Hospitality Insight

Hospitality Insight Shutting Down

Nestlé Library — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 15:48:57 +0000

The Hospitality Insight blog will no longer be updated. We are now using a Facebook page to provide the same content as our blog has provided for the past three years. Thank you for reading our blog and please Like us on our Facebook page. Thank you.

2011 HOST Study

Nestlé Library — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 15:43:20 +0000

Looking for extensive data on U.S. hotel industry revenues and expenses? Published by STR, the Hotel Operating Statistics (HOST) Study compiles statistics from more than 6,200 hotel operating statements. In addition to revenue and expense data, the HOST Study provides analysis of the current hotel environment, focusing on rooms, food & beverage, marketing, utility costs, property & maintenance, administrative & general, and selected fixed charges.

The 2011 HOST Study can be found on the library’s reference shelf (call number TX901 H695).

Medical Tourism

Nestlé Library — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 17:01:03 +0000

As an example of niche tourism, medical tourism involves people travelling abroad in search of cosmetic enhancements or surgical solutions to serious medical conditions. Medical tourism benefits, but also challenges, local healthcare providers, and contributes to regional economies and the tourism industry.

The rise of medical tourism emphasizes a number of contemporary themes including the privatization of health care in post-industrial economies, the growing dependence on technology, uneven access to health resources, the accelerated globalization of health care and tourism, rampant consumerism, and body image.

The Nestlé Library contains a variety of resources for the emerging field of medical tourism. Contact the library staff for more help with research related to medical tourism.

Technology Strategies

Nestlé Library — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 20:01:10 +0000

With an emphasis on aligning technology to business strategy, Technology Strategy for the Hospitality Industry provides an interesting study of how IT has shifted from a back-of-the-house support role to one of strategic significance. IT in the hospitality industry has evolved from a focus on performing manual processes more cost-effectively to an emphasis on knowledge-based systems that can help drive revenues, make better business decisions, and create a competitive advantage.

Technology Strategy for the Hospitality Industry contains 13 chapters and covers issues such as IT fundamentals and specific software and systems in the hospitality industry. Technology Strategy for the Hospitality Industry can be found on the New Book shelf in the library (call number TX911.3 E4 N95).

Top Ranked Hotels

Nestlé Library — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 14:27:28 +0000

U.S. News & World Report has issued their annual ranking of the top hotels, covering 852 luxury hotel properties across 49 popular travel destinations in the United States.

A Hotel Score is calculated for each property, consisting of the weighted average of scores for three components: Awards & Recognition, Hotel Class, and Guest Rating. The number of points earned by the hotel is combined and then divided that by the number of points for which the hotel was eligible. On a given list, hotels are ranked highest to lowest according to the Hotel Score. Hotels with high expert/user ratings and many industry accolades are likely to perform best.

The Top 10 U.S. hotels:

Elysian Hotel Chicago – Chicago, IL
Four Seasons Resort Maui at Wailea – Maui, HI
Trump International Hotel & Tower, Chicago – Chicago, IL
Mandarin Oriental, San Francisco – San Francisco, CA
The Fairmont Olympic Hotel – Seattle, WA
The Hermitage Hotel – Nashville, TN
The Ritz-Carlton New York, Central Park – New York, NY
Four Seasons Hotel Las Vegas – Las Vegas, NV
Trump International Hotel & Tower, New York – New York, NY
The Ritz-Carlton Golf Resort, Naples – Naples, FL

See the full list on the U.S. News & World Report website.

Benefits of Online Food Ordering

Nestlé Library — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 14:07:08 +0000

Despite the benefits of online food ordering, few restaurants are taking advantage. According to the report Online, Mobile, and Text Food Ordering in the U.S. Restaurant Industry, restaurants are taking a cautious approach to online food ordering. Consumers, on the other hand, appear ready to embrace online ordering. A recent survey of 277 respondents found that 187 (67%) said they have ordered food online; nearly half prefer to order takeout online. The most common foods respondents had ordered online: Pizza (88%), Asian food (32%), Chicken Concepts (32%), and Mexican (28%).

