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Little-known facts about Memorial Day

Dave G. Houser Recreation & Leisure

With our minds focused on beach or pool visits, barbecuing and other activities associated with the unofficial start of summer, it’s easy to overlook what Memorial Day is really all about. Clearly, it is about much more than a fun-filled three-day weekend. Memorial Day, of course, is a solemn day of remembrance in honor of the men and women who have died while serving in the U.S. armed forces. But how much more do you actually know about the holiday and its origins?

Machines are replacing humans at work, but can it be an opportunity?

Linchi Kwok Travel, Hospitality & Event Management

Welcome to the era when machines begin replacing humans at work. In restaurants and hotels, machines or robots are already capable of performing many service jobs. Likewise, travelers can now make reservations for their hotel stays online, perform self-check-in on a mobile app or in a kiosk at a hotel, enter the hotel room with their mobile app, place orders for service deliveries, and check out on a mobile app or the TV in the guest room.

Date announced for opening of new Beijing Airport

Matt Falcus Transportation Technology & Automotive

China’s new world-beating mega-hub airport at Daxing, near Beijing, has taken a step closer to becoming operational by announcing its planned opening date in October next year. Work on the airport has been steadily progressing for a number of years at the site nearly 30 miles from the center of Beijing, with a design set to match the requirements of today’s travelers and the massive demand for air travel in China.

Fee increases set for national parks entry

Dave G. Houser Recreation & Leisure

First, the bad news: visitors to national parks will soon face increased entrance fees for the most popular parks in the country. The good news is that the price hikes are substantially less than proposed last fall by Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke. Fee increases ranging from $3 to $10 will be implemented by June 1 for many parks and by 2019 or 2020 for other sites. The changes impact a total of 117 national parks — zeroing in the most heavily visited preserves.

Voice search is now a key marketing tool for hotels

Bambi Majumdar Travel, Hospitality & Event Management

Forty percent of adults in the U.S. use voice search every day. In 2016, this was 20 percent, which was itself a 40 percent increase from the year before. Speech recognition technology has evolved and is more precise now, with a mere 8 percent error rate. Furthermore, millions of people own an Alexa or Google Home device. People continue to use Siri for something they need instead of typing in a search. For hotels that see millions of searches for accommodation every day, this is a paradigm shift.

How to cut the stress from frequent business travel

Lisa Mulcahy Business Management, Services & Risk Management

Are you on the road two weeks or more out of the month? If so, there's a pretty good chance you feel more than a little burned out. A Columbia University study found that professionals who travel for business at this rate suffer more anxiety and depression than their non-traveling colleagues, are more likely to be smokers, tend to lead a sedentary lifestyle, drink too much alcohol and have trouble sleeping. All of these factors will not only make you miserable now, but can lead to a range of long-term health issues. So how can you regain your equilibrium and sense of well-being?

Marriott is getting into the room-sharing business, too

Linchi Kwok Travel, Hospitality & Event Management

Hotels have been trying very hard to stop the growth of Airbnb, but still, Airbnb has remained the supersized rival of hotels. Despite the fact that more destinations are now tightening up the regulations for short-term residential rentals, Airbnb turns out to be an even stronger competitor in the market. Guess what? When it is impossible to get rid of Airbnb, hotels are now entering the room-sharing business.

Nashville’s vision advances as new flight arrives

Matt Falcus Transportation Technology & Automotive

May 4 saw a significant moment in the history of Nashville International Airport (BNA) when a new nonstop, long-haul flight from London arrived. However, the arrival meant a rushed effort to provide a gate capable of accommodating the Dreamliner aircraft in the weeks leading up to the event. It is just the latest step in the vision to transform the airport by 2023. The new five-times-weekly nonstop flight to London is the first time in 25 years that the two cities have been linked, and the first long-haul service at BNA for just as long, following the demise of the former American Airlines hub at the airport.

Millennials take ‘unplugging’ trend to new level

Bambi Majumdar Travel, Hospitality & Event Management

A 2017 survey found that 73 percent of social media users find it annoying when they see other people's vacation photos online. These people want authentic experiences shared and not the perfection of moments. As a result, more users are opting out of social sharing and looking to connect with the real world. We find that millennials are looking to unplug with a vengeance, even though they are a generation that sports the highest number of social profiles and knows only the "connected" world.

Good news for frequent travelers: Updates to Hilton, Marriott loyalty programs

Linchi Kwok Travel, Hospitality & Event Management

With the purposes of winning new customers and keeping the existing ones happy, hotels are making continuous efforts to reinvent their loyalty programs. For example, hotel giants Hilton and Marriott also updated their loyalty programs earlier this month. These new upgrades are good news for frequent travelers.

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