HFTP® Acquires Leading Hospitality Industry Brands: Hospitality Upgrade, Hotel-Online, The CIO Summit and The Executive Vendor Summit
Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals | June 25th, 2024
Crisis Resilience for the Moment: Risk Management & The Remote Worker
Paul West | April 8, 2020
By Paul West Now that everyone’s approach to risk management and crisis resilience is being challenged as never before, there is still much to consider in trying to maintain any sort of business continuity for most companies where doors are closed and revenues are interrupted while expenses continue to mount. Certainly things will continue to change as this paralyzing event also comes with a fluid time element that is indeed stressful to every individual and pushes the sanity button of each while enduring a self-imposed, financial shutdown that is concern for all with its impact on the overall economy. As we approach crisis resilience...
U.S and Canada Waterpark and Resort Trends in 2020
David J. Sangree | April 8, 2020
By David J. Sangree At the beginning of 2020, the continuing trend of two decades of growth was expected in the waterpark industry. Major projects will open throughout the United States in both the indoor and outdoor waterpark categories totaling over $1 billion in investment in 2020. Fourteen new standalone waterparks and one resort with outdoor waterpark are anticipated to open. The indoor segment will total square feet of new waterpark space in 17 properties. However, the recent outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has thrown the industry into uncertainty in 2020. This article reflects the projected growth for the waterpark industry as it ...
What to Do When a Guest or Worker in Your Hotel Is Diagnosed With Covid-19
Stacy Bercun Bohm | April 7, 2020
By Stacy Bercun Bohm and Daniel Miktus To address the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, Governors and local officials have enacted countless emergency orders requiring individuals to stay in their homes except for certain essential activities, and ordering “non-essential” businesses to shut down. While some of the orders – particularly in South Florida – have required hotels to shut down except for certain guests including medical workers and emergency first responders, most of these orders exempt or except the hotel and lodging industry and its employees from these shutdown and stay-at-home measures. Regardless of whether y...
How to Make Working From Home Work for You
April 7, 2020
By Beatrice Venturini From a no-no to the new normal In his 2017 TED Talk, the British economist Nicholas Bloom jokes of how his mission to encourage working from home (WFH) was initially met with disparaging remarks like “shirking from home”, “working…remotely” or simply, “getting paid for not getting dressed”. He argued that WFH would save companies money, create more time for productivity and certainly reduce global pollution with less unnecessary travel. What was once a HR issue, essentially reserved for working mothers, has suddenly become an enforced modus operandi worldwide. In the last few weeks, companies big and s...
Recovery From Covid-19 in Spain
Sophie Perret | April 7, 2020
By Sophie Perret Half of all global tourism arrivals historically come to Europe; and, within Europe, Spain enjoys a disproportionate share of this visitation, with more than 80 million visiting the country yearly. Whilst the COVID-19 pandemic ravages Europe and takes a particularly heavy toll in Spain, it is important to evaluate how the reliance of this country on international visitation might shape the recovery of its two main urban markets once the pandemic subsides. The reliance on international demand has historically allowed hotel markets to yield room rates to a greater extent than is the case when demand is mostly domestic. Fo...
Quore Helps Hotel Properties Transition to Isolation Wards for COVID-19 Patient Overflow
Quore | April 7, 2020
Operations management platform enables hotels to support health and safety compliance for those looking to help communities in need Franklin, Tenn. - (April 7, 2020) - Quore, the leading provider of workflow management and productivity tools for hotels, today announced its Quore Aid Program for any hotel converting its property into a COVID-19 isolation ward or temporary medical facility. Quore has adapted its suite of solutions to allow for adherence to local and national healthcare guidelines to support housing facilities as they determine the right precautions each hotel isolation ward should follow in order to ensure the health and sa...
Key Indicators for Hospitality Marketing Professionals
HSMAI | April 7, 2020
By Kaitlin Dunn HSMAI hosts regular Executive Roundtable programs for senior hospitality professionals to meet and discuss relevant issues. Typically, these are face-to-face events, but due to the coronavirus, HSMAI hosted a Chief Marketing Officer Virtual Roundtable on March 31 that focused on the impact that COVID-19 is having on hotel marketing. Here are four key indicators that CMO participants said are helping to guide their strategies and future planning: 1. GOOGLE SEARCH TRAFFIC AND BEHAVIOR: One Virtual Roundtable participant said he’s heard that hotel search traffic is currently down 56 percent from last year. “That real...
Wyndham Unites With Leading Companies to Offer Alternative Employment Opportunities to Affected Team Members
Wyndham Hotels & Resorts | April 7, 2020
PARSIPPANY, N.J. (April 7, 2020) – As the global novel coronavirus pandemic creates unprecedented circumstances for hospitality workers around the country, Wyndham Hotels & Resorts has partnered with leading organizations to give team members whose positions have been furloughed or eliminated access to job opportunities opening up across various industries including retail, grocery, senior living and more. The new relationships empower Wyndham’s affected hotel-level and corporate team members with opportunities to align their hospitality experience with thousands of newly available full-time, part-time, or temporary positions withi...
