1st Quarter 2015

spotlight on

Luxury Hotel GMs

revenue trends

2015

ask the concierge

the evolution of guest experience

understanding the

cloud and big data

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MASTER’S DEGREE IN HOSPITALITY

MANAGEMENT

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MASTER’S DEGREE IN HOSPITALITY

MANAGEMENT5 luxury hotel GMs on trends for 2015, experience-based travel, sustainability, and staying ahead of technology expectations

04 SPOTLIGHT ON Laurence Dubey, General Manager, Viceroy Miami

08 SPOTLIGHT ON Robert Petrovic, General Manager, The Ritz-Carlton, Berlin

10 SPOTLIGHT ON Christophe Schnyder, General Manager, Sofitel The Palm Dubai

14 SPOTLIGHT ON Edouard Grosmangin, General Manager, Six Senses Zil Pasyon, Seychelles

18 SPOTLIGHT ON Gonzalo Maggi Bescos, General Manager, W Hotel Hoboken, New Jersey

20 2015 Luxury HOTeL TreNd SNaPSHOTMega trends identified

22 TIP-reLaTed cLaImS wILL cONTINue TO be Served uP aS THe LawSuIT du JOur aGaINST THe HOSPITaLITy INduSTry IN 2015

ContentsJeffrey Ruzal, Senior Counsel in Labor and Employment Practice outlines best practices

25 deSIGN THe IdeaL HOTeL LOyaLTy PrOGramDo you know what your guests want from your Hotel Loyalty Program?

28 dOeS yOur braNd INcLude OPTImISm?Building a strategy that creates positive outcomes for staff, guests and your hotel

30 7 reveNue TreNdS INfLueNcING THe Luxury HOTeL INduSTry IN 2015Emerging trends to watch this year

33 Luxury HOTeL cHeckmaTeShowcase: a customer experience business strategy approach to differentiate from the competition

36 Luxury HOTeLS IN THe cLOudUnderstanding the cloud and big data

39 brING yOur OwN devIce (byOd) IN THe wOrLd Of HOSPITaLITyHow to create a mobile-

friendly environment for your guests

42 aSk THe cONcIerGe HOw GueST exPerIeNce HaS evOLvedInternational Concierges on the challenges of exceeding expectations

46 THe NeweST SkILL a cOrPOraTe f&b NeedSBob Midyette, Corporate F&B with IHG, on capturing your guest’s attention, menu variety trends, and consumer value perception

48 INNOvaTION Or INcremeNTaLISm? are yOu cHaNGING faST eNOuGH?Are you unsure of just how much you need to innovate, or where to start?

50 IS IT TIme TO make a reNewabLe eNerGy baSed New year’S reSOLuTION?Sustainability: Successful Renewable Energy Technologies for hoteliers

54 4 reaSONS wHy ceNTraLIzING ONLINe markeTING by HOTeL cOmPaNIeS IS a bad Idea!Local Knowledge and Expertise

need to be considered when centralizing marketing processes

57 INTervIew HarLaN GOLdSTeIN HONG kONG ceLebrITy cHefChef Harlan on influential trends, his philosophy, and how he motivates his winning team

59 a fLawLeSS PerfOrmaNceEvent planning covered: essential ingredients for success

62 10 cOmmON mISTakeS HOTeLIerS make wHeN THey aPPrOacH aN OrGaNIc breakfaSTWellness travel is a growing trend don’t make these faux pas

64 SPecIaLITy Tea IS NOw THe faSTeST GrOwING SecTOr Of THe Tea markeT5 ways to make your tea service an engaging experience

66 HOSPITaLITy INduSTry & cuSTOmer eNGaGemeNTHow Hotels can use Mobile Apps to communicate more effectively with their guests and staff

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ILHA 3Want to advertise in Luxury Hoteliers or write an article? Contact Sharon Hirschowitz +1 941 866 1951

Laurence Dubey General Manager, Viceroy Miami

sPotLIGHt on

LAURENCE DUBEY is the General Manager of the Viceroy Miami, a destination in itself, located in Miami’s trending urban financial district, Brickell. The hotel is a gorgeous ensemble of innovation, superb design, global cuisine and the perfect amount of decadence. Laurence shares a little of her journey, her views on how luxury has evolved and how The Viceroy has addressed megatrends like technology, wellness travel and social media

Did you have an “aha” moment when you knew that the luxury

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hotel industry was for you, or did it happen by chance?From a very young age, I was extremely keen on traveling and experiencing other horizons. My family is very diversified and encouraged me to travel and learn about other cultures and countries. My decision to work in luxury hospitality happened by chance. I applied to a number of international schools and the first acceptance letter I received was from the Ecole hoteliere de Lausanne in Switzerland, an over century old school that is world-renowned for hotel management. That is how I started my career.

Your roots are in Switzerland, I believe. How did your career take you to the Viceroy Hotel in Miami?I was born and raised in Lausanne, Switzerland, where I also attended school for hotel management. I believe that most of us, once we reach a certain level of independence in our career, tend to follow great leaders and that is exactly what happened when I joined Viceroy Hotel Group in 2009. After spending 10 exceptional years with The Ritz-Carlton hotel company, I decided to move back to Miami and join this innovative and vibrant younger hotel company with the personal goal of hopefully becoming part of its international growth

What advice would you give to someone interested in a career with a luxury hotel, who would like to travel and work?I find it somewhat difficult to give advice to younger professionals

who are looking to start their career now as the environment has drastically changed since I began my own career two decades ago. What I try to share with all of the colleagues at Viceroy Miami is that this career needs to be driven by a true passion for hospitality. Today, guests’ expectations are higher than ever before and are influenced with two major changes: their sense of urgency is heightened and their feedback is often brutal and made instantly public over social media. An aspiring hotelier needs to be ready to act and adjust very quickly and have a thick skin. I wish all hotel schools would teach the leaders of tomorrow to improve their EIQ along with other skills to be properly equipped for this profession

The definition of luxury has changed the last few years, and guests are seeking out customized travel where they can pursue personal interests and learn more about the local community. Have you noticed this trend in your hotel?Absolutely, I find that guests thoroughly research their travels and often times become as knowledgeable as the hotel concierge on what to do or see in a specific location. Travel is not as exotic as it once was because it has become more accessible in more recent years. The popularity of some social media websites, such as Instagram and Vine, instill a new sense of discovering unique local experiences, which are not necessarily listed on Trip Advisor’s top 10 list of tourist attractions

Wellness travel is a key trend that

is growing in popularity, and your spa, designed by Philippe Starck, does appear to be a focal point of your hotel. Would you have any suggestions for a weary traveler in need of pampering?Miami is all about wellness inside and out! I take a strong personal interest in wellness programs for our guests and colleagues. Viceroy Miami has one of the most spectacular spas and fitness centers in the city and within our company portfolio. We try to remain innovators in our spa programs and have successfully launched the following new programs: 1. the HydraFacial treatment, a revolutionary non-invasive method for anti-aging. 2. a new and green product line from Europe that supports reforestation with every product sold in our spa. 3. Lastly, we also offer new packages specifically designed for gentlemen, including facials, body treatments, manicure and pedicures – and for expectant mothers – personal training sessions to eliminate any potential weight gain, body and skin

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treatments focused on relaxation and skin hydration.

You take a personal interest in responding to guest reviews on social media. How do you manage a bad review?I believe that the best policy when handling reviews is to be genuinely honest. If we missed our mission to delight a guest, we should acknowledge it and not hide behind any useless explanations. It is increasingly difficult for hotels to find out that a guest did not have a pleasant stay through an online review – after the guest already departed and when it is too late to try and turn their experience around

What changes in technology have you made to improve guest experience?Technology is a never-ending topic for us. We had two Internet upgrades and TV system changes this year alone and continue to seek ways to provide faster service

for our guests. We are working on a better blue tooth sound system and larger charging stations for mobile devices in our guestrooms. Most hotel companies do not evolve as fast as technology. Luckily, Viceroy Hotel Group remains steadfast on making changes faster than the rest of the market, which allow us to be extremely competitive in the coming years

How do you motivate your team and help them deliver service that constantly exceeds guest expectations?Open communication and constant recognition are absolute musts to keep our team motivated. I had to learn – and I am still working on – letting go of details and not micromanaging my team as I tend to be a perfectionist. Micromanaging tends to demotivate people and should not be part of any company’s culture. We also proudly endorse the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Dr. Stephen Covey.

