Siegel Sez: Not Your Father’s Power Socket
September 3rd, 2021
The Most Important Hotel “Salesperson” Right Now Is Working Behind Your Front Desk
Doug Kennedy | July 22nd, 2020
Independent Hotels: An Action Plan to Win the Direct Booking
Max Starkov | May 16, 2019
By Max Starkov With the explosion of the "digital way of life", the traveler's customer journey has become increasingly complex, which necessitates independent hoteliers to rethink and overhaul their marketing and technology stack strategies and investments. Today's online travel consumer is exposed to more than 38,983 micro-moments in any 60-day timeframe and visits an average of 18 websites via multiple devices across eight sessions before making a hotel booking (Google Research). Google defines this customer journey as a fluid series of interconnected stages: Dreaming, Planning, Booking, Experiencing and Sharing Phases, in which eve...
Building Your Hotel’s Sharing Economy Defenses
Larry Mogelonsky | May 15, 2019
By Larry Mogelonsky, MBA, P. Eng. (www.hotelmogel.com) While it is crystal clear to me and many other hoteliers that the sharing economy and all its resident internet-based service firms (IBSFs) have severely changed how customers perceive hotels, many outside of hospitality tout their successes and grander benefits for the community. Regardless of whether or not they are ultimately 'good', the rapid proliferation of all these sharing economy accommodations should not be mere doom and gloom for hotels, however, but an opportunity for you to improve your own product. As Airbnb is by far the largest among these IBSFs, I will use it as a p...
Nobody Asked Me, But… No. 213: Hotel History: Sheraton’s Classic Advertising Campaigns
Stanley Turkel | May 14, 2019
By Stanley Turkel, CMHS Hotel History: "Keyed-Up Executives Unwind at Sheraton" In 1965, the Sheraton Corporation of America, under the leadership of President Ernest Henderson, created a brilliant advertising campaign: "Keyed-up Executives Unwind at Sheraton". It was broadly promoted all over the U.S. in print media, TV advertising and locally by individual Sheraton Hotels. Among my collection of Sheraton artifacts is a translucent plexiglass paperweight which has a small figure of a businessman with a wind-up key in his back which says "Keyed-Up Executives Unwind at Sheraton". His picture was everywhere: on television, on posters, in...
Hospitality Financial Leadership: Engage Their Hearts and Minds First
David Lund | May 13, 2019
By David Lund Getting your hotel leadership team excited about accounting is like someone thinking it's fun to go to the dentist. Your average person wants nothing to do with it because they have a predisposed notion that it's yucky, boring and better left for someone who has a hard time walking and talking at the same time. What I have learned about getting your average hotel leader excited about the numbers is just the opposite. Let me explain. Hotel leaders ALL want to have the "financial where-with-all" to dazzle their peers. They know it's the secret sauce to propel their career. They all want their seat at the captain's table. Bei...
JMBM’s Global Hospitality Chairman Jim Butler Will Speak About Hotel Investment at 2019 Institutional Real Estate Forum
May 13, 2019
By Jim Butler and the Global Hospitality Group® Authors of www.HotelLawBlog.com LOS ANGELES—Jim Butler, Chairman of JMBM's Global Hospitality Group®, along with Jack Westergom of Manhattan Hospitality Advisors, will speak at the 4th Annual West Institutional Real Estate Investor Forum on June 5, 2019 in San Francisco on the topic of hotel investment. They will also conduct a roundtable discussion for investors who may be new to the hotel investment. "Many institutional investors, family offices and other sophisticated real estate investors are looking to hotels to increase investment returns. While hotel investments can of...
How Will the Hospitality Industry Benefit From the IoT
Ana Bera | May 9, 2019
By Ana Bera The Internet of Things (IoT) has the potential to be a gamechanger for those in the hospitality industry. Therefore, it is essential for managers, hotel owners, and other business leaders to try to make the most of it. However, according to research, 87% of people are not familiar with the concept of the Internet of Things let alone what this technology means for the hospitality industry. In this article, we have discussed this matter, and hopefully, you will learn more about the latest tech buzzword and how does it cater to client needs. What Is the Internet of Things? The term 'Internet of Things' refers to the idea of cre...
