The Tricycle of Guest Service Excellence: A Perfect Model For Remarkable Experiences
Doug Kennedy | October 4, 2024
Crafting a Unique Employer Brand for Today’s Talent Market
Veronika Mercier | August 14, 2024
Smart Strategies
Travel is Heating Up: Two-Thirds of Americans Planning Summer Vacations
Tripadvisor | April 20, 2021
NEEDHAM, Mass. - April 20, 2021 - With summer right around the corner, it's not just the weather that's heating up. Tripadvisor's 2021 Summer Travel Index reveals that - with every passing day - travel is making a big comeback. Nearly half of Americans (43%) in a recent Tripadvisor survey believe travel activity will rebound within three months. With Americans no longer settling for staycations and local trips, it appears true vacation getaways are coming back en vogue. Over two-thirds of Americans (67%) are planning to travel this summer (June 1 - August 31), which is a 17% increase from those who traveled this spring (March 1- May 31)....
The Need For Talented Employees in the Hotel and Tourism Industry
EHL | April 20, 2021
By Rémi Walbaum With 1 out of 10 jobs currently supported by the Travel and Tourism industry, 9.9% of global employment, it’s evident that this is one of the world’s largest economic sectors. In fact, according to The Economic Impact of Travel and Tourism research for 2018 conducted by the World Travel and Tourism Council, “it is estimated that nearly 100 million new jobs could be created over the decade ahead”. The tourism market is growing rapidly and the need for talented employees in our industry will keep increasing accordingly. Countries such as Switzerland, where the hotel and tourism market is mature, will ...
Hotel Lawyer: How does the Supreme Court’s Google v. Oracle case impact the hotel industry?
Jeffrey Goldman | April 20, 2021
By Jim Butler, Jeff Goldman The recent ruling in Google v. Oracle has altered the definition of “fair use” when it comes to functional works such as code. While the use of existing creative works must still be transformative in order to avoid violating copyright laws, it will now be much easier to claim fair use when building on existing functional creations. JMBM’s Entertainment Litigation Chair Jeff Goldman explains the case below and discusses its potential impact on the hotel industry. It was hyped as the “copyright case of the century.” Justice Clarence Thomas, in his dissent, frets that the majority “transforms the d...
Tourism After Lockdown: Waiting for Business Travel to Return
STR | April 19, 2021
A strong return of leisure travel has created much cause for celebration during the early months of 2021. In the U.S., hotel room demand in March was the country’s highest level recorded since the start of the pandemic. To fully recover, however, the industry needs both leisure and the various segments of business travel to return. Will business travel return? To track evolving trends in the tourism and hospitality industry, and examine everchanging attitudes to travel, STR conducted a quantitative survey in February 2021 among 1,333 respondents from its Traveler Panel. In this latest installment of Tourism After Lockdown, ...
From Room Service to Rehab, Distressed Assets Are Finding New Life
JLL | April 19, 2021
The skilled nursing and hotel industries, while improving, have faced pandemic-fueled challenges over the past year that resulted in empty rooms. But real estate owners selling some of the underperforming properties and streamlining their portfolios are finding plenty of buyers, with an increasing number converting distressed assets into new uses that are in high demand, like affordable housing, behavioral health facilities and student accommodation. For example, a skilled nursing facility outside the greater Boston area is on its way to being converted to affordable housing. Developer CK Asset Holdings Ltd. is converting two Hong Kong ...
Are Your Guests “Apped Out?” Only Welcoming Words Such as These, Spoken by Humans, Convey Authentic Hospitality
Doug Kennedy | April 19, 2021
By Doug Kennedy As a writer in the hospitality space, I am often approached by new companies with emerging technology who are looking for PR. Despite that my articles are almost always related to training tips for human engagement such as sales and hospitality skills, they somehow think that my help promoting whatever new gimmick they have come up with is key to promoting their services. Recently I was approached by yet another company about an exciting “new” innovation they had invented. It was an app for interacting with guests and fielding their requests. Wow, no one ever thought of that before, and just what the industry needs,...
Five Essentials For Present Day Hotel Operations
Antoine Berberi | April 16, 2021
By Antoine Berberi It has been one year since the historical COVID-19 pandemic made its debut, affecting the entire population and economies around the world. It is evident that out of all the industries negatively affected by this economic tsunami, the hospitality industry has been, and will most likely remain, the most impacted and the slowest to recover. Those of us who have been in the industry for several decades will admit that our industry was already in need of a major shift in order to face a "new world of hospitality" that was slowly emerging. Dramatic events such as a global pandemic tend to accelerate change and bring about ...
Hoteliers: Why Compliance Doesn’t Equate to Data Security
David Christiansen | April 15, 2021
By David Christiansen Hoteliers, let me ask you a question. What does it mean to run a secure hotel? The answer may vary, depending on who you ask. Why? Because security, across any industry, is a multifaceted discipline and an essential consideration for brands that interact with customer data and information. Cybersecurity attacks are commonplace in today’s world, and hotels are increasingly attractive targets due to their association with a variety of sensitive data. In fact, two of the top five biggest data breaches made public in 2020 were at hotel chains. Globally, cybercrime damages are expected to reach US $6 trillion by 2021. ...
