Kimberly Yoong
Defining Service Excellence: Setting the Highest Standards of Service in 2024
Kimberly Yoong | March 18, 2024
By Kimberly Yoong Once upon a time, in a land far, far away, there lived a time when excellent service was the hallmark of a luxury experience – one that was desired by the people and delivered by the best of companies. Today, it is an aspect of the service sector that has come to be expected by customers. Companies in the service industry have claimed their adherence to the words ‘service excellence’ since time immemorial. One of the best examples of service excellence is the Ritz-Carlton's Gold Standards, with their famous $2,000 rule which employees are empowered to spend to delight a guest above and beyond fixing problems. How m...
Virtualization and Diversification: Looking Beyond the Hotel Bed
Kimberly Yoong | January 11, 2022
By Kimberly Yoong Since the turn of the twenty-first century, "technology" has been the buzzword that’s been said to death – and it’s not going anywhere anytime soon, if ever at all. In the hospitality industry, technology had once been vilified by some as the harbinger of doom to the sacred ‘human touch’. Hence, the big question, how can machines create personable experiences? Hotels should hit the reset button The ongoing pandemic, however, has challenged traditional mentalities and catalysed change for the hospitality sector in many more ways than one. Before we had realized, QR codes began overtaking...
ESG in Hotel Real Estate: Systemic Solutions for a Systemic Problem
Kimberly Yoong | June 24, 2021
By Kimberly Yoong The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) reported that in 2019, emissions from building operations had reached record-high levels and estimated that direct building carbon emissions must be halved by 2030 in order to reach 2050 net-zero targets. Meanwhile, from the hotel sector’s standpoint, the situation is not anymore rosy: as the industry’s global footprint continues to grow rapidly, hotels will need to reduce their absolute carbon emissions by 66% by 2030 and 90% by 2050, to avoid a corresponding increase in carbon emissions. A social awakening on all levels For decades, we have been putting off envi...
In a World of Mobile Lifestyles and Remote Working, What Role Will Hotels Play?
Kimberly Yoong | May 4, 2021
By Kimberly Yoong, Borivoj Vokrinek At a time when many of the world’s events continue to be plagued by COVID-19, making plans even a week in advance may seem difficult, much less 10 years into the future. Nearly overnight, the dialogue shifted from “where to for lunch?” to “can you hear me?”. And as hotels emptied out and travel restrictions drag on, many may wonder, where lies the future of hotels? To answer this question, it is first important to recognize that the hotel sector does not exist as an individual silo, but one which forms part of a much wider network: the ecosystem of how we live and work. The cities in which ...
Mind the Generation Gap! Generational Differences in Hospitality
Kimberly Yoong | November 18, 2020
By Kimberly Yoong A look at how to navigate the generational stereotype minefield that has some hospitality brands scratching their heads. With all the age-related differences and particularities that exist among Baby Boomers, Generation X, Millennials and Gen Z-ers, it would be tempting, but ultimately a mistake, to focus primarily one generation based solely on demographics. Instead, developing a clear brand mindset that includes more behavioral themes such as authenticity, community, transparency and life experience could be more beneficial and attractive in the long run. Who are the real big spenders? A Gen X-er and a Gen Z-er wal...
How Has the Hotel Development Scene Evolved?
Kimberly Yoong | November 13, 2020
By Kimberly Yoong [embed]https://youtu.be/lTSbErjkg10[/embed] Hotel development, in a nutshell, involves the process of sourcing and negotiating hotel management or franchise contracts as well as investment opportunities, in order to drive the organic growth of a hotel business. As the tourism industry boomed, the term had earned itself somewhat ‘vogue’ status, especially amongst aspiring hoteliers. In an EHL webinar, EHL alumni Chris Anklin, Regional Vice President of Development at Hyatt Hotels Corporation and Ananth Ramchandran, Vice President of Global Corporate Finance & Strategy, Capital Investments & Transactions and ...
INDUSTRY REPORT: Hotel Investment Scene in Central & Eastern Europe
July 23, 2020
By Kimberly Yoong Central & Eastern Europe (CEE) may have, in the past, been perceived as a relatively unstable investment region, especially for the risk averse. However, record hotel investment volumes in the last years have proven otherwise, as investors begin looking to hotel real estate in the region, drawn by the relatively higher returns of hotels and more attractive yields compared to western Europe, which are typically more compressed. Expectedly, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic will significantly affect hotel investment activity in the region, as uncertainty continues to grip the world across industries. Nonetheless, the sec...
Serving Up the Future: Technology in F&B
July 1, 2020
By Kimberly Yoong Even as the adoption of high-end technology became increasingly prevalent across industries around the world, the hospitality industry had long resisted indulging in automation, insisting on the value of the ‘human touch’. But with COVID-19 concerns still rife, many hotels and restaurants have had to turn to technology, ironically, to keep the physical, human touchpoints to a minimum. In 2019 alone, the agri-food tech industry saw US $19.8 billion in funding, of which nearly 40% went to eGrocers (20%) and offsite retail and restaurant infrastructure (16%). And now with the pandemic making food delivery apps and onl...
