HOTEL BUSINESS REVIEW
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Hotel Design: Global and Cultural Connectivity

By Sergio Saenz Arq., Intl. Assoc. AIA, HKS | August 2024

Belmond Cap Juluca Resort (Photo Credit/ Richard James Taylor)

This article was co-authored by Kevin Underwood, Global Practice Director, Hospitality Partner, HKS

The year 2024 is shaping up to be a record-breaker for international tourism, with visitor levels fully recovered and surpassing those of 2019.

According to the United Nations World Tourism Organization, international tourist arrivals are set to rise 15 percent from last year’s total and to exceed figures for 2019 by 2 percent, suggesting that lingering doubts regarding the safety of travel in the post-Covid era have waned.

By way of illustration, The Mainichi, Japan’s national daily newspaper, recently announced critical aviation fuel shortages as a surge in demand for flights due to increasing inbound tourism has outpaced the supply capacity of fuel refineries. People clearly haven’t lost their passion to travel, explore and experience new places and take time away from home to recharge. This trend is good news for the 200 million to 300 million people around the globe employed in tourism industries, and their families.

Regenerative Tourism and Community Connections

Larger numbers of tourists inevitably have a greater impact not only on the natural and built environment, but also on host communities. There has been a rise in the past few months in the number of peaceful — but media grabbing — protests about overtourism. It’s been three years since Italy banned cruise ships from the Venice lagoon. The city is now introducing a charge for day-trippers arriving on peak days in an attempt to spread demand to quieter days - a response to discontent within the local community. More recently there have been similar demonstrations in both the Canary and Balearic Islands.

Research by global design firm HKS indicates that the hospitality industry generally appreciates the need to both design and manage hotels with environmental sustainability in mind. The spotlight seems, quite understandably, to be shifting, or expanding, to shine more light on the “S” component of ESG (environmental, social and governance) – social issues. These matters not only impact those directly employed in tourism, but also affect wider “host communities” in the most popular and often Instagrammable travel destinations.

In response, strategic planning for tourism development is beginning to explore the theory, principles and practices of “regenerative tourism.” Simply put, strategic planning for regenerative tourism shifts the question away from “what can a destination do for tourism?” to “what can tourism do to contribute to the health and well-being of the destination and its citizens?” The government of New Zealand has been trail-blazing this movement through its Living Standards Framework, which states that focusing on economic growth is of little value if this viewpoint doesn’t consider whether citizens are thriving as human beings.

^{Loma de Vida Spa & Wellness at La Cantera Resort (Photo Credit: Casey Dunn)}

Staffing Matters

Exploring economic development policy at a lofty national level is a valid pursuit as policies should ultimately trickle down to the community level. But from the position of day-to-day hotel operations and design, the hospitality industry can, and must, play its part. “Staffing Matters” is a phrase that has a wonderful double meaning that resonates across the industry.

First, almost every hospitality business seems to be struggling to find and retain staff. Second, in line with the principles of regenerative tourism, the manner by which staff are accommodated, provided for and treated must not be an after-thought, but rather a priority. Understandably, the hospitality sector has focused on designing and curating an exceptional guest experience. But a little leveling-up may be called for in terms of the staff experience. Not only is this the right thing to do, but it’s also the savvy thing to do.

For any hospitality business, it is the front-line staff who are the greatest ambassadors for the business. To this end, some operators are actively encouraging staff to manage work-related Instagram accounts. Others, such as the Joali resort in the Maldives, have opened their back-of-house operations to the travel media. For the hospitality sector, the “S” in ESG could stand for staff. Happy staff equals a happy holiday in the same way that grumpy staff simply make everyone’s experience miserable.

At a recent industry gathering, a senior executive of a luxury hotel brand shared that when he travels the globe to visit his brand’s hotels, General Managers typically want to show him the most attractive public areas and guest suites to demonstrate the quality of the guest experience. At this point, he said, he stops them and asks them to take him to the point of entry into the hotel for staff, show him where staff change for their shift, where they eat and what they eat, before passing through the doors from the back-of-house to the front-of-house areas. He said he does this to make the General Managers realize that focusing on the staff experience is in fact as important, if not more important, than focusing on the visitor experience.

