management culture.

There has been an invigorated focus on enterprise risk management, the analysis of a broad spectrum of loss exposures that businesses often face. Executives need to be concerned about reputational damage, falling stock prices, shifts in customer appetites for products or services, and even currency fluctuations. In addition, businesses may be impacted by traditional insurance exposures. Some dramatic examples in recent years include:

  • Hurricane damage from Superstorm Sandy and other severe weather events.
  • The Ebola crisis that left a Dallas hospital reeling.
  • Recent cyberattacks on SONY Pictures, Home Depot, Anthem Inc., Target Corp. and the federal government.

For more: http://bit.ly/1DDRJ8w

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Filed under Employee Practices, Hotel Employees, Hotel Industry, Management And Ownership, Risk Management, Training