315 | COVID Comp Sets: The pandemic has dramatically altered hotels’ playing fields

The coronavirus crisis has dramatically altered the traditional competitive set most hotels use to benchmark their business performance. During the pandemic, properties have reduced services; they’ve closed either permanently or temporarily; or they’ve transitioned to alternative uses by contracting out to essential travelers or social agencies in search of housing. Episode 315 explores the genesis of the hotel industry comp set and how the COVID-19 outbreak has changed the strategic business tool. This report is part of Long Live Lodging’s ongoing coverage of the coronavirus crisis and its impact on the hospitality industry.

301 | The Road Warrior Ahead: Business travel will come back ‘with a vengeance,’ say experts

Global business travel is a $1.4 trillion industry. The Global Business Travel Association calculates the coronavirus pandemic in 2020 resulted in a loss of $113 billion in business travel spend in hotels, airlines and other sectors of the travel industry. But all is not lost. GBTA, industry analysts and travel management companies see some green shoots of hope for 2021 as the COVID-19 vaccine rolls out and corporations put some of their people on the road again. This report is part of Long Live Lodging’s ongoing coverage of the coronavirus crisis and its impact on the hospitality industry.

299 | Conserve Cash, Save the Hotel: What asset managers are doing to survive the long COVID winter

The damage wrought on hotel businesses by the coronavirus pandemic is wide and deep. But the longevity of the pandemic is proving to be truly devastating, especially as the U.S. experiences another surge in the infection rate. In the early days of the crisis, owners, operators and asset managers acted quickly to prevent hotels from closing. Some advisers helped owners weigh the pros and cons of remaining open or temporarily closing. As the pandemic continues its assault, hotel operators are figuring out ways to stabilize their businesses while holding out hope the vaccine will trigger the start of a recovery. This report is part of Long Live Lodging’s ongoing coverage of the coronavirus crisis and its impact on the hospitality industry.

November 1st week

Breach of Trust: Cybercrime a pervasive threat to the hospitality industry

It’s a given in today’s technological age that your hotel business depends on technology to process customer credit card purchases and to store personal information about your guests that helps you serve them better. Perhaps you believe you’ve done all you can to make sure your customers’ data is secure by making sure your PCI and GDPR compliant. But that does not fully guarantee your hotel data is safe from hackers. There is more you can – and must – do. If you do as little as possible, you’ll pay a big price, say cyber-safety experts.

236 | Breach of Trust: Cybercrime a pervasive threat to the hospitality industry

It’s a given in today’s technological age that you operate a hotel business that depends on technology to process customer credit card purchases and to store personal information about your guests that helps you serve them better. In addition, you probably are aware of cybercrime and that nefarious hackers frequently target payment systems. You’ve done read more

234 | More for the Money: Upselling generates significant revenue gains for hotels

Though average daily rate in U.S. hotels continues to grow year over year, hotel operators are not so eager to increase room prices these days. STR and Oxford Economics forecast ADR will increase by 1.9 percent this year and 2.2 percent in 2020. While an increase is usually viewed as a positive, the joy is read more

233 | How Does Your Hotel Rate? Smart pricing strategies key to winning in a downturn

It’s often said the U.S. hotel industry is a street-corner business. With that point of view, it may not take much for a hotel operator to panic and set off a price war on your block. The industry fell victim to mindless discounting in the days immediately after 9/11 and during the depth of the read more

232 | Wage Pressures: How to plug cost leaks in your hotel’s labor pool (Labor and Hiring Part 2)

At the peak of a great upward climb from the Great Recession, the U.S. lodging industry is seeing a leveling off in business performance. During the 25th annual Lodging Conference in Phoenix last week, many industry experts talked about a new normal of muted revenue gains and thinner profit margins as expenses continue to grow. read more

231 | Culture Club: Your hotel’s work environment may be bad for business (Labor and Hiring Part 1)

