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272 | A New Digital Reality: Hotels turn to technology to redefine guest engagement
CORONAVIRUS
As the U.S. lodging sector begins to get back to business amid the coronavirus crisis, technology will play a much bigger role in operations than before the outbreak paralyzed the industry.
Technological solutions in operations and guest management were emerging in hotels before the COVID-19 pandemic. But experts say the next generation of tech is quickly dawning as owners, operators, employees and guests face a new digital reality in light of health and safety.
This episode of Lodging Leaders focuses on what might be ahead as hoteliers begin to rethink how technology can help them run leaner and cleaner operations as well as interact with guests who expect value despite the health threat.
Hotels that don’t embrace new technology today will be left behind when the industry gets back to business.
Resources and Links
- LodgingStream: A Brave New World conference
- Parshant Jain of Simplify Reality
- Raj Singh of Go Moment
- Jordan Hollander of Hotel Tech Report
- Adam Harris of Cloudbeds
- Bryan Tubaugh of Focus Hospitality Management
- Doug Tutt of Virgil Holdings, the parent company of Hcareers
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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.