Additionally, I am a facilitator, which all of our leaders use to motivate and encourage colleagues at the hotel

Suppose you had guests celebrating a special evening at the Viceroy Miami. What would be your recommendations?Most of our leisure guests try to come in early to celebrate special occasions. I would start with a spa ritual in a treatment room or in the guestroom, followed by a romantic dinner at 15th and Vine Kitchen and Bar overlooking Brickell Avenue and Biscayne Bay from our 15th floor. After dinner, I suggest taking the elevator up to the 50th floor rooftop to enjoy a cocktail, listen to one of the up and coming DJs, and be mesmerized by the 270-degree panoramic views of the city skyline from FIFTY Ultra Lounge

What trends do you predict for the luxury hotel industry in 2015?I believe that three main areas will continue to be of focus for our guests in 2015, including updated and seamless technology – faster and more; a greater sense of urgency and flexibility for our guests – services provided faster, ease of reservation process, no cancellation penalties, etc.; and a continued commitment to support green and social initiatives

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sPotLIGHt onChristophe schnyder General Manager, Sofitel The Palm Dubai

CHRISTOPHE SCHNYDER hails from a hotelier family in Lausanne, Switzerland, and his career in the luxury hotel industry has taken him across multiple continents, from the United States, Europe and the United Kingdom to various five-star properties in the Middle East. Sofitel The Palm has received multiple awards, and is a leader in the Sustainable Hotel class. Christophe talks to us about these achievements, and the importance of a green approach, wellness travel and managing social media effectively.

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How have you positioned your hotel as a leader in this category? What was your strategy?Sofitel The Palm Dubai offers a unique Polynesian concept and from the very beginning we have focused our efforts not only to offer a new destination in Dubai to our international guests but also to the local residents who are always very eager to discover new hotels, restaurants and Spa facilities. Amongst several accolades, Sofitel The Palm Dubai has been awarded ‘Best Environmental Innovation ‘ at the 2014 Middle East Hotel Awards and the Green Globe Certification, which are a testimony of our commitment towards sustainability; furthermore, we will be receiving 3 awards at the International Hotel Award ceremony in London early next year, namely the ‘5* Awards for ‘Best Resort Hotel in Dubai, Spa Hotel and Sustainable Hotel’. Strongly supported by ACCOR’s global networking and distribution, we have been successful in achieving above expectations results during the first full year of operation

Have you taken a different approach to the hiring process to improve guest experience?With Dubai’s rapid expansion in the hospitality sector, it is becoming increasingly difficult to recruit qualified professionals with the required experience to occupy mid and high management roles. We are therefore investing in a lot of training hours for the existing team in order to grow the workforce from within. We believe that this is the most effective way to retain

talent which will ultimately bring increased guest satisfaction levels

Sofitel The Palm - Main PoolWhat, do you believe, are the key trends influencing the luxury hotel industry in 2015?A large number of five-star hotels will be ready to open in 2015 and, in my opinion; creativity in all sectors will be the key to retain the existing clientele and attract additional footfall. Topics such as healthy living and sustainability are gaining importance day by day; hotels need to be ready with adapted menus and a Green approach. Another trend is definitely Social Media which needs to be managed adequately as it is a key driver for future business

How have you seen guest expectations shift in the last few years?Yes definitely, guests nowadays are much better travelled than before, mainly due to the availability of new destinations and massive development of the airline routes over the years resulting in affordable airline fares. As a result, guests are able to compare services and prices available with previous experiences, which increase their

expectations. Furthermore, due to well-known hotel rating sites, guests already have a pretty good idea of what they will experience prior to their arrival

What role does technology play in enhancing guest experience?Technology can greatly enhance the guest experience if it is customer friendly. Our hotel has invested a significant amount of money to ensure that our systems support the increasing needs of our clientele when it comes to Wi-Fi connectivity and Internet Speed. We believe that in the coming years most of the services will be piloted from handheld devices when it comes to bookings, obtaining general information on the hotel or even liaising directly with the Concierge online for reservations, etc

What are your goals for 2015?We have successfully implemented ISO 9001-2008 and 14001-2004 systems; in a nutshell, the objective now is to further enhance our processes in order to deliver consistent superior service to our guests which will create more awareness about the Resort, thus generating more business

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sPotLIGHt onRobert Petrovic

General Manager, The Ritz-CarltonBerlin

ROBERT PETROVIC General Manager of The Ritz-Carlton Berlin, knows how important it is to create unforgettable experiences that translate into everlasting memories. Activities at this ultra luxury hotel are crafted to delight all the senses and his team are encouraged to explore their creativity and think outside the box. Robert tells us about their recently launched Mobile App that allows guests to stay in touch wherever they are, and how they have turned Ritz-Carlton community events into local annual highlights.

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New trends in travel have transformed guest expectations the last few years. What are some of the subtle changes you have made to surprise and delight your guests? Could you give an example?Today’s expectations have changed. People want to be surprised and experience something new, something extraordinary, something they want to talk about and share with the world

They want to take their experience home. Our focus is to provide genuine services and to create memories for a lifetime.

All our activities at The Ritz-Carlton, Berlin are under the slogan “Look – Taste – Feel”

With this guidance of “Look – Taste – Feel” our Ladies and Gentlemen created unique and inspiring approaches to touch our guests:

Fragrances: Arnd Heissen’s (Bar Manager) unique bar concept of perfume inspired cocktails combines the world of aromas with highest mixology skills

A bar opening ceremony by our beefeater Robert in the main bar – The Curtain Club

Organic vegetables on the menus which we grow on our own local organic field

Production of our own organic honey on our rooftop in the middle of Berlin

Furthermore we have created and established events which have become highlights in Berlin’s yearly event calendar: The Ritz-Kids Festival as well as The Ritz-Carlton

Chocolate Day. Both events are mainly for our local community, are unique in the city and enliven the senses

What does your guest expect from technology when they visit the Ritz-Carlton Berlin?I believe travelers are increasingly demanding when it comes to the ability to access and do anything, anywhere from any device and we want to meet that demand

That is why we, as a company, have launched a new Mobile App which ensures our guests easy access to all our services wherever they are.

Guests can easily book a room, arrange airport transfers, process an online check-in and order their lunch via In Room Dining which

will be ready upon the time when the guest arrives at the hotel. The App also offers information about the invoice and guests are able to proceed a quick check-out without going to the reception

Customers are also more conscious about environmental responsibility. We are an EMAS certified hotel and our employees strive every day for innovative ideas to work more efficient and improve procedures to support our environment. Our latest environmental initiative is an E-Car by Volkswagen which our Ladies and Gentlemen can use for short distance drives and sales activities in Berlin

By the way: The EU Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS) is a European Community

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What changes have you made to guest rooms to stay at the forefront of design?I won’t say much about that as we are planning a milestone change for our hotel soon and we want to surprise our guests

How would you describe your management style?I compare myself to a conductor. I am focused on the development of our Ladies and Gentlemen, their skills, their individual characters. My goal is to empower and support them to be the best in what they are doing. It is my daily motivation to see their creativity because they have the opportunity to think and decide out of the box

Do you use social media to connect with guests? What are your most successful platforms?Right now Facebook is our most used social media platform to interact with guests and their experiences; but we are presenting our brand on 12 additional online channels to reach all our customers. Pinterest is very meaningful to inspire wedding and event planners

Instagram for example is my favorite platform by guests sharing impressions from whatever they are experiencing during their journey with us

Do you think 2015 will be a good year for the European luxury hotel market?The most important factors are political and economic stability, if this is provided, people will travel

management tool for companies and organizations to evaluate, report and improve their environmental performance. The scheme has been available to companies since 1995 but in 2001 EMAS has been open to all economic sectors including public and private services. The Ritz-Carlton, Berlin fulfills the demanding standards of EMAS for the fourth year in a row

