Your company may be looking to add a new property, updates, or an expansion. What would you do if you are asked to prepare an economic feasibility study on a new tourism and hotel development project in your area? What are the major steps that you would include in this economic feasibility study?
For most people we all have our song of life, that special time and genre, and maybe even a band or artist that really captures the essence of who we were then, and it marked a turning point in our younger lives. For me it was definitely Rush! I can vividly remember when I first heard the song from the same album titled 2112, and I have never really been the same since. If you have never heard it, stop right now and get on YouTube or Spotify and give yourself a treat.
Last year, we explored eight dynamic hospitality trends shaping our industry. What’s changed since then? Are these trends still relevant, or have they faded into obscurity? We revisited our insights to evaluate their current status.
In the hospitality industry, the mantra "the customer is always right" has deeply rooted itself, shaping guests' expectations and fostering a culture where saying no to guests seems almost taboo. The relentless pursuit of customer satisfaction, underscored by the industry's dedication to meeting and surpassing travelers' desires, has made saying no a delicate art.
The travel industry is undergoing a revolution – and one of the biggest trends to emerge in recent years is that of bleisure travel. Bleisure combines business trips with leisure activities, allowing travellers to make the most out of their time away from home. In addition, bleisure travel allows people to extend their business trips by adding on days or even weeks of vacation time.
Football and hospitality have a lot in common. For a start, there’s their ubiquity. Wherever you are in the world, you’re never too far from someone kicking a football (yes, I’m talking about soccer); just like you’re never far from a hotel, hostel or long-stay lodging.
I recently had the opportunity to collaborate with Karen Rubin, Managing Director of Karen Rubin Hotels and the moderator for my panel at the NYU International Hospitality Industry Investment Conference. As we discussed the central themes of our panel, "Driving Performance: Managing Costs to Enhance Profitability," there is a key principle that needs to be emphasized —technology should be leveraged to enhance the guest experience, with profitability as a positive byproduct, not the sole aim.
Insights from a recent EHL panel event on 'Managing Hotels in Times of War', where the spotlight shone on hospitality from a different perspective. What changes for a hotel General Manager when a crisis situation hits? What emerges in terms of new leadership roles and operational requirements? Dr. Inès Blal recounts the highlights from this moving and illuminating panel discussion with seasoned professionals in war zones.
The annual rankings of hotel groups make it clear that a large part of the hospitality “industrial” landscape is deeply influenced, even dominated, by American companies. They benefit from a huge domestic market to develop their model and then impose it on the rest of the world.
Businesses are embracing personalization and even micro-personalization. Examples include implementing concierge service to help guests plan their trips, customizing marketing messages, and availing the guest’s favored type of coffee in the room.
We define a Mille Club property as one that prices its guestrooms at or above the one thousand dollars per night level (mille being a thousand in Italian). While there are now numerous hotels around the world that are successfully achieving these rates year-round, all Mille members provide incredible lessons for any hotel or brand looking to grow its ADR, whether or not that includes reflagging and a renovation to move up half or a full star rating.
With nearly 20 years in hospitality sales, I’ve had the pleasure of working alongside many talented leaders, teams, and clients. If there’s one lesson I’ve learned along the way, it’s this: creating an environment where employees can thrive is paramount to having happy clients.
If you love hotels, then you will be glad to hear that they offer many amazing career paths. There are many diverse positions within a hotel but in this article, we will cover 10 possible career paths that hotel lovers should consider. From concierge to reservation manager, you have many key roles, all of which are vital to ensuring hotel operations run smoothly. With so many career paths available in hotels, it might be difficult to find just the right one. To help you get started, here’s a look at all the different jobs in this industry and the skills that will help you build a successful career.
For those who are unfamiliar, the Halekulani is (pardon the alliteration) a hallmark of Hawaiian hospitality, with the property acting as the keystone for the densely populated beach tourism area of Waikiki in Honolulu. At 453 rooms and suites, the luxury hotel has a time-honored history, first established in 1917 and now comprising five buildings and three signature restaurants, all with an unparalleled onsite experience. Further to this article, the property closed completely for an 18-month renovation at the outset of the pandemic in 2020.
Some regions of the world are experiencing wars and conflict, which have caused serious problems in supply chain management. For example, countries that import significant amounts of goods from Ukraine and/or Russia are highly affected by the war between those two countries. Over 50% of the domestic consumption of many African countries is supported by grains imported from Ukraine and Russia, and due to their lack of purchasing power, these countries cannot turn to higher-cost resources, resulting in grain shortages in Africa.
The idea of an urban hotel embedding itself into the surrounding community is nothing new, but for many properties it remains just that: an idea that’s talked about in press releases and on the website yet seldom woven into every aspect of the operations and amenities. When a hotel does in fact go through the meticulous process of creating a strong sense of community, the results are nothing short of magical, and this is reflected through a positive impact on guest satisfaction, demand and the ability to grow rate.
Inflation or no inflation, concerns about the economy or no concerns, overtourism is becoming the new normal.
‘Sense of place’ has long been a buzz phrase. Linked to a range of disciplines from urban planning to sociology, nowadays it is increasingly being used in the hospitality industry. It captures the physical aspects, culture and history of a place, as well as its impact on the senses, which can trigger emotions. Over time, it can create feelings of familiarity, comfort and security, as well as a sense of belonging: it’s a place where one feels, quite literally, ‘at home’. As we journey on, checking out brand identity examples will give us a better understanding of this concept.
It is not an exaggeration to state that the twenty-first century’s third decade has been one of challenges both for the tourism industry and for nations around the world. Security and safety issues, mixed with issues around energy, ecology, and sustainability have and will continue to play major roles in in the development of travel and tourism.
Amidst the current discussions about AI's transformative potential, there's a common industry misconception that it primarily benefits large-scale hotels and enterprises, leaving smaller and medium-sized firms behind in the dark ages. To shed light on the nuanced reality, we sat down with EHL’s Ian Millar, Senior Lecturer in Hospitality Technology, to discuss how AI is not just a tool for hospitality giants but can also be a game-changer for SME hotels and firms with an innovative mindset.