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Assisting Hotels in Regaining Stability, Travel Outlook Gets Armed With Effective Sales Tactics Developed by Kennedy Training Network
Travel Outlook Hotel Reservations Call Center Services | April 21, 2020
Santa Fe, NM – Travel Outlook premium reservation call center, a virtual hospitality company specializing in voice reservations and guest service, uses down-time to upskill with Kennedy Training Network. Like all other hotel reservations and call center teams, during the first 10 days of the COVID-19 crisis, Travel Outlook’s certified call center agents were inundated with calls to cancel or postpone. Now that the call volume has temporarily softened, rather than laying off staff, Travel Outlook is using this quiet phase to upskill its call center team by scheduling additional private, live webcam training with Kennedy Training Ne...
STR: U.S. Hotel Performance for March 2020
STR | April 21, 2020
HENDERSONVILLE, Tennessee—In its first month with a visible impact from the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. hotel industry reported double-digit declines in the three key performance metrics during March 2020, according to data from STR. In a year-over-year comparison with March 2019, the industry posted the following: Occupancy: -42.3% to 39.4% Average daily rate (ADR): -16.5% to US$110.66 Revenue per available room (RevPAR): -51.9% to US$43.54 Among the Top 25 Markets, San Francisco/San Mateo, California, experienced the steepest drop in occupancy (-62.2% to 30.2%), which resulted in the largest decrease in RevPAR (-72.3% to ...
Managed by Titan Hotel Group, Hampton by Hilton Opens in in Deptford, New Jersey
Hampton by Hilton | April 21, 2020
Deptford, NJ – April 20, 2020 – Hilton's (NYSE: HLT) Hampton by Hilton, the global upper-midscale brand known for its commitment to providing unmatched guest service, today announced the opening of its newest property, Hampton Inn & Suites in Deptford. Managed by Titan Hotel Group, the Hampton Inn & Suites Deptford features 106 modern and spacious rooms and offers travelers high-quality, value-added amenities. “At Hampton Inn & Suites Deptford, guests will have a worry-free stay with comfortable spaces that are intuitively designed to feel familiar and inviting,” said Bradley Thompson, general manager. “Hampton by Hil...
Marriott Launches Global Cleanliness Council to Promote Higher Standards of Cleanliness in the Age of COVID-19
Marriott International, Inc. | April 21, 2020
Marriott International (NASDAQ: MAR), which for 92 years has been recognized as a hospitality leader for its commitment to quality, exacting standards, and rigorous training, announced today that it will be rolling out a multi-pronged platform to elevate its cleanliness standards and hospitality norms and behaviors to meet the new health and safety challenges presented by the current pandemic environment. “We are living in a new age, with COVID-19 front and center for our guests and our associates,” said Arne Sorenson, President and Chief Executive Officer, Marriott International. “We are grateful for the trust our guests have shown ...
Kennedy Training Network Announces Two New Hotel Sales Team Programs, Delivered Live Via Webcam, to Prepare for a New Sales Habitat
Kennedy Training Network | April 20, 2020
Hotel sales has truly been a seller’s market for a very long time; 10-year veterans have never experienced selling in a recession, while veterans are out of practice at prospecting. Until recently, at most hotels the biggest challenges have been keeping up with the flood of inbound RFP’s, as third-party meeting and event planning websites made it too easy to request a proposal. Smart sales leaders will wisely use the current lull in sales activity to upskill their teams for what is sure to be a buyer’s market for the near future. This week, KTN is introducing two hotel sales training programs, personally delivered live on webcam by K...
Latest Analysis: Coronavirus Impact on Travel 9x Worse than 9/11
The U.S. Travel Association | April 20, 2020
WASHINGTON (April 20, 2020)—The travel industry has lost a full third of all the jobs lost in the U.S. and is experiencing a total impact from coronavirus that is nine times greater than the 9/11 attacks, according to new data released by the U.S. Travel Association and the analytics firm Tourism Economics. By the end of April, declines in travel will cause eight million jobs to be lost out of approximately 24 million for the entire U.S. economy, according to the report. Travel spending losses are on track to top half a trillion dollars by the end of 2020. "The CARES Act was a good start, but the data shows there is still extreme and ...
