smart strategies
The Crucial Role of Client Isolation in Hotel Wi-Fi
Chris Denbigh-White | September 18, 2023
By Chris Denbigh-White As the CSO of a Security Software company I travel a lot for work. I attend conferences and conduct security briefings across the world. This means that I spend a large amount of time working and ‘connected’ whilst on the move (and I’m not alone). In today's digital age, connectivity is a must, even when we're on the go. Whether it's for work or leisure, we often rely on hotel Wi-Fi networks to stay connected. However, the convenience of these networks can come at a price if proper security measures aren't in place. One such crucial security feature is client isolation. What is Client Isolation ? Clien...
Two Ridiculous Customer Service Debacles and What We Can Learn From Them
Shep Hyken | June 28, 2023
By Shep Hyken In 1996 the U.S. hosted the Summer Olympics. I’ll never forget reading about this story. Wade Miller, a Santa Fe, New Mexico, resident, tried to buy tickets to the volleyball match from the Summer Olympics ticket office in Atlanta. When the agent found out he lived in New Mexico, she refused to sell him a ticket. She claimed she couldn’t sell tickets to anyone outside the United States. He appealed to the agent’s supervisor, who also believed that New Mexico was not part of the United States, even though New Mexico became the 47th state in 1912. There is a happy ending to the story. Miller eventually bought ticke...
Hospitality Financial Leadership: The First Fifty
David Lund | June 13, 2022
By David Lund As I write this piece, I am proud to say I am 58 years young. So far, my life has been great. Many challenges to overcome like anyone and many bumps in the road for sure. Someone once said that success is simply going from one disaster to the next and the trick with that is no stopping to lament on the carnage left behind. That might be a little tongue and cheek, but you get the point. Things happen to us all and our ability to move on and keep going without the permanent thoughts about what happened and why, I believe is the key to my life. That does not mean I do not learn from my mistakes, but it does mean I go easy on ...
The Day I Became a Customer Service Expert and Two Important Lessons
Shep Hyken | April 13, 2022
By Shep Hyken “Find a job you love, and you’ll never work a day in your life.” This line has been credited to Confucius, Mark Twain, Mark Anthony and others. Anyone who finds what they love to do at work, either through a passion, hobby, interest, a random job they end up loving, or some defining moment is lucky. That makes me one of the lucky ones. Just out of college I started my career as a customer service expert. It wasn’t a random job I applied for. It was a chosen profession that had its roots in something that happened to me when I was younger, an event that caused me to become obsessed with customer service. I’v...
2022 Update: EB-5 Is Back! What Every Real Estate and Hotel Developer Needs to Know
Jim Butler | April 4, 2022
By Jim Butler and the Global Hospitality Group® Click here for the latest articles on EB-5 Financing, and here for C-PACE Financing. The hotel development and financing world is buzzing with the news that the EB-5 program has been renewed, creating new opportunities for upcoming projects. My partner David Sudeck and I have written the short update below to help get you up to speed. EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022 EB-5 is revitalized and renewed by Jim Butler & David Sudeck In case you haven’t heard, EB-5 is back! On March 15, President Biden signed the Omnibus Spending Bill, which included the “EB-5 Reform...
Tourism Tidbits: Working for a Safer and Happier Tourism Industry
Dr. Peter E. Tarlow | April 4, 2022
By Dr. Peter Tarlow As the world hopes that COVID-19 restrictions will wane, we all need to work for a safer and happier tourism industry As war continues in Europe pray for peace and remember that tourism is an instrument of peace! It appears that many of the Covid-19 travel restrictions from around the world are slowly being removed and tourism is beginning to return to normal. Most employees and guests want both their holidays and their workplace environment to be a safe and secure spot where no one has to worry about street crimes, tourism crimes, issues or rage, and poor interpersonal relations. In the post Covid world an ad...
Local Market Growth: A Return to the Lost Skills of Filling a Hotel
Magnuson Hotels | April 1, 2022
April 1, 2022 – We have been trained in recent years to fear the word ‘artisan’. Hoisted over your favorite coffee house, bakery or even rug shop, it usually means that you’re about to pay significantly more than you would normally budget. But you feel good about it, because even if you secretly like instant coffee more, you’re supporting skills which otherwise might be lost. You feel that you’re making the world a better place. And the fact is that – coffee making aside – we are losing skills all the time. If we in the hotel sector were to look back into the not-too-distant past, we would find a whole set of abilities whi...
ADA Defense Lawyer: Does Your Hotel Have an Electric Vehicle Charging Station?
Martin H. Orlick | March 30, 2022
By Jim Butler, Martin Orlick You’re about to see a lot more Electric Vehicle Charging Stations (EVCS) on your daily drive. Within months of taking office, the Biden Administration announced an initiative to build half a million new charging stations across the country. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs act, which passed in November 2021, includes $7.5 billion towards this goal; the Administration’s signature domestic policy bill, the Build Back Better act, also includes funding to promote electric vehicles and expand the public charging network. California’s governor is promoting an ambitious plan of 500,000 electric vehicles on...