HSMAI Curacao

Today’s digitally driven consumers now broadcast their experiences directly online via Social Media. The reality is that consumers are using social media to speak up, regardless of whether or not you are participating in the conversation. The time to get involved is now.

In a 45 minute interactive presentation we touch several social media such as Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and uncover the various benefits, demonstrating its critical place in your overall internet marketing strategy. digitally driven consumers now broadcast their experiences directly online via Social Media. The reality is that consumers are using social media to speak up, regardless of whether or not you are participating in the conversation. The time to get involved is now.

Date              : November 26 2009
Venue          : Floris Suite Hotel – Amalia Room
Time             : 17:30 – 18:30
                          18:30 – 19:30 Drinks and networking possibilities
Speaker       : Dragonfly Media
Price            :  HSMAI members free, non members Naf 45,00

Sign up by e-mail to info@hsmaicuracao.org or call CHATA 4651005

The decline in international tourism may have started to bottom out, according to the latest edition of the UNWTO World Tourism Barometer. Worldwide, international tourist arrivals declined by 7% between January and August 2009, but the rate of decline has eased in the past few months. These results, as well as the most recent economic data, confirm UNWTO’s initial forecast of a 5% decline in international tourist arrivals for the full year 2009. For 2010, UNWTO expects a moderate growth. Read more

Start: 12:45 pm at Marichi

End:     6:30 pm at Marichi

Price:  ANG 100,– non HSMAI members
              ANG    50,– HSMAI members

Limited seats: 50!

Guided tour by coach from Marichi, through Pietermaai, Penstraat, Bapor Kibra and Jan Thiel area to Santa Barbara Plantation, and by sea back to Marichi. See all the properties under development en route.
Drinks and snack will be served at each property as well as on the boat.

We will visit:

· the quaint business hotel Hotel ‘t Klooster (formerly Augustinus Boekhandel),

· the exclusive Baoase (Pen), and

· Morena Resort, the first Gold certified Green Key resort in the Caribbean and a drive-thru Boca Gentil,

· Hyatt Regency Curacao Golf Resort, Spa and Marina.

Leisurely 1 hour boat ride back to Marichi, so you can observe the construction from the sea.
The boat ride is downwind, with little risk for seasickness.

Register and pay in advance. info@hsmaicuracao.org or confirm attendance on Facebook page Curacao Under Construction Tour ‘By Land & Sea’

Pay online (and send receipt) via MCB acct #: 1981 7508 (HSMAI Curacao, Kaya Junior Salas 1, Curacao)

First paid, first served.

Curacao Curacao Under Construction Tour ‘By Land & Sea’ November 13 2009 SAVE THE DATE

Tour the new & existing properties by bus and by boat! Save the date for this interesting & entertaining event! You will have the unique opportunity to see the properties on route from Pietermaai to Hyatt and a great networking opportunity.

More information (price, route etc) will be coming your way………..

Please consider visiting the CHTA’s Small Hotels Retreat September 30 through October 2 in St. Thomas.

There will be a special “marketing day”, organized by HSMAI, on October 2nd.

This, in lieu of the previous HSMAI Caribbean Strategy Conference.

A new Twitter application invites users to publicly request hotels for specific dates and locations, giving hoteliers a chance to grab business. Users input their request parameters on TwiHotels.com, and the site then tweets the room requests. Several hoteliers are already monitoring the twihotels feed and would theoretically respond to the requesting person with relevant offers.

Click here to read more.

On and off we hear rumors about the current hotel industry. Figures from CTO and CHTA also show how the Caribbean region is performing compared to last year. PFK shows in the article below on hotels’ net results trend, their occupancies , revenue and comparisons with the US market hotels.

What do YOU think as hotel in Curacao or somewhere else in the Caribbean? Did these turbulent times deal a big blow to bottom lines of Caribbean hotels? Is it only branded hotels, big hotels, smaller hotels or all together? Read and comment!

Source: hotelmarketing.com

For anyone in the lodging business, it won’t come as a surprise that consumers crave researching and purchasing travel online. The online revolution has been afoot for some time now, but the ballyhoo surrounding the so-called Web 2.0 is changing everything. From the dynamic of how consumers interact with the internet while making travel purchase decisions to the way hospitality professionals must market their products. Today’s leaders in online travel sales may be tomorrow’s also-rans, while emerging sites have the potential to dominate the landscape. Already travel is the monster force in electronic commerce. In fact according to Terry Jones, the founder and former CEO of Travelocity, it’s larger than the next four categories of electronic commerce combined. That’s some serious numbers.

According to eMarketer, online consumer travel sales hit $79 billion in 2006 and will grow at a 17 percent annual rate before reaching $146 billion in 2010. From 2002 – 2006 annual growth rate averaged 28 percent. Thirty seven million households booked travel online last year and by 2010 its expected 51.1 million households will book travel online.

“The internet changed how travel product was priced and distributed, and distribution costs [changed too],” said Jones. “People will take chances on other brands because they can search and see themselves.” (more…)

Source: hotelmarketing.com

To help ensure that travelers remain faithful to their health and dietary routines, Hilton Hotels is introducing the Hilton Breakfast Program featuring a color-coded system that allows guests more choice and control over the first meal of the day.

It’s widely believed that “breakfast is the most important meal of the day” and Americans are taking heed to the old adage. A 2006 report on breakfast conducted by Mintel Research revealed that 72 percent of all respondents typically eat breakfast on both weekends and weekdays. To help ensure that travelers remain faithful to their health and dietary routines, Hilton Hotels is introducing the Hilton Breakfast Program featuring a color-coded system that allows guests more choice and control over the first meal of the day. Following the successful launch of the program internationally in 2002, the Hilton Breakfast will be available at all Hilton properties in North America by summer. (more…)