The Tricycle of Guest Service Excellence: A Perfect Model For Remarkable Experiences
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Crafting a Unique Employer Brand for Today’s Talent Market
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One Simple Word to Overcome These 6 Hotel Operational Bottlenecks
Hotelogix | March 25, 2019
Hospitality professionals are often under immense pressure when it comes to standing their ground and saying 'no'. For some reason, the industry has become synonymous with accommodating any and all requests and practices, almost inclining towards powerlessness! But your hotel's growth depends just as much on going against the norm and saying 'no', as it does on saying 'sure!'. It might sound counterintuitive but when you really think about it, being a 'yes, please' person can result in a lot of internal stress and external chaos. In an industry where saying 'yes' equals good service, you owe it to yourself, your staff and your business ...
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...
Guest Experience vs. Guest Engagement: Which Matters Most?
David Millili | March 21, 2019
By David Millili Imagine this: You begin planning a trip to New Mexico. You ask a friend who lives there where to stay in Santa Fe. The same day you notice on Facebook that another friend happens to be in Santa Fe right now and has tagged the beautiful hotel where she's staying. You have two recommendations now but do some research anyway to be sure you're getting the right place for the trip. You decide on the hotel your first friend suggested, but the photos don't tell you everything you need to know, and the booking engine is cumbersome. Just about that time the Facebook friend texts, saying she's wild about the hotel she tagged. In ...
5 Unique Experiences Hotels Can Use to Attract Guests
HEBS Digital | March 20, 2019
By: Kerryn Gower We've all been there. You finally wake up from the dreaming phase of the travel planning journey and pick on a destination to visit. Now the planning begins. We all have our go-to travel booking websites and apps, and they each present a lot of information, packages, and special offers convincing you to make a booking. Beyond just rate, hotel shoppers consider plenty of other factors, such as amenities, activities, and nearby restaurants. But these factors aren't always enough to capture the attention of a traveler long enough to secure a booking. Today's travelers expect more. They expect unique experiences every time ...
“We Love ALICE Because It’s a One-Stop Shop”
ALICE | March 19, 2019
ALICE has helped eliminate teething pains for the recently-opened EXchange Hotel Vancouver by introducing seamless internal communication for staff and a convenient application for guests. The newly-opened EXchange Hotel Vancouver has chosen ALICE to optimize hotel operations and enhance the guest experience in Vancouver's first LEED Platinum Heritage Conversion. ALICE is the hospitality industry's leading operations technology, connecting every department of the hotel with one platform for all staff communication and guest requests. Housed in the original Vancouver Stock Exchange, EXchange Hotel prides itself on being both green and te...
Zero-G Hospitality: 4 Reasons Why Hotels Will Be The Shining Stars in Space Travel
Pier-Luca Rapin | March 19, 2019
By Pier-Luca Rapin "If the future does not include being out there among the stars and being a multi-planet species, I find that incredibly depressing" - Elon Musk Investors are stargazing. A multi-planetary society has become a likely reality. Every market will be affected, but mainly hospitality and tourism. Consumers will want to experience zero-G, visit the moon or even Mars, which will replace the white sandy beaches in travel agents' catalogs and tourists' fantasies. What are the real opportunities for hoteliers? How will the hospitality sector develop in this field? Some say that it will be impossible to bring touris...
Hospitality Financial Leadership: Understanding the Concept of Owner Spend
David Lund | March 18, 2019
The hotel business is unique with owners, brands and assets all vying for their individual needs and attention. All the while this delicate balance has some interesting business characteristics that are essential for hospitality financial leaders to understand. It's not terribly complicated, quite the opposite. It hides out in plain sight, so it can be easy to miss if you're not looking for it. I can remember an old boss telling me his thoughts on what I call "owner spend." I thought at the time he was full of whatever, yet the concept was bold and incredibly clear. It also struck me in that moment that no one else had ever spoken of th...