The report, published by Cornell’s Center for Hospitality Research (CHR), concluded that order accuracy and productivity also increases with online ordering. With the online order comes a paper trail that allows the order taker and kitchen to get the order right. Online orders are also usually taken in advance, particularly with group and catering order.

CHR cited a Technomic survey of 1,000 adults. Of the 18-34 year-olds, 59 percent who used electronic ordering indicated it was easier than speaking to a live person. In this same key consumer target, 42 percent said their order fulfillment was more accurate and 59 percent indicated it was faster. Interestingly, Technomic’s report also found that a significant portion of respondents felt less “rushed” using electronic ordering.

Top 500 Chain Restaurants

Nestlé Library — Fri, 20 May 2011 19:50:27 +0000

McDonald’s is by far the top chain restaurant in the U.S., according to the 2011 Technomic Top 500 Chain Restaurant Report. The limited-service segment grew sales 1.9% and was responsible for the net increase in total restaurant industry sales. McDonald’s, representing 9% of the entire industry’s take, saw U.S. sales increase 4.4% to $32.4 billion. Subway experienced another exceptional year of growth, reaching $10.6 billion in U.S. system wide sales, an increase of 6%. Starbucks, now the third largest restaurant chain in the U.S., recovered from a year when it closed hundreds of underperforming stores in 2009, achieving a U.S. system wide sales increase of 8.7% in 2010.

The Top 500 U.S. restaurant chains, which represent nearly two-thirds of the U.S. restaurant industry’s total sales, increased sales 1.8% to $234 billion in 2010, a turnaround from the 0.8% aggregate sales decline experienced in the prior year. Limited-service chains within the Top 500 ranking grew sales 2.6% overall, whereas full-service chains’ sales remained flat compared to 2009.

The Technomic Top 500 Chain Restaurant Report is available to the Cornell community from the Nestlé Library website. From the Technomic home page, click the Current Release tab under the Publications section.

Restaurant Blogs

Nestlé Library — Mon, 09 May 2011 19:24:23 +0000

In an attempt to reach out to customers in more meaningful ways, many restaurant chains are adding blogs to their social media strategy. Some of the chains are using their blogs to offer a kitchen perspective – sharing a behind-the-scenes look the research and development process, answering consumer questions, talking about the latest food trends, and more.

Arby’s, McDonald’s, and Subway are some of the chains using blogs. Dunkin’ Donuts also launched its first blog titled Behind the Beans. Behind the Beans offers news on the latest menu items, innovative recipes from the company’s culinary team, Q&A with company leaders, and examples of franchise owners’ work within the communities they serve.

For more examples of restaurant blogs, read the article from QSR Magazine.

Hotel Freebies

Nestlé Library — Mon, 02 May 2011 19:23:23 +0000

In 2009, a select sample of hotels that routinely offer free services to their guests spent an average of $723 per available room (PAR) to provide complimentary food, newspapers, and cocktails. This is the actual cost to the hotel, not the theoretical retail value of savings afforded to the guest.

The data comes from an analysis of rooms department expenditures for Complimentary Services and Gifts (GSG) at 1,600 properties in PKF’s Trends in the Hotel Industry database. The Trends in the Hotel Industry publication is available in the library (call number TX909 A1 T74). You can also view the Hotel Freebies report on the PKF website.

2011 Restaurant Technology Study

Nestlé Library — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 18:46:08 +0000

After years of struggling in a negative business environment, restaurant technology spending is back, according to the 2011 Restaurant Technology Study published by Hospitality Technology.

The annual publication (in its 13th year) tracks information technology trends within the restaurant industry. This year’s study covers crucial areas such as IT spending by technology type, direction of change in business metrics, point-of-sale systems, and more.

A copy of the 2011 Restaurant Technology Study can be found on the reference shelf in the library (call number TX945 A57).