Five Strategic Directions to Take Your Hotel
Larry Mogelonsky | May 8, 2019
By Larry Mogelonsky, MBA, P. Eng. (www.hotelmogel.com) Value adds always become expectations. Such is the course for hospitality and if you aren't constantly evolving your brand then it will become stale. And in an overstuffed hotel marketplace, you need bold new directions to differentiate your product and drive rate. So, how do hotels adapt so that guests don't lose interest in any of these ostensibly great properties in favor of the 'next big thing'? How do you innovate a boutique property so that its repeat revenue figures will always be a healthy contributor to the bottom line? Broader still, how do lifestyle hotels continue to rei...
The 2019 LIIC Top Ten — Hotel Real Estate: Mostly Sunny Days Clouded by Labor Issues
Jim Butler | May 8, 2019
By Jim Butler and the Global Hospitality Group® Hotel Lawyers | Authors of www.HotelLawBlog.com 08 May 2019 Greetings from Los Angeles and the beautiful Hyatt Regency LAX! Yesrerday, we kicked off Meet the Money® 2019 – the National Hotel Finance & Investment Conference hosted by JMBM's Global Hospitality Group® – with the LIIC Top Ten. Presented by my friend, Mike Cahill, CEO and Founder of HREC and one of LIIC's co-chairmen, the LIIC Top Ten reflects the perspectives of the industry's most active members in the hospitality market. — Jim About the LIIC Top Ten For the past 15 years, the members of the ...
From the Experts: Digging for Data and Kicking out Competition
Holden Madison | May 6, 2019
By Holden Madison What does it take to efficiently work with data in hospitality? Four data experts weigh in. EHL recently welcomed three hospitality companies actively engaging in data science during a panel discussion hosted by Associate Professor Alessandro Inversini. Participants shared their experience working with data, its opportunity and its pitfalls. Checking in With Data Suzanne Ward, Director Enterprise Solutions Integration MEA - AccorHotels For a hospitality giant like Paris-based AccorHotels - which has 4,200 hotels, operating in 100 countries and a total room-capacity of 570,000 hotel rooms - data has been tapped into ins...
What Hotels Can Learn From Delta Airlines About Personalized Guest Engagement
Doug Kennedy | May 3, 2019
By Doug Kennedy My career as a hotel industry trainer and conference speaker keeps me on the road nearly every week, so I try to take advantage of every available travel perk. Living in the Ft. Lauderdale / Miami area, I am fortunate to have two major airports within 35 minutes, and with this being a popular tourism destination there is a wide selection of non-stop flights. Therefore, I cannot always remain loyal to just one airline because it's hard to justify wasting time taking a connecting flight, or perhaps spending an extra night on the road, just to earn miles. As a result, I have premium status with several airlines each year. I...
Ten Luxury Fashion Brands Venturing Into Hospitality
Chiara Eckenschwiller | May 2, 2019
In a world where everything has to be documented on social media, customers are increasingly looking for experience-related services. It is not enough anymore to wear luxury products such as a purse or shoes, customers now want to pair their products to an overall experience. Luxury travelers are craving luxury experiences As fashion brands are reinventing themselves, what better way to do so while at the same time facilitating the expansion of their empire? Luxury hotels are increasingly appealing to travelers, especially at a time when luxury becomes more accessible and diverse. Luxury travelers are craving experiences that go beyond...
Upselling The Frugal Guest
Larry Mogelonsky | May 1, 2019
By Larry Mogelonsky, MBA, P. Eng. (www.hotelmogel.com) When applied to hospitality, the word 'frugal' can have a rather opaque meaning. It doesn't mean that guests are cheap, but instead they are discerning and hesitant to splurge without full justification. Every hotelier knows that guests are becoming increasingly tech-savvy with each passing week, but what this also means is that they are becoming exceedingly aware of channel price differences and marketing tricks used to cajole them into spending more than is absolutely necessary for a given service. And this is true for not just hospitality but practically every industry where the ...
