New Jersey Convention and Visitors Bureau. (2011)

¶ … New Jersey Convention and Visitors Bureau. (2011) . About CVB. GoCentralJersey.com. Retrieved September 26, 2011 from: http://www.gocentraljersey.com/About-CVB/index.aspx

The CNJCVB website provides information on tourism and the hospitality industry in Central new Jersey. Over one million people visit Central New Jersey each year, and CNJVB is a vehicle providing access to those potential clients. CNJCVB offers multiple channels of exposure for its members with opportunities to promote hotel, restaurant and meeting space. Membership includes listing on the CNJCVB website, in the Visitor's Guide and e-newsletter, and inclusion in the automated online Request for proposal system which delivers potential clients to the hotel's office e-mail.

Hassanien, A. (2006). "Exploring hotel renovation in large hotels: a multiple case study," Structural Survey, 24(1), 41-64. doi: 10.1108/02630800610654414

While the nine case studies presented focus on five star hotels located in Egypt, the insights apply to hotel renovations in general. The study author approaches the subject of the use of hotel renovation as a product development tool, which is useful for operators. One of the findings was that hotel owners frequently used renovation as a reactive rather than proactive property management tool. The study suggests that renovation was most successful in organizations that have clearly stated renovation strategies, sufficient funds and greater customer involvement.

Heldrich Center for Workforce Development. (2004). Ready for the Job: Understanding occupational and skill demand in New Jersey's tourism and hospitality industry. Rutgers University. Retrieved September 26, 2011 from: http://www.heldrich.rutgers.edu/sites/default/files/content/Tourism.pdf

Even though the report was prepared in 2004, it nonetheless provides useful data on workforce requirements in the hospitality industry. Researchers focused on identifying the skills, knowledge and educational requirements for the industry, as well as strategies for meeting those requirements. This information is useful in understanding and planning for hotel staffing needs.

Ipsos. (2010). About Us. Retrieved September 26, 2011 from: http://www.ipsos-na.com/about-ipsos/

Headquartered in New York City, Ipsos provides custom market research in the areas of advertising, customer and employee loyalty, marketing, media and public affairs research, as well as forecasting, modeling and consulting for hospitality clients. Their suite of services are survey based, and supported by a 1,500 member staff, advanced analytics and methodologies.

Mandel, R.P. (2002). Choosing a business form. In Livingstone, J.L., & Grossman, T. (Ed.), The portable MBA in finance and accounting (pp.225 -- 259). New York: Wiley.

This book makes legal, accounting and financial topics accessible for the average entrepreneur concerned with determining the legal structure for their enterprise. Chapter 8 describes, compares, and contrasts various legal forms including the sole proprietorship, partnerships and limited partnerships, corporations and limited liability companies (LLC). The author discusses issues such as control, transferability, and liability as they pertain to the choice of entity formation. Of particular value is the discussion of a sample case involving a hotel venture, with the book exploring issues of raising venture capital, subchapter S election and LLC tax pass-through options.

Ottenberger, M., Gnoth, J., & Jones, P. (2006). Identifying determinants of success in development of new high contact services: insights from the hospitality industry. International Journal of Service Industry Management, 17(4) 344-363. doi: 10.1108/09564230610680659

This study offers insights into success factors in new service development (NSD) projects. The author's research identified seven key success factors: market attractiveness, strategic human resource management, market responsiveness, empowerment, empowerment, employee training, employee commitment and marketing synergy. The practical implications of the study highlights the importance of HR management factors in high contact NSD success.

Reece, W.S. (2009). The economics of tourism. New York: Prentice.

This book helps readers get a basic understanding of the tourism industry by using contemporary economic analysis. The author refers to the work of Nobel prize winning economists as it shows how to understand tourism market behavior as rational responses to high fixed costs, low marginal costs and capacity constraints. The book addresses technical change as it relates to adjustments in business models and strategies, and includes a clear explanation of revenue management as well. Using basic economic principles, the author shows how to use elementary supply and demand analysis to understand changes in the tourism industry, allowing for more succinct financial analysis.

Vantage Strategy. (2010). NJ Tourism 2009-2010: The great recession & tepid recovery…so far. Retrieved September 26, 2011 from: http://www.visitlbiregion.com/includes/media/docs/2010-tourism-ecom-impact-prelim-3-23-2011-2.pdf

This report discusses New Jersey tourism volume and spending, performance statistics for 2009 and 2010, along with NJ visitor demographics for business and leisure travelers. The report also discusses the economic impact of the NJ tourism sector, along with a county level analysis of tourism's contribution to NJ jobs, wages, taxes and GDP. The report also includes NJ visitation and spending forecast industry projections for 2011 and 2012, discussing how well NJ tourism has weathered the recession. The tourism forecast provides a sound rationale for the timing of entering the hospitality industry, but has potentially concerning implications for the business travel subset, with business travel down 9.1% in 2010.

Victorino, L., Verma, R., Plaschka, G., & Dev, C. (2005). Service innovation and customer choices in the hospitality industry. Managing Service Quality 15(6) 555-576. Doi: 10.1108/09604520510634023.

This article discusses the impact that service innovation has on customer's choices within the hotel industry. The practical implications of the paper are that it provides a means of understanding customers' choices, thereby allowing managers to better design offerings and formulate corresponding operational strategies around customer needs. The study found that service innovation matters when guests are selecting a hotel; also that service innovation has a larger influence on choices when guests are staying at economy hotels rather than mid-range to upscale hotels.

Walker, J. (2009). Introduction to hospitality. [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from Prentice Hall website:

wps.prenhall.com/wps/media/objects/5529/.../5eChapter%2015.ppt

This presentation discusses the principles of hospitality marketing, including promotional marketing and sales strategies. Walker also discusses pent up market demand resulting from the recession, as well as sales trends and competitive analysis. The presentation summarizes hospitality marketing at a high level and provides a checklist of marketing and promotional tasks.