Hotel CEOs Juggle Staffing Challenges, Sustainability Goals as Operating Model Evolves
Employment Model Has Room for More Flexibility
The COVID-19 pandemic changed the hotel industry landscape, in some cases permanently, but hotel executives believe that while there are still ongoing challenges, the industry is adapting and on the right path.
During the “The CEOs Check In: View from the Top” general session at the 44th annual NYU International Hospitality Industry Investment Conference, hotel brand CEOs spoke about what changes they expect will last, how the industry needs to evolve to meet employees' needs and sustainability efforts.
Lasting Pandemic Changes
Most of the ongoing trends in hospitality were already there before, but the pandemic has accelerated them, Hilton President and CEO Chris Nassetta said. Hotels were exploring contactless entry to varying degrees, but that has moved quickly to giving guests more control and engagement through their phones.
“We've just seen a massive acceleration that's taken a bunch of different forms of the connection of the physical and the digital,” he said.
How food and beverage operates has evolved, said Mark Hoplamazian, president and CEO of Hyatt Hotels Corp. There’s more self-service, more variety and more alternative formats. It used to be that room service was always the most assured loss-making department in a hotel, but that has changed.