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

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

228 | Run, Hide, Fight: How to prepare for an active shooter (Hotel Safety Part 1)

“Active shooter” is a term used by law enforcement to describe a situation in which a shooting is in progress. The classification calls into action protocols relating to response and reaction – not only by police but also by citizens, says the FBI. In the case of an “active shooter,” everyone’s response and reaction can read more

219 | Train and Retain: Hospitality apprenticeship fills high-level jobs

It’s no secret the hospitality industry in America is in dire need of skilled employees. Many hotel owners and operators continually seek ways to attract and keep talent. The Bureau of Labor Statistics says the hospitality industry has a turnover rate of nearly 75 percent per year, compared to a healthy rate of 10 to read more

174 | Use Microlearning to Solve Engagement and Performance Problems with Isaac Tolpin

Isaac is one of the founders of ConveYour.com, the #1 Microlearning platform for learner engagement. He’s a tech entrepreneur and futurist at heart, on a mission to enable brands to align their training with human behavior leading to breakthrough learner engagement. His success come from understanding the relationships between human behavior, business, and technology. This read more

131 | Let’s Rock the Hotel with Holly Arora

Born and raised in Rhode Island, Holly began her hospitality journey at the age of 13 as a housekeeper. Like many hoteliers, she slowly worked her way up through the ranks. By the age of 30, she was managing a hotel, and by 33, she became the General Manager at a Hampton Inn. Today, Holly read more

123 | Hospitality Internships from the Students’ Perspective

Last month, I featured Ron Whitfield and Dr. Kate Price-Howard, and we took a deep dive into How to Create an Awesome Internship Program. Click here to listen to that episode. This is part two in the hospitality internship series. Today’s guests are ResortQuest Interns Jordon Bonner, Nick Delaney, Allison Johnstone and Yaminah Cummings, and read more

119 | How to Create an Awesome Internship Program with Ron and Kate

Ron Whitfield and Dr. Kate Price-Howard are both seasoned hospitality professionals with extensive experience developing, administering and growing successful internship programs. I’ve invited them back on the show to share how YOU can create an awesome internship program for your property. Dr. Kate Price-Howard has 30 years experience in the fields of hospitality and commercial recreation. 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

087 | Improving Retention Through Training and Development with John Hogan

John J. Hogan, CHA CMHS CHE CHO is a career business professional and educator who has held senior leadership with responsibility in several organizations involving operational, academic and entrepreneurial enterprise. He has demonstrated competencies as a strong leader, relationship builder, problem solver and mentor and is frequently invited to speak at franchise meetings, management company read more

083 | How to Build Great Hotel Teams with the Hotelier Mastermind

At it’s core, the Hotelier Mastermind includes John Hogan, Kathleen Hogan, Tim Danyo and Jon Albano. John and Kathleen are the Co-Founders of HospitalityEducators.com, a hotel consulting resource for hospitality professionals focused on making hotels more profitable. Kathleen is the CEO and John is the Chief Learning Officer. Among other things, Hospitality Educators is the read more

071 | Who: The A Method for Hiring A Players for Hotels with Geoff Smart

Geoff Smart, Ph.D. is co-author of the New York Times bestselling book, Who: The A Method for Hiring, which is ranked #1 on Amazon.com on the topic of hiring talented teams. He’s also Chairman & Founder of ghSMART, a leadership consulting firm with 12 offices in the U.S. and one in London whose mission is to read more

067 | Creating Power Teams Through Accountability and a Positive Praise Culture with Peter Ivanov

Peter Ivanov is a Virtual Teams Expert, Keynote Speaker and Executive Coach. He has 20 years of international experience leading Virtual Teams of 100+ people – spread across Eastern and Western Europe, Central Asia, Middle East and Africa – and delivered outstanding business results. His Management System “Virtual Power Teams” has won multiple corporate awards. read more

049 | Systems and Strategies That Make Success More Likely with Dan & Kieran

Dan Gregory & Kieran Flanagan are behavioral researchers and strategists, specializing in behaviors and belief systems–what drives, motivates and influences us. They have won business awards around the world for Innovation, Creativity and ROI working with such organizations as Coca-Cola, Unilever, News Corp and the United Nations in Singapore. They are passionate advocates for the read more

045 | Hospitality Passion, Education and Diversity with Greg DeShields

Gregory L. DeShields, CHO, CHE currently serves as the Executive Director at PHLDiversity Multicultural Affairs Congress a division of the Philadelphia Convention and Visitors Bureau (PHLCVB), adjunct instructor for Temple University School of Tourism and Hospitality and Hospitality Educators. A graduate of Johnson & Wales University in Providence, Rhode Island, Greg earned an A.S. Degree read more

043 | How to Find, Train and Keep Good People with Rick Takach

Rick Takach, Jr. is President and CEO of Vesta Hospitality – a fully integrated hotel development and hospitality management company based in Vancouver, Washington. In less than 20 years, Vesta has grown their portfolio to 13 properties under management in 8 states. Last year, Hotel Business ranked Vesta Hospitality #78 in their Top 100 Management Companies of read more

018 | Service, Employee Benefits, Operating Debt Free and Entrepreneurial Responsibility with Harris Rosen

Harris Rosen is president and COO of Rosen Hotels & Resorts and is Florida’s largest independent hotelier. Founded in 1974, Rosen Hotels & Resorts currently features a collection of seven Central Florida hotels offering a total of more than 6,300 guest rooms, approximately six percent of the Central Florida inventory. Rosen Hotels has several subsidiaries read more

015 | Online Hospitality Training, eBooks and Best Practices with HMBookstore.com COO Rick Tomljenovic

Rick Tomljenovic has been in the hospitality industry for more than 35 years. He’s an owner and Chief Operating Officer of Tristar Hotel Management, a midsize company managing between 15-25 properties on average per year, including 5 properties that they own. Rick is also Chief Operating Officer for HMBookstore.com – a cutting edge online hospitality read more