Hilton and American Express to Donate Up to 1 Million Rooms to Frontline Medical Professionals During COVID-19 Crisis
Hilton | April 6, 2020
MCLEAN, Va. and NEW YORK, N.Y. - Hilton (NYSE:HLT) and American Express (NYSE:AXP) today announced that the companies, in partnership with Hilton’s ownership community, will donate up to 1 million hotel room nights across the United States to frontline medical professionals leading the fight against COVID-19. Beginning next week, Hilton and American Express will make rooms available without charge to doctors, nurses, EMTs, paramedics and other frontline medical staff who need a place to sleep, recharge or isolate from their families through the end of May. Hilton is initially working with 10 associations who collectively represent mor...
Boston & Cambridge Lodging Market: COVID-19 and Its Impact on Supply
Sebastian Colella | April 6, 2020
Pinnacle has revised projections for 2020 supply change in the Boston & Cambridge lodging market from +3.8% to now -14.4%. By Sebastian J. Colella Life across the United States has changed dramatically in the last four weeks. In Boston, and almost every other city in the country, hotel owners and operators have been forced to make the difficult decision to close temporarily while the country attempts to slow and contain the spread of COVID-19. In Massachusetts those decisions were partially made for them on March 31st. Governor Baker extended his order closing non-essential businesses in Massachusetts through May 4th. This exten...
In the Time of COVID-19: Top 5 Things You Need to Know Now in Hotel Digital Marketing
NextGuest | April 6, 2020
By Margaret Mastrogiacomo As we navigate unprecedented times during the COVID-19 pandemic, the world has put travel on pause. While everyone is social distancing, people continue to stay connected online through social media, FaceTime, video conferencing, and email. People are searching for an escape and for quality content to lessen their stress and enhance the quality of time at home. In light of this, many hotels can continue creating valuable and entertaining content across channels to stay connected with guests. If any marketing remains live at this time, the focus should be on brand awareness, with tasteful mess...
15,000 U.S. Hotels Sign Up to Support Healthcare Community
AHLA | April 6, 2020
WASHINGTON (April 6, 2020) – The American Hotel and Lodging Association (AHLA) announced today that more than 15,000 hotels have signed up for its new initiative – “Hospitality for Hope” – which identifies hotel properties that have offered to provide temporary housing for emergency and healthcare workers as the COVID-19 public health crisis grows. While the program will primarily focus on housing for the healthcare community, some hotels could potentially be used as “Alternative Care Sites” such as an emergency hospital or place for those quarantined to stay if needed. AHLA's “Hospitality for Hope Initiative” was creat...
Key Indicators for Hospitality Sales Professionals
HSMAI | April 6, 2020
By Kaitlin Dunn, Writer, Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International (HSMAI) HSMAI hosts regular Executive Roundtable programs for senior hospitality professionals to meet and discuss relevant issues. Typically, these are face-to-face events, but due to the coronavirus, HSMAI hosted a Chief Sales Officer Virtual Roundtable on March 26 that focused on the impact that COVID-19 is having on hotel sales. Here are three key indicators that CSO participants said are helping to guide their actions during the pandemic: 1. FLEXIBILITY AND THE OPTION TO CANCEL: All of the participants agreed that it is important to be flexible wi...
HFTP to Host Series of Hangouts to Bring Hospitality Professionals Together Online
HFTP | April 6, 2020
HFTP will go live on Zoom three times a week throughout April for a new series of virtual networking opportunities called "HFTP Hangouts." All HFTP members, stakeholders and hospitality professionals are invited to attend. These collaborative, online sessions will begin on Tuesday, April 7 and will take place every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at 2:00 p.m. CT for the remainder of the month. Each day will focus its discussion on a particular segment of the hospitality industry. The Hangouts will be moderated by a sector expert who will begin with a brief informational presentation and then turn over the meeting for discussion amongst par...
Stay Home Today, #TravelTomorrow
The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) | April 6, 2020
By staying home today, we can travel tomorrow”. The hashtag #TravelTomorrow encapsulates this message of solidarity and hope, through which the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) calls for shared responsibility among travelers and the tourism sector around the world to deal with the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. Discovering different cultures, practicing solidarity and respect, caring for the environment, continuing to learn, fostering decent work, development and sustainability, generating new opportunities for all. These are the core values of tourism advocated by the World Tourism Organization and which constitute the main pillars of t...
An Initial Checklist for Temporary Hotel Closures
Alex Sogno | April 6, 2020
By Alex Sogno During the COVID-19 crisis, many hotels will unfortunately have to stop their operations and close temporarily. This can be out of necessity if your forecasts suggest the losses experienced at these low occupancy levels are not sustainable. While closing down several floors could have saved enough variable costs in the past, the introduction of systems such as LED lights have made these savings minimal and insufficient in the current crisis. In many European countries, such as the Czech Republic and Spain, all hotels have been ordered to close by their governments. While companies like Marriott and IHG have already reopen...
