As hotels start opening and meeting planners begin looking for venues that their clients will be comfortable with, what are the critical items to focus on to ensure capturing the available revenue? How best can you prepare your hotel, your team, and owners for the next 24 months and beyond? Modifying your budgets, sales procedures, marketing plans, revenue expectations and even your comp set during the rebuilding is paramount. READ MORE

Tourism must come back, and the question is how. The industry has a choice: return to business as usual (or worse, take backward steps in progress) or use sustainability as a core driver for a safe return. In this piece, Sabina and Gloria Fluxà, respectively, CEO and Corporate Sustainability Officer (CSO) at Iberostar Group, share what they believe are three key aspects to consider to build a better industry. READ MORE

Times change, styles change, places change. Yet some things remain. Over the last three hundred years we have seen the lodging industry morph from a smattering of mom-and-pop inns into multi-billion-dollar sector of the world economy. We've have seen the modest roadside pub give way to the grand hotels of the early 20th century, the business-class hotel, and sprawling resorts worldwide. Yet through all the changes there remains a constant; The Hotel Lobby, and with it the bar and restaurant. READ MORE

Nearly 8 million hotel and hospitality employees have been laid off or furloughed since the COVID-19 pandemic brought travel to a standstill. But what happens when life resumes and business comes back? Traitify CEO Dan Sines offers advice to hiring managers before they face a tidal wave of applications from unemployed workers looking to return to the industry. READ MORE

August FOCUS

Food & Beverage: New Technological Innovations

The hotel food and beverage (F&B) environment has been impacted significantly by the coronavirus pandemic, leading to many chains being forced by circumstances to pivot to a new way of operating. In the short-term, many hotel F&B divisions have looked at repurposing their spaces, while others have simply stopped operating for the interim. As we move towards the post-Covid world, here's what I expect to see happening in F&B as hotels try to get back to the new normal. READ MORE

When COVID-19 hit, hospitality tech solutions went from a nice to have to a necessity for many hospitality operators who are working to stay open and keep customers and staff safe. However, with bars, restaurants, and hotels at limited capacity, now is the time for venues to look into tech that can also help them beyond the pandemic to see what tools they can use long-term and implement now while they have the time. READ MORE

Wine enthusiasts have started to consume and demand better quality wines during their business trips and holidays, prompting hotels to ramp up their wine-centric experiences. With so many lodging and dining choices, wine programs offer companies a way to stand out and reach a new target audience, especially as the world of hospitality gets back on its feet post COVID-19. Here are some hotels that have successfully implemented wine programs and forged the way for collaboration between the hotel and wine industry. READ MORE

ARCHIVES

More from our online Library Archives...

Dan Vargo

With the ever-changing culinary scene and demands from millennials for locally-sourced ingredients, the executive chef of Hilton Sandestin Beach Golf Resort & Spa, Chef Dan Vargo, discusses his role at the resort and how he's managed seven on-site restaurants, from the property's AAA Four-Diamond restaurant to its pool-side market. The resort's culinary offerings have evolved drastically with the help of trend research and outstanding relationships with local farms. In this piece, Chef Dan will dive into challenges, best practices and new ideas for keeping up with the evolving culinary scene. READ MORE

Mike Nedeau

Here at Geneva National Resort and Club, and at the Inns of Geneva National, we offer that special touch, the extra feel, that…. "Experience "our guests deserve. Whether you stay at our Inns, Golf on our amazing courses, or simply want a Wisconsin lunch in our Grill Room, we have it. Enjoying the experience is just the beginning of being our guest. Creating an experience beyond a few nights in a hotel room is the key to staying competitive with millennials and all of our guests. READ MORE

Coming up in September 2020...

Hotel Group Meetings: Demand vs. Supply

It is a great time for hotel group meetings. It is expected that once again this sector will grow by 5-10% in 2020, partly due to the increasing value of in-person group meetings. Because people now spend so much time in front of their screens, face-to-face interactions have become a more treasured commodity in our modern world. Plus, the use of social media reinforces the value of engagement, discussion, conversation, and networking - all areas where group meetings shine. Despite this rosy outlook, there is a concern that demand for meetings far exceeds the supply of suitable venues and hotels. There are very few "big box" properties with 500-plus rooms and extensive conference facilities being built, and this shortage of inventory could pose a serious challenge for meeting planners. In addition to location concerns, the role of the meeting planner has also evolved significantly. Planners are no longer just meeting coordinators - they are de facto travel agents. Cultural interactions, local dining, experiential travel, and team-building activities are all now a part of their meeting mix. Plus, they have to cater to evolving tastes. Millennials are insisting on healthier venues and activities, and to meet their demands, hotels are making yoga breaks, fresh-pressed juices, plant-based diets, state-of-the-art gyms, and locally-sourced menus available. Millennials are also insisting that meeting venues practice Corporate Social Responsibility, which means upholding sustainable and ethical values; investment in the local community; health and well-being of employees; and general business practices that reflect being good citizens of the planet. Finally, there is a growing trend to merge meetings with other local events, such as music festivals, sporting events, and cultural attractions. The December Hotel Business Review will report on issues relevant to group meetings and will document what some hotels are doing to support this part of their operations.

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