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How Hotels Are Upping Their Game on Food and Drink
JLL Real Views | July 23, 2018
By Emily Perryman From partnering with world-renowned chefs to letting guests order room service via Amazon Alexa, hotels are increasingly offering innovative food and beverage (F&B) experiences. F&B is an important revenue generator for hotels, with overall consumer spending in the U.S. alone rising by 5.5 percent annually since 2011, according to Technomic. The biggest driver of F&B, however, is a desire among hotels to tap into today's experience-led economy. "Having a memorable experience is especially important among today's young people," says Alexis Marcoux-Varvatsoulis, Consultant – Hotels F&B Specialist at...
Hospitality Financial Leadership: Educating Our Leaders Is the Highest Form of Service
David Lund | July 23, 2018
By David Lund If Serving is Beneath You, then Leadership is Beyond You While creating hospitality financial leadership workshops, I learned three very valuable lessons. The third lesson was by far the most powerful and transformating for me and my way of seeing the role I was playing as a financial leader. First lesson: Students like learning, subject matter and material They all responded very positively to the workshops and subject matter. From this revelation I realized that students could now see that this "financial piece" everyone touts as the hard and confusing part of hospitality, was indeed not so difficult. It is very accessib...
On the Rise: Hospitality in Latin America
Dr. Achim Schmitt | July 20, 2018
By Dr. Achim Schmitt The hospitality industry has shown great dynamism in Latin America over the past five years and that trend looks set to continue in 2018. While tourism growth in Central and South America can be partly explained by the region's diversity and natural resources, most of its progress stems from the continuous commitment of governments to promote the sector. So it did not come as a surprise that last year's Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index, published by the World Economic Forum, listed six Latin American countries among the top 50 most competitive globally. While Mexico has traditionally been the strongest touri...
Nobody Asked Me, But… No. 199: Hotel History: Fanciful Prediction, Definition of “Turnpike”, The Pineapple as a Symbol of Hospitality, Hokusai,
Stanley Turkel | July 18, 2018
by Stanley Turkel, CMHS Hotel History: Fanciful Prediction - In the September 1912 issue of American Homes & Gardens, futurist Harold D. Eberlein presented his predictions of the impact of air travel on American cities. Eberlein foresaw a proliferation of roof gardens on top of large hotels to provide pleasing views for guests. He also predicted that travelers could expect to find "clerks and bellboys posted on the top floor ready to attend to the immediate wants of tourists who have just arrived by airplane. Aerial taxicabs will circle like vultures over the hotel waiting for a doorman to signal one of them to alight and pick up a ...
Hospitality Financial Leadership: Credits to Cost of Sales in Food & Beverage
David Lund | July 16, 2018
By David Lund Giving the proper credits to your food and beverage operation is an important task. You want to ensure it is done consistently and fairly. This article examines all the usual credits, different types, the proper way to take them and why we need to take them. The first question to answer is why we need to credit the F&B operation for its goods used in other parts of our business. Someone once asked me why we don't credit maintenance for their costs when used in other departments. Or better still, why don't we credit rooms when staff members stay over because of bad weather or business volumes? Why is F&B so special?...
Voice of the Guest: How Data Informs the Hotel Guest Experience
the Author | July 12, 2018
By Terri Miller, Chief Executive Officer & Co-Founder, Concilio Labs What makes an exceptional guest experience? This is the question hoteliers find themselves continuously striving to answer as they work to refine (and evolve) their service offering. However — this is also a question that can garner countless different answers, depending on which guest you ask. The better question for hospitality experts becomes, what tool or methods can provide hoteliers with critical insights if they had the opportunity to ask every prospective guest what matters most to them? In other words, how can hoteliers capitalize on the fruits of an...
Enhancing Your Coffee Service With Ten Tips
Larry Mogelonsky | July 11, 2018
By Larry Mogelonsky, MBA, P. Eng. (www.hotelmogel.com) One of the most important elements of a modern hotel property is its coffee service, both within the guestroom and at any restaurant outlet. Given this beverage's significance in everyday life, it's a definite no-no for a hotel that cuts corners in its procurement and preparation of this brown elixir. Hardly a drug, though, coffee is not only big business but an aspect of our culture that continues to evolve. To witness this evolution, look no further than guests' expectations for a property's in-room coffee and tea service. Within the past decade, we've seen a migration from metal ...
Mid-Year 2018: Brands, OTAs, Marriott, Blockchain, Robotics and Sustainability
Robert A. Rauch | July 10, 2018
By Robert A. Rauch Online travel agencies (OTAs) outspend brands by a wide margin and continue to steal market share from brands. As Marriott is becoming more of a global brand with 30 brands and a home-sharing company in their portfolio, we see a new war developing. Airbnb, a behemoth home-sharing company, is regularly getting beat up by cities who are adding regulations quickly. They will become an OTA by 2020 and begin to compete with Expedia and Booking rather than Marriott, Hilton, and the hotel community. After all, they only charge three percent for their services and could get 10 as an OTA! At the Lodging Industry Investment Cou...