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EDOUARD GROSMANGIN is the General Manager of Six Senses’ first hotel in the Seychelles, the Six Senses Zil Pasyon, expected to open in 2015 on the private island of Félicité. Designed to blend effortlessly into its environment, with a backdrop of dramatic granite boulders and a tranquil shoreline, the resort will offer guests a personal sanctuary in the midst of nature. Edouard tells us about future projects, how technology needs to be non-invasive, and creating crafted experiences.

sPotLIGHt onedouard Grosmangin General Manager, Six Senses Zil Pasyon, Seychelles

Will we be seeing any new and exciting developments with your brand in the near future?Yes, we have many exciting new projects underway. In addition to the opening of Six Senses Zil Pasyon in the Seychelles in 2015, Six Senses will open properties in China at the base of Qing Cheng Mountain outside Chengdu and a

fabulous resort in Portugal in the wine region of Douro Valley. Six Senses Spas are also slated to open in Oman at Al Bustan Palace, A Ritz-Carlton Resort in Muscat; Greece at The Belvedere in Mykonos; India at Lodha Belmondo in Pune and Spain at Puente Romano Beach Resort in Marbella

What key trends are you paying

attention to during 2015?Trends that are key for Six Senses are the importance of wellness and sustainability. Next year we will augment our Yogic Programs with a Sleep Program as well as super foods initiative and nutritional guidelines to ensure we deliver an amazing dining program at all resorts

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How do you motivate your team?I trust them!

I share my passion and commitment for excellence with an emotional and yet genuine attitude, and I empower them to work together and use our different strengths to achieve our goals

Guest service has evolved the last few years. What has been your biggest challenge keeping up with guest expectations?In my opinion, guest service has not really evolved. Service excellence delivered with emotion has always existed – at Six Senses we call it emotional hospitality and it is one of our values. However, some companies have realized the importance of the human factor and that the customer now has the choice to be loyal to a brand and not necessary to a destination. Customers can now share “live” their opinions through social media and that aspect of the service experience is evolving and making

all businesses more responsive and focused on building lasting relationships

How important a role does technology play in improving the quality of guest service?Technology changes daily and our needs are also changing. Technology has to remain user friendly and convenient; not invasive. At Six Senses Zil Pasyon here in the Seychelles we are offering an app that will allow guests to operate lighting, room temperature and other systems right on their smartphone. The technology is there for people who want it and at the same time not mandatory for people who are not inclined

Has the interest in experience-based travel had an impact on your hotel brand?It is all about experiences at Six Senses, so yes! Another of our values in crafted experiences. We spend a lot of time thinking

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about interesting and personalized activities that will make for memorable experiences. We strive to offer activities that are unique and special to the destination. From paragliding into the resort at Six Senses Zighy Bay, an open-air cinema under the stars at Six Senses Yoi Noi, to amazing dinners in special settings like our wine cave at Six Senses Nihn Van Bay which is located inside a natural stone cave on the property – we are always looking to deliver the out of the ordinary

What new skills or personality traits are you looking for when recruiting a new team member?I am more interested in finding the right fit for a team than to find

a singular champion. I personally believe in trust and passion more than anything else

How has social media influenced the way you interact with customers?Social media has dramatically impacted the way we communicate with customers, we very much believe in social media and using the various platforms to engage and build relationships with existing and future customers. Six Senses has dedicated Facebook pages for all resorts and spas and also has a presence on Twitter, Instagram and others

What are your goals for the next year?

To lead a team of talented people from different cultures who embrace our Six Senses values in order to successfully launch a very special and beautiful private island resort. We want to delight our guests and I firmly believe we will do that by keeping our hosts engaged, challenged and happy

Do you have any advice for someone wanting to make the shift into the luxury hotel industry?Think twice! It is much more than just a job. But for anyone who is passionate about travel and enjoys dealing with people, food & beverage, design, sustainability and wellness – it is a magical and fulfilling world

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sPotLIGHt onGonzalo Maggi Bescos General Manager, W Hotel HobokenNew Jersey

GONZALO BESCOS believes that technology plays an invaluable role in guest experience at every touch point of the journey, and tells us about W’s new key less check in system and how their guests are using Instagram to share stories and connect. His team are in the business of creating memorable moments for their guests, handpicked for their passion for the industry and genuine personalities

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Will we be seeing any new and exciting developments with your brand in the near future?One of the best additions to the brand is for our guests to experience the key less check in. This option will be available to all SPG members that book through our internal channels. Those guests that opt to experience the key less check in will be able to unlock their rooms by using the SPG application

What key trends are you paying attention to during 2015?Guests want to have more personal and tailor made moments while staying in hotels. So we are focusing on creating unique experiences in a personal way while maintaining the passion points of our W Brand (Music, Fashion and Design)

We will continuously invest in technology, which will enhance the experience of our guests before they arrive, while they are with us and even after they have departed. We know that guests want to have control over their experience and we provide the tools which help them do it in their own way

How do you motivate your team?The same attention which is given to our guests is provided to our talents as they are the most valuable asset we have. We want to create memorable moments for them, getting to know them better and have fun along the way

Guest service has evolved the last few years. What has been your biggest challenge keeping up with guest expectations?

Travelers nowadays have a great knowledge of what is available out there; they have more tools to explore and become familiar with information about the hotel, the city, etc. I believe that we need to focus on the basics of service delivery to be able to continuously provide our service promise while going out of our way to get to know our guest better than ever before. Basically, the key to success against competitors will be to identify what the guest thinks before they have realized it!

How important a role does technology play in improving the quality of guest service?I certainly believe that technology enhances the guest experience overall and provides the opportunity to have more control over their experience. However the quality of the guest experience truly comes from human touch while maintaining a steady service level and by creating personalized WOW moments

What new skills or personality

traits are you looking for when recruiting a new team member?When we are looking for new talent we always look for a personality that will blend with our brand, someone that is at the same time genuine, professional and passionate about hospitality, even if they have never worked in the industry before

How has social media influenced the way you interact with customers?This is an area where we have a special focus. We feel that our guests like to share their stories and special moments with their friends, families and the rest of the world! In this way, we like to engage with our guests whenever possible and enable a new communication channel with them. We have certainly seen an increase in the use of Instagram over the past year and I am sure there are going to be new channels coming along soon where connectivity with guests will be more personal and unique every time.

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2015Luxury HoteL trend SnapSHot

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Guest Experience still no.1Travelers are expecting more each year and look for the “WOW” factor when doing their research. Technology is key in delivering, suggesting and anticipating these experiences, but so is personal interaction with highly trained staff who know how to exceed expectations, but also when to step back and respect the digital traveler’s need to be self-sufficient

Wellness travel goes to the next levelHotels are going beyond the gesture and fostering a wellness hub with in-room workout equipment, on-loan exercise clothes and equipment, running maps, classes and beyond-the-gym experiences, creating meaningful social activities and lasting memories. Spa treatments incorporate high-tech healing and anti-aging experiences via a hybrid of technology and classic treatments. Menus offer globally inspired cuisine with locally sourced ingredients

Flexible meeting space with added amenities and servicesBusiness travelers want simplicity, enhanced technology, and carry multiple mobile devices. Meeting planners seek out the best space that will suit their specific needs, whether it be a promotional party where they can control their own lighting, sound and music, or a quiet casual interaction where they can connect, as they would in their own home.

Unique and customized travelGuests are demanding faster, customized services, and bespoke travelers are looking for truly unique experiences where they can “live like a local” and travel to destinations off the beaten path. Today’s guests are looking for bucket list adventures to delight and inspire, usually blending an element of work and leisure as busy professionals are pressed for time.

More eco-friendly hotelsHow can hotels express a greater commitment to social responsibility and reduce their carbon footprint? By using more building materials from sustainable resources, sourcing heat from biofuel and solar energy, utilizing low energy lighting and innovative designs to improve airflow and temperature, incentivizing green transportation by providing charging stations for electric cars and bicycles for the guests to use, and sourcing food from local vendors for their menus.

Accomodating designThe guest room has evolved to a more open living space, without the traditional desk or table and chair, as work becomes more mobile and room service less important. Showers are the new bathtub and hard surfaces replace carpets because they are cleaner. Modern decorating materials include salvaged wood, stone and metal, vertical living gardens, and versatile furnishings in natural themes and organic designs that connect people with nature. Natural light is a priority, not only does it reduce the amount of energy needed, but it also boost’s health and reduces anxiety.

