CORONAVIRUS
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
CORONAVIRUS
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317 | Together Again: U.S. hotel industry begins to see return of small meetings
Ginny Morrison of Evanston, Illinois, is a 33-year veteran of Spire Hospitality, a hotel management company with a portfolio that spans coast-to-coast. As vice president of sales and marketing, Morrison saw the coronavirus pandemic decimate the meetings business. More than a year later, she’s witnessing a comeback as small-meeting planners are actively booking events for the last half of 2021 and beyond. As public health agencies expand COVID-19 vaccination programs across the U.S. and states ease up on public-gathering restrictions designed to keep the virus at bay, the hotel industry is seeing small meetings begin a comeback. In Episode 317, Long Live Lodging covers the state of the small-meetings sector and how hotels can grab their share of the meetings business during and post-pandemic. This report is part of our ongoing coverage about the coronavirus pandemic and its impact on the hospitality industry.
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316 | Pandemic Trailblazer: Hunter Hotel Investment Conference leads lodging industry’s 2021 event circuit
The Hunter Hotel Investment Conference will be the industry’s first large event to be held during the coronavirus pandemic. The Atlanta event will be a hybrid format of in-person and virtual access, also an industry first. Lee Hunter, chairman of the conference, knows the level of expectation is high among other conference planners as well as industry professionals eager to network after more than a yearlong hiatus. Episode 316 of Lodging Leaders podcast features Hunter as he tells what it takes to re-launch the industry’s conference circuit amid the COVID-19 outbreak.