Our Complete New Package

By Jeff Weinstein -- Hotels, 6/1/2007

Jeff Weinstein

I AM VERY PROUD OF OUR WEB SITE and trust me when I tell you it is only starting to get better. Keep an eye on www.hotelsmag.com and you will regularly see exciting additions and changes throughout the course of the summer. If you haven’t noticed, we are presenting podcasts from all over the world—starting with the Berlin investment conference in March, then an exclusive Leading Hotels event in New York City and next from Dubai at the Arabian Investment Conference, where I taped seven interviews with top executives and published them in our daily e-newsletter and on the Web site for your listening pleasure. By the time you read this there will be more, and soon you can expect new timely and topical podcasts every week.

I am also proud to introduce Laurence Geller, CEO of Strategic Hotels & Resorts, as our first blogger. Laurence will regularly (at least weekly) present new ideas, commentary and his sharp point of view on industry affairs. The software on the Web site allows readers to respond to Laurence’s reports, and I am very excited to watch the global dialogue begin. I encourage all of you to visit and read what one of the industry’s most outspoken and thoughtful leaders has to say.

In addition, the editors of HOTELS magazine, including myself, will start blogging this month. We will attempt to provide a viewpoint from the outside looking in. Having covered this industry for 14 years and the hospitality business for 22 years, I hope I can spark some interesting conversations about the industry and where it might be heading next. Perhaps we can even inspire a few readers to take action—for better or worse.

Before the summer is over, you will see many other valuable additions and new looks to hotelsmag.com—among them will be more blogs from thought-leaders as well as what I think will be a very interesting research blog. We receive so much interesting data and research that we don’t have room to consider for the print edition. As a result, we plan to place the most thought-provoking pieces of information on this blog, provide a bit of our commentary, allow readers to digest it and hopefully start writing back and forth to inspire better hotelkeeping.

But wait, there is more. We are going to add several “channels” of information about topics, including sales & marketing, food & beverage, technology, operations, as well as hotel finance and investment. These channels will offer what we think is the most interesting news and thoughtful ideas hitting the marketplace from all of these key areas.

Of course, this does not mean we will be taking our eye off the print edition of HOTELS magazine or HOTELS’ Investment Outlook. We are continually looking at how the Internet impacts print publications, and you will notice ongoing tweaks and improvements to make your overall package of information—from the print magazines, Web sites and e-newsletters—your complete source of hotel industry news.

And speaking of the Internet, this month Senior Editor Karyn Strauss does her best to bring you the latest tactics for how to best market to your customers online. Travel 2.0 is changing the rules of customer engagement. No longer can hoteliers just talk to customers, Strauss writes, they must facilitate and influence a very public conversation. Her cutting-edge story is an important read.

Another topic of serious importance is sustainability. This month I identify some of the true leaders in the green hotelkeeping movement and suggest you follow the links to our Web site to read about the first industry standards for sustainable hotelkeeping and much more on this crucial topic. Please, continue to follow us here, and online.

Jeff Weinstein, Editor In Chief