Technology to innovate, personalizeTechnology should be everywhere and nowhere at the same time, perfectly integrated into the guest experience, without intruding. Hotels will continue to learn more about their guest through the booking experience and offer guests more control of their environment, allowing them to control room temperature and lighting from their tablets, stream their own content, book travel on a smartphone and use mobile check-in. Hotels will benefit from energy conservation breakthroughs like automatic shut-off lights.

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Tip-related claims will continue to be served up as the lawsuit du jour against the hospitality industry in 2015

The hospitality industry is particularly fertile ground for a wide variety of wage and hour issues, which continue to plague management through steadily increasing federal and state department of labor investigations and enforcement actions and the seemingly endless onslaught of private wage and hour lawsuits filed by an overzealous plaintiffs’ bar. Tip credit claims are government regulators’ and plaintiffs’ favorite, and there are no signs that such claims will abate in the coming year.

Employers may take a credit against the prevailing minimum hourly wage earned by employees performing tip-earning duties, such as servers, bartenders, bussers, hosts, housekeeping personnel, and bell staff. Before taking a tip credit, however, employers must comply with very specific federal and state tip credit laws, rules, and regulations, which form the basis of the various tip credit lawsuits commonly filed against employers in the hospitality industry. Five of the most common tip-related wage and hour issues that are often

the focus of litigation are properly providing tip credit notice; correctly applying the tip credit allowance; properly computing tipped employees’ overtime pay; ensuring that tipped employees actually perform tipped work; and, complying with tip pooling or sharing requirements.

Properly Providing Tip Credit NoticeThe Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) states that an employer may not take a tip credit for its tipped employees without first providing

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notice to them. Federal regulations state that the notice, which may be oral or written, must set forth: (i) the amount of cash wage that the employer is paying a tipped employee; (ii) the additional amount claimed by the employer as a tip credit; (iii) that the tip credit claimed by the employer cannot exceed the amount of tips actually received by the tipped employee; (iv) that all tips received by the tipped employee are to be retained by the employee except for a valid tip pooling arrangement, which is limited to employees who customarily and regularly receive tips; and (v) that the tip credit will not apply to any tipped employee unless the employee has been informed of these tip credit provisions.

Employers must also be aware of certain state’s wage laws that include enhanced tip credit notice requirements. For example, in New York, employers are required to provide written notice to each tipped employee, prior to the start of employment, which includes the employee’s regular hourly pay rate, overtime pay rate, amount of tip credit, and regular payday and indicates that extra pay is required if tips are insufficient to bring the employee up to the basic minimum hourly rate. Employers in New York must then retain for six years an acknowledgement of receipt of the tip credit notice, which has been signed by each tipped employee.

Because taking a tip credit is common practice in the hospitality industry, employers often forget that they must provide notice of the tip credit to their tipped employees. This can be a costly error, however, because tip credit lawsuits often include a tip credit notice claim to recover the difference between the subminimum wage paid and the prevailing minimum wage, plus liquidated damages, under both the FLSA and state wage laws.

The best practice, regardless of where an employer’s business operates, is to always provide written notice to each tipped employee, which the employee must sign as acknowledgement of receipt. Even if an employer is only required to provide oral tip credit notice (under the FLSA and certain states’ laws), documented evidence of written notice provides a useful tool to help the employer defend against tip credit claims.

Correctly Applying the Tip Credit AllowanceFederal and state wage and hour laws prescribe the maximum dollar amount that an employer may take as a credit towards its tipped employees’ hourly wages. The current maximum tip credit that an employer may claim under the FLSA is $5.12 per hour. Employers must therefore pay a $2.13 cash “subminimum” hourly wage to its tipped employees, which is the difference between the maximum tip credit and current $7.25 federal minimum wage.

Many states, however, prescribe minimum wage rates and maximum tip credit amounts that differ from the FLSA. For example, in New York, the current minimum hourly wage is $8.00 (which will be increasing to $8.75 on December 31, 2014). In addition, New York’s maximum tip credit allowance varies, depending on whether the tipped employee is a food service worker (currently a $3.00 maximum tip credit), a service worker (currently a $2.35 maximum tip credit), or a service worker in a resort hotel (currently a $3.10 maximum tip credit).

It is important for employers to ensure that they are not exceeding the maximum tip credit allowance. Even a small error could result in significant back wage liability, especially when defending against class and collective action lawsuits

filed on behalf of multiple former and current employees, which has become commonplace in wage and hour litigation. Accordingly, employers should consult their inside or outside counsel to confirm the various maximum tip credit allowances in each state where they operate.

Properly Computing Tipped Employees’ Overtime PayAnother tip credit issue arises in computing overtime for tipped employees. Employers often make the mistake of computing an employee’s overtime by multiplying 1.5 by the subminimum wage being earned. This is a common error that is frequently exploited by plaintiffs’ attorneys.

Where an employer takes a tip credit, overtime is based on the full hourly wage, not the subminimum wage paid by the employer. In calculating the overtime rate for a tipped employee, the employer must multiply the prevailing federal or state minimum wage (currently $7.25 under federal law) by 1.5, which equals $10.875. Next, the employer must subtract from that amount the tip credit (currently $5.12 under federal law) to arrive at $5.755, which is then multiplied by the number of overtime hours worked in excess of 40 per week.

Ensuring That Tipped Employees Actually Perform Tipped WorkOne of the most complex and elusive parts of the law pertaining to tip credits is the duties requirement. Federal regulations provide that employers may take a tip credit from employees only when they are engaged in “tip earning activities,” or if they perform duties “related to their tip earning work.” The U.S. Department of Labor considers “related” duties to be incidental to the employee’s regular tip-earning duties.

For example, the DOL has explained a

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server who spends some time cleaning and setting tables, making coffee, and occasionally washing dishes or glasses may continue to be engaged in a tipped occupation even though these duties are not tip-producing, provided that such duties are incidental to the regular duties of the server and are generally assigned to servers. The DOL prescribes limits, however, on the amount of incidental tip-related work that an employee may perform in order for the employer to take a tip credit for employees performing incidental work. The DOL states, and a number of courts around the country have ruled, that no tip credit may be taken against wages of tipped employees who spend a “substantial amount” of time—in excess of 20 percent—performing work incidental to tip-earning duties. Employers should also consult state wage laws to confirm whether state laws maintain tipped duties requirements that are different or more stringent than the “20 percent rule” enforced by the DOL.

Another distinction about which employers in the hospitality industry should be aware is the difference between “incidental duties” and “dual jobs.” According to the DOL, incidental duties related to tip-producing work are different from dual jobs. Federal regulations provide that where employees are employed in two distinct occupations, no tip credit can be taken for an employee’s work that is not tip earning, or incidental thereto. The DOL provides that where an employee is employed as a maintenance worker and server, the tip credit is available only for the hours spent by the employee in the tipped server occupation.

Accurately distinguishing amongst tipped employees’ tasks as tip-producing, incidental, or unrelated (a different job) can be an arduous exercise for employers. Even more challenging is quantifying the

amount of incidental work that is performed by a tipped employee and ensuring that it does not exceed 20 percent of the employee’s workload. Accordingly, the best practice for employers is to designate most, if not all, incidental and non-tip-related work to employees who are not paid a subminimum wage. If that option is not viable, closely track the amount of incidental work performed by tipped employees to ensure that no one individual spends more than 20 percent of any one shift (e.g., 48 minutes of a four-hour shift, or one hour and 12 minutes of a six-hour shift) performing such duties. In addition, employers may want to consider documenting their tipped employees’ non-tip-producing duties, by using sign-in sheets, time clocks, or other recordkeeping devices.

Complying with Tip Pooling or Sharing Requirements“Tip sharing” occurs when directly tipped employees share their tips with other workers who provided direct customer service. “Tip pooling” occurs when directly tipped employees pool their tips, and those tips are redistributed among directly and indirectly tipped employees. Employers are permitted to adopt tip pooling or sharing practices as work place requirements for their tipped employees; however, there are specific requirements, which, if not followed, will invalidate the tip pool or share arrangement.