STR: U.S. Hotel Construction Hit All-Time High in March
STR | April 20, 2020
HENDERSONVILLE, Tennessee—The U.S. hotel industry recorded 214,704 rooms under construction in March 2020, the highest end-of-month total ever reported by STR. The industry’s previous construction peak occurred in December 2007 with 211,694 hotel rooms in construction. That level was slightly surpassed in February 2020 at 211,859 rooms in the final phase of the development pipeline. “The number of rooms in construction will likely remain high, just as it did during the pre-recession peak,” said Jan Freitag, STR’s senior VP of lodging insights. “Because of the coronavirus pandemic, the industry is no longer operating in a rec...
How Hospitality and Retail Businesses Can Survive the Coronavirus Shutdown
René-Ojas Woltering | April 20, 2020
By René-Ojas Woltering Policy makers around the world have enforced an unprecedented shutdown of public life to slow down the spread of the coronavirus. As a consequence, entire sectors of the economy have seen their revenues collapse to zero. At the time of this publication, it appears that the shutdown will be a matter of months rather than just a few weeks. Yet, to date, no coherent political-economic strategy exists on how businesses may potentially survive a prolonged period without any revenues. Many hospitality and retail businesses are about to be sacrificed in the name of public health. A wave of insolvencies would cause irrev...
Impact of COVID-19 on Los Angeles & Southern California Hotel Markets
Luigi Major | April 20, 2020
By Luigi Major Since December 2019, outbreaks of coronavirus (COVID-19) have led to global economic disruptions as cities and countries attempt to slow the spread of the disease by implementing lockdowns and social distancing measures. At the time of publishing this article, the number of cases in the United States and California exceeded 680,000 and 28,000, respectively. The federal government, along with state and local governments, has implemented restrictions to slow the spread of the disease, including stay-at-home or shelter-in-place orders. Major events have been canceled, and travel has been curtailed to “essential business” on...
Credit Card Processing Best Practices During COVID-19 and Other Challenging Times
POST Integrations | April 20, 2020
By Juli Barter As the world continues to navigate the COVID-19 pandemic, the hotel industry continues to feel its effects. As a trusted hospitality payments provider, POST Integrations is providing the following credit card acceptance best practices to help guide you and your properties through these uncertain times. Below are the key areas to understand and be aware of during this time. CANCELLATIONS/PREPAID RESERVATION AND ADVANCE DEPOSIT CREDITS If your property requires an advance deposit or offers prepaid reservations for guest stays, no doubt your team is dealing with an increased request for cancellations during this time...
Riegel Linen Pivoting From Hospitality to Healthcare Amidst Coronavirus Pandemic
Lion Equity Partners | April 20, 2020
Hospitality’s leading textile provider is now manufacturing masks for existing customers as well as new ones; Riegel Linen donates masks to University of South Carolina Aiken International Students and the UofSC Aiken Police Department AIKEN, S.C.— APRIL 20, 2020 — To do its part amidst the coronavirus pandemic, Riegel Linen is now manufacturing masks in addition to surgical towels, sheeting and mattress pads for existing and new customers. Known nationwide for its quality sheeting, terry, and table linen products for hotels and restaurants, the hospitality textile manufacturer is also helping the local community. As part of its n...
Beekeeper Continues COVID-19 Webinar Series: ‘Communicating With Furloughed Employees —Getting It Right’ on Thursday, April 23
Beekeeper | April 20, 2020
Led by the Director of the Cornell Institute for Hospitality Labor and Employment Relations, participants from Marriott International, Jones Day, and Beekeeper will discuss how to best communicate with a remote workforce and prepare them for success when things start to turn around. San Francisco, April 20, 2020 — How do furloughed employees stay in the know with what is going on at the hotel? How are hoteliers communicating unemployment insurance benefits? What will happen when things start to turn around and properties need to begin planning for reopening? On Thursday, Beekeeper, a mobile-first communication platform for ...