Here’s How to Get Your Customers to Say, “I’ll Be Back!”
Shep Hyken | April 14, 2021
By Shep Hyken Many companies think they have to compare themselves to their competition. They want to know what the competition is doing that they are not. And when they figure it out, you know what they do? They copy them. It’s not a bad idea to do that, but it’s not the best idea either. If all you do is compare yourself to your competitors, you may be missing your best opportunities to create the best experience for your customers. In my newest book, I’ll Be Back: How to Get Customers to Come Back Again and Again, I cover a six-step process to getting your customers to say, “I’ll be back.” I’m going to summarize the...
Remote Work Trends: What Hotel Workspaces Can Offer Over Co-Working Offices
EHL | April 13, 2021
There was a time when working where and when you wanted was primarily limited to freelancers and digital nomads. But that was before the COVID-19 pandemic paved the way for new remote working trends. Since, the days of daily commutes to large open-plan offices with coffee corner chats and in-person team meetings have, for a large part of the workforce, been replaced by remote video meetings in improvised home-offices or coworking spaces. Working remotely has today become commonplace for many employees and is forecast to become more than just a passing trend. A shift accelerated by the global public health crisis and lockdown restrictions...
Hospitality Financial Leadership: Morning Golf
David Lund | April 12, 2021
By David Lund In my career, I have worked in some incredible hotels and resorts. One of my resort experiences included a summer where a group of us would gather each morning and play nine holes of golf before work. This story is about a new set of clubs, the video lottery machines, the local bank and the cops. My story starts in late May one year about 25 years ago. A friend at work told me at lunch in the Bean that he just bought a staff membership to the hotel golf course. I remember saying I would love to get one too but with work and three girls at home, there was just no time. He gave me the gears for a few minutes on my excuses an...
Where Everybody Knows Your Name – Lessons on Guest Loyalty From a Beloved Sitcom
Amadeus | April 12, 2021
The American sitcom “Cheers” is ranked as one of the most popular television shows in history. Over 11 seasons and 275 episodes from 1982 - 1993, millions tuned in each week to see the latest happenings at local Boston drinking establishment "Cheers" (although we Bostonians know the show actually showed the exterior of the Bull & Finch pub). And while the show was mainly centered around various romances, social issues, and the personal dilemmas of the cast, it was the friendship, camaraderie, and good-natured joviality of the staff and guests that created a welcoming atmosphere that kept audiences returning each week. “Cheers” ...
Avoid Customer Confusion
Shep Hyken | April 7, 2021
By Shep Hyken Today’s customers are smarter than ever. They know how to buy. The digital/online world has given customers the power to research products, read reviews, and compare prices. Often, customers have made up their minds about what they are going to buy before they ever leave their home or office. They are armed with knowledge and information, ready to talk to the salesperson and buy what they came for. Often, that works out well for everyone. The smarter customer can save the salesperson time and effort. That gives a smart salesperson the opportunity to confirm the customer is making a good decision, ethically upsell or cr...
Beekeeper CEO’s New Book Shares Vital Insights on How to Gain a Competitive Advantage With a Digitally-Enabled Frontline Workforce
BEEKEEPER | April 6, 2021
“The Rise of the Frontline Worker” written by Cristian Grossmann, CEO and Co-Founder of Beekeeper, highlights how business leaders can leverage technology to digitally enable their frontline workforce Oakland, California — April 6, 2021 — Beekeeper, the leading mobile workforce productivity and collaboration platform designed specifically for frontline workers, today announced the launch of its inaugural handbook for business and operations leaders, “The Rise of the Frontline Worker: How to Turn Your Frontline Workforce Into Your Biggest Competitive Advantage.” Authored by former waiter, factory worker, and chemical engineer...
Are Hotels Prepared for the Return of Meetings & Conferences?
HotStats | April 5, 2021
Meetings and conferences generate big business for hotels. The pandemic made a big mess of that. On the rebound, hoteliers are eager to see that demand segment return. The arrival of COVID-19 vaccines—coupled with a societal eagerness to get out of the house—has led to a relatively robust bounce in leisure travel, which helped underpin a listless hospitality business. Add Zoom fatigue of workers to the list of travel motivators and the return of medium-sized and large-scale gatherings aren’t too far behind. That’s good news for hotels, as properties suffered massive losses due to the near evaporation of group business last year....
MMGY Global’s Survey Predicts Massive Summer Rebound
MMGY Travel Intelligence | April 1, 2021
MMGY Travel Intelligence, MMGY Global's research and insights division, has released findings from the 2021 "Spring Edition" of its Portrait of American Travelers® survey, marking the study's 31st year of publication. Following a year of uncertainty, along with constantly changing attitudes and policies toward travel, the results indicated unprecedented optimism from leisure travelers in advance of the summer travel season. The Traveler Sentiment Index (TSI) rose to 119 (pre-pandemic levels), affirming that U.S. adults are thinking much more positively about travel than they were throughout this past year. While there is much optimism, ...