Employers are required to notify all tipped employees who participate in a tip pooling or sharing arrangement. When providing notice, the best practice for employers is to provide written notice of the pooling or sharing arrangement and require employees participating in the pool to sign as acknowledgement of receipt of the notice, even where such written acknowledgment is not required by law.

In addition, employers may only take a tip credit for the amount of tips that each tipped employee ultimately receives, as opposed to what any one employee initially received from his or her customers.

Another requirement, which is perhaps the most important one, is that employers may never retain any amount of an employee’s tips.

Finally, only tipped employees may participate in tip pooling or sharing. Non-tipped personnel, including managers, shift supervisors, and back-of-the-house workers, may not share in tips pooled among employees engaged in tip-producing work.

It is important for employers to carefully consider their tip pooling and sharing practices to ensure strict compliance. Tip pooling and sharing rules can be easily overlooked, which can result in costly litigation.

About the author JEFFREY H. RUZAL is a Senior Counsel in the Labor and Employment practice, in the New York office of Epstein Becker Green.

Mr. Ruzal’s experience includes:

• Representing employers in employment-related litigation in federal courts and before administrative agencies

• Representing employers in the defense of putative collective actions under the Fair Labor Standards Act and class actions under the New York State Wage and Hour Law

• Advising management on a wide variety of employment law matters, including discrimination and harassment issues, among others

• Representing clients in single-plaintiff and class action claims arising under ERISA and other benefits litigation

Prior to joining Epstein Becker Green, Mr. Ruzal served as a trial attorney at the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of the Solicitor, in New York, New York, where he handled the civil enforcement of federal labor laws and regulations from investigations through trials. While in this position, he received two Secretary’s Exceptional Achievement Awards and a Public Service Recognition Award. Previously, Mr. Ruzal worked as an associate attorney of a major law firm.

While attending law school, Mr. Ruzal was a Chief Notes & Comments Editor of the New York Law School Journal of Human Rights.

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Design the Ideal Hotel Loyalty Program

Hotel reward schemes are beginning to take their place next to Airmiles as the most sought after reward points by consumers, with everyone from major chains to credit card companies pairing up to offer these rewards to their loyal customers. However different types of guests will be looking for different things from a hotel rewards program, therefore it is vital for your marketing team to understand what the hotel’s target demographic is and what they would want from your hotel rewards program.

WHAT GUESTS WANT FROM A HOTEl lOYAlTY PROGRAM:

For Infrequent Travelers

Those guests that only travel occasionally will not be aiming to accrue a huge amount of points and progress up through a load of tiers in order to claim higher rewards. They will be looking for rewards that they can build up over a long period of time in addition to receiving some sort of immediate benefit for signing up for the loyalty scheme straightaway.

What to offer:• No expiration date on points

accrued; therefore these infrequent guests can continue to build up these point over as much time as they need.

• Offer soft rewards immediately upon signing up. These could be services that your hotel may

have offered anyway, such as complimentary Wi-Fi or airport shuttles.

Small / Boutique loversThose guests that frequent independent or boutique hotels may not even be considering joining a rewards program as they are less likely to come across that brand again in the immediate future. With fewer hotels to visit (in many cases just the one) guests will want some generous benefits to signing up for the rewards program. These can be promotional offers, discounts or vouchers to use other hotel amenities such as the spa or restaurants. It’s also a chance to be creative and offer guests a personal touch from their rewards program

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that they wouldn’t receive from larger brand hotels.

What to offer:• Offer products or services that

are unique to your boutique hotel. For instance if you use locally produced products/toiletries you could offer a take-home set for loyalty program members.

• Offer specialized or flexible services for your loyalty program members, such as complimentary sightseeing tours and outings that can be booked at their convenience.

• Vouchers for the spa, mini-bar or F&B are a simple yet effective way to promote your loyalty program to your guests and is a great way to get your “preferred guests” spending straightaway and boost your hotel revPAR.

Status SeekersThose that are frequent users of hotels will often lap up the extra attention and service they get from being recognized status holders. This will predominantly be business travelers who regularly visit central city locations; whether when traveling on business or using hotels for meetings, conferences and events.

If this is your hotel’s target demographic then design your rewards program to suit their needs and set idea requirements in order to achieve each new tier level.

What to offer:• Complimentary use of the

business center for regular business travelers

• Airport pick-up & 24 hour check-in for business travelers

• Complimentary room upgrades & amenities (eg complimentary pressing service, shoe shine, etc)

• Transport to / collection from meetings, events and for conference guests.

Direct BookersIn truth most new customers will tend to book via an online travel agent or comparison website, it’s just the way the travel industry works these days. However loyal guests are far more likely to rebook directly via your hotel website once they’ve established an affinity for the brand. Most hotels wisely offer reward points for guests that book directly through their own hotel website and not through an OTA. Once guests have visited your property and registered for the loyalty rewards program, they will then be much more inclined to book directly with the hotel, saving you costly commissions on repeat bookings.

What to offer:• Immediate and clear benefits

of booking directly through your website, whether that’s discounts, upgrades or a free night’s stay.

• Pair up immediate benefits with long-term benefits for direct bookings such as loyalty points and status tiers to encourage repeat bookings directly through your hotel portal.

Designing Your Hotel loyalty Program

Larger brand hotels are able to command customer loyalty simply because of the size of their brand and as such have the advantage when it comes to number of properties. On the other hand some smaller, boutique hotels are often more flexible and able to offer more imaginative rewards for loyal guests. While there is no set formula for the perfect rewards program, as it will all depend on your hotel and your hotel’s guests, there are a few elements to try and include in your loyalty scheme.

Flexibility in a loyalty SchemeA lot of the time standard hotel loyalty programs focus on simply accruing points in order to earn free hotel stays, however many industry leaders are now becoming more flexible in both what they offer as rewards and how guests can earn them.

For example, Hilton’s HHonors members can select their exact room online or via the Apple and Android HHonors apps.

The company also added room upgrade rewards, “which enable HHonors members to use their points to guarantee an upgrade to a premium room or suite with no blackout dates,” Kendra Hayden, senior manager for Hilton HHonors, “Now more than ever, our members want more utility and flexibility. They want to be able to redeem their points more quickly and have more flexibility in the way they redeem them; in effect, they want more choice and control.”

The ability to adapt and design a rewards program that suits both your hotels’ and your guests’ needs is far more likely to be well received

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and, as a result, successfully encourage higher spending and more repeat bookings.

Soft BenefitsBoutique and independent hotels can use their loyalty programs as a way to compete with larger, more established brands; offering soft rewards straightaway for members helps to get guests first to sign up to the loyalty program and then stay with it.

Soft rewards that are usually offered include complimentary shuttle rides, free Wi-Fi or welcome bags. Complimentary Wi-Fi has proven one of the most effective methods by hotels to encourage guests to sign up to their loyalty scheme as it is also the most requested service from any traveler (apart from a bed that is).

Tiered BenefitsDesigning the benefits to your guests of your rewards scheme will be different for every hotel and every location. Having that flexibility to set tiered benefits depending on accrued points will let you separate the benefits that the loyal guests get and the REALLY loyal guests get.

These tiered benefits could be anything that suit your hotel and your hotel demographic including priority early check-in, access to private members-only areas/amenities, complimentary room upgrade, etc.

learn what your guests wantAs you develop and adapt your hotel reward scheme it’s a good idea to add new rewards and criteria to it based on feedback

from your guests. Consider setting up a guest survey on your hotel website or in your hotel app to ask your guests what they would find most useful or enticing to join the rewards program.

The hotel industry’s premier talent recruiters

www.hospitalityrecruiter.com

+1 941 866 1944

About the author Nick Baker is the Community Manager for Appy Hotel (www.appyhotel.com), a hotel digital marketing startup based in SE Asia, which offers mobile applications, fully responsive websites, and Loyalty/CRM to about 2,000 hotels worldwide. Reach him at nick@appyhotel.com Follow him @AppyHotel or connect on LinkedIn (linkedin.com/in/nicholasmarkbaker)

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Does Your Brand Include optimism?

