joe vargas
All-in-One Platforms: Convenience or Costly Mistake for Hotels?
Joe Vargas | October 9, 2024
By Joe Vargas SVP & General Manager, Infor Hospitality The debate between “best-of-breed” and “all-in-one” solutions is not new; in fact, the war between these competing ideologies has waged on for many years, especially within the world of hospitality. On one hand, it’s rather easy to make a case for an all-in-one solution – if you can get everything you need, exactly as you need it, in one place, why would you divide and conquer? On the other hand, countless real-life scenarios help to illustrate the limitations of solutions that claim to have it all. Let’s consider, for example, a modern fitness tracker. Some c...
Sustainable Hospitality: Using Technology To Go Green Means More ‘Green’ for Hoteliers
Joe Vargas | July 24, 2024
By Joe Vargas SVP & General Manager, Infor Hospitality In 2023, the World Tourism Organization spotlighted an impressive trend: a significant 73% of global travelers now prefer hotels that adopt sustainable practices. This shift is driving hotels to incorporate green technology extensively in their operations. According to the Global Sustainable Tourism Council, by 2025, green technology will distinguish industry leaders in the hospitality sector. However, despite these advancements, the hotel industry still struggles with achieving environmental sustainability. It remains a significant contributor to global carbon emissions an...
Why Hotels Should Master the Fundamentals of Guest Experience Before Adding the Bells and Whistles
Joe Vargas | July 10, 2024
By Joe Vargas, SVP & General Manager, Infor Hospitality NBA legend Michael Jordan is famous for his thrilling game style, but he didn’t get there without mastering the basics of the sport. As he famously said, “You can practice shooting eight hours a day, but if your technique is wrong, then all you become is very good at shooting the wrong way. Get the fundamentals down, and the level of everything you do will rise.” The same can be said for the hospitality industry. Innovative features undoubtedly have the potential to elevate guest experiences to new heights. However, hotel executives aiming to close the experience gap must ...
Scoring Big: How Sport Tourism Impacts the Global Hotel Industry
Joe Vargas | June 27, 2024
The sports tourism sector is poised for dramatic growth over the next five years. Understanding this sector and ensuring that your hotel operations are ready is the key to success. By Joe Vargas, SVP & General Manager, Infor Hospitality Sports tourism, as it’s called, is one of the fastest-growing sectors in the travel industry, according to the United Nations World Tourism Organization. Hotel room rates on Super Bowl weekend soared 257% compared to 2023, the biggest year-over-year spike for a first-time host city in NFL history. According to hotel data and analytics firm STR, Southern Nevada’s 172,707 rooms (at 393 hotels) char...
Choosing the Right Hospitality Suite – A Changing Landscape
Joe Vargas | April 16, 2024
By Joe Vargas Over the last couple of decades, hoteliers have been faced with two main options when upgrading hospitality management software: Acquire new point solutions that address specific challenges or adopt an integrated platform that manages multiple functions in one place. Another factor that hotels now must consider is whether to maintain legacy, on-premise systems or modernize software with the cloud. Tech-forward hoteliers know that moving to the cloud is inevitable to succeed in this competitive industry—it’s just a matter of when and how. Still, many hotels struggle to progress past legacy property management systems. T...
How Leading Hoteliers Can Put Their Tech Anxiety to Rest
Joe Vargas | February 13, 2024
By Joe Vargas Hotels are under a huge amount of pressure to digitally transform as a way to streamline operations and gain a competitive edge. Add renewed travel volumes, steep inflation, and persistent labor shortages to the mix, and hoteliers have every reason to experience elevated anxiety when it comes to their digital investments. While the “tech anxiety” phenomenon isn’t unique to hospitality, hoteliers must take note: A recent survey found that a staggering 94% of senior executives in the United States and United Kingdom report having tech anxiety. Data security, impacts on the customer experience, and adapting to disruptiv...
Leveraging Tech to Drive Employee Motivation, Guest Delight and Revenue
Joe Vargas | January 31, 2024
By Joe Vargas While there are many technologies you can invest in that provide a competitive edge, there is one resource that is infinitely valuable that you don't want to overlook: your people. Guest satisfaction is one of the key drivers of success for any hotelier, determining repeat customers and, in turn, your bottom line. While guest-centered initiatives, like expanding your amenities, are often the focus of customer loyalty, employee well-being and job fulfillment are also critically important. The feeling of being surrounded by an engaged work culture is palpable for guests, and happy employees are more likely to deliver ex...
In the Fast Lane: The Top 8 Reasons Hospitality Is Marching Fast Toward Automation in 2024
Joe Vargas | January 24, 2024
By Joe Vargas 2024 marks the shift to automation as hotels, venues, and restaurants march fast toward new technologies to transform guest experiences and reduce costs. From mobile apps and self-service kiosks to AI-powered platforms, automation is becoming ubiquitous across hotels, restaurants, and travel businesses. Recent surveys show that over 80% of hospitality operators are integrating automated systems to streamline operations, reduce human error, and optimize performance. This move towards automation is driven by a convergence of factors - changing consumer preferences, labor shortages, rising operational costs, and the need fo...
