Long Live the New Business Center
Larry and Adam Mogelonsky | February 25, 2021
A Consultant’s Perspective on the Pandemic in 2021
Larry and Adam Mogelonsky | February 17, 2021
Industry Happenings
Poll: Only 12% of Americans Plan Spring Break Travel
U.S. Travel Association | March 4, 2021
WASHINGTON — March 4, 2021 — The spring break season is traditionally the first major travel period of the year—but only about one in eight Americans plans a spring break trip this year, according to polling data by Destination Analysts. And despite the nationwide progress on vaccines, spring break travel intentions actually appear to be dropping: the 12% who plan to travel for spring break is down from 16% the week prior—the first time that question was polled. The data suggests that Americans remain wary about traveling amid the COVID pandemic—and that they may prefer to defer their travel plans until the process of vaccinat...
Managing Travel Recovery via App-Based Shift Workers
Larry and Adam Mogelonsky | March 3, 2021
By Larry and Adam Mogelonsky We all know a recovery is coming. But there are problems associated with ramping up quickly in order to capitalize upon a demand surge. Namely, you will need to rapidly deploy more labor, all the while preventing service errors from occurring. This is especially troublesome given that many hotels still have much of their labor force furloughed from the lockdowns earlier last year. In a world that is vaccinated but still exceedingly sensitive to COVID-19, you cannot have new employees onsite who play fast and loose with the safety guidelines or with your brand standards. This is hurt your reputation and ultim...
Pure Wellness Rooms Now Available at Loews Boston Hotel
Pure Wellness | March 3, 2021
Pure Rooms Added at Historic Back Bay Hotel DALLAS TX – MARCH 3, 2021 – Pure Wellness, the global leader in health and wellness for the hospitality industry has announced that they will add Pure rooms to Loews Boston Hotel, once home to the former Boston Police Headquarters. “The addition of Pure rooms gives the Loews Boston Hotel an additive draw for both leisure travelers and corporate business in the Boston market” commented Brian Shedd, Senior Vice President for Pure Wellness. “Guest needs are changing and providing additional options like Pure Rooms is a smart and strategic investment.” Pure Rooms utilize advanced...
Eight in Ten Americans Working From Home Due to Covid-19 Say They Miss In-Person Meetings and Conventions
Meetings Mean Business | March 3, 2021
WASHINGTON, D.C. – A new survey by APCO Insight affirms that Americans working from home are eager to return to in-person meetings and conventions. The survey finds that even after adapting to the new digital workplace, 81% of professionals who attended in-person meetings and conventions before the pandemic miss doing so and would be just as likely – if not more likely – to attend in-person conferences, conventions, trade shows and other business events in the future. The survey echoes similar findings from April 2020, which showed that 83% of Americans working from home missed attending in-person meetings and conventions. One ye...
Hotel Industry Urges Congress to Pass the American Rescue Plan
AHLA | March 2, 2021
WASHINGTON – March 2, 2021 – The following is a statement from Chip Rogers, president and CEO of the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA), on the American Rescue Plan. “The American Rescue plan is a vital step forward in helping small businesses stay open and protecting jobs. It contains many necessary provisions AHLA has advocated for to help put the hotel industry back on a path to recovery. We applaud President Joe Biden for recognizing that small businesses need more help to get through this difficult time and we urge Congress to act immediately. By bolstering the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and allocating g...
Things We Didn’t See Coming
H. Keith Thompson | March 2, 2021
By H. Keith Thompson The past year has been great for a few hotel segments and very difficult for many others. I have personally been through many cycles and this past year has been like no other. A shift has occurred that many people didn’t see coming and most certainly, I didn’t see coming. Given this, I thought I would list a few changes that have come out of the past year. - Old exterior corridor hotels are back in vogue. By their original construction design, they have built in social distancing. - The great relocation. Mass exodus from urban core centers. - Most all demand generators from 2019 have changed significantly and ma...
Turn 2020 Profit Losses Into 2021 Wins For The Hotel Industry
Robert A. Rauch | March 2, 2021
By Robert Rauch How To Make 2021 Our Best Year Q1 of 2021 is not going to be profitable, fun or exciting for us in the hotel industry. The goods news is Q2 will come up quickly and having been through six recessions in hospitality, all the signs of a recovery are finally here. Given the significant impact of the virus on our economic, physical and mental health, I am offering a few sentences of my personal plan to recovery; we’ll dive into the following areas below: Cash Flow For Hospitality Industry Marketing, Sales & Revenue Management Technology To Improve Hotel Revenue Whether we operate a hotel, restaurant or tour...
Delaying the Restart of International Travel Will Cost the UK Economy Almost £27 Billion
WTTC | March 1, 2021
London, UK - March 1, 2021 - The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) has warned that nearly £27 billion will be lost from the UK economy if the government delays restarting international travel until May 17. The date was set by Prime Minister Boris Johnson when he unveiled the highly anticipated roadmap out of lockdown earlier this week. According to the government’s roadmap, two households will be able to mix outdoors from March 29 and WTTC believes this should signal the restart of safe international travel. Resuming international travel by just seven weeks earlier, to coincide the Easter holiday break, could save struggl...