The Hotel Business Rebuilds Servuction
Georges Panayotis | July 10, 2018
By Georges Panayotis What if it was all for nothing? What if living an unforgettable stay experience, which one will absolutely want to repeat, depended only on impalpable elements? A functional and attractive aesthetic product is now the bare minimum to attract and retain customers. While it is absolutely necessary, it is not enough. For the customer, these services are self-evident. Comfort, ergonomics, a sense of security are essential to good accommodations. But it is necessary to have a more global and far-reaching vision with a broader focus; offering an accommodations product now means providing a universe, a whole that can meet ...
Unlocking the Innovation Potential of Teams
July 9, 2018
By Frédéric Delley 'What makes some teams more innovative than others?' This is an increasingly important question as hotel companies feel the need to differentiate due to increasing competitive pressure. As evidence of the reinvention effort taking place today in hospitality, my institution – the Ecole hôtelière de Lausanne – conducts about 100 innovation projects each year for all types of organizations and entrepreneurs active in the sector. I recently studied teams of soon-to-be graduates involved in the development of such projects to understand what could explain differences in their ability...
Hospitality Financial Leadership: Why Hotel Brands and Franchisers Secretly Love the OTAs
David Lund | July 9, 2018
By David Lund I know we all hear the battle cries every day in our industry, but what's really going on with hotel brands, franchisers, the online travel agents and their war over commissions and fees? In this piece, I am going to expose an angle that I think needs some light. It gets back to a fundamental understanding of how our industry functions based on its evolved structure, with brands and owners. I also believe this is a good lesson in hotel business strategy, to understand what underpins the relationship between the warring parties and what drives the business model with hotel franchisers and brands. The first thing to know abo...
Pet Hotels: The Ultimate ‘Niche’?
Stuart Pallistter | July 6, 2018
By Stuart Pallister Globally, pet care represents a huge market that's worth some 180 billion USD. So even though the panel discussion at the Window 2 the Future forum was supposed to focus on globalization generally, perhaps it was inevitable that pet care (and pet hotels) would come under the spotlight, especially as one of the panelists was a senior executive with a pet food firm, which is owned by Nestlé. Philippe Perianin, Head of Business Development & Ecosystem at Nestlé Purina Pet Care Europe, Middle East & Africa (EMEA), told the forum the market was growing steadily. "When you look at Europe for example, ...
2018 Hotel Industry Innovation Report
Dr. Carlos Martin-Rios | July 5, 2018
By Dr. Carlos Martin-Rios Ecole hôtelière de Lausanne (EHL) recently released a comprehensive Hospitality Innovation Industry Report, authored by Dr. Carlos Martin-Rios, an Associate Professor at EHL. Dr. Rios has been tracking hospitality innovation for the past several years, surveying hundreds of managers and interviewing more than 50 executives and thought-leaders to produce this report. The key objective of this research is to increase knowledge about the adoption of innovative practices by global hospitality businesses, and to support the integration of innovation strategy into hospitality business strategy. Understa...
Preparing Students for Future-Proof Careers in Hospitality
Stuart Pallister | July 3, 2018
By Stuart Pallister Schools today face a dilemma. Should they focus on meeting the current needs of the industry or ensure their students will be able to adapt to uncertain futures? Ted Teng, President and CEO of Leading Hotels of the World, put it succinctly at the recent Window 2 the Future event staged by Lausanne Hospitality Consulting at Ecole hôteliere de Lausanne. "When I graduated in 1979, if I asked someone what technology I should master, the answer would have been PMS (property management system software) or POS (point of sale). They wouldn't have said GDS (global distribution system), the PC (personal computer) &hellip...
Tourism Tidbits: Creating a Balanced Tourism Industry
Dr. Peter E. Tarlow | July 2, 2018
By Dr. Peter Tarlow At its very essence tourism is a business and to be a successful business there needs to be a balance between the needs provider's (merchant's) needs and those of the receiver (the customer). If the product is too expensive then people will find alternatives, and if it is too inexpensive than it loses prestige or there is no profit to be made. -Find ways to spend the least but give the most value. For example, many governments see tourism as an easy industry to tax. High taxes eventually drive tourists away. Visitors are not ignorant and they may pay a high tax rate the first time but they may not be back a second ti...
Hospitality Financial Leadership: Top 10 List – How to Create More Hospitality Financial Leadership
David Lund | July 2, 2018
By David Lund 1. You can increase the way you lead your team financially. Create an environment that has your managers working together on the "business" of running your hotel. It all starts by knowing that it is a team effort and it can't be done properly by only the executive. Line level managers need to be included. The idea that someone produces numbers in a vacuum and gives them to a manager to hit is absurd. If you're doing that today, stop it. 2. Know this, what we place our attention on grows. Financial leadership in your hotel is no different. Like service and colleague engagement we must invest time, resources and our efforts ...
