4. High-Tech Investments

Hotels, in particular, are turning to the internet to increase sales. High-tech investments in websites and other facilities already have paid off for many participants in the hospitality industry. A survey of hotels in 2005 found that online sales represented 44 per cent of business for those questioned (Green and Warner, 2006). 17 Their average spend on online marketing was US$50,000 per year, and respondents rated their own website as more effective than any other online channel of distribution. The greatest challenge for hotels was setting prices of optimized revenue and having consistency between prices in different distribution channels. Online agencies and non-hotel sites have also been building up their hotel business as a way to diversify from low-margin air sales.

Southwest, for example, launched a hotel reservations service in 2001 using the Galileo global distribution system. Expedia is also having tremendous success online. In March 2001, it announced that it had sold more than one million room nights in less than three months. In comparison, it took the company three years to sell its first million room nights. Through its Travelscape division, which operates on the merchant model, Expedia contracts for special room blocks to resell to consumers at a margin, thus guaranteeing revenue for the hotel. Hotels can sign on to become an ‘Expedia Special Rate Hotel’ through Travelscape, to help fill unsold inventory. Travelscape helps hotels maximize revenue during peak, shoulder and off-peak travel periods; it also offers hotels an Extranet tool that allows them to manage inventory and rates online. However, tensions between hotels and online agencies have led to some hotels pulling inventory from websites. For example, InterContinental Hotels pulled its 3,500 hotels from Expedia and hotels.com in 2004.

IHG said the online agencies would not comply with business guidelines it had issued, and sought to have more control over how its rooms were sold.

5. The Role of Architecture in Hospitality

Architecture in its simplest and primary role provides for our security, provides structure around us, and protects us from the elements (rain, snow, heat, vermin, etc.). Beyond these basic re­quirements, architecture can define who we are and what we stand for. Armed with a proper design solution, a building can project virtually any image. This can be a powerful tool for the hotel owners who want to define who they are and display these facts to the public. The selection of the proper architect for a hotel project can make the difference in a successful building project.

The location of a hotel is a critical issue. Give that a particular location may have several competitors, what will differentiate one hotel from the next? Architecture plays a major role in differentiating one hotel from the next. Name recognition and branding play a major role, but architecture itself is a part of the branding process. Combining the hotel's physical, structure with the landscaping surrounding it comprises a hotel's architectural style.

Hotels will always be remembered for their architectural style. Everything a guest does from the minute they arrive on the hotel grounds and step into the building is affected by the archi­tecture. This architecture is intended to provide for a guest's needs and comfort. In addition, the design and layout of a hotel creates perceptions early in a guest's stay. This is true at the most basic level. For example, if the rest rooms are placed directly in front of a hotel's main entry, then the rest rooms become the guest's first impression of the hotel's interior. The lobby requires rest rooms to provide for the guest's needs, but the layout and design of these rest rooms could be poor. There is no amount of extra serv­ice a hotel could provide to undo this negative first impression.

Architecture defines everything in the built hotel environ­ment from the basic creature comforts of a guest room to the ambience of the grand lobby. The physical form can subtly direct guests through the main entry and on to the front desk. The architecture should be able to do this without the use of signage and without being so forward as to be intrusive. The basic requirements of the hotel must be properly designed and the hotel's values adequately reflected for the architecture to be successful.

The architectural style can be so defining as to help attract business itself. Examples of this would be the Swan and Dolphin hotels on the Disney property in Orlando. The bold architec­ture and exaggerated features, such as die swan and dolphin structures mounted on top of the buildings and the bold triangu­lar shape of the Dolphin hotel, create an attraction within the Disney attraction itself.

Throughout history, hotel developers have recognized the value of architecture by enlisting the services of top-notch archi­tects to design their buildings. For instance, American architect Frank Lloyd Wright was commissioned to design the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo in 1923. He also collaborated on the design of the Arizona Biltmore, which was opened in 1929 and was known as "the jewel of the desert."

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