Women’s History Month: Celebrating the Women of Hilton
Hilton | March 1, 2021
At Hilton, we’re committed to creating an inclusive work environment and providing opportunities for all women to thrive. To celebrate Women’s History Month, we take a glimpse back at a woman who helped to lay the groundwork for future women to succeed, then showcase current Hilton female trailblazers from across the enterprise. Read on for their stories and get inspired to achieve your own career goals. A Look Back at a Star-Studded Pioneer Merriel Abbot is seen below in 1949 as the only woman at an executive table full of men. Her background in precision acts and choreography made Merriel a subject matter expert in all things ente...
Tourism Tidbits: The Dark Side of Tourism
Peter Tarlow | March 1, 2021
Protecting some of our most vulnerable: the fight against human trafficking during the age of pandemics By Dr. Peter Tarlow Tourism security has traditionally been about protecting visitors from themselves, from other tourists and from locals who seek to rob and or steal from them, commit fraud against them or in one way or another verbally or physically assault the visitor. Tourism security professionals must also deal with the threat pf terrorism, aimed at transportation hubs, major events, and the food and lodging side of the travel and tourism industry. In the world of pandemics, tourism security is also about keeping those who ...
Long Live the New Business Center
Larry and Adam Mogelonsky | February 25, 2021
By Larry and Adam Mogelonsky Prior to the pandemic, many had forecasted the business center to be a dead concept for hotels. Relegated to some back corner of the lobby or hidden from the main thoroughfares by a maze of windowless corridors, this amenity has suffered a slow death in the face of laptops, smartphones and all forms of paperless documents. Amongst many other changes, COVID-19 has meant fewer corporate travelers gracing our halls and a further diminishment of utility for this facility. But as travel recovers, the business center may experience a renewed demand. That is, with so many remote workers, work-from-a-hotel (WFH) inc...
Beekeeper Announces ‘Frontline Future’ Event, a Global Summit on the Rise of Frontline Workers
Beekeeper | February 24, 2021
Join Beekeeper and industry leaders May 6th at the first-ever virtual conference to explore the critical role of frontline workers and how companies can empower them with digital collaboration tools OAKLAND, CALIF. — February 24, 2021 — Beekeeper, the mobile-first collaboration platform designed specifically for frontline workers, announced Frontline Future, a groundbreaking virtual summit dedicated to the frontline workforce. On May 6, 2021, industry leaders from Europe and North America will join Beekeeper for keynote talks, interactive workshops, and in-depth panels to discuss the future of the frontline workforce. Registrat...
Deloitte: Consumer Perception of Travel Safety Improves as Vaccines Roll Out, COVID Cases Decline
Deloitte | February 23, 2021
New York, Feb. 22 2021 Why this matters As a global health crisis morphed into an economic one, Deloitte has been conducting a series of weekly surveys, around the United States, to better understand the interplay between personal safety and economic vulnerability as a driver of purchase decisions and consumer behavior. The most recent iteration (fielded Jan. 22 to 27) of “Deloitte’s Global State of the Consumer Tracker,” queried at least 1,000 American consumers. As nearly 30 million vaccine doses have been administered in the U.S., the latest responses show improving travel intentions and increasing consumer activity, pointing t...
GBTA Poll: Vaccine a Game-Changer for a Return to Travel
GBTA | February 18, 2021
Nearly half of respondents say border closures and restrictions have impacted their company travel recovery efforts in 2021 Alexandria, VA (February 18, 2021) – The Global Business Travel Association (GBTA), the world’s largest business travel association, finds most GBTA members and stakeholders (79%) would be “very comfortable” or “comfortable” traveling for business after receiving the Covid-19 vaccination, and almost half support mandatory testing prior to travel to ensure the safety of customers and clients when meeting face-to-face. The latest findings come from the 16th installment of the coronavirus poll, conducted ...
HSMAI Foundation’s COVID Relief Fund Opens With Generous $150,000 Donation From the Carolyn Smith Foundation
HSMAI Foundation | February 18, 2021
McLean, VA - February 18, 2021 - The Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International (HSMAI) Foundation is opening its COVID Relief Fund for grant applications following a generous donation of $150,000 from the Carolyn Smith Foundation on behalf of STR Founders Carolyn and Randy Smith. The HSMAI Foundation COVID Relief Fund was established in 2020 with the generous support of benefactors including the Carolyn Smith Foundation, IDeaS Revenue Solutions, and individual donors including past and present leaders Hoyt Bacon, Mike Leven, and Flo Lugli. The fund provides HSMAI membership and educational grants for HSMAI programs to mem...
Will the Hospitality and Travel Industry Recover in 2021?
Linchi Kwok | February 17, 2021
By Linchi Kwok Spring will soon be here. People are celebrating the Lunar New Year. Do you see a brighter future in 2021? Without a doubt, 2020 was a challenging year for most. Besides lockdowns, many companies let employees work from home permanently. When many business activities were put on a break and supply chains were interrupted, the global economy collapsed. COVID-19’s impact on the hospitality and tourism industry has been devastating and unprecedented. How tough was it in 2020? The aviation industry According to the International Civil Aviation Organization, global air traffic dropped from 4.5 billion in 2019 to 1...
