James Bland gives his thoughts on loyalty in the hotel sector. Do the loyalty programmes so prominent in the sector reward loyalty? And, how can brands leverage this to enhance their bottom line?

In this blog, James Bland provides an overview of hybrid events. Which could be a major opportunity for hotels and venues following the changes caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Anubhuti Manglik, has been been busy setting up www.hotelitout.com, a collaborative blogging website which shares updates on the hotel industry. Anu's blog gives a useful round-up of the new measures employed by the main players in hotel accommodation.

Following on from Rishi Sunak's announcements of VAT cut and 'Eat out to help out' scheme, will it stimulate demand for the hospitality industry? See how our insight from our attitudinal segmentation in our free weekly COVID tracker sheds some light.

A review of the fly-on-the-wall documentary, Inside Best Western – A Very British Hotel Chain.

The hotel sector has never seen anything like this before. As a result, owners and leaders are pretty much having to make it up as they go along and trust their instincts. Some are getting it right, others… well… are not.

Hotels will never win back all their guests, as homestay is firmly established. But as with all industries that have disrupters come in and shake things up, there are lessons the sector can learn.

James Bland, our head of Hotels and Hospitality Research at BVA BDRC, shares his thoughts on how hotels have evolved away from being a social hub and the brands which are fighting back against the homestay market,

The truth is, on occasion I lack self-discipline (no, really). I know what I should do, but I keep finding ways to justify to myself doing the things I shouldn’t. What I need is a bit of help – a nudge in the right direction. 

Parent brands are becoming more and more prominent. However, as our Brand Margin® data confirms, the undisputed leader of exploiting a strong parent brand is Hilton.

While we consider Brand Margin® to be the missing piece in the brand selection puzzle, it isn’t the definitive measure of brand health- so we created our new Brand Advantage metric.

To really understand the true value of a brand, you need to establish the premium that people are willing to pay to choose that brand over the alternatives.

In today’s social media age, brands and brand messaging are increasingly being defined by consumer conversation. How can you make sure customer conversations are defining your brand message the way you want them to?

On the eve of the Hotel Insights Forum, we visited the Avvio offices to get more of an idea of what the hotel industry can expect from AI in the near future. The interview covers Avvio's new product, Allora, and the expected impact AI tech will have on the hotel industry.

We look at changing attitudes towards homestay brands at the Hotel Alternatives Event.

We look at how the events industry is responding to new challenges and increasing uncertainty.

Serviced apartment brands are gaining recognition among consumers. However, our street interviews revealed that there is a lack of clarity about what serviced apartment brands stand for. Most importantly, the sector is missing an opportunity to tap into the core reasons for using a serviced apartment...

Make no mistake, we are in a state of war. Hotels and online travel agencies (OTAs) are slugging it out via mainstream advertising channels to claim the disputed country of ‘Booking Journey’. At stake: ownership of the customer and a not insignificant amount of money.

Hotel brand proliferation is being driven by consumers’ insatiable demand for new, unique and differentiated experiences. But are we about to reach 'peak brand' is the market saturated?

James Bland shares UK hotel guest priorities (as shared recently at the Hotel Operations Conference.

Safety is becoming a key issue. Since world tensions have escalated in recent years, the fear of potential terrorism means that assessing safety and evacuation procedures is increasingly part of quality briefs. We take a look at the different safety/security areas hoteliers should be considering.

Twitter is one of the most immediate and visible channels with which to interact with customers. But whilst many brands are busy thinking through their social media marketing strategy, often consumers are simply viewing social media as another problem resolution channel. Here's how the Hotel sector did in Twsytery®

What’s the airbnb endgame? James Bland entertains five possible scenarios.

James Bland wrote last week about the threats posed to the meetings and events sector from data security. This week, we shed light on why traditional meetings venues should keep their eye on the growth of sharing economy as a new disruptive force in the market.

James Bland discusses the biggest threats to our ‘way of life’ in the meetings industry as we know it.

In our research, the Generation Y leisure traveller has six key emerging differentiators when it comes to the attributes they demand from hotels. These are not exclusive to Generation Y, of course, but they do stand out as being materially more important.

James Bland looks at what unites the list of award-winning venues in this year's VenueVerdict Awards and calls for the death of 'Standard' Operating Procedures.

Online travel agencies (OTAs) initially provided huge opportunities to hotels to widen their distribution, sell distressed inventory and maintain occupancy levels.

Until a recent eye-opening experience, I’d never thought it made much difference to book via an OTA or via the brand’s own website, at least from the customer’s point of view.

Austin Court, one of the IET’s venues in Birmingham, has been named No.1 Venue Overall in the VenueVerdict awards.

VenueVerdict sees QHotels take home a double award.

Premier Inn may have gained the advantage in the relentless struggle with Hilton to be Britain’s best known hotel brand