“How can the brand expect staff to treat guests well if they aren’t happy, engaged and positive - sentiments and emotions that they will unknowingly then share in the hundreds of guest interactions that they have every day during the course of their work., the hotel executive said.

^{Bishop’s Lodge, Auberge Resorts Collection (Photo Credit: Gemma and Andrew Ingalls)}

Edutainment

The theme of global and cultural connectivity echoes through another rising trend in the travel market, particularly among the more mature outbound markets looking beyond a passive break, relaxing-on-a-sun-lounger. More travelers want to combine leisure travel with a degree of learning – taking the opportunity to combine education with entertainment.

This is demonstrated by an uptick in demand for science-focused expedition cruises, demand for kids’ camps that include teaching relating to environmental protection or restoration, as well as curated city tours that allow travelers to dig a little deeper into the heritage and culture of the destination. It seems that while the desire for a relaxing break hasn’t waned, people are ever more curious to make new discoveries and learn while they travel. This is reflective of the idea that “travel is the only thing you buy that makes you richer.”

Arrival of the Alphas

As most parents will tell you, if the children are happy then their parents are happy. The term “pester power” was first coined in the late 1970s and it speaks to the fact that for the sake of a quiet life parents will typically make sure that the desires of their offspring are catered to as a priority, whether that’s in the home, at school or on holiday. Today, the cadre applying pester power to good effect is Generation Alpha, those born since 2010. This is very much the iPhone generation, which has been swiping left and right since before they could walk and consequently have had access to more information about more places, activities or experiences than previous generations.

Somewhat unsurprisingly, their level of expectations is high – they have seen pictures of Hallstatt in Austria, Pulpit Rock in Norway, the Firefall in Yosemite and the underwater hotel rooms at Dubai’s Atlantis, the Palm. They are also more aware than adults typically expect of climate change issues, political unrest, the need for diversity in the workplace and even the rights of indigenous communities.

The older Alphas, now in their young teens, are certainly applying pester power in many households to influence vacation choices and the selection and scheduling of activities and experiences that the family travel market is making. The hospitality industry may just be getting our heads around Gen Z, but the Alphas are coming and they’re different again!

^{Hotel Indigo Nanjing Garden Expo (Photo Credit: Shao Zhongrui)}

Chillventures

The pervasive influence of technology that has so significantly impacted the childhood of the Alpha Generation is, of course, affecting adults, too. Data presented by statistica.com suggests that the average time spent per day with digital media has increased during the last decade from 309 minutes to 508 minutes. That’s almost eight-and-a-half hours per day. If people are not looking at their phones, they’re looking at computer screens and if they’re not looking at computer screens, they are looking at Netflix or some other streaming service. This in the context that digital media has only been available for just one lifetime.

Interestingly, research suggests that this lifestyle change has not in fact made people any happier. Somewhat unsurprisingly, travel trend commentators are talking about a rise in demand for what are known as Chillventures or Analog Adventures. According to Skyscanner’s Travel Trends 2024 Report, 78 percent of US travelers think that it’s important to “switch off from modern life on vacation.” It seems reasonable to speculate that this sentiment will only strengthen as our screen time increases by 5 percent, or 18 minutes, every year.

The implication for hotel design and operations is that an increasing number of travelers is looking for a tech-free or analogue destination experience. In this type of calming environment, good sleep is almost guaranteed, and guests can rest, spend time in nature, engage in real/non-virtual engagement with fellow human beings, including fellow travelers as well as the host community, and recharge.

^{AutoCamp Joshua Tree (Photo Credit: Matt Kisiday)}

The Role of Tech

It would be an omission not to mention artificial intelligence and its potential impact on future trends across the hospitality industry. Without a doubt, the ability of AI to enhance building operating systems and yield management and pricing algorithms is increasingly well recognized. However, in the context of global and cultural connectivity, one of the most intriguing trends to watch relates to the potential integration of humanoid robots within the hospitality ecosystem.

