Innovation
An Interview with the Pioneers of 21 House of Stories - By Beatrice Odelli
21 House of Stories: Revolutionizing Hospitality by Embracing Emerging Trends and Future Challenges
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Feature Articles
Luxury Market
The Future of Luxury Experiences: Where Luxury Meets Hospitality - By Dr Matthias Fuchs
The luxury industry is undergoing a change. As a result, its products are reaching more and more people. In order to avoid losing exclusivity and uniqueness, many brands are now relying on 'experiences'. These are enabling them to strengthen their relationships with their customers, offering them a unique experience without sacrificing status or reputation.
Future Of Travel
Deloitte: Facing Travel's Future - Key Forces Reshaping the Travel and Tourism Industry
Economic, social, and technological shifts are pushing the travel industry toward seismic change. Learn more about these key changes, their implications on the future of travel, and how travel and tourism companies can adapt to meet evolving traveler expectations.
Generationalism
Time To Eliminate Generationalism in the Hotel Workplace: Myth of Generational Differences Has Been Busted by Research - By Doug Kennedy
As my frequent readers know, I have been bemoaning the myths that are thrown out as facts at conferences, podcasts, and in books and blogs that, at best, mislead hospitality leaders and at worst, lead to discrimination based on birth year. Generationism is harmful, just like racism and sexism. Worse yet, many of those spewing these falsehoods are making a handsome profit by doing so.
Hotel Industry Challenges
HVS Editorial - Riding the CFO Roundabout: Securing Hospitality's Financial Leadership Future - By Bill Conn
Since 2022, hospitality has seen a 30% increase in CFO turnover and a significant demand for financial executives. This trend, driven by post-COVID-19 burnout, remote work popularity and high inflation, reflects broader economic phenomena. High CFO turnover disrupts strategic initiatives, even while introducing fresh outlooks and innovation. Companies must balance retaining experienced leadership with embracing new ideas and fostering an adaptable culture to ensure resilience and sustainability.
Service Excellence
Defining Service Excellence: Setting the Highest Standards of Service in 2024 - By Kimberly Yoong
Once upon a time, in a land far, far away, there lived a time when excellent service was the hallmark of a luxury experience - one that was desired by the people and delivered by the best of companies. Today, it is an aspect of the service sector that has come to be expected by customers.
Guest Of The Future
The Hospitality Guest of the Future - By Anjusha Chemmanur and Leila Jiwnani
The hospitality industry is constantly trying to keep up with ever changing consumer demands. Some of the key factors driving the change include generational shifts, technology developments, increased ESG compliance requirements, more demand for personalised experiences and finally the blurring of lines between business and leisure travel.
Customer Experience
How the Best Hotels in the World Deliver Exceptional Customer Experience
Luxury hospitality begins with a signature property, but a well-situated, beautifully designed hotel is only a start. Stellar service, driven by devoted hotel staff, is what makes a great property come alive. As one general manager (GM) of a luxury hotel told us in an interview, 'Our facility is our stage, and guests are paying for a performance.'
Constructive Criticism or Toxic Comments? How to Make the Difference?
Criticism is never easy to take, but at some point in your professional life, you will receive it and may also have to give it. Although it might not feel like it at the time, receiving criticism can be a positive and enriching experience. It can help you identify gaps in your knowledge and enable you to see certain situations in a different way. Constructive criticism, by its nature, aims to support growth and improvement, making it an invaluable tool for personal and professional development.
Crisis Management
Public Relations Crisis Management in Hospitality & Tourism: A Guide to Overcoming Challenges
A crisis can hit any business at any time. It could start as negative news that snowballs, terrible online reviews, or even an ill-advised foray into social media. This type of event can tarnish your brand, harm your relationship with your customers, and have a damaging effect on key business outcomes.
Sustainable Travel
How Can We Transform Travel into a Force for Good?
Pollution, overtourism, and local residents displaced by tourists. These are just some of the concerns that have plagued destinations such as Venice, Barcelona, and Hat Maya, the bay made famous by the film, The Beach, in Thailand. But it doesn't have to be this way.
Corporate Social Responsibility
What is the Triple Bottom Line and How Does It Work?
In a world where corporate greed and profiteering have been cited as two of the primary drivers behind the ongoing cost-of-living crisis that’s increasing financial hardship across Europe, the idea that businesses could exist for any reason other than profit seems hard to fathom. However, there’s a school of thought, called the triple bottom line (TBL), which suggests that businesses should be just as committed to improving the lives of people and the planet as they are to boosting their profits.
