Hotel Industry Leaders Leverage Downturn as Opportunity to Shift Old Habits
Collaboration, Flexibility Remain Key With Partners
Without a doubt, the COVID-19 pandemic caused chaos. But as hard as it is, hoteliers are seeing it as an opportunity to change old habits.
"We're trying to do that in every way, shape or form at all of our properties," said Michael Blank, principal of Bethesda, Maryland-based acquisition and asset management company Woodmont Lodging, on a panel titled "Flexible Arrangement: Reevaluating Relationships Post-Pandemic" at the Hotel Data Conference.
Alex Cisneros, senior vice president of revenue generation and analytics at New Albany, Ohio-based hotel chain Red Roof, said COVID-19 allowed his company to relook at things such as operations, supply chain, human resources and revenue management.
"What we really learned is that this gives us an opportunity to step back, look at some of the trends, the data and being able to build that bridge with other functions that were not there before. We started to listen to [our franchisees] very closely and really hear their pain points, because it was changing so much," he said.
Elie Khoury, executive vice president of operations at Plano, Texas-based third-party management company Aimbridge Hospitality, said he took advantage of three opportunities that came about this past year: improving innovation at his hotels, building better relationships with brands and rightsizing offerings.