The hands of Tesla Inc.’s Optimus robot have 11 degrees of freedom compared to human hands that have 27 degrees of freedom (i.e., ways in which hands can be used and applied). Tesla’s Optimus 3 model, slated for release next year, is expected to have 22 degrees of freedom, meaning that it will be able to undertake many more day-to-day tasks. It’s likely that these robots will form a core part of the workforce in Tesla’s Gigafactory, a high-volume manufacturing plant in Nevada. The robots’ application will almost certainly have far wider impacts.

Robots may not be the best for frontline interactions with hotel guests. When the Henn na Hotel opened in Japan in 2015, it was billed as the world’s first robot-staffed hotel. In 2019, the hotel announced that it would reduce its 243-robot workforce by more than half and return to more traditional human-provided services for guests. Rather than reducing work for their human counterparts, the robots reportedly created more work for the people on staff.

But if hotel operators can automate predictable hotel functions such as laundry and cleaning, management will be freer to focus on humanizing guest interactions, thereby potentially strengthening cultural connectivity with host communities. Robots may have a role to play in regenerative tourism delivery after all.

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In the event that you have chosen to have your membership automatically rebilled, unless and until you notify HotelExecutive that you wish to cancel or terminate your membership to HotelExecutive, you hereby agree and authorize HotelExecutive's Internet Payment Service Provider to automatically renew your membership to HotelExecutive on a continuing basis and to charge your credit card (or other payment means you have selected) to pay for the ongoing cost of your membership. You hereby further authorize HotelExecutive's Internet Payment Service Provider to charge your credit card (or other approved payment means you have selected) for any and all purchases of products, services and entertainment provided to in, at, through or in association with HotelExecutive.

13. PRIVACY POLICY

The following is the Privacy Policy for HotelExecutive

We can be reached via telephone, email, or online at our contact page. When you visit our site we do not log any information regarding your domain or email address. Information Sharing: We do not share user information with any third parties other than via press release distribution as described below.

Hotel Newswire is a newswire service that distributes press releases on behalf of our users. If you decide to submit a press release for distribution through our system we will transmit your entire press release including any personal information therein contained to our media contacts and online distribution points including search engines. This is the only redistribution of your information that we engage in. Your submission of press releases through our system indicates consent with this policy. The information we collect during your registration process is used to notify users about updates to our service and inform users of any special events hosted by Hotel Newswire. This information is not shared with other organizations for commercial or non-commercial purposes.

Cookies: Our system requires the use of cookies to enable the user to log back into our website to access information from the newswire, without having to log in each time using the required username and password.

If you do not want to receive email from us in the future, please let us know by following instructions included in our communication with you. Users who supply us with telephone numbers online may receive telephone contact from us regarding their account, or informing them of new products and services available on the HotelExecutive website. If you do not wish to receive such telephone calls, please edit your account and remove your phone number from your account profile. This can be done from your user account menu.

Ad Servers: We do not partner with or have any relationship with any ad server companies. From time to time, we may use customer information for new uses not previously disclosed in our privacy notice. If our information practices change at any time, we will post the policy changes to our website to notify you of these changes and provide you with the ability to opt out of these new uses. If you are concerned about how your information is used, you should check back at our website periodically.

Upon request we provide site visitors with access to all information (including proprietary information) that we maintain about them. Users can access this information by logging in to their account.

Security: We always use industry-standard encryption technologies while transferring and receiving user data exchanged with our site. We have appropriate security measures in place in our physical facilities to protect against the loss, misuse, or alteration of information that we have collected from you on our site. We do not store credit card information in our systems.

If you feel that this site is not following its stated information policy, you may contact us.

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The Blame Game: When Marketing Blames Revenue Management and Vice Versa

By Connor Vanderholm, CEO, Topline Revenue LLC

Picture this: Marketing campaigns are in full swing, beautifully crafted, and meticulously executed to entice guests. Meanwhile, the revenue management team is diligently fine-tuning pricing strategies to optimize profits. Peaceful and cohesive like a Paula Detlefsen painting. That is until occupancy rates falter or revenues don't meet expectations, then the fingers begin to point."Our marketing efforts are flawless; it's revenue management's pricing strategies that aren't effective!" claim the marketers."Nonsense! Our pricing strategies are on point; it's the marketing campaigns that fail to attract the right audience!" retaliate the revenue managers.The blame game ensues, often escalating tensions and fostering a culture...