Is your hotel a fun place to work? Do your employees look forward to spending their day at your hotel? If the answers are no, then your business is in trouble. Do you have difficulty keeping good employees? Do you see staff members whispering in huddled groups? Do you or your supervisors work behind closed read more

September 2nd week

Panic Buttons: Hospitality Workers Sound the Alarm (Hotel Safety Part 2)

When the American Hotel & Lodging Association in 2018 launched its Five Star Promise to improve safety and security for hotel workers, it acknowledged the influence of labor unions in its comprehensive plan that includes arming employees with safety devices by 2020. The time is right to focus on finding and providing solutions to sexual harassment and assault in the hospitality industry, say experts, as technology has evolved along with attitudes and awareness to provide the best available protection industrywide.

229 | Panic Buttons: Hospitality Workers Sound the Alarm (Hotel Safety Part 2)

When Robb Monkman was a college student, he and his roommates were robbed at gunpoint. The home invasion and hostage taking rocked Monkman to his core and determined the course of his career. Monkman is founder and CEO of ReactMobile, which provides electronic security devices, or panic buttons, for businesses, including the hospitality industry. ReactMobile read more

August 3rd week

It’s A Long Story: Historic hotels gain new appreciation among travelers, brands

Historic hotels are popular across a wide range of travelers, including young adults. Historic Hotels of America, a division of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, is seeing its membership ranks grow as more developers either restore historically significant hotels or renovate landmark buildings into lodging assets. Also attracted to age-old lodging assets are hotel franchisers, especially soft brands. A study by the National Trust backs the organization’s belief that GenXers and millennials prefer to live, work and play in cities with historic buildings. That sentiment also goes for hotels with local stories to show and tell. Other research shows historic hotels generate more revenue than their contemporary counterparts.

226 | It’s a Long Story: Historic hotels gain new appreciation among travelers, brands

Hotel developers and investors seeking new ideas might do well to remember history. More travelers today want an immersive experience not just in the places they visit but in the hotels in which they stay. And they’re willing to pay more for it. Historic hotels often give guests what they crave – a sense of read more

222 | Flying Solo: What it takes to go from franchised to independent

Independent hotel supply in the U.S. has decreased in the past 10 years, reports STR. The lodging-data company reports independently owned and operated hotels account for less than 40 percent of all hotels. About 1 percent of those close each year. But that trend may take a turn. It appears more and more hoteliers who read more

221 | Home Sharing’s Heavy Hitters: Airbnb’s genius is branding (Part 2)

Last week, part one of our report on Airbnb looked at the home-sharing giant’s impact on hotel business performance. We reported on a study that shows for every 100 percent increase in Airbnb accommodations in a market, hotel RevPAR declines by an average 3 percent. We also reported a growth in the number of whole read more

220 | Disruptive Innovator: Measuring Airbnb’s impact (Part 1)

More than 10 years ago, the short-term home rental industry began to shapeshift with the birth of Airbnb. The technology company has quickly grown from a small peer-to-peer home-sharing platform into a virtual behemoth with more rooms than any hotel company on the planet. Today, Airbnb has more than 4 million listings in nearly 100,000 read more

217 | Rainy Days Ahead: Hotels advised to prepare for a downturn

Many hotel-business experts believe an industry downturn is at hand. Some say it will happen as soon as next year. Others expect business to slow in 2021. So, is the forecasted slowdown based on fact, an economic algorithm, or is it more of a gut feeling? In this episode of Lodging Leaders we try to read more

215 | Hotel Crime: How to manage a high-profile case

When a hotel becomes a crime scene, there is little an owner or manager can do to ward off publicity. But a hotel can recover from a crisis and save its image if it has a plan in place to deal with the aftermath of a high-profile incident. Hotel crime has escalated around the world, read more

206 | The Business of Immigration: Family migration to U.S. under threat

The federal government’s efforts to curb family migration to America is a key concern for many foreign-born residents in the U.S. and their children, including the Indian American community, which has used the method over the past 50 years to grow into an economic powerhouse of business owners, including their domination of the hotel industry. read more

March 4th week

The Business of Immigration: Family migration to U.S. under threat

The federal government’s move to limit family migration will alter the way immigrant-founded businesses have grown. Activist Suraj Patel, whose family members are pictured above, hotelier Jyoti Sarolia and others share how tighter controls affect the Indian American hotelier community.

