CUSTOMER SERVICE & CX
092 | Value-Added Amenities with Kate Price-Howard
CUSTOMER SERVICE & CX
Dr. Kate Price-Howard has 30 years experience in the fields of hospitality and commercial recreation. Her work experience includes recreation positions on board cruise ships, hotels, summer camps, psychiatric units, nursing homes, and serving as Director of Recreation for several Florida resorts.
In 2001, she founded Go Play, Inc., providing recreation consultation to resort and property management companies, corporate team building, and special events. She has taught more than 600 students that have come through her company as recreation interns.
Kate received a Bachelor’s and Master’s in Parks and Recreation Administration, with an emphasis and certification in Therapeutic Recreation, from Florida International University and went on to complete her PhD in Parks, Recreation, and Tourism from the University of Utah.
In 2013, she accepted a full-time faculty position with Troy University and teaches hospitality students all over the world in an online format. She teaches courses in Hospitality, Restaurant, and Hotel Management, Recreation Programming and Leadership, and Social Psychology of Leisure, Recreation Principles, and Revenue Management, Generation and Human Resources with the Hospitality Industry.
In This Episode, We Talk About
- Commercial recreation – what it is, and why a property might want to add a recreation component to their existing amenities.
- How a property can add a recreation component, even if they are not a destination-type location, and why that might be a good investment.
- The costs, and why some properties choose to outsource versus staffing year round.
- Her experience teaching hospitality 100% online, and how she is able to engage students from all over the world.
- Mentorship – and how her mentor changed the course of her life.
Resources & Links
Kate Price-Howard
- pricek@troy.edu
Troy University
Go Play Inc.
CUSTOMER SERVICE & CX
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346 | Repositioning For Recovery: Hotel conversions to outpace new builds
Lodging Econometrics has tracked the hotel industry since 1998. Its global database includes new-hotel pipelines as well as renovations and brand conversions. Hotel franchisers once eager to launch new brands are focused on converting existing hotels because it’s a faster way to recover revenue lost to the COVID-19 pandemic than through new construction. In Episode 346, Lodging Leaders explores the increasing number of conversions in the U.S. hotel industry and what owners and operators need to consider before repositioning an asset.
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345 | ‘Rosy View of Future’: Hotel industry sees unleashing of pent-up investor demand
In the first few months of the COVID-19 pandemic in the U.S., financiers anticipated a swell of distressed hotel businesses. Some raised rescue funds to respond to what they thought was a pending crisis. Though there are financial rescues taking place, the level of such activity is far below what industry advisers and fund managers expected. Commercial real estate investors positioned to act in the early days of the pandemic held off and are now just beginning to unleash their cash hoards totaling billions of dollars. Episode 345 of Lodging Leaders podcast explores the state of capital investment in the hotel industry.