For many decades, visitors to the Hawaiian island of Oahu had just one neighborhood to choose from when booking a hotel. Waikiki–that iconic mile-and-a-half strip of white-sand beach ringed by more than 26,000 hotel rooms–was the only place where hotels could be found.
The days of free HBO and touting an ironing board and coffee maker as room features that delight guests are long gone. The hotel and hospitality industry has seen many changes over the years in services offered, product specifications, and how teams interact with guests. Today, features like lightning-fast Wi-Fi, water bottle filling stations, and electric car chargers attract more attention than the once-expected standards of irons and coffee makers.
Dr. Meng-Mei Maggie Chen (Assistant Professor of Marketing) and Amélie Keller (Flagship Resilient Tourism Coordinator), offer insights into their collaborative work with Nyon Région Tourisme and Blent Hospitality Business Intelligence.
The pandemic had the hospitality industry rethinking its operating models for safety, security and survival. This crisis event promoted innovation and new concepts and applications in all businesses, including hospitality and tourism.
An employee comes to you and says they need a stool to sit on while they do their job. You immediately think – We don’t have stools for employees to sit on. That is a standing position. But….is that the correct response? What should you do?
Small and boutique hotels face unique challenges, especially during a crisis. Knowing how to solve and weather a crisis is an essential part of operating any company, but small businesses lack the resources to manage them as quickly as their larger counterparts. This article will explore crucial strategies for training front-line staff in crisis communication, emphasizing the importance of a tailored communication plan and routine training to ensure operational consistency during emergencies.
When you first walk into a hotel lobby do you get a sense of the hotel? A sense of positive or negative vibes. I have seen both lately and I firmly believe it starts with the Hotel General Manager – not rocket science.
Much of what the hospitality industry will be talking about is already happening.
Analyzing a lodging operations ideal position and potential for success has been written about and postulated by some of the best marketing minds in the business over the last 75 years.
Uncertainty about what lies ahead is a theme in every conference I attend and hospitality leader I’ve spoken with recently. Still, more potential exists today than ever for creativity in serving guests and driving business results. To illustrate this, I want to examine The Social Hub, originally launched as The Student Hotel in 2012. In my article earlier this year, How The Social Hub Uses Community to Thrive in Hospitality, we explored the company's focus on community-building as a core strategic opportunity. For this article, I spoke with the company’s founder and CEO, Charlie MacGregor, about how their “hybrid hospitality” business model has made it socially engaging and financially resilient.
Business travel is back.
Is the customer always right? Perhaps not always, but the phrase has gained traction in the hotel industry. This is due to hotels having adopted a mixed form of two models: a customer-centric business model (Tang, 2014 ) and a profit-centered business model (Agarwal, Erramilli, & Dev, 2003 ; Taillon, 2014 ). These models have likely been adopted as meeting customer desires can aid in profit maximization.
Shaping how well we execute service to our guests is a primary function of hotel and restaurant training. From the front of house to the back, and the first floor to the top floor, we support our teams on the path to guest experience and financial rewards. This is fundamental and we hope that nothing gets in the way of our dreams.
The hospitality industry stands at a fascinating crossroads. On one hand, we are seeing remarkable advancements in technology—artificial intelligence, data analytics, automation—that promise to streamline operations and enhance the guest experience. On the other, we’re facing a perennial truth: hospitality, at its core, is a human-centric business. Guests come to us not just for a place to stay, but for experiences, service, and meaningful interactions.
Come springtime, Mexico City (CDMX) is set ablaze in enchanting swathes of lavender and mauve as the Jacaranda trees enter bloom, littering the parks and grand avenues with flowers and pleasant aromas to contrast the sprawling metropolis all around. Not yet drowning in heat and with cool evenings, April is the perfect time of year to visit the city which itself is entering a hospitality renaissance with tourists discovering this cultural and gastronomic capital while corporate travelers continue to deliver a consistent flow of midweek stays as businesses in CDMX benefits from Mexico’s current economic boom.
The current battleground for the big hotel chains is not pipelines, but loyalty members. Marriott may be the leader in terms of portfolio, but the size of its loyalty programme, Marriott Bonvoy, is being challenged by Hilton Honors.
In the highly competitive world of hospitality, investing in the growth and development of the people on your teams is not just a luxury—it’s a necessity.
Historically, hotel owners have had the option to either affiliate with a known brand or operate independently. Affiliating with a brand provided access to a reservation system, loyal customers, communal marketing programs, a known identity among consumers, and a sense of stability within the finance and investment community. Brand affiliation, however, comes with costs. Owners pay a variety of fees for royalty, marketing, reservation, and guest loyalty programs, and need to conform to facility, service, and operating standards.
Contrary to the pessimists who dwell on seeing the glass as half-empty, while it steadily filled up over the weeks, the final result is very positive. It is generally satisfying both in terms of numbers and the overall sentiment of having successfully hosted a major global event without major hitches.
In today's competitive market, creating memorable experiences for guests is no longer just a nice-to-have – it's essential for hospitality brands that want to thrive. The most successful hotels, resorts, and restaurants have figured out that putting customers at the heart of everything they do is the key to building loyalty and driving growth. But how exactly do they create a truly customer-centric culture? Let's look at some valuable lessons we can learn from top hospitality brands.