HVS Monday Musings: Leisure Markets – Hotel Sector’s Relentless Growth Engine
Leisure travel is growing relentlessly, with a paradigm shift that more and more tourists are looking to explore lesser-known, uncharted regions. Read on to know more.
Opinion Articles
Are we Heading Towards a New Luxury?
It does seem that there is a shift towards a new definition of luxury, particularly among the younger generation of consumers who prioritise experiences and authenticity over material possessions. This trend has been further accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, with “revenge travel” (a real thing!) and indulgence being more prevalent than ever before.
By Frank Schuetzendorf, Founder of Pariscape Consulting, consultant, Cayuga Hospitality Consultants
Valuing cultural differences: Why it matters and how to do it right
When in Rome, do as the Romans – easier said than done! Embracing cultural diversity is the cornerstone of civilized behavior, but do we really know how to to do it? Are we ready to welcome international guests and accommodate them in a culturally intelligent manner at hotels and major international events? Managing cultural differences might be more of a learned art than we realize.
By Peter Varga, Assistant Professor, EHL
Making money with music: Why investing in music is more than just a pretty tune
Music is often looked upon purely as a form of entertainment and leisure, especially by the hospitality industry which often uses it as a sensorial added extra. One often forgets that to work successfully in music means becoming familiar with the complex world of the 'music business'. Never more so than today has the relationship between music and money be so intricately interwoven with new markets and platforms giving way to new investment possibilities that both musicians and financiers should be aware of. In fact, making money with music is today more exciting than ever.
By Dr Jean-Philippe Weisskopf, Associate Professor, EHL
The Mille Club: Your Sense of Arrival is Critical
For those who haven’t read the first two editions of this Mille Club series, membership qualification is simple: just offer rates of more than a thousand (hence ‘mille’) dollars, pounds, Euros or equivalent. Whereas American Express since 1987 espoused the selling line, “Membership has its Privileges™,” the opposite applies to your property if it wants to uphold four-figure nightly rates. Aptly expressed, as a member of the Mille Club, “Membership has its Responsibilities.”
By Larry Mogelonsky and Adam Mogelonsky
Top 10 Tips for New Consultants
Transitioning from the corporate way of doing things to the realities of the consulting world can be a challenge. It isn’t an overnight transition where you just hang out your consulting shingle and you are good to go.
By Chuck Kelley and Stephen Darling
A One-of-a-kind Professional – Hotelier and Hospitality Educator
There are people in our lives who make an enormous impact on us. Some of these are personal and some professional, and if we are fortunate, we have some who have an impact on both of those parts of our lives.
Independent Hotels Have Largely Shed 'Inferiority Complex'
Between the 1950s and the year 2000, hotel owners wishing to expand business beyond their local community had two options.
By Thomas Magnuson, Co-Founder & CEO Magnuson Hotels, Magnuson Hotels
Hotel Conversions to Residential Use Heat Up
As economy and budget hotels are nearing the end of their economic life, some properties are finding new capital for renovations from buyers seeking to convert properties to residential use. In this article, we provide a sample list of hotels that have gone through this metamorphosis.
By Rodney Clough and Koby Kearney
Jaipur's Hospitality Sector in the Pink of Health
As one of UNESCO’s ‘City of Crafts and Folk Art,’ Jaipur has a rich culture and vibrant history. The city has a beautiful landscape full of forts, havelis, and palaces, which is further complemented by the oldest mountain range in India, the Aravalli Hills. Surrounded by popular tourist spots like Ajmer, Alwar, and Dausa, among others, Jaipur is a major hospitality hub in the country, popular with domestic and foreign travelers alike, and is often regarded as the pinnacle of Indian hospitality. Jaipur, in fact, earned its well-known moniker, the Pink City, when Maharaja Sawai Ram Singh II, painted the entire city pink in 1876 in preparation for the arrival of the Prince of Wales as a sign of hospitality.
Welcome to the Mille Club: Across the Entire Guest Journey
We’re seeing a trend in post-pandemic luxury – the mantle of attaining then surpassing a thousand dollars per night per room. This is what we have dubbed the ‘Mille Club’ after the Italian for said four-digit number. If your average daily rate has pushed into the four-figure range or thereabouts, congratulations and welcome. But know that this is something that must be earned because of the psychology that comes with paying above this threshold and because luxury guests have plenty of options nowadays.
