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APRIL FOCUS Guest Service: First Impressions Matter |
Thursday April 2, 2020 |
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Hotels Must Put Their Best Online Presence Forward
By Jana Love, President, ProSolutions
How does your hotel show up online? Since first impressions are made without a guest physically being on property, all aspects of your online communications (website and social media) need to be calculated and perfect. What is seen online is usually a guest's first impression of your hotel. Websites and social media posts need to come across as smart- post differently, have clever delivery, use engaging content, etc. Hotels need to show personality in their messages and on their websites. Show real guests experiences, have some fun and make us fall in love with the images and your hotel. A successful online presence can be hard work, but the benefits are hard to ignore.
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| TRENDING THIS WEEK |
New Ways Hotels Are Tapping into Local Culture
By Fernando Rivera, General Manager, Kimpton Hotel Palomar South Beach
In the hospitality industry, the cookie-cutter approach just won't cut it anymore. With a new decade dawning, more and more travelers are looking for hotels that are immersed in local culture. They're on the hunt for a place the reflects local touches and offers local insight. They're avoiding the tourist traps in favor of truly local experiences, whether it's signature cuisine or attractions that shed light on a place. Today's traveler is searching for authenticity. Fernando Rivera, General Manager at the soon-to-be-opened Kimpton Palomar South Beach, has developed an array of strategies to help hotels tap into local culture.
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COVID-19: EIGHT Financing Strategic Options for Hotel Owners
By Harry Spirides, President, Spirides Hospitality Finance Company
The U.S. hotel industry has been blindsided by the COVID-19 Global Pandemic Black Swan Event. Instantly, hotel owners have found themselves with empty hotels, depleted cash reserves, and wondering how they will be able to make their monthly mortgage and utility payments along with payroll which were hardly ever considered to be a problem in the expansionary period leading up to COVID-19. Struggling hotel owners today have many financing strategic options available to them, but many do not even know that these options exist. Hotel industry financier Harry G. Spirides outlines some of these options for them in this article.
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| COVID-19 UPDATE: Hotel Newswire is providing free news distribution and coverage for the Hotel Industry. CLICK HERE
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DAILY HEADLINES - Thursday Apr 2, 2020 |
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More from our online Library Archives... |
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Driving Guest Satisfaction with the Right People and Cultural Values
By Robert Reitknecht, Founder, Robert Reitknecht
Industry leaders recognize the importance of culture and people for driving customer satisfaction in addition to technology and business processes. Hospitality organizations stand to significantly gain by focusing on these fundamentals, demonstrated by leading brands like The Ritz-Carlton and Hilton Hotels and Resorts. Research shows that engaged companies can grow profits as much as three times faster than competitors with employees who are 87% less likely to leave. Hotels must create a defined strategy for attracting, engaging and retaining the right people with the right cultural values to better compete and drive guest satisfaction.
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A Sense of Purpose: The Key to inspiring Superior Customer Service Quality
By Steve Curtin, Founder, Steve Curtin LLC
The story and characters that follow may be fiction but the performance improvement principles shared are very real. Too many managers define the totality of their employees’ job roles strictly in terms of job function: possessing adequate job knowledge and demonstrating sufficient job skills. And success is determined by whether or not employees are capable of consistently executing assigned transactions. But little time or attention is paid to employees’ job essence: their purpose – their highest priority - at work. Too often, employees are assigned routine tasks to work on, rather than an inspiring purpose to work toward.
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Making the Most of Technology and Delivering Experiences
By Melissa Fruend, Partner, Global Solutions, LoyaltyOne
Technological innovation is transforming business and our lives. And the travel and hospitality industry is on the front lines, looking for ways to deliver meaningful experiences to guests even as their interactions with staff continue to diminish. According to LoyaltyOne Consulting Partner Melissa Fruend, the key to long-term success for hoteliers is personalization – understanding what make great customer experiences, while leveraging new technologies to adapt services and interactions to guests' changing needs and expectations.
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Coming up in May 2020... |
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Eco-Friendly Practices: Creative Innovation |
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Being eco-friendly is no longer a fad. It is an urgent planetary need and hotels are actively doing their part to reduce their carbon footprint by implementing sustainable, green practices. In addition to the goodwill derived from doing the right thing, hotels are also realizing the benefits to their business. A large percentage of Millennials expect hotels to be eco-friendly and will only patronize those properties that are proudly conforming. Consequently, more hotels are realizing that sustainability is a key element in a successful branding strategy. In addition, going green can lead to a more profitable bottom line, as savings on electricity, water and cleaning materials can add up. Also, there are other advantages that come with being an eco-friendly business, such as government subsidies and tax and loan incentives. As a result, many hotels are finding innovative ways to integrate eco-friendly practices into their business. Geo-thermal energy systems, along with energy-from-waste systems, are being used to heat and cool the property. Passive solar panels, green roofs, natural lighting and natural ventilation strategies also assist in energy conservation. Low-flow water systems and plumbing fixtures make a contribution, as does eco-friendly hardwood flooring, and energy efficient televisions and appliances throughout the property. In addition, some hotels have implemented in-room recycling programs, and only provide all-natural, personal care items. One hotel has actually constructed a bee-keeping operation on their grounds. Not only is this good for the bees but the hotel also produces products from the operation which they sell. This kind of creative innovation also holds enormous appeal to guests. The May issue of the Hotel Business Review will document what some hotels are doing to integrate sustainable practices into their operations and how they are benefiting from them.
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