I will never forget the day I walked into my office, and saw a letter sitting on my desk. I picked up the letter and quickly realized it was from a customer – a guest. At the time, I had just started working as a consultant in a luxury hotel, completing a project to decrease levels of staff turnover. The letter was one of the most disturbing pieces of customer feedback I have ever read, partly because of its thoroughness. In summary, the customer outlined in detail

a series of bad behaviors he had witnessed from the front desk staff at the hotel: stomping around, acting overtly short-tempered and frustrated and, worst of all, speaking badly (and loudly) about other guests.

You don’t want any of your staff “losing it” in a hotel, of course, and my hospitality training and experience had taught me that this almost certainly meant other things just like it were happening a

lot more than anyone had realized. After reading the letter, I thought about the hotel’s reputation. The property was known for being high luxury and very exclusive. It was definitely a one-of-a-kind type of place. The brand had an absolutely bullet-proof pedigree we wanted to protect. Then it hit me. The brand was missing a key ingredient: optimism.

What is optimism? Psychology describes an optimistic bias as the

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disposition of believing you have mastery over your life, that you control your own destiny. Those with an optimistic bias are usually described as having an “easy” temperament and possessing a feeling of well-being most of the time. That’s what we all wanted: Hotel staff and leadership who could maintain an “easy” temperament no matter what was going on. People who believed they had control and some level of mastery over their own well-being, and that of their guests as well. And also felt empowered to create highly positive results. We already knew every staff member had an impact on the brand’s destiny. We just had to make sure the impact was a positive one that demonstrated a sense of optimism.

If you are already successful at infusing optimism into your brand, culture and vision, you probably already feel more positive and fortunate than most companies. Let’s face it: if nothing else, having optimism as an integral part of your brand means you already believe you are more successful, positive and empowered than other companies and that good things are happening and are going to continue to happen. That’s fantastic!

But a word of caution: contrary to what many people believe, making optimism an active part of your brand is about much more than insisting everyone sport a Polly-Anna-ish smile while thinking nothing but happy thoughts. In fact, infusing and building optimism into your brand (ironically) begins with being somewhat of a pessimist. It starts by focusing on what you

do when things go very wrong. Optimism centers on getting positive results and knowing better outcomes are attainable, no matter the circumstances. First, take the time to tap into what motivates your customers, clients (“external stakeholders”), employees and leaders (“internal stakeholders”). Next, build and then communicate responses, processes and solutions based on what motivates the stakeholders involved, and on the results your company strives for. Finally, empower people to implement solutions and grow mastery. Recognize, praise and reward those who take control and execute mutually beneficial outcomes using the most responsive path to the win-win. (I call it the “win-win-win”, a win for the customer, for the employee and for the company). Especially when they occur under stressful circumstances.

After reading that letter, I knew we had some challenges to overcome in demonstrating optimism. The first things we did to improve the hotel’s brand we implemented immediately and it cost absolutely nothing to the bottom line. We communicated a new pledge to support our staff, empowering and encouraging them to create positive outcomes, to take the reins and find ways to turn things around when stress levels rose. I facilitated debriefings and “huddles” to problem solve and allow staff members to vent when they needed to (all in the back of the house!). At the same time, we started providing higher levels of recognition to build reinforcement and mentoring to build confidence.

We were now quickly and actively infusing optimism into our brand by implementing positive, mutually beneficial outcomes. Things went so well that the owners started investing an impressive amount of revenue into our pledge, including a large, beautiful lounge built exclusively for the staff. It quickly became known as the “huddle hive”, and evolved into a space where impressive solutions, deep connections and some of the most incredible stories of positive leadership were shared. It was the place tucked in the heart-of-the-house where we did the hard, difficult, elbow-grease polishing so that our front-of-the-house brand shined. And it all began by focusing on tenets of optimism.

No matter what your company service or product happens to be, you have put a lot of thought, time, work and investment into your brand. Infuse optimism. It is critical. Then go out there and shine by showing what you actually do, believe, foster and pay attention to when things are not going as first expected.

About the author Dr. Mia Mulrennan is President and Chief Motivations Mapper at Rave-Worthy Consulting. She advises clients in effectively applying tenets of psychology to achieve positive business results in areas of talent management, organizational development and service branding. Mia specializes in working with companies in high-touch customer oriented industries such as travel, hospitality, retail and food and beverage. She has a passion for working with Gen X and women leaders. She is adjunct faculty at Saint Catherine University, and a Professor in the Master of Hospitality Management program at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. She is currently writing an e-book titled: “The Overlooked Leadership Talents of Generation X”. Visit our website at Rave-Worthy.com or contact Dr. Mia Mulrennan @ mia@rave-worthy.com to learn more.

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Every time I read a visionary article to start a new year, the number 10 is always a popular choice. You’ve seen the headlines:

“Here are the Top 10 reasons why…”

“Here are the 10 most important…”Let me challenge you.

Next time you’re in the mood to do a little research, take a moment and ask a group of, say, 25 people to choose an odd number between 1 and 10. What you’ll likely learn is that many will choose the number 7. It is, if you weren’t already aware, the world’s favorite number. A poll conducted in early 2014 involving 30,000 respondents confirmed this assertion.

Consider, also, the following:

7 is considered the lucky number in gaming

7 days are in the week

7 colors make up a rainbow

7 notes comprise a musical scale

There are 7 seas, 7 continents and 7 natural wonders of the world

Revenue trends Influencing the

Luxury Hotel Industry 7in 2015

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You get the point!

And so, in deference to its popularity, I’ve chosen 7 as the number of trends I see emerging – or things to keep an eye out for – in 2015.

No. 1: What you won’t hear in 2015: “Build me a megaresort.”

What you will hear in 2015: “Build me a boutique or a lifestyle hotel.”

Give your customers a personalized experience and sprinkle-in a unique dose of ambiance that connects deeply with their emotions and you’ll be on the right “trend track” to gaining new customers in the coming year.

Analogously speaking, megaresorts are bell-bottom jeans; boutique and lifestyle hotels are knee-high leather boots.

No. 2: This trend really dovetails with No. 1.

If you’re a hotel chain, you can no longer rest on the scale and scope of your distribution. While having a large footprint has long given you a competitive advantage in your quest to set room rates and lock-in customers, make no mistake: There’s a new sheriff in town. And her name is Guest Engagement. Just as people go out to eat for deeper reasons than simply to have a meal, the same is true of today’s hospitality guest. The total hotel experience is as important as the comfort of the room. The more you know about your customers, the more you view your property from their perspective, and the more intently you listen to their needs and wants, the better your chances of properly personalizing their experiences.

No. 3: Empowered consumers, pricing transparency, and low barriers to entry for companies with new, industry-disruptive ideas (e.g., tools that allow travelers to search for room rates that drop below pre-set levels) have put today’s hotel customer firmly in the driver’s seat.

In 2015, hotels will continue to look for ways to further strengthen their brands without comprising customer loyalty. This is a fine line. Hotel chains, as just one example, are now weighing the pros and cons of expanding or reengineering their existing loyalty programs (e.g., incentive points for booking direct through the hotel’s website but not for booking through an OTA).

No. 4: Expect to hear the term Total Guest Value (TGV) in more

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profit optimization discussions among hoteliers in 2015.

Total Guest Value includes room revenue, as well as potential revenue from gaming, food and beverage, spa, and other profit centers in the organization.

TGV is no stranger to the gaming/hospitality industry. Since its debut in 2001, this holistic pricing and forecasting methodology has helped boost gaming and non-gaming revenues from 5 percent to 15 percent at numerous casino hotels.

Traditional hotels, by and large, still manage pricing and yield inventory with a primary focus on driving and increasing Revenue per Available Room (RevPAR) and STR’s RevPAR Index. Many argue this legacy strategy is too narrowly focused, and thus a far less effective approach to optimizing revenue compared to the TGV perspective commonly employed in the casino-hotel industry.

Next year at this time, I predict traditional hotels, in greater number, will be forecasting demand and setting room prices because they more fully appreciate the value of knowing the profit margins of their other revenue streams, namely spas, restaurants, conference/groups and golf courses – as well as knowing the demand for each one during peak or slow periods.

Yet knowing the spend associated with a guest and having the technological ability to tie non-room spend to a hotel guest is the challenge met by employing total hotel revenue management (or

TGV). Get that part right and the rest is much easier!

No. 5: Recommendations are the highest form of customer satisfaction and social media platforms are today’s top sources for finding them.

