A Case Study in Optimizing Length of Stay From Wellness Capex
Adam and Larry Mogelonsky | April 17th, 2024
IDeaS Releases 2024 Hotel Technology Predictions
IDeaS | November 15th, 2023
Hospitality CEOs on the Industry Today: Transformation, Value, Optimism
Jeanelle Johnson | July 25, 2024
By Jeanelle Johnson The annual NYU International Hospitality Industry Investment Conference, now in its 46th year, offers a deep dive into the current and future state of the hospitality industry. This year, I had the privilege of leading a CEO panel discussion on "Innovative hospitality concepts, new spaces for expansion." I describe innovation in hospitality as the transformation of how the industry creates, delivers and captures value. Drawing from PwC’s 27th Annual Global CEO Survey, I highlighted a few key statistics to kickstart our conversation: 52% of CEOs say their top goal over the next three years is to identify new sour...
Pick Up Your Calls to Pick Up More Bookings!
Doug Kennedy | July 23, 2024
The more important the trip, the more likely they are to pick up the phone. Despite the pundits’ predictions, the phones continue to ring with incoming reservations leads even now in the mid-2020s, and yes, even at branded hotels across all segments. I’m sure some readers are thinking “Well not us. The majority of our rooms are booked online.” Yet if you listen to real phone calls from real callers, as KTN’s QA team does daily through our remote call scoring process, you realize that many people call with questions before booking online, whether at an OTA or the hotel’s direct website. Other guests book first and then call wit...
Why Rate Parity Still Has To Be “The Law of the Land” in Hospitality?
HFTP | July 22, 2024
By Max Starkov, Hospitality & Online Travel Tech Consultant Just to clarify for the non-revenue management folks here, Rate Parity traditionally means maintaining the same publicly available rate for the same room/same stay across all public distribution channels i.e. channels available to any member of the public that is not a loyalty member or member of some guest appreciation or reward program. Rate Parity is not a new online policy specifically designed for the OTAs. It existed long before the “commercial internet" came into being and there was only one reason for its existence: it made revenue management and management of di...
Leading Change Effectively – Insights From Top Hospitality Leaders
EHL | July 19, 2024
Dr. Stefano Borzillo, Dr. Steffen Raub Welcome to a collection of insights and learnings based on the lived experiences of some of the many hospitality managers encountered at EHL. Based on practicing a set of key principles and behaviors, becoming an effective change leader is a skill that develops over time. The need for constant change It has become almost commonplace to state that change is everywhere around us. And yet, it is true that in complex and challenging business contexts few organizations can be successful without continuously questioning and adapting their way of doing things to the changing realities of the industry aroun...
Upward Climb With Uphill Struggles: 2024 Deloitte Corporate Travel Study
Deloitte | July 18, 2024
Amid steady corporate travel growth, companies are challenged to balance a need for more face-to-face client interaction with steep pricing and persistent environmental impact Corporate travel outlook While leisure travelers returned in a big way to airports, hotels, and vacation rentals beginning in the summer of 2021,1 corporate travel has been slower to return post–COVID-19 pandemic. Caution—initially about health, and then about financial costs and environmental impact—led most companies toward gradual returns to the road.2 New structural realities of working life have also curtailed the need to travel, with more home-centered d...
AI’s Flight Path: The Emergence of the Chief AI Officer (CAIO) in the Hotel and Airline Industries
Ivana Johnston | July 15, 2024
By Ivana Johnston The "Chief AI Officer"—or CAIO—is one of the hottest new job titles in the corporate circuit, and both the hotel and airline industries are embracing this role to stay competitive in the digital era. LinkedIn reports that the number of companies with a “Head of AI” position has more than tripled in the last five years. When IBM and Dell cut the ribbon for their Chief AI Officers last year, the race was on, and it wasn't long before Accenture, Arizona's renowned Mayo Clinic, and WPP heard the call and announced their very own CAIOs. In 2023, President Joe Biden pulled all the federal agencies into the AI race, ...
Overtourism: How To Avoid It for Better Travel Experiences
EHL Insights | July 15, 2024
As the summer travel season kicks into high gear, the specter of overtourism looms large over many of the world’s most beloved destinations. In an interview with two EHL researchers and experts on the topic, we explored the multifaceted issue of overtourism and how savvy travelers can avoid the pitfalls of overcrowded hotspots by traveling during shoulder seasons, staying overnight and discovering destination dupes. Crowded beaches, congested streets and long queues at tourist attractions – these are all unfortunately familiar sightings when traveling to popular places. Even though the prices for flight tickets, hotels and trips ove...