Humans and AI: How to Improve Guest Services in a New Collaborative Way
Raj Singh | March 14, 2019
By Raj Singh It's commonly known that assembly line workers often experience burnout from the repetitive, mind-numbing nature of their jobs. In their instance, though, there's not much they can do on the job to battle their burnout and job dissatisfaction that still allows them to retain their jobs. It's a take-it-or-leave-it situation. The parallel in hospitality guest services - the frontline employee who fields repetitive, oftentimes mundane guest requests all day. Fortunately, there's an emerging alternative: a new breed of collaborative solution where humans and artificial intelligence (AI) work together. This hybri...
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...
Hospitality Financial Leadership: The Next Big Thing
David Lund | March 11, 2019
David Lund For almost 10 years our industry has been a rocket ship of top line growth driven almost exclusively by big gains in RevPAR driven by solid increases in occupancy and rate. You also can't go too far inside the online world without finding articles that speak to when and if this growth will stop. We all know it will and it's never been a question of if it will stop, the question is when it will stop. Knowing this growth inevitably will stop and being cognizant that when it does stop it will go backwards, what can you do? History always repeats itself. When the growth stops and revenues year over year shrink what will hotels do...
Learn How To Approach & Engage in Difficult Conversations at the STRONG Leader Institute
Bryan K. Williams | March 11, 2019
30-Second Video By Dr. Bryan K. Williams One of the most frequently asked questions I get is "How do I handle difficult conversations with my staff?" I've found that leaders want to address subpar (and even mediocre) performance with their teams, but lack the skillset for how to do so effectively. One of our multiple sessions at the upcoming STRONG Leader Institute will be led by Alicia Santamaria, who is a subject matter expert on all areas of Workplace Conflict Management. Her session is called: Leadership Best Practices for Approaching and Engaging in Difficult Conversations In this session, she will explore four practi...
What the Nudge (Marketing)?!?
Sherif Mamdouh | March 7, 2019
by Sherif Mamdouh Influence without constraint, and to do good. This is the ethos of Nudge theory. This "helping hand" theory claims to be able to rely on human irrationality to reach a desired outcome. Stemming from behavioral psychology and microeconomics, this new paradigm advocates "libertarian paternalism" where a dose of manipulation is admitted but used only in the most benevolent endeavors - not without reminding us that any form of communication can be perceived as manipulation. In 2008, Richard Thaler, one of the fathers of behavioral economics, co-wrote Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and ...
Tourism Tidbits: Marketing To and Protecting Visiting Children - Part One of Two
Dr. Peter Tarlow | March 6, 2019
by Dr. Peter Tarlow One of the most difficult segments of the tourism industry to which to market protect the children or young adult segment, In reality this segment breaks down into at least four sub-segments, and each of these has its own challenges and opportunities. Although in most nations the law defines a child as anyone who is not an adult (under 18 years of age) from the perspective of tourism there are major differences between an infant and a teenager. These differences manifest themselves in not only how we market to them but the products that we offer. One way to analyze this multivariate market is to divide the child/youn...
Flexing Hotel Labor Today
Robert Rauch | March 6, 2019
Bob Rauch and Sarah Anderson It's easy to say, "flex down your labor costs" when revenues drop, but is it easy to do? In a market of uncertainty and seasonal fluctuations, managing hotel property expenses is a challenging job that remains on the forefront of the minds of strategic operators. Hotels that implement a staffing strategy that adapts to these changes will keep operations running smoothly throughout the year and even throughout an economic slowdown. This can be a remarkable way to improve profits when revenues are flat or even down. With a focused attention on payroll, creative training programs, automation, and F&B stream...
Different Travelers Want Different Things - So How Do You Know What Hotel Technology You Need?
