Coming Up: New Distribution Channels for Booking Hotels
› With Google Hotel Finder, Google is entering the distribution landscape. › Apple has a patent for its yet-to- be-launched iHotel app. › YouTube is considering adding travel to its “Merch” site. › Facebook is still trying to enter the hotel distribution marketplace, despite early negative returns on its booking widget.
› Eighty-one percent of hotels experienced an increase in total revenue. › Nearly 13 percent experi- enced an increase in net operat- ing income. › The cost to operate a hotel rose 4.3 percent — slightly above the 3.2 percent rate of inflation. › A strong growth in profit is projected for 2013.
ON THE WEB For the 2012 STR Global Chain Scales list (classifications from luxury to economy brands, based on previous year’s average daily rate), go to str. com/documents/STRGlobal_Chain_ Scales.pdf. › PKF Hospitality Research Director of Research Information Services Robert Mandelbaum offers highlights of the PFK Hospitality Research’s 2012 Trends in the Hotel Industry survey in this four-minute video: pkfc.com/en/videos/ trends/2012trends.aspx. › To obtain the 2013 per-diem rates (maximum allowances that federal employees are reimbursed for expenses incurred while on oficial travel) on a city-by-city basis, go to gsa.gov/portal/category/100120.
For GBTA’s list of travel taxes (hotel, car rental, and meal taxes) in the top 50 U.S. destinations, go to convn. org/GBTA-taxes.