Managing labor costs is a never-ending battle in any hotel. No wonder it adds up to on average 50 percent of the total revenue in hotels around the world. To say labor cost is important is an understatement so in this piece, I will highlight the key controls and features to make sure you are on the right track with this all-important aspect of hospitality.
The supply chain crunch and inflation are compounding what’s already a nettlesome recovery for hotel owners and operators.
The Indian hotel sector is finally breathing a sigh of relief as demand has recovered dramatically in recent months, even helping push occupancy and average rates closer to pre-pandemic levels in a few markets. However, the hotel sector, like most others, is reeling under the pressures of rising prices, affecting not only operations but also hotel development plans in the country.
Given the significant traction in distribution of the COVID-19 vaccines throughout the United States and general international travel restrictions, leisure travel has begun to recover in 2021 and is expected to continue increasing, with Americans seeking so-called “revenge travel” to a domestic getaway. Business travel is also beginning to show signs of recovery, and some group business related to conference attendance is returning.
That’s right, your eyes and the headline are not fooling you. I learned this from a client in a backwards kind of way and now I want to share it with you. It is a powerful way to justify and prove a return on investment (ROI) for financial leadership training. I use this story as well to show my clients what they are leaving on table in the way of profits and asset value if they are not using financial leadership in their hotel.
Between the rising cost of labor, decreased demand and ever-changing COVID-19 protocols, hotels have taken numerous hits to profitability. Conditions likely are going to remain challenging for some time to come, but Chris Cylke, COO of asset manager RevPAR International, has a quintet of tips for hoteliers to manage costs more effectively.
When it comes to investing in oneself many times people overlook the outcome and instead concentrate on the up-front cost. When we look at the opportunity to improve our own personal prosperity, we need to see the full picture. We need to realize in life we have a window that opens and closes on our career and its fortunes. It reminds me of a line from Shakespeare:
I do not know about your experience, but for me growing up in the hotel world, and especially my first decade working in F&B and rooms, the adage, “Look after the guests and the money will look after itself,” was literally beat into my head.
Hotels Owners Interested in Interest To analyze the impact that declining EBITDA levels had on the ability of hotel owners to pay their interest expense, CBRE studied a sample of 1,121 hotels that reported interest payments in their operating statements for the years 2019 and 2020.
Overseeing a large hotel renovation is no easy feat. Complicating matters: a pandemic.
Before we jump into 2022 plans, please take the quick survey/debate above of how you view the business and feel free to opine on why. Answers will appear on sided.co and on the hotelguru.com website.
A lot gets written about certain things in the hotel industry and others not so much as a mention. I am not saying it is simply a matter of blatant favoritism or anything like that but it is not lost on me that certain items get the limelight. In this piece, I am going to shine a light on two of the hotel team’s third-line mainstays. This pair keeps us on track month after month and they need a little more respect.
After the year that was 2020, 2021 seems to be a period defined by cautious optimism. A world on the precipice of a long-awaited reopening, with a predicted surge of social and economic activity ready to shift our respective communities from the ‘new’ normal to the normal we once knew. The desire for this return is palpable and warranted, but we must acknowledge that much still remains uncertain in that same breath. Our attention is fixed on the future, but what does that future hold from an economic perspective? More importantly, what is the most fiscal path forward for businesses – especially those in sectors that were severely shuttered by the pandemic, like hospitality?
Based on CBRE’s survey of monthly operating performance, U.S. hotels experienced a 58 percent decline in total hotel revenues from 2019 to 2020. This resulted in a decrease of 78 percent in profits at the Gross Operating Profit (GOP) level, along with a 107 percent fall off in Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization.
The ALIS Conference came and went this week, bringing Downtown L.A. hotels to life with optimism and hope that normal for the hotel industry is coming in the not-too-distant future. Here are some collective takeaways from our team that was in attendance.
From time immemorial, revenue per available room, or RevPAR, has been the go-to key performance indicator in the hotel industry. A simple calculation of average daily rate and occupancy rate, it is often thought of as the barometer of health for a hotel by those who work in the industry and those who make a living analyzing it.
The hotel industry's recovery is accelerating, overcoming the crisis. In the first half of 2021, the stocks of the major hotel groups have recovered and outgrown the indexes. And the organizations are investing massively in new international offerings. For example, the Hilton group has announced the construction of 160,000 rooms over the next few years, while new entrants are benefiting from the support of the largest financial institutions.
Fintechs have experienced a significant development over the last five years. Some smart technologies are emerging with obvious potential for the hospitality industry such for making booking reservation and payments, often linked to management systems of access to rooms and services. The pandemic has accelerated the implementation of these innovations.
This article lays out why it's important to differentiate distribution costs from customer acquisition costs (CAC). Distribution costs refer to commissions paid to travel agents, OTAs, discounts to tour operators, etc. Whereas customer acquisition costs include the distribution costs, website-related costs, sales & marketing department salaries (after all, they are here to acquire customers), social media costs, advertising, loyalty and brand-related expenses, channel manager fees, etc.
The pandemic has made it difficult for anyone to relax. Beyond being a drag on a hotel’s core business—room sales—it’s also been an assault on ancillary revenues, such as spa business.