NASHVILLE, Tennessee — The collective mindset of the hotel industry is there is now a unique opportunity to change for the better.
How this change plays out will have distinct benefits for the future of hospitality and the associates who work in it, according to panelists who participated in the “Bourbon with the bosses” panel at the Hotel Data Conference co-hosted by STR and Hotel News Now.
Panelists said there is no doubt the pandemic has been a major influence on everyone's worldview, including new and future employees.
“It will be fascinating to see what the full impact of the pandemic will be on [Generation] Z, our future leaders. Our industry is expressive, and their recent experience might not have been,” said Erika Alexander, chief global officer of global operations at Marriott International.
Amanda Hite, president of STR — CoStar's hospitality analytics firm — said reaching younger generations requires creative thinking.
“How do you connect with people who grew up in a different world? TikTok videos?” Hite asked.
James Carroll, president and CEO, Crestline Hotels & Resorts, wondered about the possible repercussions of the hybrid work environment of the past two years.
“Will it be positive?” he asked.
The panel produced as many questions as it did strategic answers, but underlying everything was the need to focus on people even more than before. People has been the main subject of many conference panels over the last half decade, not just the 24 months and more of the pandemic.
Mitch Patel, president and CEO, Vision Hospitality Group, took a moment during the panel to honor the memory of Corry Oakes, CEO at Spartanburg, South Carolina-based hotel ownership company OTO Development. Oakes died suddenly on Aug. 7.
“We lost our friend Corry Oakes last week," Patel said. "Life is precious. We’re blessed in this industry, but we need to pause to realize why we are so blessed."
Business Outlook
The future is looking a lot brighter for the hotel industry than it did only a few months ago, panelists agreed, but there are sectors that still have not come back to the party.
“The industry is profitable when we have catering and meetings, but these will come back," Hite said. "They say this industry does not change swiftly, but operators on the ground do change, and they change very rapidly."
Alexander said industry knowledge is vital but so is reacting to what is required right now.
“New labor does not know the industry. We must challenge some of the paradigms we have held onto for many years. How do we balance expectations while improving service?” she said.
Carroll agreed, adding that while the crisis and new work models have allowed some staff to get new opportunities, that is not always the case across the board, and management needs to be aware of the challenges to other employees.
“Labor was a problem [before COVID-19], too, but now we have an incredible opportunity to change the business model,” Patel said, who praised Marriott for being flexible and allowing Vision Hospitality to amend its housekeeping operations when it needed to change them.
Similarly, the hotel industry should adopt some significant changes to make hotel stays more convenient for guests, Patel said.
“We’re in the convenience business. No one carries cash anymore," he said. "Why not have this convenience to pay housekeepers tips? And to change cancellation policies? This is not about collecting more dollars but about getting more discipline."
Alexander said the new operations require systems to be seamless and convenient while containing a higher level of customer confidence.
Panelists spoke of travel challenges.
“My family just came back from Europe, and they said every aspect of their travel was affected. There was even a 200-plus line at the airport Starbucks,” Patel said.
“I just want to know how we can get our guests to clean their own rooms. Maybe give them a $10 discount,” Carroll joked.
Energy and Leadership
Patel said the bleisure trend has energized him and his team at Vision Hospitality.
“It is here to stay. We must embrace it and make opportunity from it,” he said.
Hite said increased spending on household goods during the pandemic can never be a full replacement for travel.
“Travel is about finding connections,” she said, adding both pent-up and ongoing demand will see the rooms booking calendar fundamentally change.
“Seasonality is starting to flatten,” Carroll agreed.
Alexander added the last crisis has made management realize the importance of setting aside time to think about the future and what it means for everyone in the industry.
“You have to make time for that,” she said.
Carroll, who was a fighter pilot before becoming a student at business school, said he had learned lessons from both.
“From flight school, I learned to be calm, work the problem, rely on your training and that of others, stay positive and never give up, while from business school, always have contingency plans, and debrief,” he said. “The pandemic gave us opportunities to try new things, and of course we messed up a few."
It was fine to take the wrong path on occasion when occupancy had fallen through the floor, panelists said, and industrywide, hoteliers have some regrets about the hard choices that were made.
“Trust was lost,” Patel said. “Now, though, wages and career paths are the best we have ever been, but we have to market that."
Alexander said she has always celebrated people, but not sufficiently.
“We might say thank you, but not enough. There are big problems, but there are a million successes every day,” she said.
Patel said the last three crises — 9/11, the Great Recession and COVID-19 — have proved beyond a doubt that the hotel industry is a sustainable one.
“On the other side, there is an African proverb that says, ‘smooth seas never made a skilled sailor,'” he added.