Goal Setting
Want to Achieve Your Dreams? Try Subdividing Your Goals
Breaking down big work goals into smaller components can enhance long-term success significantly, Wharton research shows.
Building Relationships
Trust and Relationships: The Twin Pillars of Hospitality Business Growth - By Alan Young
The hospitality industry is all about relationships. Relationships between co-workers, guests, those in positions of prominence, and those cementing their place are of paramount concern. Without the relationships that are the bedrock of our industry, we would be nothing more than those who work in a building where people sleep in rooms.
Employee Engagement
Employee Engagement: The Method Behind Hospitality Success
Imagine a luxury hotel where front desk staff greet you warmly, housekeepers meticulously prepare your room, and servers delight you with their attentive service. Now imagine the opposite: a hotel where staff seem unhappy in their roles and indifferent to your needs. The contrast is stark, and it underscores a fundamental truth about hospitality - employee engagement and customer experience are powerfully intertwined.
Student Housing
Interview - CampusX: Connection, Growth and Innovation - By Beatrice Odelli
An interview with Gianluca Guarino, Revenue Manager at CampusX (CX). Founded in 2011, the company aims to revolutionize the student campus offer in Italy, following the most evolved Scandinavian and Anglo-Saxon models and re-thinking them for the eco-sustainable, connected, smart world of today.
Guest Service Excellence
The Critical Role of Leadership in Championing Guest Service in the Hospitality Industry - By Alan Young
In the last several weeks, I've been chatting with many people about the hotel industry's continued decline in guest service. The consensus seems to be that the downturn is due to factors such as the need for passionate hospitality workers, insufficient training initiatives for frontline employees, and the fact that, in some instances, management is more focused on data than on developing a culture of excellent service.
Guest Service Excellence
Overcoming The Huge Disconnect Between Service Mottos and What Guests Actually Experience - By Doug Kennedy
I ask you, the corporate executives, General Managers, and department heads, when was the last time you discussed the concept of hospitality and guest service excellence with your frontline associates? How often have these recently been topics for staff meetings? How much formal training have you put your staff through on these subjects?
Continuous Improvement
How to Foster Continuous Improvement in the Hospitality Industry
To thrive in the hospitality industry, businesses must continuously improve their offer to adapt to industry trends and guests' evolving preferences. Achieving this requires a highly adaptive organization with a culture of continuous improvement that fosters adaptability, innovation and an openness to transformation.
Great Customer Service
Decoding Consumer Psychology: Secrets to Customer Delight
By strategically integrating joy and surprise into your customer interactions, you tap into the realm of consumer psychology. Understanding the triggers that evoke positive emotions allows you to craft memorable experiences, strengthening the bond between customers and your brand. Here are a few expert tips to elevate your approach and create lasting impressions.
Service Excellence
Has the 'New' Service Culture Become the 'No' Service Culture? - By Alan Young
A behind-the-scenes peek into the heartbeat of service success in the hotel industry and questioning if the 'new' is, in fact, ushering in a 'no' service
Hospitality Trends
10 Hospitality Trends for 2024 from EHL Insights
As a testament to its resilience, agility and innovative spirit, this article reflects today's increasingly dynamic hospitality industry in terms of its long, medium and short-term evolution. Discover the industry's adaptability and forward-thinking approach, shaping its trajectory in the face of challenges and opportunities, while staying attuned to the latest hospitality trends.
Service Recovery
Beyond Apologies: 7 Keys to Service Recovery After a Mistake - By Shyla Ratna
In a world where customer expectations are constantly rising, and social media can amplify experiences, service recovery has become an essential part of any company aiming to maintain customer loyalty.
Artificial Intelligence
How Much Can AI Improve Human Performance?
AI training enhances strategic skills, especially in lower-skilled individuals. But research shows it isn't a perfect substitute for human training partners.
Guest Service Excellence
Merriam-Webster's Word Of the Year For 2023 Is 'Authentic': Is Being So More Important Than Ever Before To Our Guests? - By Doug Kennedy
As the final days of this year slip away, how interesting it is that Merriam-Webster's Word of the Year for 2023 is 'Authentic,' meaning it was the 'most searched' on their site. Because I failed miserably at learning a second language, I have become somewhat of an Etymologist, so I was eager to see how Merriam Webster defined it in their announcement.