BCD Survey Reveals Gap Between Travel Policy and Traveler Compliance
BCD Travel | July 11, 2024
While over half of travel buyers consider their travel policies very effective, two-thirds of travelers still book outside of the travel policy UTRECHT, The Netherlands, July 11, 2024 – While many business travelers know of and often refer to their company’s travel policy, there’s still a gap between policy awareness and policy compliance, according to a recent BCD Travel survey of 1,200+ business travelers worldwide. The survey looked at changes in travel policies and traveler satisfaction with current regulations. Travel policy awareness In a corresponding April survey of 200+ travel buyers, BCD found that two-thirds of travel...
Lessons From Gaming: What Can Hospitality Learn From Video Games?
Mews | July 11, 2024
Are you a PlayStation pro or a Nintendo novice? From consoles to PCs to phones, gaming is a multi-billion-dollar industry, with estimates valuing the worldwide market at around $350 billion. Even if your gaming experience doesn’t go beyond Pac Man or Candy Crush, there are still plenty of valuable takeaways from this innovative industry. Let’s look at how gaming can inspire us to greater hospitality – no cheat codes required. Ready, player one? The power of customization In the early 80s, games began to incorporate a radical new feature: customization. At first it was very simple: players could change their character’s name....
The Heart of a Leader
Dr. Bryan K. Williams | July 11, 2024
Why should anyone follow you? Anywhere? Seriously, that is the question that leaders must ask themselves. John Maxwell wrote, "If you think you are leading, and no one's following, then you’re just taking a walk. A cynic might ask, "who do you think you are to believe that YOU are worthy to be followed?" And if you're not careful, you might believe that only those who have been anointed with special degrees and certifications are "worthy" to lead. You might think that you're too young to lead. You might accept that you're too inexperienced to lead. You might even think that you're not competent enough to lead. All of those thing...
The Retro Motel Trend With Hotel Zazz in Albuquerque
Adam and Larry Mogelonsky | July 10, 2024
With the recent Fourth of July holiday, we bring you a story of true American success in hospitality. The Hotel Zazz in Albuquerque, New Mexico, which opened in Fall 2022, is emblematic of the retro motel trend that has captured the hearts of drive-to-vacationing millennials and Gen Xers, alongside other independents like The Vagabond Hotel in Miami, The Dive Motel in Nashville, Skyview Los Alamos in California and Thunderbird in Marfa, Texas as well as multi-property brands like Bluebird and Urban Cowboy. Right along the famed Route 66, all of the 48 guestrooms are imaginatively decorated with colorful, eclectic finishings while the public s...
Digital Trends in Accommodation: Hotels, Booking.com and DMA
HOTREC | July 8, 2024
The European hotel industry has long been warning of unfair business practices from OTAs. Competition and collaboration are crucial for the hospitality sector, but create challenges that impact prices, operations, and guest experiences. As the largest OTA, Booking.com is now a gatekeeper platform under the DMA. The dominant platform will finally have to comply to the new digital rules. This should allow hotels to offer better prices on their own distribution channels. The results of our 2024 Hotel Distribution Study confirm the need for new digital rules that will ensure fair competition in the hotel accommodation sector. The findings...
Assessing the Digital Infrastructure of Your Hotels
CBRE Hotels | July 3, 2024
By Robert Mandelbaum, John Pomposello, and Adam Barry In 2023, U.S. hotels faced rising operating expenses outpacing revenue growth, resulting in declining profit margins. To combat this, hotels are leveraging technology to enhance efficiency and guest satisfaction. Key areas of technological investment include employee productivity tools, automated guest services, and improved cybersecurity. Analyzing IT expenditures from 4,121 properties, CBRE found that IT costs represented a relatively controlled 1.4% of total operating revenue, despite a 7.4% increase in 2023. Higher IT spending was noted in Resort and Convention hotels due to their e...
New Report Reveals Changing Face of Luxury Travel in Asia Pacific
Marriott International, Inc. | July 2, 2024
The Luxury Group by Marriott International launches extensive research among affluent travelers across six markets 68% spending more on leisure travel with 74% respondents planning an intra-regional holiday within Asia-Pacific (APAC) Australia is the top destination in next 12 months ahead of Japan, with 46% planning to visit Indian HNW are driving luxury travel with 89% Indians planning to spend more in next 12 months High end gastronomy is the primary driver for luxury travel with 88% planning holidays around food Three new personas of luxury traveler defined As the Asia Pacific region continues to be the growth engine f...
H-2B Visas as Quality Solution for Hospitality: Improve Customer Service With a Fully Staffed Team
Suzanne Sukkar | July 2, 2024
By Suzanne Sukkar and Najah Allaham Managing a hotel, keeping it fully staffed, and maintaining a high level of customer service is stressful. Whether it is peak summer travel, football season, skiing at the lodge in the wintertime, or Spring Training, labor shortages and seasonal workforce demands have hospitality managers constantly placing help wanted ads. There is another reliable (concierge level) solution that will put to bed at least one hospitality grievance and that is the H-2B visa program. This program allows hotels to bring in foreign workers for temporary, non-agricultural jobs precisely when you need them most. Whether you nee...