JMBM’s Global Hospitality Group® to Host the 29th Annual Meet the Money® National Hotel Finance and Investment Conference May 6-8, 2019 in Los
Meet the Money | April 29, 2019
By Jim Butler and the Global Hospitality Group® Hotel Lawyers | Authors of www.HotelLawBlog.com April 29, 2019 LOS ANGELES—JMBM's Global Hospitality Group® will host Meet the Money® national hotel finance and investment conference May 6-8 at the Hyatt Regency LAX in Los Angeles. Now in its 29th year, this annual event will bring together hotel owners, operators, developers, consultants, investors, brands, lenders and other capital providers to discuss current developments in the industry as well as strategies for the future. "Our line-up of more than 70 speakers include top hospitality leaders who will share their expe...
How Hotels Can Profit From Product Placement
Larry Mogelonsky | April 24, 2019
By Larry Mogelonsky, MBA, P. Eng. (www.hotelmogel.com) Product placement has been a subtle revenue source for Hollywood for many decades now. For instance, have you ever watched a movie and noticed that all the cops and robbers were driving only one brand of car? Or that every actor on a television show only drinks exclusively Coke or Pepsi but never both? It's undeniably influential. More recently, however, hoteliers have started to realize that their properties can offer perfect symmetry with many brands that want trial from their target audience, especially when those brand's key demographics match that of a property's guests. Exampl...
Human Trafficking: What Hotels Are Doing to Prevent It
Samuel Wich | April 24, 2019
By Samuel Wich According to the Global Slavery Index, an estimated 40.3 million men, women, and children were victims of modern slavery on any given day in 2016. With the International Labor Organization estimating annual profits from forced labor at 150 billion USD, it is the world's second largest criminal industry and affects all countries. The victims of these crimes have to endure forced labor, sexual exploitation, organ removal or forced marriage. The fight against modern slavery starts by acknowledging and identifying the issue. In 2015, the UK government intensified their efforts by issuing the Modern Slavery Act, calling for mo...
Nobody Asked Me, But… No. 212: Hotel History: Hotel del Coronado, Coronado, California (1888)
Stanley Turkel | April 23, 2019
By Stanley Turkel, CMHS Hotel History: Hotel del Coronado, Coronado, California * The renowned Hotel del Coronado is a grand example of elegant Victorian architecture providing one of the most beautiful and popular beach resorts in the United States. The Del was conceived by two mid-western businessmen, Elisha Babcock, Jr. and Hampton L. Story who bought the entire undeveloped 4,100 acres on the peninsula of Coronado for $110,000. Babcock was a retired railroad executive from Evansville, Indiana and Story the owner of the Story & Clark Piano Company in Chicago. Babcock and Story hired the architectural firm of Reid & Reid consi...
Industry Report: Innovation Strategy in Practice
Dr Carlos Martin-Rios | April 22, 2019
How do global hospitality businesses tackle innovation? The Hospitality Innovation Report analyzes how different innovation strategies contribute to generating competitive advantages for hospitality businesses. By Dr. Carlos Martin-Rios The Hospitality Innovation Industry Report, authored by EHL Associate Professor Dr. Carlos Martin-Rios, is based around a comprehensive model reviewing combinations of technological and non-technological innovations and analyzes how different innovation strategies contribute to generating competitive advantages for hospitality businesses. Dr. Rios has been tracking hospitality innovation for the past sev...
Six Tech Trends Still Reshaping Hospitality in 2019
EHL | April 17, 2019
From narrow artificial intelligence to intelligent things and edge computing, these six trends continue to reshape hospitality business. Technology in recent years has evolved at such a rapid pace and taken us further into a sci-fi-like future faster than our ancestors could have ever predicted. From smart home-enabled devices that control our thermostats and refrigerators to cryptocurrencies that provide secure stores of value, recent trends have brought many pipe-dream technologies to life. Many advancements have been more subtle but equally promising and transformative, from smart analytics in consumer and professional apps to the gr...