Baird/STR Hotel Stock Index Drops 36.0% in March
STR | April 6, 2020
HENDERSONVILLE, Tennessee, and MILWAUKEE—The Baird/STR Hotel Stock Index dropped 36.0% in March to a level of 2,748. Year to date through the first three months of 2020, the stock index was down 47.9%. Hotel stocks experienced one of their worst months on record as investors contemplated worst-case liquidity scenarios for hotel companies driven by the COVID-19 demand shock and potential hotel closures,” said Michael Bellisario, senior hotel research analyst and director at Baird. “Overall, the majority of the publicly traded hotel companies are generally well capitalized, especially relative to private hotel owners, but the ultimate ...
STR: India Daily Hotel Occupancy Drops to 11%
STR | April 6, 2020
LONDON—As COVID-19 concerns and restrictions have intensified in India, the country’s daily hotel occupancy dropped to 11% during 23-29 March, according to preliminary data from STR. “India remained resilient in February—in comparison with other APAC markets that were more deeply affected—thanks largely to robust domestic demand coupled with the low number of COVID-19 cases in the country at that time,” said Vidhi Godiawla, STR’s business development manager for South and Central Asia. “The story was different in March, especially during the later portion of the month with year-over-year occupancy declines in excess of 80% ...
Could Big Data Help Us Manage the Lockdown Better?
Dr. Reza Etemad-Sajadi | April 6, 2020
Harnessing our smartphones to help track the virus and hence manage the return to life outside. By Dr. Reza Etemad-Sajadi Given that the coronavirus spreads as the population circulates, the only solution in the near term is to impose stay-at-home measures so the number of hospitalizations doesn’t explode, pushing hospital workers and equipment to breaking point. The graphs below show the change of behavior of people in Switzerland during the lockdown period. Source: COVID-19 Community Mobility Report, Google, 29.03.2020 That being said, when a part of the population will have been immunized (i.e. those who have caught the ...
What a Sparkplug Teaches About Hotel Operations During a Crisis
Greg Johnson | April 2, 2020
By Greg Johnson We are seeing occupancies declining, groups canceling and jobs being lost. It is easy for hoteliers to get caught up in the vortex of panic and depression. Up until now, many sales leaders have assumed the role of the hotel sparkplug, filled with energy and optimism to cast an uplifting aura throughout the back of the house. It is critical that we all continue this message of confidence and hope. Aside from the metaphorical meaning of the term ‘sparkplug’, let me first digress with a short story about some engine troubles I was recently having which nonetheless provides a powerful lesson for those in hospitality. Ann...
Forward-Thinking Hotels and Casinos Take Control of the Silver Lining During Uncertain Times
Robb Monkmann | April 2, 2020
By Robb Monkmann Let’s face it, the countless 2020 industry predictions we read in December 2019 did not prepare us for this. Business school, quite frankly, couldn’t prepare us for this. Hoteliers, a few mere months ago, found themselves facing the year ahead with unbridled optimism. We relished in the promise of continued innovation, while hotels were poised to welcome an influx of eager travelers, and revenue projections boasted an upward trajectory. And now? We find ourselves in uncharted territory, facing — arguably — more uncertainty than we ever have before. Not to say COVID-19 is the first pandemic to impact the hospital...
Covid-19: Impact on the Indian Hotels Sector
Mandeep S Lamba | April 2, 2020
By Mandeep S Lamba, Akash Datta, Dipti Mohan The world is still coming to terms with the Covid-19 outbreak and there is no doubt that the pandemic will change the world as we know it. With the globalized world going into partial or complete shutdown, the overall impact on human life, economic growth and businesses is immeasurable, both in the short term and long term due to the uncertainty as things evolve. While most Economists and Analysts currently expect the global economy to rebound, by some measure in the latter part of 2020, the exact timeline cannot be determined till the virus is contained across the globe. Nearer home, the ...
Wynn Resorts Extends Benefits for All North American Employees
Wynn Resorts | April 2, 2020
LAS VEGAS, April 2, 2020 -- Wynn Resorts (Nasdaq: WYNN), the world's leading resort company based in Las Vegas, Nevada, announced today that the Company will extend paying all salaried, hourly and part-time employees through May 15, for a total of 60 days of payroll continuance. The Company decided to take this action as part of its shared responsibility for the health and safety of its employees, their families and the Las Vegas and Greater Boston communities during this pandemic. Payroll coverage will include more than 15,000 current Wynn and Encore employees. For tipped employees, it includes the average tip compliance rate or distr...
Delay of 2020 Olympics Devastating for Tokyo Lodging Industry, Says GlobalData
GlobalData | April 2, 2020
Major players based in the Japanese capital will be relieved that an Olympic cancellation has been avoided, but smaller operators will be unable to see a silver lining, says GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company. Ralph Hollister, Travel & Tourism Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “Many smaller establishments that do not have the high cash reserves that their large-scale competitors possess needed the Olympics to occur this summer. “The closure of major attractions in Japan that encouraged a constant flow of guests such as Tokyo Disneyland, combined with China banning overseas trips, has created a severe lack of tourism...