Arne Sorenson, In Memoriam
Michael Frenkel | February 17, 2021
By Michael Frenkel I did not know Arne Sorenson well. Met him at some private industry events - collaborated at a distance on Thought Leadership projects. Like the rest of the industry, I mourned his death upon learning of it, though I was not shocked at the outcome or the timing: my mom was lost to late stage cancer a few years back, and one learns to read the signals, signs and pronouncements, even if from a distance. It spares few, and makes an ineluctable beeline toward its intended conclusion. Apart from the obvious business impact - the industry lost the head of its flagship and most influential company - Arne’s passing ...
A Consultant’s Perspective on the Pandemic in 2021
Larry and Adam Mogelonsky | February 17, 2021
By Larry and Adam Mogelonsky The pandemic continues to plague our operations and practically all aspects of our daily lives. In 2020, we may have found ourselves feeling disconnected from the world around us and losing touch with old friends as we all shuffled about to adapt to the new normal. That’s why it was great to reconnect early in January with Cornelia Kausch, a veteran hotelier who hails from Germany and who I worked with in what seems like several lifetimes ago. Currently living in Berlin, Cornelia is the founder of CK Hospitality Advisors, and she can offer a unique perspective on where hospitality is headed as we anxiously...
ADA Defense Lawyer: Whitaker v. Tesla Motors – the End of Cookie-Cutter ADA Complaints?
Jim Butler | February 17, 2021
By Jim Butler and the Global Hospitality Group® Hotel Lawyers | Authors of www.HotelLawBlog.com For many years, businesses classed as public accommodations under the ADA have been the subject of “cookie-cutter” complaints that allege discriminatory conditions without providing any specific examples. Thousands of nearly identical complaints have been filed in federal courts nationwide, and their lack of detail makes it difficult for courts to provide a remedy that will prevent future harm. Martin Orlick, Chair of JMBM’s ADA Compliance & Defense Group, summarizes the recent decision in Whitaker v. Tesla Motors which may put an ...
Marriott International Announces the Unexpected Passing of Arne M. Sorenson, President and CEO
Marriott International | February 16, 2021
BETHESDA, MD — FEBRUARY 16, 2021 — It is with profound sadness that Marriott International announces that Arne M. Sorenson, President and CEO, unexpectedly passed away on February 15, 2021. In May 2019, the company announced that Mr. Sorenson had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. On February 2, 2021, Marriott shared the news that Mr. Sorenson would temporarily reduce his schedule to facilitate more demanding treatment for pancreatic cancer. Mr. Sorenson became the third CEO in Marriott’s history in 2012, and the first without the Marriott surname. A visionary leader, Mr. Sorenson put the company on a strong growth trajectory ...
Impact of Recent Federal Stimulus on the Travel Industry
Thomas Hazinski | February 15, 2021
By Thomas A. Hazinski, Joseph Hansel Introduction The COVID-19 crisis consumed the United States for approximately three-quarters of the past year. In December 2020, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued emergency use authorization for the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine.[1] The development and distribution of an effective COVID-19 vaccine, alongside other public health measures, should allow us to combat the health effects of the global pandemic. With certainty coalescing around the health solutions to the pandemic, attention must turn to economic solutions. The economic impact of COVID-19 is seen in almost all economic indic...
U.S. Travel Reacts to U.S. Airlines’ White House Meeting
U.S. Travel Association | February 15, 2021
WASHINGTON — February 15, 2021 — U.S. Travel Association President and CEO Roger Dow issued the following statement on the meeting between U.S. airlines’ chief executives and White House coronavirus response officials: “The high cost and low availability of testing make a domestic testing mandate a challenging concept to put into practice. Based on January 2021 data, a testing requirement for domestic air travel would necessitate a 42% increase in daily testing capacity nationwide—a substantial use of testing resources when air travel has already been shown to be safer than many other routine activities. “The recent implemen...
Siegel Sez: It’s Not Just a Room – Part 1
February 12, 2021
February 12, 2020 Sometimes it is nice just to take a moment to reflect. Unfortunately, right now I am reflecting how great my relationship was with my 6-year-old laptop which I am in the process of replacing. Honestly, is there anything more frustrating than getting a new laptop and trying to bring everything over? There are always a few surprises, like finding passwords and missing documents. But enough of my venting. As I reflect and sort through the old to transfer what I might need, I think about all the people from the industry who I have gotten to know. Over the years, we have produced 15 Executive Vendor Summits which brings the s...
Luxury’s Next Competitor Is Not a Hotel
Larry and Adam Mogelonsky | February 10, 2021
By Larry and Adam Mogelonsky Every hotel property aspires to be luxury in one way or another, even as the word ‘luxury’ has become a bit overused in the past decade. As such, there are always new entrants testing out concepts and evolving various features, amenities or service offerings, all in an attempt to get one step ahead of the curve. The pandemic has, of course, shifted priorities but the pursuit of luxury still remains as a means of capturing guests’ hearts. Concurrent to this arms race amongst traditional hotels – and now also alternative accommodations – it is important that hospitality brands consider those accommod...
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