Your Wine List Needs Branding Too
Larry Mogelonsky | April 17, 2019
By Larry Mogelonsky, MBA, P. Eng. (www.hotelmogel.com) What does your wine list stand for? What's its elevator pitch? Is it meaningful for customers? Does it fit with the theme and business plan for the parent restaurant? Of course, we are talking about branding and marketing as much as we are talking about the physical alcohol inventory. While most of this critical exercise will be handled by the restaurant, the hotel and the marketing department, the wine list must still match the greater vision if it is to truly shine. Importantly, it needs a cohesive brand if it's going to do its job as effectively as possible – that is, make ...
Sales “Steps” and “Funnels” Are SO 1990’s; Here’s What It Takes for Hotel Sales Success in 2019
Doug Kennedy | April 11, 2019
By Doug Kennedy While the hotel sales environment has completely transformed, hotel sales training models seem to be stuck in the 1990's. When I meet hotel leaders at industry conferences it seems most recognize the profound changes such as the emergence of third-party planners and the migration to online RFP tools (CVENT, CVB Platforms and social sites such as The Knot.) Yet most leaders seem to be unclear on what it takes to outsell the competition these days. As a conference speaker, I often sit-in on sessions delivered by others as I'm always eager to learn. From what I see, most sales related training recycles one of three traditio...
Negotiation-Based Pricing: The Future of Direct Bookings for Hotels?
Matthieu Mauguin | April 11, 2019
By Matthieu Mauguin Looking back on the history of hotel pricing strategies, nothing really stands out until the early 80s. Before the deregulation years, most hotels stuck to a traditional model of rates, based on economic fundamentals, such as cost price and profit margin. The rise of neo-liberalism allowed for ambitious and previously unseen business tactics. One of them, first developed in the context of airlines, was the variable pricing strategy known as Yield Management. Understandably, Yield Management was a true game-changer which quickly generated large profits for lots of companies in multiple industries, and was propelled to...
Booking Engine Personalization to Adapt to the Experience Economy
Larry Mogelonsky | April 10, 2019
By Larry Mogelonsky, MBA, P. Eng. (www.hotelmogel.com) So much talk is made nowadays about the experience economy and how this affects the personalization of hotels, but how can we make these concepts a reality? We all know they are both important for driving satisfaction scores, loyalty and healthy return over the long run, but there doesn't seem to be a straightforward and one-size-fits-all path towards operationalizing these trends in a way that's meaningful for guests. To wrap your head around how these two concepts can drive each other in a virtuous and profitable circle, you must first understand what the experience economy is and...
Driving Innovation: How Frugal Can Hotels Be?
Margarita Cruz | April 4, 2019
By Margarita Cruz and Isabella Blengini When speaking of innovation in the hospitality industry, we often hear about new technologies and processes capable of breaking the standards on how the industry works. Typically, these innovations require large amounts of investments; as well as the design and implementation of new processes. According to the EU Industrial R&D Investment Scorecard, in 2017 alone, investments in innovation made across different industries around the world surpassed €700bn. However, only a small percentage of players are effectively able to implement innovations of this kind. In fact, 90% of the world's R&...
Meet the Bleisure Demand With Meeting Experiences
Larry Mogelonsky | April 3, 2019
By Larry Mogelonsky, MBA, P. Eng. (www.hotelmogel.com) A clever portmanteau between business and leisure, hybrid travel is now mainstream, so much so that it is starting to influence how meeting planners select their destinations and host hotels. After all, in a world where video conferencing can connect anyone, anywhere and at any time, the purpose of travel is to offer guests a unique and stimulating setting. The bleisure incentive has thus far been the prospect of extending a few days on either end of the main event to fully appreciate said location. However, the demand for heightened experiences on the leisure side are starting to c...
