Friday 3 July 2009 | Whatever we do, whatever we plan, it’s always better to have a goal and set cornerstones to achieve it. Creating a sustainable development road map is essential to any business that’s serious about implementing such a strategy. It helps keep us on track and obliges us to strive to achieve and remain focused on the ultimate goals. A roadmap truly leads to operational commitment and culture change. It’s also a strong indicator of the company’s pledge to its strategy and helps negate any accusations of greenwashing. Some might wonder if it’s too difficult to design a road map, or if it’s too great of a pressure on their business. A roadmap helps put ideas together in a logical sequence. By defining goals for the future, it shows that even if results aren’t impressive, the achievements will be substantial eventually.

Friday 3 July 2009 | When it comes to creating positive first impressions, the job of front desk associate is arguably the most important of any hotel staffer. For guests booking online or via third parties, the front desk literally is their first impression. Even for those who have spoken with the reservations team by phone prior to arrival, their front desk arrival experience will set the tone for their entire stay. Guests who have a positive experience at check-in are certain to be more understanding later, if/when they have objections or complaints later during their stay. In other words if they have a good experience at the front desk, they will be much more forgiving later when a room service tray is delivered late, when the air conditioning breaks, or when a housekeeping request is overlooked.

Thursday 2 July 2009 | In our previous article, we introduced the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, discussing its basic provisions, its growing importance as a law enforcement tool by U.S. authorities, and its broad potential application to hotel industry vendors in the context of the government’s prosecution of York International, a global heating and air conditioning company. As we noted, the FCPA generally prohibits giving “anything of value” to a foreign official to acquire an unjustified benefit. The nature of the offence, and hence the penalty, is measured more by the amount of the benefit obtained than by the size of the payments.

Thursday 2 July 2009 | The current downturn has affected chain-scale segments across the board, but some more than others. Historically, the midscale-without-food-and-beverage segment has been one that tends to perform a bit better then the rest regardless of the economic conditions. This is true during the current downturn, and it appears location also plays an instrumental role in their performance. The STR-defined six location types are urban, suburban, airport, interstate, resort and small metro/town. Within these six location types, STR samples between 95 to 99 percent of the midscale without F&B room supply.

Wednesday 1 July 2009 | n the last ten years, cruising has become one of the fastest growing segments of the tourism industry, and many believe its reputation as a value-for-money holiday option will help protect it against the effects of recession. However, with consumers increasingly becoming cautious about spending, others consider these expectations too optimistic.

Wednesday 1 July 2009 | In this time of global uncertainty, there is a hesitancy to spend capital dollars without having a clear sense of the timing of the ROI (return on investment). That concern is reasonable, but it may also cause some hoteliers to delay needed updates or improvements at a time when lower occupancy allows for both availability of space and potentially lower costs from those providing the products or physical improvements. This delay could also allow new competitors to more quickly enter markets when the cycle does improve if existing hotels are not competitive or not meeting the current needs of evolving clientele.

Wednesday 1 July 2009 | On June 15th, the Treasury Department published the “TARP Standards for Compensation and Corporate Governance.” Of note is the provision for recipients of government financial assistance under the Troubled Asset Relief Program to establish an excessive or luxury expenditures policy, which mentions entertainment and events and regulates excessive expenditures to the extent such expenditures aren’t reasonable expenditures for staff development, reasonable performance incentives or other similar reasonable measures conducted in the normal course of the TARP recipient’s business operations.

Tuesday 30 June 2009 | A lot is being discussed of the experience as key differential element in the hotel market. The present trend is no longer competing with the product but what the guest experienced during his stay. That is to say, although all hotels offer rooms, restaurants, spas, business centers, bars, etc. the difference is established by the way the guest perceives and feels the services rendered. Presently service should no be assessed only as a way to satisfy the guest functional needs, but to fulfill his emotional wishes. As a human being the guest is avid of emotional incentives (as all of us) to the point that in life we pay to obtain emotions: go to the cinema or the theatre, to dance, or to a restaurant to enjoy a good meal.

Tuesday 30 June 2009 | When was the last time you used the word “verve” in a sentence? It’s not a word you often hear but is a great word to define customer service that is refreshing, memorable, and leaves a lasting positive impression. A quick search on Dictionary.com provided these definitions: (vûrv) n. 1. Enthusiasm or vigor, as in literary or artistic work; spirit. 2. Vivaciousness; liveliness; animation. How often do the employees who provide you with customer service, serve with verve? In a recent survey, customers described the majority of customer service experiences they have as “bland and uneventful.” And nearly 70 percent of customers cite “employee indifference” as their top reason for leaving a company as a customer.

Monday 29 June 2009 | Meeting planner guru Joan Eisenstodt responded to my “Meeting Planners and Hotel Suppliers: Let’s Be Fair” article of last month calling for “a whole bunch of cooperation” right now in hopes that when we do come out of this recession, “we can do business smarter next time.” Eisenstodt agreed that it’s good that meetings are being booked again, but that it’s “bad that some of the contracted rates are sometimes as much as 75 percent higher than the published rates” for a given period of time.