Tourism Sector to See Skill Shortage Amid Returning Demand, Says GlobalData
GLOBALDATA | April 1, 2021
With a swift vaccination program underway, demand for international tourism has surged in the UK. Travel companies are preparing to tackle this pent-up demand by hiring – in fact, the number of posted job advertisements within the sector increased by approximately 38% in Q1 2021, according to the Job Analytics tool by GlobalData. However, to cope with this ‘new normal’ and ever-changing layers of complexity within the sector, there is an urgent need for experienced, skilled travel professionals. This may be especially difficult at a time when such workers have moved on to other industries. Craig Bradley, Associate Travel Tourism Anal...
Get to Know Your Customer Day
Shep Hyken | April 1, 2021
By Shep Hyken It’s been years since I’ve written about Get to Know Your Customer Day. Recently, however, I’ve been asked what it’s all about, so I thought it was time to bring it up again. This time I want to share a few tips on what to do for these special days that are observed throughout the year. Get to Know Your Customer Day happens four times a year, on the third Thursday of each quarter, so they are held in January, April, July, and October. Here’s something most people don’t know … I actually invented the holiday, if you want to call it that. That’s right! I was looking to create some buzz about co...
Dr. Lloyd Terrier on the Fascinating Intersection of Hospitality and Healthcare
EHL & CHUV collaboration | April 1, 2021
By Beatrice Venturini As the patient experience moves to the forefront of healthcare delivery, what are the hospitality systems, processes and knowledge that might enhance customer outcomes in the healthcare sector? EHL, no. 1 in the hospitality school rankings, is committed to crossing boundaries and creating bridges via transferable skills at a time when interdisciplinary learning is more in demand than ever before. Despite the inescapable fact that a patient rarely choses to be in hospital whereas a guest at a hotel usually does, there are a myriad of important similarities between the two sectors. Whether patient or guest, both ...
Is the Front Desk Still the Bastion of Hospitality?
Steve Davis | March 31, 2021
By Steve Davis For everyone in our industry, the past year has been one of unprecedented challenges and opportunities. The pandemic is at the center of this, of course, causing the obvious disruptions to travel and business. Less obvious, but also worth noting, is how people have become accepting (even wanting) of more technology in their busy lives. As we now build our way out of this 100-year flood, some in our industry are finding ways to embrace these changes and to truly ‘build back better’. And, quite amazingly, these vanguards of our industry, many of whom we are proud to partner with, have shown us that this can be done in a wa...
Why the Hospitality “Skills Gap” Has Become a “Skills Chasm” Due to COVID-19
Daniel Johnson | March 31, 2021
By Daniel Johnson Just as you can’t “pour from an empty cup,” hotels can’t provide great service without the help of great staff – hospitality professionals know this to be unequivocally true. Hospitality is, in many ways, defined by its providers. Great hospitality isn’t simply the provision of a singular service; instead, it’s an experience, one that is continuously curated and delivered in a meaningful way via engaged staff, a pristine property, and the best available technological advances. Despite this, hiring has always been a crux of our industry, from technology to management, front desk, and beyond. The pandemic h...
Americans Spent 176 Hours Scrolling Social Media for Travel Inspiration This Year, Data Reveals
Motel 6 | March 30, 2021
DALLAS - March 30, 2021 - The average American spent 176 hours scrolling social media for travel inspiration throughout the past year, according to new research from Motel 6. On the heels of the one-year anniversary of the health crisis, the economy lodging brand released a survey revealing that three in five (60%) Americans experienced a stronger desire to travel in the past 12 months than in a normal year and hope to turn that into a reality in 2021. The survey, which polled 2,000 U.S. adults, found that one in four (24%) respondents have been scrolling for travel inspiration this past year as an outlet for their pent-up desire to tr...
Are Residents the New Tourism Ambassadors?
PolyU’s School of Hotel and Tourism Management | March 29, 2021
Local people may be the best ambassadors for tourism in their home towns and cities, according to Ph.D. graduates Dr Philipp Wassler and Dr Liang Wang, and Dr Kam Hung of the School of Hotel and Tourism Management (SHTM) at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Building a brand for a destination is an effective way of attracting tourists, but destination marketers rarely consider the needs of residents – the biggest and potentially most influential group of stakeholders in any destination. The researchers note that local communities can make or break a destination brand, and their marketing may be far more cost-effective, authentic and pers...
Hospitality Financial Leadership: Chapter 15 – Testing, Not Trusting
David Lund | March 29, 2021
By David Lund The chapter below is an excerpt from my new book. It’s fiction but some of the characters and story lines are based on people I have worked with and events that have taken place in the hotels I have worked in. The book is a fable about a hotel manager who has some very bad habits. He must change in order to survive and the book takes him and you through the lessons needed to be a great hospitality financial leader. I’m writing ahead each month so I’m not sure how the book will end. I hope you enjoy it and if you missed any earlier chapters you can find them on my website blog tab. For me the idea of being mentored or...
