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
Nobody Asked Me, But… No. 211: Hotel History: Asian American Hotel Owners Association*
Stanley Turkel | April 2, 2019
By Stanley Turkel, CMHS Hotel History: Asian American Hotel Owners Association* The Asian American Hotel Owners Association (AAHOA) is a trade association that represents hotel owners. As of 2018, AAHOA has approximately 18,000 members who incredibly own about half the 50,000 hotels in the United States. If you bear in mind that Indian Americans constitute less than one percent of Americas population, the conquest of this business niche is extraordinary. Furthermore, about 70% of all Indian hotel owners are named Patel, a surname that shows that they are members of a Gujarati Hindu subcaste. How did this economic miracle come to pass? ...
Hotel Data Management: Build an Integrated Journey
April 2, 2019
Why data scientists need to be an integral part of a hotel's data journey. Data scientists are becoming increasingly popular and necessary as industries realize the need to manage data points and understand how to collect and breakdown their data to better advance their business. Data scientists are experts in collecting, analyzing, and interpreting data and can make educated decisions on what to do with and how to use that data. The critical role of data scientists in hotels Within the hospitality industry, data scientists are crucial to understanding the hotel's data and how to use it to benefit the overall business of the hotel. Howe...
StayNTouch CEO and Director of Strategic Partnerships Talk Platform Power
Alan Young | March 28, 2019
Reimagining Hotel Technology with Open APIs Based on Strategic Partnership Alignment By Alan E. Young The last few years have been a whirlwind of innovation for hospitality technology. Despite its longstanding reputation for being resistant to change and slow to adopt technological evolution, the industry has made impressive strides toward reinventing its future. And yet, the gradual implementation of the latest advancements is only half the battle. With the rise of new technology (and subsequently, new technology vendors) comes the synonymous demand for strategic alliances and integrations. Recognized as hospitality technology visionar...
Hotel Operations Always Come Down to Your People
Larry Mogelonsky | March 27, 2019
By Larry Mogelonsky, MBA, P. Eng. (www.hotelmogel.com) Springtime sees the prerequisite visit to my favorite outdoor furniture shop. Over the past few visits I had been dealing with the same fellow who was both friendly and extremely knowledgeable. While our largest purchase was made prior, we continued to acquire additional items that he recommended based upon his prior knowledge of our purchasing history and what he thought would best help us 'fill in the gaps' for our terrace. To my surprise on our latest visit, though, this salesman confided that sadly this was his last week in the store. He was moving to another furniture company &...
Luxury Hotels: What’s Their Digital IQ?
Meng-Mei Maggie Chen | March 21, 2019
By Meng-Mei Maggie Chen In response to existential threats posed by disruptors like Airbnb and Google, luxury hotels continue to grow digitally through reinforced loyalty programs, digital visibility and content production efforts and differentiating technologies on their online or on-property experiences. According to New York-based consulting firm Gartner L2, Four Seasons, Hilton, The Ritz-Carlton and Fairmont account for some of the smartest hospitality groups online. The firm released its annual report - The Hospitality Digital IQ Index - ranking the digital competency of 75 of the biggest hospitality players. We rounded-up three ke...
“Heart Failure”: The Leading Cause of Bad Reviews
Doug Kennedy | March 20, 2019
By Doug Kennedy When you read a cross-section of negative comments from online reviews and guest surveys, it's easy to recognize a common theme across all lodging operations: "Heart failure." More specifically, I am referring to the failure to understand the true heart of hospitality, which is "caring about as well as caring for others." When we care "for" others, we provide the minimal requirements of a positive guest stay, the foundation of which is a clean, well maintained "physical product," (the accommodation and public facilities), delivered promptly and efficiently. Yet when we care "about" others, we understand the hospitality b...
Profiting From Prearrival
Larry Mogelonsky | March 20, 2019
By Larry Mogelonsky, MBA, P. Eng. (www.hotelmogel.com) Every hotelier knows that tech-enabled personalization is crucial to the future success of one's brand. In reality, though, these customized experiences are very difficult to put in place, often requiring complex software integrations, significant CapEx and a fully trained team – both at the supervisor and frontline levels – to properly act upon any insights or recommendations gleaned from a unified CRM. The nauseating pain point here is that travelers are now expecting hotels to dedicate more effort towards making their time on property personal and meaningful, irrespec...
Can Hotels Sue Their Governments Over Home Sharing?
Larry Mogelonsky | March 13, 2019
By Larry Mogelonsky, MBA, P. Eng. (www.hotelmogel.com) This is a special case that I've been waiting to write about since it hit the airwaves here in Canada in late October. Most interesting here is that it has a few powerful implications for the fight traditional hotels are facing against industry disruptors coming in the form of home sharing. Taxi drivers working in the City of Toronto launched a $1.7 billion CDN (about $1.4 USD) class action lawsuit against the city itself, claiming damages that reflect how much licensed taxis have lost – what is sometimes coined as 'plate value' – since these ride-sharing services came i...
