Hotels with indoor waterparks will grow to a forecast of 144 by year end 2006, up 33% from 108 in 2005. Meanwhile, ordinary hotels add less than 1.0% growth to the overall hotel industry room supply. Seventy-three (73) new hotel waterpark additions and expansion projects are under construction or will break ground during 2006. Thirteen have already opened during the first half of the year. A total of 36 hotel indoor waterparks with 6,004 rooms and 1,095,440 square feet of waterpark are expected to open before year end 2006. Another 37 are under construction and scheduled to open in 2007.

It's time for you and your property to Spring into Summer, or risk the consequences of a Fall into Winter! A play on words, for sure, but with a very real meaning! It's never too early to start making improvements in the methods you use to gain satisfied guests, staff and management. In fact, one of the success factors in peak performance emphatically supports a program that allows and encourages growth in personnel development and job satisfaction, in order that by Fall, your customers might be seeing real effects of upgraded product and service, enthusiastic management and staff, all fully engaged in your brand.

Branding has become increasingly important in the hospitality segment. There are, of course, the large hotel brands, which seem to grow larger every day with strategic market segment tiers, and then the well-known, single-entity hotels, which will never be more than “brands of one.” Yet branding must extend beyond sticking a logo on building signage and letterhead. Any brand must tap into the psyche of customers to stimulate the highest level of interactivity.

Skills that are necessary for you to reach the productivity demanded at your property or in your department can be separated into Professional & Organizational Skill Sets. Use the FMDC as the ultimate performance feedback & professional growth tool. Whether you are familiar with the TV version of Mission Impossible that aired between 1966-1973, or the more up-to-date movie versions that began in 1996 and that are continuing with the third of its kind movie due out in early May, you should be aware that: The skill sets that allow each Mission Impossible to succeed are the same ones that allow you to succeed in your work environment each day!

Can you and your staff pass the "Mother's Day Service Quiz?" Do you provide efficient service excellence? Do you service your guests as well as your Mother took care of you? More importantly, do you provide service your Mother would approve?

Bunnies don't lay eggs - chickens do! Does the commercial side of Easter have bad information? It's all about information - the right information and how you can best obtain the correct information to make your company run smoothly and efficiently. With Easter just "around the corner," have you ever wondered how we ever came to "mix up" this religious holiday? But I'm not talking religion here. No, I'm talking about the commercial end of the holiday. How did we ever mix up a bunny that delivers colorful eggs in a basket with this holiday? First of all, bunnies don't lay eggs!

Spring has arrived! (OK, we know full well that it's Autumn in Australia, but from where we sit here in the United States, it's Spring!) Time for the great outdoors to come alive, to stretch and flex its muscles, allow for and nurture new growth, and to reach new heights. So too, should it be a time for your business to take stock of itself and make sure your managers and supervisors are up to their tasks of taking your company to new heights. Enter-Vertical Dashboard.

There's no better time of year to take a look at just how your hotel, resort or casino runs-where it is wasteful, how it is efficient and how you can help save time, energy, money, your job…perhaps more. Best use practices of resources saves money…

What does it take to be Olympic Ready? The world is about to peer through the "window" of Torino scheduled for the Winter Olympic Games of 2006, February 10-26. Amidst the celebration and grandeur of the opening of the XX Games, behind the scenes of such exciting sport spectacles in skiing, skating, bobsleigh, luge and other Winter sports, the more mundane of tasks need to be attended to. First and foremost on the list is that of accommodations for some 21,000 who are involved in the 17 day event.

There has been much discussion over cap rates and if they make sense. Whether a cap rate for an asset was 5%, 8%, 10% or 12% may be less important than the consideration of other factors such as the property’s physical condition; its location within its market; the brand or lack thereof; and management.