Look for more and more hotels to add incremental revenue to their bottom line by integrating online reputation management metrics and augmenting their pricing capability with reputation data aggregated from reviews, Online Travel Agencies (OTAs) and various other social sources.

No. 6: Online platforms have made it easy for meeting planners and businesses to issue

RFPs to multiple properties simultaneously. On its face, this is a good thing. More leads,

one would assume, means potentially more business. But more leads – at least in the hospitality industry – means more hotels are competing for the same piece of business.

This new business reality has given rise to a new expression known as lead spam.

This year, expect to see the traditional hospitality industry begin to apply the same science and analytics principles to group business pricing that have helped drive profits 5-15% higher in the transient segment of the gaming & hospitality industry for more than a decade.

No. 7: Revenue management is dynamic and ever changing. This presents a real challenge for our industry because, at the moment,

there is a severe shortage of qualified individuals with the proven revenue management experience to meet today’s employment demand curve.

For those of us who’ve been in the industry for a while, we know that the best revenue managers are those who are able to use both sides of their brain. Problem is, most of us are dominant one way or the other: either left-brained (organized, systematic, analytical) or right-brained (creative and intuitive) – but not both. This undeniable truth is largely behind this gap in talent. Unfortunately, this void is coming at a time when revenue management’s role has taken on greater responsibility than than ever before.

I predict the current talent shortage will be the impetus for hotels to co-source this specialized function in greater percentages in 2015. In addition, expect university administrators to look ever more closely at developing and offering a revenue management curriculum as a strategy for helping the hospitality industry close this gap.

About the author Tammy Farley is a highly respected resource for innovative revenue management practices and project consulting. She is a member of the HSMAI Americas Region Board of Directors and a member of the Make-A-Wish® Georgia board. Rainmaker is a proven revenue management systems provider to the hospitality, gaming/hospitality and multifamily housing industries.

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Luxury Hotel

CheCkmate

What strategies is your hotel utilizing, to avoid being placed in brand relevance checkmate by the competition?The luxury hotel segment is becoming a very crowded and competitive place to do business in the 21st century. The battle for gaining customer relevance, preference and loyalty will not solely be won by the hotel’s luxury offerings, location, or best price. Eventually the luxury hotel segment is going to come to this realization that they are either going to run out of luxury amenities to buy for their business, or the money to buy them with, and are going to have to compete on the total guest experience

of the business for winning the customer loyalty and brand relevance chess match.

In an article I wrote earlier this year, titled How Is Luxury Defined By The 21st Century Traveler, I talk about how luxury is being perceived and valued by the 21st century traveler. I’d like to expand on the 21st century traveler perspective by showcasing a customer experience business strategy approach that can help the luxury hotel segment differentiate themselves and build a sustainable competitive advantage over their competition.

Who will win the chess match for customer loyalty in the 21st

century?I see more and more luxury hotel brands looking for new ways to differentiate or gain a competitive advantage over the competition, with a lot of emphasis and investment being made on the physical elements and amenities of their business, without first considering non-tangibles aspects of their business for better influencing those business decisions.

So, what will differentiate your luxury hotel identity and offerings over the crowded field of luxury hotel providers? I believe it’s the business’s ability to first make the guests feel good about themselves

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from their experience with the business, before the business attempts to make the guest/traveler feel good about the business itself. What can help support this approach is having a hospitality experiential value understanding of the customer/guest experience narrative and theme of the business’ brand. Let me share an example of what I mean when talking about experiential hospitality value, from one of my favorite luxury hotel groups out of New York in Manhattan called the Library Hotel Collection.

The David versus Goliath chess matchThe Library Hotel Collection started their first year of operations in 2000, only to find themselves a year later in the heart of the 9/11 recession, which you would think a startup hotel one year in would be in serious trouble, but that was not the case. You see the Library leadership built their entire business on customer experience business platform with a hospitality experiential value mindset. The value proposition was built on providing a total hospitality experience, not a commodity position of being a hotel providing room in a good location, at a competitive price.

The leadership decided to utilize a narrative and theme to build hotel brand experience on with different educational identities for each floor, i.e. science, math, history etc. each floor has a different educational identity and feel to it, along with the rooms experience design. Each room has a little library section that plays on the theme, and the overall narrative of the floor, as well as aligning to the overall hotel brand experience.

Because this hotel group utilizes a nontraditional business platform approach that was more focused on experience and its people as their value proposition, this has allowed them the luxury of creating an outstanding service excellence program to support the brand experience narrative and deliver a much more

personalized and memorable guest stay through the filter of a customer/guest experience initiatives for supporting the hospitality experiential value.

This business strategy approach was attached to all the other business disciplines as well, from HR to marketing for impacting the organizational culture and the brand dynamics of the business. This also allows the company strong accountability mechanisms throughout the hospitality enterprise for delivering the brand promise, message and values to everyone that comes in contact with the business.

King to Queen, checkmate!They were able to differentiate themselves in the marketplace, and by doing so this little boutique hotel has been able to compete with all the major five-star ultra luxury hotel brands in Manhattan, in one of the most competitive hotel core doors in the world, during one of the most challenging 14 year span in the hotel industry history. They have full control of their ADR and don’t rely on the ebbs and flows of society, or business in the marketplace.

This strategic approach has also positively impacted occupancy levels that far exceed their competitors, as well as increase the relevance factor of the brand and locations of their hotels. They walk to their own beat, and have quite easily been able to stand out in the crowded field of luxury hospitality providers. This strategic approach has obviously elevated their online relevant factor for enhancing the search and pre-booking phase of the traveler’s decision-making processes.

The Library Hotel Collection is always in the top five hotels on Trip Advisor, with some of the highest rankings and ratings positions in the New York market, as well as in the virtual travel world. The guest loyalty towards the brand is so much like what you might find with

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leading national luxury brands like Apple or Nordstrom’s. They are considered one of the top five boutique groups in the country, if not the world, all within a 14-year span, in which they have grown and diversified into six hotel properties, with more on the way. The Library Hotel brands’ ability to connect their luxury amenities, services offerings and people with the theme and narrative of the guest and brand experience has generated a very sustainable competitive advantage that can’t be easily mimicked, procured or duplicated by the competition.

In summarizing the Library Hotel Collections’ strategic approach Leadership got crystal-clear on what they wanted to be great at and the value proposition offering, as well as brand dynamics of the business to be in alignment with their core foundational principles of the business. They also utilized the guest experience perspective throughout each and every discipline within the business for creating a strong service excellence culture that supports the quality consistency of the experience their delivering to the guest.

Now, for those of you who don’t want to completely renovate your entire hotel or brand, here are a couple of tips to help create a stronger hospitality narrative and brand experience to break through the checkmate scenarios your brand might be experiencing.

• Find an aspect that you think your business can be great at, as hospitality enterprise, and also would engage the guest or travelers you would want to market to. It must generate strong relevance and differentiating qualities in the marketplace.

• Build out the narrative and theme to be in alignment with that value proposition offering of your business, So that your business and organization has the ability to conceptualize hospitality experiential value

in the guest experience. I.e. move away from the commodity position of just offering around and shift the value proposition towards competing on an experience offering.

• Having a guest experience strategies immersed into every single business discipline in the hospitality enterprise, as well as in the service excellence program, for better supporting the organizational culture that is responsible and being held accountable for fostering the guest experience narrative.

The perception of value for influencing preference is being measured by the total experience the guest receives from the business, not just the commodity-based position, price or location etc. of the business. Luxury is going to be defined by the total experience the guest receives and the care in which it’s delivered. In the 21st century travel consumers are more informed and focused on the total experience their receiving, and are also quantifying and qualifying the value in that total experience.

About the author Brett Patten is approaching 35 years in the hospitality industry where he has spent those years accumulating invaluable experience in a variety of leadership positions, and business enterprises. To recently completing his education as an executive leadership and engagement coach in the area of customer experience design.Brett’s unique management and business approach consistently transformed hospitality enterprises with sustainable growth results from his days with the prestigious four and five-star hotels like Stouffer’s hotels, Pan Pacific Hotels, and Le Meridien hotels, as well as working with prestigious five-star club resort enterprises like Longboat key, and Greenbrier to the launching of a nationally award-winning four-star hospitality brand in 2007. From there, he built hospitality business strategy platform that he developed and trademarked out of his commitment for achieving customer experience excellence. Brett then turned this business strategy platform into a company called “Five-Star Customer Experience Design,” Today, after spending the last 15 years researching, studying and developing customer experience design strategies for the hospitality and tourism industries. In which he engages with some of the top hotel brands and hospitality groups both nationally and internationally in the industry.