David Millili | March 5, 2019
By David Millili, CEO of Runtriz Many retail brands embrace generational marketing these days, breaking down their demographics and online/social media campaigns by what they know about baby boomers, Gen X, millennials, and the up-and-coming Gen Z generation, those born in the mid-1990s. But for experiential products, like hotels, the concept must be stretched to include the consumer journey. The whole experience and the way it is received (or not) varies based on the age of the traveler, so much so that flags such as Marriott have launched entire brands around catering to millennials. Read an article by a baby boomer who has stayed in ...
Hospitality Financial Leadership: Contra or Barter Exchanges – How to Record Them and Some Tips
David Lund | March 4, 2019
David Lund Contra, barter, trade outs, exchanges – they are all the same thing. Exchanging goods and or services is older than currency and it's still used today, especially in hospitality. How you can use this tool effectively and how to properly record these transactions on your books is the meat on the stick in this article. First thing you need to know that typically stops most people from pursuing trade out agreements is they do not have a direct positive impact on your profit and loss statement. The trade out itself if it's recorded properly will not reduce expenses. It only saves you cash. So, if cash flow is a conc...
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...
Building Better Customer Satisfaction in a World of Technology
Chris K. Anderson | February 28, 2019
by Elizabeth Martyn and Christopher Anderson As the hospitality and service industry makes greater use of computer applications and virtual technology, personal contact with employees becomes increasingly important for customer satisfaction. In a recent report from the Cornell Center for Hospitality Research (CHR), we explore how those customer contact employees can be trained in the "how" of service, especially when employees are involved in service recovery. We are specifically looking at training in the key skills of employee engagement, communication, and attitude, because they have a strong effect on customers' evaluation of servic...
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 ...
How France’s Mountain Hotel Industry Is Exploring New Routes
February 26, 2019
Many of the hotels nestled among the French Alps are at a turning point. Previously the preserve of local families, the hotel industry across the region is undergoing a transformation as properties change hands or owners decide to renovate. In recent years, institutional investors and French investment funds such as Algonquin or Sofival have built a presence in the sector. Now, it's continuing to attract non-specialist investors looking to consolidate or diversify their portfolios. "Until recently, the mountain hotel market fitted a similar profile to that of the urban hotel industry in France in the 1980s and '90s," says Gwenola Donet,...
Hospitality Financial Leadership: She Said She Was Born Without the Financial Gene
David Lund | February 25, 2019
The following is a recap of a single coaching session which turned into a coaching relationship with a client. For this article I am going to call my client Jennifer. I was speaking at a local hotel association event and as usual a few people came to see me at the end to share their thoughts. Jennifer was the very last person to speak with me. She waited until the room was almost empty. She was shy and nervous. "I just want to thank you," she said. "Thank me for what," I replied. "Thank you for giving me some hope," she said. I smiled, as I knew exactly what she meant, and I said, "Hope for what?" She then explained how terrified she wa...
Shaking Up Your Marketing Strategy: How Millennials Are Shaping the Way Hotels Operate
Lauren Hall | February 25, 2019
By Lauren Hall, Founder & CEO, iVvy As a hotelier, the process of (effectively) marketing to millennials might have initially presented itself as a rather daunting task. Just how much buying power and influence do millennials have? And how does that impact the hospitality industry? What are their travel behaviors and preferences? How can hotels readily appeal to the millennial generation without compromising their relationship with travelers of previous generations? Who and what should be the priority? More specifically, when addressing the group hospitality segment — what do millennials expect from meetings and events in 2019...
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 ...
Why Coworking Is Coming to Hotels
February 21, 2019
It's not just offices that are adapting to new, flexible ways of working and an increasingly mobile workforce. Growing numbers of hotels are also looking to get involved in the flexible space boom, transforming underused spaces in communal areas or outdated business centers into modern, vibrant coworking spaces. The Virgin hotel in Chicago has a monthly membership model for its coworking space, the Virgin Commons Club, which includes a bar, private meeting areas, free drinks, a library, Wi-Fi and wireless printing. The lobby of the Ace Hotel in New York attracts coworkers with its plentiful outlets, communal tables and a lobby bar that ...