Developing a Guest-Centric Culture: Training and Best Practices for Superior Service

By Mychal Milian, General Manager, Waterstone Resort & Marina, Boca Raton - Curio Collection by Hilton

Hospitality, at its core, is about making people feel seen. It’s about creating the kind of moments that cut through the noise of everyday life and lodge themselves in memory forever. I’ve always believed that service is transactional—you give me this, I give you that—but hospitality is transformational. It’s about taking care of people in ways they didn’t even know they needed. Think about your own travels: you may not always remember the room size or the view, but you’ll never forget the way someone made you feel when they went just a little further than required. That’s the...

What Does A Brand Strategy That Incorporates Wellness Deliver to Non-Wellness Properties?

By Simon Saunders, VP of Strategic Health & Wellness, RLA Global

Incorporating wellness initiatives into a brand that has no prior focus on the field of wellness may be viewed as a fruitless exercise. What benefit does wellness in hospitality achieve and who is searching for wellness? Wellness activity can be used as an effective differentiation strategy that gives a brand an appealing competitive edge, providing opportunity and guest interactions, bringing the property closer to their guest by showing a greater comprehension of their health and lifestyles choices. Hospitality can choose to support a guest’s lifestyle. Should a property disrupt habitual behaviours such as exercise, sleep or nutrition then...

Creating An Effective Work Culture

By Jeff Brainard, President, JJB Leadership Solutions, LLC

As businesses and industries move further and further away from the economic and social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the restrictions, rule changes, and impact on workforce associated with the pandemic dissipate, the importance of workplace culture is reemerging in conversation. Several have defined workplace culture as “The personality of an organization from the employee perspective.” Understanding how to build an effective culture is essential to organizational success and if we use this definition, ensuring that culture is aligned with employees as intended is critical to success in all business, but especially in hospitality. Gallup breaks down...

Caring for At-Risk Guests: Increasing Awareness and Going Beyond The Legal Duty

By Robert Schnitz, Head of Hospitality Practice & Partner, Kabat Chapman & Ozmer LLP

Hotels are unique places of business. They not only invite the public on the premises to purchase and enjoy their services like many other commercial retail establishments, but they operate a 24/7 business that provides a wide array of personal services similar to a home or business or that provide a respite or retreat from everyday life. Hotels are also unique in that they can attract certain “at-risk” guests that create operational challenges with legal and reputational risk. Hotel owners and operators have an elevated duty of care for their guests to provide a safe and secure environment, and...

How Local Activations and Community Engagement Drive Hotel Success

By Mychal Milian, General Manager, Waterstone Resort & Marina, Boca Raton - Curio Collection by Hilton

I used to treat ADR and RevPAR as gospel—twin pillars holding up the temple of “successful” hotel management. Then a six‑year‑old shuffled into our lobby, laced his fingers through Santa’s glove, and whispered that we were the only place he’d get to meet the Big Guy this year. In that moment another KPI muscled its way onto my dashboard: emotional equity. Local activations—those deliberately crafted experiences that weave a hotel into the fabric of its neighborhood—are how we mint that currency. They flip a box of guestrooms into a clubhouse, turn one‑night stands into regulars, and transform a...

Implementing Transformative Hotel Sustainability Data Management Practices

By Alina Arnelle, Chief Sustainability Officer, BeCause

As the European Union gets set to introduce new regulatory frameworks governing environmental, social governance (ESG) and sustainability reporting, many hotels operating in the region face a similar problem: the efficient management and availability of trustworthy data about their environmental footprint that they can easily share with stakeholders in a standardized format. But this isn't just an EU issue, few hotels around the world possess the valuable insight required for them to reduce their harmful impact on the planet. That is, unfortunately, due to the industry-wide reliance on inefficient and manual processes - think emails, surveys, spreadsheets and checkboxes...

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By Sergio Saenz Arq., Intl. Assoc. AIA, HKS | August 2024

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