Five Real Ways to Personalize the Guest Experience
Chamberlin Public Relations | July 2, 2018
In spite of the impressive growth of loyalty programs and the stacks of membership cards we all have in our wallets, travelers don't want to be just a number in a business' computer. Hotel guests want to be recognized as individuals with unique tastes when they check in, and throughout their stay. While it used to be hard to personalize the guest experience, the abundance of information that guests share both directly and indirectly with hotels has made it easier than ever to learn what a guest's preferences are, and to personalize their stay to their tastes. 1. Use the property management system and loyalty program to keep notes on wha...
Guestware Delivers the Personal Touch for Radisson Blu Hotel, Bucharest
Guestware | July 2, 2018
Rapid Response to Guest Requests, Pre-Arrival Guest Detail Reports, Operations SMS Communications Give Radisson Blu, Bucharest Staff Power Tools for Guest Service July 2, 2018 – When guests check into the Radisson Blu Hotel, Bucharest they are surprised at the friendly, personal way they are received. If they stayed there before, the staff recognizes them and knows many of their preferences. First-time guests are impressed with the staff's professionalism and how quickly they respond to requests. "We use Guestware to connect our property teams and track all operational incidents and guest requests. Communications between departme...
Transformational Real Estate Development Across New York Has a Major Influence on Lodging
JLL | June 28, 2018
Optimistic outlook for further growth in 2018 and 2019 NEW YORK, June 28, 2018 – New York is a hot spot of major transformational real estate development that is rapidly changing the city's landscape and lodging environment, according to JLL's 2018 New York Hotel Market Report. Hudson Yards, situated in the Midtown West submarket, currently represents the largest private real estate development in the history of the United States and the largest development in New York since the Rockefeller Center. The Manhattan West District and Moynihan Station developments will also grace the Midtown West submarket and are targeted for deliver...
Nobody Asked Me, But… No. 198: Hotel History: Jefferson Hotel, U.S. Grant Hotel, The Montauk Manor and The Jung Hotel
Stanley Turkel | June 26, 2018
by Stanley Turkel, CMHS Hotel History: Jefferson Hotel, U.S. Grant Hotel, The Montauk Manor and The Jung Hotel Some years ago, I served as the hotel consultant to the Sybedon Corporation, a New York-based real estate firm that specialized in restoration of historic hotels. The major hotel projects were: Jefferson Hotel, Richmond, Virginia U.S. Grant Hotel, San Diego, California Montauk Manor, Montauk, Long Island Jung Hotel, New Orleans, Louisiana Jefferson Hotel (1895), Richmond, Virginia (140 rooms) Tobacco baron Lewis Ginter began building the Jefferson Hotel in 1892. It was designed by Carrère and Hastings, the same arc...
Three Ways the Customer Experience is Influencing Hospitality Design
Andrew Simmons | June 25, 2018
By Andrew Simmons, hospitality studio director at Nadel Architects At a staggering 56 million, millennials are the largest portion of the U.S. workforce and Gen Z is now the largest percentage of the general population. With the increasing desire for experiences and socialization trumping all else, whether it's the desire to engage in a local scene or create an Instagram moment, the world is scrambling to adapt in order to capture their spending power. These desires are changing how hotels are being designed due to the shifting societal priorities, which are trending toward three things: the destination and overall experience, economy o...
Hospitality Financial Leadership – The Greatest Illusion – Ever
David Lund | June 25, 2018
By David Lund What are you believing and why? Do you believe the numbers are the hard part of hospitality? Do you believe you were in the wrong line at birth and just did not get the right tools? Well, I invite you to open your mind and think again about what you believe. If you do, you can open a brand-new door that will pay off in spades. This is an article about how people see things, how they think. Because we're human we have the highest power in the universe and that's an imagination. Because we have an imagination we "feel" our thinking. In hospitality, there is a lot of misuse of our imagination and I will examine how this negat...
Hoteliers Guide to Finding and Eliminating Bedbugs
Raymond Web | June 21, 2018
by Raymond Web Managing a hotel is a huge task and comprises of numerous activities. There can be many instances where you may hit the panic button — one of them being a bedbug infestation. Whether you have bedbugs or not, you need to have a plan of action so that you are prepared when the bedbugs do strike. In this article we will address how to find bedbugs and what to do to exterminate them. Steps to Inspect for Bedbugs in the Hotel Inspect the Complete Room Bed and Mattress Don't just flip the mattress to look for bedbugs. They tend to hide in the joints of the bed frame and along the slats. Inspect them with a flashlight...
Hotel Live Chat Instant Gratification Wins Every Time
Lodging Interactive | June 20, 2018
PARSIPPANY, NJ – June 20, 2018 - There's a lot of debate about the best way to handle the huge influx of guest messages happening through private message and live chat platforms. Should we be using more automation? More resources in house? More outsourcing? There are a number of different services and solutions out there-- not all of which are created equal-- but there's one thing that everyone agrees on: Answering customer messages quickly and thoroughly is essential. And by fast, we mean lightning fast. Chief of Marketing of Booking.com Pepijn Rijvers put it perfectly when he recently stated that a slow response or no response t...