Nobody Asked Me, But… No. 210: Hotel History: John Q. Hammons (1919-2013)
Stanley Turkel | March 12, 2019
By Stanley Turkel, CMHS John Q. Hammons: Master Hotel Developer and Builder One of the great hotelier/developers of our time. John Q. Hammons developed 200 hotel properties in 40 states. But mere statistics hide the essence of Mr. Hammons special development techniques. He disdained the standard feasibility studies when assessing potential sites for hotel development and instead relied on his own experience, knowledge and intuition. Here are some reflections by John Q. Hammons on being an exceptional hotel developer: Be in Tune With Change: Have a Plan of Action. People do not stop to think what change means. That's the thing about su...
Hotel Owners Have All the Juice
Alan Young | March 7, 2019
by Alan Young Who really has the buying power when it comes to hotel technology purchases? As any good salesperson knows, selling a product (or service) is as much about describing the features and benefits of product itself, as it is being able to effectively sell to the potential buyer. It's a dance, one in which an in-depth understanding of the buyer's unique expectations and values will (more often than not) be the key to making that sale. And of course, the key to appealing to buyers directly begins with understanding who holds the buying power. When it comes to the hospitality industry and the purchase of hotel technology,...
The Need for Hotels to Embrace a Cause
Larry Mogelonsky | March 4, 2019
By Larry Mogelonsky, MBA, P. Eng. (www.hotelmogel.com) As World Wildlife Day has just come and gone (it was this past Sunday, March, 3, 2019), it's a good time to reflect upon what environmental efforts your hotel is planning to undertake as well as those already in full swing. With climate change intensifying with each passing season, large corporations are becoming all the more vital through their collective resources in the movement to champion wildlife preservation. I don't mean to get preachy but between rampant deforestation, pollution, invasive species and a slew of other manmade problems, nearly every ecosystem has been thrown o...
Adventure Tourism: Catering to the Thrill-Seeker Traveler
EHL's Hospitality Insights | March 1, 2019
March 1, 2019 - Through the ages, mankind has been pushing the limits of exploration: we have conquered lands, we have discovered the wonders of our planet and, pushed by our relentless thirst for knowledge, we have greatly expanded our awareness of the world we live in. Today's travelers are no different: driven by an increasing need to find meaning and purpose in their busy lives, they leave their comfort zone to venture into some of the most remote – and sometimes hostile - places in the world or venture into epic journeys. Dubbed "adventure tourism", this trend accounts for one of the fastest growing categories in the travel i...
What Hotels Can Learn About the Guest Experience From Starbucks
Larry Mogelonsky | February 27, 2019
By Larry Mogelonsky, MBA, P. Eng. (www.hotelmogel.com) Starbucks has thousands of outlets. Nowadays if you find yourself in nearly a major city center anywhere in the world, you're never more than a few blocks away from your next americano. The long-term and strategic vision for Starbucks may surprise you, though. It's not just about coffee and compelling you to consume every ounce of caffeine exclusively from them; it's about the culture. There have been several books written about the brand and their business approach. True, there are issues and growing pains, as there are for any corporation of this size and stature. Let's set those ...
It Is Impossible to Walk on Our Heads… And yet…
Georges Panayotis | February 27, 2019
Georges Panayotis A little logic, a little common sense, and we quickly understand that it is impossible to walk on your head. So why do we keep trying? Our businesses and our industry have slowly shifted towards a development model that is increasingly disconnected from reality. An overgrown head with atrophied hands and feet. Operational staff who most of the time have to muddle through regardless, whether they are ambidextrous or handless, long-distance runners or disabled. Careful not to upset the pyramid In our sector, operational people - the feet and hands of the trade - are essential. It is on the ground that the product and se...
INTERVIEW: Hotel Investment Trends in Europe
Stuart Pallister | February 22, 2019
By Stuart Pallister If you're thinking of investing in the hotel sector in Europe where should you be looking to put your money? Patrik Hug, Senior Consultant, Advisory & Valuation Services at Christie & Co based in Munich, Germany, says much depends on how risk averse the potential investor is. Hug, an EHL graduate, says that four out of five investors in hotel real estate are not passionate about hotels. "It's about cash flows, yields, and the return on investment. Of course, they like dealing with hotels, but it could be a parking lot as well. In the end, as long as the return is correct, that's all that counts. So it really ...
Evaluating Housekeeping in Minutes per Room
Larry Mogelonsky | February 20, 2019
By Larry Mogelonsky, MBA, P. Eng. (www.hotelmogel.com) While you may know your operations so thoroughly that you can trust your intuition to prudently guide your next move, we have now found ourselves in the age of measurement and analytics, letting us fall back on the data to make sound inferences to hone each and every task. Just as you would evaluate your rooms in terms of RevPAR or your guests in terms of RevPAG, there's another metric for your housekeeping department that can help give a reliable snapshot of the current state and where improvements are needed. As many executive housekeepers and management companies that already use...