On the Front Line of the Sex-Trafficking Battleground

Vipul Dayal is an hotelier in San Diego, California. More importantly, he is a husband and father of three children. He strives to protect his family from the type of childhood he experienced growing up in a small motel along a street rampant with sex crime.  When he was a youngster helping his father run read more

March 1st week

Human Trafficking: Labor and sex slavery happens in hotels every day

The travel industry is ground zero for human and sex trafficking of vulnerable adults and children. Hoteliers, airlines and non-profit organizations band together to “eradicate this awful evil.”

203 | Human Trafficking in Hotels Happens Every Day

This week, Lodging Leaders focuses on the scourge of human trafficking and its impact on the U.S. travel industry, including hotels. You’ll hear from … Brad Myles, CEO of Polaris, operator of the National Human Trafficking Hotline Ed Bastion, CEO of Delta Air Lines Camila Wright Zolfaghari, vice president of policy at the trafficking-prevention group read more

192 | A Life Improving Customer Experience with Alex Shashou

Alex Shashou is the Co-Founder and President of ALICE, a top-ranking staff Task Management & Collaboration platform with a global customer base of 2,000+ hotels. Born and raised in London, Alex grew up in the hospitality industry, and he’s become a sought-after hospitality thought leader, speaking on technology and innovation in hospitality at conferences around read more

189 | Hospitality Operations Built on Proven Principles with Adam Knight

Adam Knight is a 20+ year veteran of the luxury hotel industry and owner of Proven Principles, a hospitality consulting firm that helps vacation rental owners and customer service focused businesses drive better performance, productivity and profitability with best-in-class operations strategy, employee training and project management. In This Episode, Adam reveals … How managers can read more

180 | Engineering Meaningful and Trusting Relationships with Nick Lawniczak

Nick Lawniczak has more than 10 years of experience specializing in the luxury hospitality market. Over the years, he’s worked on a wide array of projects ranging from residential remodels, note rebranding, commercial tenant improvements, shopping centers and the development of new high rise luxury condominiums. Nick feels his greatest strength is his ability to read more

171 | The Engine that Drives the Hotel with Stan Turkel

Stanley Turkel is a recognized authority in the hotel industry. He operates his consulting practice serving as an expert witness in hotel-related cases and providing franchise consultation and asset management. Prior to forming his hotel consulting firm, Turkel was the Product Line Manager for Hotel/Motel Operations at the International Telephone & Telegraph Co. overseeing the read more

166 | Create a Moment of Truth with Quentin McElveen

Quentin McElveen is a graduate of the University of South Carolina, and holds a B.S. degree in Hospitality Management. He is a passionate Hotel Operations Manager who has excelled in several positions within full-service and select-service hotels. He believes that employee empowerment and communication is important to the success of hotels. As Quentin thrives in read more

163 | 14 Ways to Boost Hotel Revenue and Profits with Rob Russell

Robert Russell has been an innovative leader in digital, social and mobile marketing for over 20 years. He has worked with major global brands and smaller companies in almost every aspect of digital marketing and e-commerce, including reservation and transaction software, mobile applications, social media marketing, search engine optimization, email marketing, and website user experience. read more

154 | Inside the Award Winning Hotel Emma with Jamie Fox

Jamie Fox is a Rooms executive with more than 20 years of hospitality experience, and 10 years leading hotel Rooms Division operations at 4-Diamond rated resorts. Jamie currently serves as Director of Rooms at the Hotel Emma in San Antonio, Texas. Previously, Jamie served in key operational and revenue management roles at some well known read more