Hospitality Financial Leadership – Should I Develop a Detailed Budget and Monthly Forecast?
David Lund | April 20, 2020
By David Lund The simple and only answer is yes, you should. Without these tools you are flying in the dark and sooner rather than later you are going to run into a mountain. In my opinion if you are running your hotel business without this and you think that is okay then you are simply irresponsible. If you are thinking it is too complicated or only for the big kids, well, you are wrong again and this recap will be an eye opener for you. This piece is about a client of mine and how we worked to develop these tools, and how they are helping him manage his business as proactively as possible during this crisis. As he recently called it, ...
HVS Hotel Transaction Activity: The Factors Influencing a Return to Normalcy in a Post-COVID-19 Time
Drew Noecker | April 17, 2020
By Drew Noecker As a result of the current COVID-19 pandemic, the HVS Team has received many questions about when U.S. hotel transaction volume will return to reasonable, pre-pandemic levels. While we do not have a definite answer, as this circumstances are evolving daily, we have tried to use past events to provide some insight on the factors that would affect a possible rebound. April 14, 2020 – Updated Transaction Data Source: Real Capital Analytics, 4/14/2020 | www.rcanalytics.com In line with the table above, we see the anticipated volume declining because of COVID-19. The year-over-year individual property transaction volume ...
COVID-19 Response: 96% of Global Destinations Impose Travel Restrictions, UNWTO Reports
The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) | April 17, 2020
The scale of disruption caused by COVID-19 to global tourism is shown in a comprehensive new report on travel restrictions from the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO). The landmark report, published at a time of unprecedented disruption for the sector, shows that almost all global destinations have imposed restrictions on travel since January 2020, including complete bans on all travel as they work to contain the pandemic. Over recent years, as the United Nations specialized agency for tourism, UNWTO has been regularly monitoring travel facilitation and observing a continuous trend towards more openness. COVID-19 has dramatically interrupt...
Easy to Use Key Points for Independent Hotels During the Current Pandemic
Paloma Guerra | April 17, 2020
By Paloma Guerra & Alex Sogno In Europe, we have seen that the large hotel operating companies have been as supportive as possible to their hotel teams, providing profit protection plans, business continuity plans and other useful guidance. This article is for independent hotels, which represent a large segment of our industry in Europe. Whether your hotel is closed or remains open, please see the strategies and tools below on how to deal with the current crisis. “Barbam propinqui radere, heus, cum videris, prabe lavandos barbula prudens pilos”, (roughly translated as “If you want to make peace, prepare for war”). This Latin ...
IHG Launches Global Effort to Feed Local Communities in Response to Covid-19 Pandemic
IHG | April 17, 2020
With hotels in thousands of communities around the world, together with our colleagues, owners and partners, we are working to be part of the relief effort. Today, we are extending our programme for communities and charitable giving, True Hospitality for Good, by committing funding and support to be there for our local communities where they are most vulnerable. Helping to protect and enhance food bank infrastructure and services in more than 70 countries, IHG’s partners include ‘No Kid Hungry’ in the US, ‘Trussell Trust’ in the UK, the ‘Global Foodbanking Network’ (GFN) and the ‘European Food Banks Federation’ (FEBA). To...
HVS COVID-19 Impact on Lodging Tax Revenues
Thomas Hazinski | April 17, 2020
By Thomas A. Hazinski & Joseph Hansel HVS modeled the anticipated RevPAR declines during the COVID-19 pandemic. Based on patterns of recovery following the two most recent recessions, we projected the lodging tax revenues of 24 urban markets in the United States. Comparing these projections to a baseline scenario without the pandemic, HVS estimates combined losses of 24 major U.S. markets could range from $4.0 to $5.5 billion of lodging tax revenues. Lodging tax losses of this magnitude will force bondholders, destination marketing organizations, and other stakeholders to consider steps such as debt refinancing or seeking alternati...