Nobody Asked Me, But… No. 209: Hotel History: The Americana of New York (1962)
Stanley Turkel | February 19, 2019
by Stanley Turkel, CMHS Hotel History: The Americana of New York The Americana of New York opened on September 25, 1962 as a 2,000-room convention hotel. It was constructed by brothers Laurence Tisch and Preston Tisch, co-owners of the Loews Corporation and was the first over 1,000-room hotel to be built in New York since the Waldorf Astoria in 1931. With 51 floors, it was acclaimed for many years in its advertising and by the media as the tallest hotel in the world, based on the number and height of its inhabited floors. The Americana was built, along with the New York Hilton facing Sixth Avenue on the next block, to serve the huge num...
Three Things Entrepreneurs and Business Owners Can Learn From Hospitality
Samuel Wich | February 15, 2019
By Samuel Wich #1 - Hire the right people and treat them appropriately Whenever an employee is in contact with a customer, this presents an opportunity to leave a great impression in that customer's mind. No matter if it's at a fast food restaurant, drive-through or at the counter of a high-end bank. Companies should focus on hiring people who naturally enjoy being in front of customers and who love putting smiles on people's faces. Aside from a new hire's background and technical ability, their willingness to go above and beyond to satisfy a customer should come at the top of the list in recruitment efforts. Although technical skills a...
Artificial Intelligence: Hospitality, and That Human Touch
Stuart Pallister | February 13, 2019
By Stuart Pallister Artificial intelligence is undoubtedly going to have an impact on the hotel industry as the bots – robots and chatbots – play a greater role. Julia Aymonier, CIO of EHL, says yes, some jobs will change, particularly those related to repetitive tasks. "The biggest challenge," she told Hospitality Insights in an interview, "will be to train people for jobs that are created by artificial intelligence." Robot-concierge? "There will be jobs, and if we don't train people, we won't have the staff we need to do these new jobs." We're unlikely to see robot concierges in four- and five-star hotels, as you can't hav...
Every Cloud Has a Silver Lining… but for Whom?
Georges Panayotis | February 13, 2019
Fostering, supervising, regulating, preserving the common heritage... these are the main missions of governments and agencies that must take them to heart. Create, develop, design, innovate, know your market, benchmark... these are the missions of the sector's professionals whom governments must trust in order to know how to act in order to preserve their market share. One might be tempted to step on others' turf. "However, it is by assuming each of our well-defined roles and by pushing the expertise, know-how and knowledge ever further that we will build a solid and sustainable tourism strategy." Through debate, by ch...
Why Retail Owners Are Partnering With Hotels
Jim Butler | February 13, 2019
By Jim Butler and the Global Hospitality Group® Hotel Lawyers | Authors of www.HotelLawBlog.com 13 February 2019 - Recently, my partner, Guy Maisnik, and I spoke about hotel retail mixed-use development with Kelsi Maree Borland of GlobeSt.com. Her article, Why Retail Owners Are Partnering With Hotels ran with the subtitle, With retail evolving to be more experience-driven, retail owners are finding the benefits of adding boutique hotels to shopping centers. Retailers adding hotels to the mix is nothing new – but they may be more motivated than ever. The Hotel Law Blog has been covering hotel mixed-use projects — where th...
The Hidden Benefits of Tasting Events
Larry Mogelonsky | February 13, 2019
By Larry Mogelonsky, MBA, P. Eng. (www.hotelmogel.com) Finding myself away at a mountain resort for a food and wine festival last year, it was the perfect opportunity to not only participate in a wine tasting conducted by a vintner from a prominent Oregon winery as well as reflect upon the staying power of these types of events. For the two dozen participants, it was a chance to get close and personal with the wine. Here, we were guided through the nuances of several wines of the same grape variety, allowing us to understand the nuances created by the vintage and cellaring processes as well as furthering our knowledge and appreciation o...
Managing Overtourism
Peter Varga | February 12, 2019
By Peter Varga and Aline Terrier What, for you, makes an ideal vacation? Being alone in a beautiful spot or sharing the experience with loved ones? More likely than not you prefer to avoid the 'madding' crowd but you may already have had first-hand experience of the increasing numbers of tourists visiting major destinations such as Machu Picchu, Angkor Wat, the Taj Mahal and Venice. Growth in tourism: facts and figures According to the latest statistics from the United Nations World Tourism Organisation: International tourist arrivals rose by six percent to 1.4 billion in 2018, the second strongest year since 2010. UNWTO expects the num...
Merchandizing Romantic Getaways
Larry Mogelonsky | February 6, 2019
By Larry Mogelonsky, MBA, P. Eng. (www.hotelmogel.com) As we slide into February, the traditional low occupancy winter blues for hotels (outside of the sun destinations) is punctured by the healthy returns netted from Valentine's Day couples' getaways. While standard articles might focus on ways to drum up last minute purchases through packaging and promotional efforts, the next step is to ask yourself: how to capture more incremental revenue before guests arrive? The concept here is to maximize the profits from each customer so that this romantic time of year becomes a truly fantastic cash grab. And a great way to achieve this goal is ...