Some Customers Aren’t Worth Doing Business With
Shep Hyken | June 28, 2024
In some of my customer service speeches, I joke that some customers aren’t worth doing business with. The way I position it in the speech is funny, but in reality, it’s pretty serious. Sometimes, a customer isn’t worth doing business with because they are truly a bad customer. The result could be choosing to say, “Goodbye,” and sending them to the competition. While there are many reasons you might end your relationship with a customer, I came up with six obvious ones to get you thinking: Customers who repeatedly return products. This is often the result of a liberal return policy that some customers abuse. Repeat...
Playing Ball: Summertime Isn’t the Only Time to Solicit Sports Tourism & Travel-Team Bookings
Hospitality America | June 27, 2024
Best practices to attract and retain this market segment for year-long profitability By Donna Oglesby There may be no crying in baseball, but hoteliers who are not building relationships with travel sports teams may find themselves shedding a few tears once they realize how much money is being left on the table by not catering to the lucrative sports tourism segment. As a mother of two, I know firsthand how much parents pay annually to support the travel-team circuit and I’ve experienced the pain points when dealing with hotels. That’s why, as director of sales and marketing for two Hospitality America hotels, I began researching how t...
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...
Expedia Report Finds Americans Win the Gold Medal for Taking Fewest Vacation Days in the World
Expedia Group | June 20, 2024
24th Annual Vacation Deprivation Report finds Americans are more vacation deprived than ever; unveils tips from around the world to help U.S. travelers get more out of their time off and save on their next trip According to Expedia’s 24th annual Vacation Deprivation Report,1 released today, roughly half of Americans don’t plan on using all their time off this year (53%), despite receiving just 12 days off annually — the fewest of any country surveyed. Expedia’s report has been analyzing time-off trends around the world for 24 years, and while American vacation deprivation (defined as the feeling of not having enough time off) has...
Attaining Data Maturation From Machine Learning of Hotel Data Sources
ADAM AND LARRY MOGELONSKY | June 19, 2024
By Adam and Larry Mogelonsky Hotels accumulate a lot of data, all of which can be used to uncover hidden patterns for better efficiencies and throughout improvements. Understanding the intricacies of machine learning (ML) and its applications is essential for forward-thinking hoteliers. A key concept to grasp is 'data maturation’, which refers to the necessary period for ML to process and analyze vast amounts of training data. This process allows computers to test variables and identify patterns, ultimately developing algorithms and models that drive business goals. Time is a critical factor in this equation. While machines can process da...
Revenue Management in Real Life: The Art of Saying No
Fabian Bartnick | June 19, 2024
As a seasoned revenue manager and a parent, I've come to realize that the principles of revenue management aren't confined to the boardroom or the hotel lobby—they extend right into our living rooms. Today, let's dive into the art of saying no and draw some amusing correlations between revenue management and real-time parenting with my two little darlings, Rafa (10) and Hayden (9). Setting Boundaries: The Hotel and the Home Imagine your hotel as a bustling kindergarten. Your guests, much like children, have high expectations and boundless energy. As revenue managers (RMs) and general managers (GMs), we often feel like the teachers tryi...
Hotel Lawyer: New Federal Junk Fee Law – The No Hidden FEES Act of 2023 (HR 6543)
Mark S. Adams | June 14, 2024
By Jim Butler and the Global Hospitality Group® Note: If you are a consumer with a Junk Fee issue, please do NOT contact us! We do not represent consumers against hotels, restaurants, or other business owners. We are part of the fabric of the hospitality industry and are committed to informing, educating, and assisting the industry. We represent business owners, helping them to understand and comply with applicable laws and defending them from consumer charges. HR 6543: The US Congress wants in on Junk Fee regulation for hotels Over the past several weeks, we have written about recent major regulatory developments concerning Junk F...
Human-Centric Hospitality: The Key to Thriving in the Industry
EHL GRADUATE SCHOOL | June 14, 2024
In the hospitality industry, success lies in the ability to integrate strategic business practices with the unique demands of the sector. A people-centric approach should lie at the heart of everything you do, both in terms of delighting your guests and attracting and retaining the best talent. However, all too often, the demands of running a business can get in the way. In this article, we explore the key challenges hospitality businesses face and the strategies they can implement to align corporate culture and human values. We also discuss some of the benefits you can realize by successfully navigating the transformation to become a...
Brand Dilemma: Navigating the Pros and Cons of Launching New Brands – An Unbiased Perspective
Hala Matar Choufany | June 14, 2024
Throwback to Future Hospitality Summit Saudi Arabia last month, where Hala Matar Choufany هلا مطر شوفاني contributed her insights on the “Brand Dilemma: Navigating the Pros and Cons of Launching New Brands – An Unbiased Perspective". Click here to watch the discussion unfold with Catherine Edwards, Chief Strategy Officer at QUO. ...