By Larry Mogelonsky and Adam Mogelonsky
Data Security and Privacy in Hospitality – Who’s Paying the Bill?
One of the most valuable assets of a hotel brand is information – detailed personal information about guests at their hotels, participants in their loyalty programs, and visitors to their websites. This information allows hotel brands to focus on creating guest loyalty, acquiring potential guests, engaging in effective marketing, expanding market share, and creating properties and services that entice and satisfy hotel guests. Because of this, hotel brands have long contended that they “own” hotel guest data and have unencumbered rights to use it, without respect to the interests of hotel owners and even the guests themselves.
By Robert Braun, Partner, Jeffer Mangels Butler & Mitchell, LLP, JMM
An Insight Into the State of Luxury Branding Today
The concept of what makes a luxury brand an attractive option worth buying into is undergoing a massive mind shift. This is especially true for the future luxury consumers, often referred to as the Millennials and Gen Z, or even more precisely HENRYs (‘High earners, not rich yet’). A 20+ years’ supply of new customers to be precise.
Trends in hospitality – New tourist flows and how to navigate them
Change is inevitable, especially when we talk about tourism. Tastes change, as do external factors that force one to move/travel in new directions. Some can't wait for change, while others are still clinging to their former glory. To better prepare for such challenging times, in this digest, we talk about news related to changes in tourist flows and what innovative solutions can help hospitality to embrace these changes and thrive.
By Lionel Saul and Tatyana Tsukanova
Know thyself! A maxim that should apply to tourism
Has tourism completed its transformation to take on a new dimension? The question is worth asking in order to corroborate the new direction that is taking shape after the end of the health crisis. We are no longer simply talking about travel but more broadly about entertainment, social peace, family conviviality, and even societal reconciliation...
By Vanguélis Panayotis, CEO MKG Consulting & Hospitality ON / MRICS, Hospitality ON
What does Fair Franchising look like in 2023?
Last April, I met with several second-generation Asian American hotel owners in Baltimore. This generation is becoming the voice that represents ownership of 60% of USA hotels, employs 4.2 million US workers, and is responsible for 1.7% of the USA GDP.
By Thomas Magnuson, Co-Founder & CEO Magnuson Hotels, Magnuson Hotels
China: The next big market for soft-branded hotels?
The global hospitality industry is awash in hotel brands. There are currently 970 hotel brands in the market. There is at least one hotel brand for each of the 26 letters of the English alphabet. Unfortunately, this dizzying array of variety and noise makes it difficult for the lay consumer to recognize very many of them, and undoubtedly poses a problem for individual establishments, many of which are preparing for the return of international travel as the industry moves forward from the pandemic.
By Elisa Chan, Associate Director of the Centre for Hospitality and Real Estate Research, The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)
My Dad “The Unsung Hospitality Hero”
How do you describe someone that has spent their life giving all that they have for others particularly when no-one is watching? This type of individual isn’t always recognized or mentioned however is the very foundation of why I am in the hospitality business.
By David Salcfas, Founder of iYou Hospitality Consulting, Cayuga Hospitality Consultants
Tourism Tidbits: Reviewing Some of the Travel & Tourism Industry’s Basic Principles
We began the year by reviewing some of the fundamental principles of a successful tourism business or industry. Tourism is multifaceted and despite the fact that there is no one form of tourism many of the industry’s basic principles hold true no matter in which aspect of the travel and tourism industry one works. Despite our cultural, linguistic, religious, and geographic differences human beings are basically the same around the world and the best principles of good tourism transcend cultures, languages, nations, and religious affiliations. Due to tourism’s unique ability to bring people together if used properly, it can be an instrument for peace. This month we continue with some of the basics and fundamental principles of the tourism industry.
By Peter Tarlow, President, Tourism and More
Welcome to the Mille Club: Four Figure Luxury
Over the past year, we’ve bolted out from the gates in the aftermath of the pandemic, staying at multiple properties with daily rates in excess of 1,000 dollars, euros or pounds as part of our consultancy work auditing luxury hotels to improve their topline performance. The fact is that any four-figure guest daily hit propels your property into a new snack bracket, and one that plays by a slightly different set of service and amenity requirements. There’s prestige, but much, much higher expectations that you must surpass each and every day.
By Larry Mogelonsky and Adam Mogelonsky