141 | Upping Your F&B Game with Keith Halfmann

Keith is an award winning hospitality executive specializing in all phases of hotel and restaurant development from concept creation through opening.  Having developed over 10 highly successful bar and restaurant concepts inside hotels, he understands how to retain guests and draw locals back into hotels for amazing experiences. With his broad depth of knowledge he helps owners read more

138 | The Business Case for Case Goods Refinishing with Robert Wallis

Robert Wallis is Director of Sales and Operations at Case Goods Refinishing. He came from a family of academics, but 25 years ago, after completing a master’s degree, he realized his passion was not in academics, but rather in working with his hands. He believes the predominant industry practice of letting case goods and public read more

137 | Hotel Fire Safety and Prevention with Buddy Dewar

Buddy is the former Director of Florida’s State Fire Marshal’s Office and is internationally known as a fire safety expert. He earned a BA in Economics from Florida Atlantic University, and a MBA from Nova Southeastern University. Buddy first entered the fire service in 1961 with the New River Fire Department in the Ft. Lauderdale, read more

132 | Practical Hospitality Consulting for Today’s Hotelier with Chip Elbers

Chip is a hospitality veteran and he’s been serving the industry for more than 30 years. He’s done it all – from washing dishes, to the front desk, Assistant GM, General Manager, Sales Manager, COO, CDO, VP and more. For over 20 years, Chip served America’s Best Franchising as the brand grew from just a read more

116 | Take Ownership of Your Business with Kelly Harvel

Kelly Harvel, CHA is a life long hospitality professional with experience in all levels of the lodging industry, from local operation to national branding. He currently serves as President/COO of V&S Hospitality Management – a Full Service Hotel Management Company with a focus on operational customer excellence based in Palm Harbor, Florida. In This Episode, read more

109 | Passion, Courage and Patience with Dina Patel

Dina Patel, CHO was born in Bardoli, India, and immigrated to USA with her family in 1988, when she was 10 years old. Two years later, Dina’s parents bought their first independent motel in San Antonio, Texas. From day one, Dina helped out in every part of the motel. Dina earned a BBA (magna cum read more

107 | 15 Successful Habits of an Awesome General Manager with Rupesh Patel

Rupesh is the CEO of 3Hospitality and SmartGuests.com, and he operates award winning hotels in the Daytona Beach area. Known for his out of the box, innovative thinking, Rupesh has incorporated his marketing and design background into hospitality industry to deliver simple ideas that bring smiles to guest’s faces and drive revenues for his hotels. read more

091 | An Entrepreneurial Mindset with Kerry Ranson

Kerry V. Ranson is Chief Development Officer, Business & Acquisitions, for HP Hotels – a Birmingham, Alabama-based 3rd party management group with a portfolio of over 30 hotels in 12 states comprised of Hilton, Marriott, InterContinental, Choice, and Independent full-service and select-service hotels. Kerry is also the outgoing Chairman of the Board for the IHG read more

061 | Convey and Leverage Your Sense of Place with Mark Glickman

Mark Glickman is an internationally acclaimed marketing and sales strategist, author, advisor to emerging companies, and professional speaker on topics including marketing, branding, sales and social media. Mark was selected as one of the “Top 25 Most Extraordinary Minds in Sales & Marketing” by Hotel Sales & Marketing Association International (HSMAI). In This Episode, Mark Reveals read more

022 | 10 Steps for Improving Operational Profits with Jon Albano

Jonathan “Jon” Albano is Founder & CEO of LodgingMetrics – a secure, cloud-based platform that enables hoteliers to track all of their critical business metrics across multiple properties from anywhere at any time, using a laptop, tablet or smart phone. He also hosts the popular Lodging Leaders podcast, an interview based show providing powerful business strategies read more