Hotel Sales Teams: Use Downtime to Up Your Game at Using Screen Share, Video Email, Webcam Sales
Doug Kennedy | April 17, 2020
By Doug Kennedy Based on the conversations I’m having this week with our KTN clients, it seems that hotel sales teams are finding that there’s a lull in activity right now. The flood of calls and emails regarding cancellations and postponements has abated, and most hotels are lucky to have even a trickle of RFP’s coming in from traditional channels. For most markets, being too aggressive with traditional cold-call prospecting right now might be perceived as being insensitive. As a result, salespeople might be finding themselves with far more downtime than they’ve had in years. This phase presents the perfect opportunity for hote...
Provenance Hotels Chairman & CEO Katherine Durant Will Assume Role of President Upon Departure of Bashar Wali
Provenance Hotels | April 17, 2020
PORTLAND, Ore.-Provenance Hotels today announced that President Bashar Wali has decided to depart from his position with the Company, effective May 29, 2020. Upon his departure, current Chairman & CEO, Katherine Durant, will assume the role of President, and Founder Gordon Sondland will assume the role of Chairman. Wali will remain involved with Provenance as a Senior Advisor to the Company and in his capacity as a shareholder. “Bashar has been a valued member of our team for nearly 15 years, and we thank him for the dedication and ingenuity he has brought to Provenance during his tenure,” said Sondland. “While we are sad to see ...
80-Plus House Members Urge Relief for Destination Marketing Organizations
U.S. Travel Association | April 17, 2020
WASHINGTON (April 17, 2020)—More than 80 U.S. House members from both sides of the political aisle have signed onto a letter urging congressional leaders to provide relief for destination marketing organizations (DMOs) whose funding has been crippled by the coronavirus crisis. Despite their pivotal contributions to local and regional travel economies, many DMOs were unintentionally left ineligible for coronavirus relief funding under the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) because of their non-profit or quasi-governmental status. The U.S. Travel Association has been working with Congress to correct the problem, since DMOs will be vital ...
Duetto Launches Free Market Demand Report for Hoteliers
Duetto | April 17, 2020
New Pulse Report will help industry anticipate and plan for recovery San Francisco, April 17, 2020 — Duetto, hospitality's innovative software as a service provider of revenue strategy solutions has launched the Duetto Pulse Report, a free, data-driven analysis of key metrics including bookings, cancellations and website traffic in the US, Europe, and Asia Pacific. Built by Duetto’s team of revenue experts and analysts, the Duetto Pulse Report provides a bi-weekly analysis of market demand from hotels using the Duetto platform. It is available as a free tool for all hoteliers around the world. “Duetto is committed to providing ...
Operating Performance at Low Occupancy Levels
Robert Mandelbaum | April 17, 2020
By Robert Mandelbaum Since January 2020, CBRE Hotels Research has been analyzing the impact of the COVID-19 virus to understand how the societal and economic impacts of COVID-19 will influence the performance of U.S. hotels. Initial guidance came in the form of updated Hotel Horizons® forecasts of occupancy, ADR, and RevPAR for the nation’s chain-scales, location categories, and 60 major markets. Concurrently, we relied on the historical relationship between declines in RevPAR to estimate the potential decreases in profits. For example, a 20 percent decline in RevPAR for a full-service hotel during 2009 resulted, on average, in a...
Foxwoods CEO John James Resigns Amid Shutdown, Effective Immediately
April 16, 2020
Mashantucket — John James, president and chief executive officer of Foxwoods Resort Casino, has resigned after eight months, the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Council confirmed Tuesday. "John has left his position to spend more time with his family," the council said in a statement issued through Foxwoods' Boston-based public relations firm, Shift Communications. Foxwoods informed employees of James' resignation in an earlier communication. He "has left his position to spend more time with his family and focus on his overall health and wellness in a time that it is critically important for all of us to do," the message said. Jason Guyot...