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Luxury Hotels in the

CLouDYou have spent all of your career in the hospitality business, and most (if not all) of it in the luxury hotel segment. You understand what the guest expects from a luxury hotel, and you are well versed in the concept of the value of the guest “experience” versus the value of discounted “standard” rooms. Your guests value the former, not the latter. You know the differences between 4 Star and 5 Star properties, and you know what type of guest prefers fine dining to a picnic basket on the beach. You know that loyalties are fleeting if the guest is not treated as a “platinum” level traveler, regardless if they carry your loyalty card (assuming you even offer one) or they do not. You know the luxury hotel business, but you are constantly bombarded with new technologies promising to revolutionize the way you do business.

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Unfortunately all your education and experience has not prepared you for the conversations that are creeping into the boardroom, and when owners and executive management ask you about the “Cloud” and “Big Data” you can either be ready for the conversation or run find the nearest IT person and ask them to translate. The danger with asking IT is that you may not be perceived as being current with the latest technology trends affecting the hospitality industry. So we need to fix that and with very little effort anyone with a modest grasp of technology (and you of course mastered the iPhone!) will find themselves very comfortably talking about the Cloud and other important topics like Big Data.

So let’s tackle the Cloud first, we will leave Big Data for a future article. Ask a dozen hospitality professionals to define the Cloud and you will probably get twelve different answers. And many of them will be the correct answer because there isn’t a consensus on the definitive answer. Before we get to a reasonable answer let’s deal with popular misconceptions. People often refer to the Cloud as some mystical thing that is going to transform your business by giving you incredible efficiencies, by saving you gobs of money, and by freeing you of the burden of information technology (IT) infrastructure. It might but then again like an IT project it can go as planned or it can be a disaster.

While not the inventor of the Cloud, the retail giant Amazon gives us a great place to start as we seek to form a definition. Imagine the computing power Amazon needs to handle the holiday season. Now imagine the day after Christmas and a good portion of that computing power sits idle. Some enterprising person at Amazon thought about “selling” that excess IT capacity to business users. Brilliant, but how do you manage the process of running business applications like a PMS or a CRM system on the Amazon Cloud? You have software and hardware that acts as a “traffic cop” to figure out which server to send your PMS application

out to on the Cloud. In its simplest form the Cloud is a bunch of servers and related equipment networked together, in this case by Amazon. It could be two servers or two thousand, it could be two locations or two hundred. If you can’t point to the server running your PMS application then you are probably in the Cloud. Unlike the server in the closet behind the front desk, you do not know (or really care) where the PMS application is running. So what business advantages does the Cloud really give you? Maybe numerous significant advantages, maybe none at all. Do you really think the vendor community wants to save you money at their expense? A nice thought, but fear not, there are certainly business advantages to the Cloud.

The Cloud vendor buys and/or develops the hardware and software to run your mission critical applications like the PMS or CRM system. You “rent” the application without the need to buy and install hardware and software. More than likely you run everything from a web-browser, and of course you already have a bunch of these! So when you are asked “should we move to the Cloud?” you can sound very smart by asking if IT has done the cost benefit analysis since the discussion is a proposal to transfer IT infrastructure from “in-house” to some nebulas server networked world. Now more of your valuable data is going to be running around a private or public (secure) network, and you are at the mercy of the integrity of the Cloud vendor. But data security is a very large topic for another article…

With the cloud your organization may significantly reduce their IT costs, however you will still pay a rental fee for the applications your run on the Cloud. There are some hard and soft dollar considerations that will help define the value of the Cloud, but this is a task best left to IT.

So how does the Cloud help you provide a better guest experience, or drive more business, or check out the guest in/out faster, or do the things

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that you know are important to running a successful luxury property? Very hard to say, but since the vendor community will be running your applications (e.g. PMS) more efficiently they will potentially have more resources to throw at building you a better product. Some vendors will argue that the advantages are in mobile apps like check-in without a front desk, however anything done in the Cloud could be done from a server on your property, but the vendor community is moving to the Cloud for several selfish reasons and many applications you take for granted may only be available in the Cloud in the not too distant future. They want to convince you that the Cloud is better and depending how their solution is implemented in the Cloud this may be true, however there are no guarantees. The Cloud is just a bunch of servers networked together, and while in a sense this has been done before, utilizing Amazon’s unused servers can make a ton of sense both for

you and Amazon.

Possible benefits of the Cloud? Protection against down-time as a broken server is no big deal in the Cloud. PMS running too slow? You can usually request more processing power from the Cloud vendor. Tired of upgrading servers every couple of years? Not necessary with the Cloud. So how does this directly affect your guest? If you covet a new concierge system that is only available on the Cloud then you need to go to the Cloud, however your guest will not know or care where the concierge app is running. I do not see a hotel experience marketed with a direct reference to the Cloud, however it will be helpful to understand the Cloud in context when you are asked about it in the next business meeting. The CIO should have one answer, you probably need a different answer. I would suggest stating that you agree that the Cloud is an important technology platform that has the potential to give your

hotel organization a competitive advantage, however the “Cloud” by itself doesn’t really accomplish anything. If you load it up with your mission critical applications like the PMS and the costs are lower, downtime is reduced, and the performance is better then you obviously have something worth investing in. But you are in luck, proving that a new technology platform is needed is a task for the CIO!

About the author Mike Schmitt has over 14 years of experience in hospitality CRM. As the CEO of Clairvoyix Mike is responsible for the company’s strategic direction. Mike is the co-inventor of a US technology patent (# 6,137,967), additionally Mike holds a Bachelor of Science, Computer Science degree from California State University, Long Beach and a Masters of Business Administration from Nova Southeastern University.

The ILHA connects one of the largest communities of hotel and travel professionals in the world, reaching an audience of over 200,000 hotel & travel professionals

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BRInG YouR own DevICe

(BYoD) in the world of hospitality

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As guests travel with an increasing number of personal devices, hoteliers

are faced with additional challenges that need to be addressed such as creating the right “ BYOD – Bring Your Own Device ” environment to support this growing trend, along with managing the bandwidth issues that come with it. However, if acted upon successfully, opportunities are numerous! In this article, I’d like to highlight the ever-growing need for our industry to begin accepting and implementing a BYOD-friendly environment in hotels, not only for your customers but also for your employees.

BYOD – The Guest PerspectiveHotel guests continue to show a strong preference for accessing personal content through their own devices, rather than browsing through a library of outdated pay-per-view movies. TVs are more and more becoming entertainment hubs, mirroring the content desired from personal devices. Besides giving guests the “plug and play” experience they are now looking for, hoteliers can also take advantage of this situation by pushing relevant content to their guests: customized promotions, hotel services, timely information, ….you name it! You can definitely earn significant ancillary revenues on the side, if you manage this effectively.

As hoteliers, you might think: won’t encouraging BYOD aggravate the demand on my hotel’s bandwidth capacity? It might, but there’s no escaping the trend – it will only

get stronger as market acceptance increases and technologies such as wearable devices become more commonplace. We need to accept that BYOD is here to stay and now is the time to consider upgrading hotel IT infrastructure to accommodate this – or risk falling behind your competitors as guests complain about your obsolete tech offering.

Fortunately, strategic implementation of a BYOD infrastructure can result in the ability to connect with your guests in an unparalleled manner, taking their experience to another level as mentioned above. Moreover, you can evade the investment into equipping guestrooms with things like tablets since guests favour using their own devices.

One thing to keep in mind is the following: even though we see technological advances moving at such a fast pace, it doesn’t mean that all consumers are technologically ready for it! Along these lines of thinking, BYOD is a growing trend, but it doesn’t mean everyone is necessarily following it just yet. Take a look at the demographics of your customers, evaluate which services best address their expectations for now and for the future, and prepare for it.

BYOD – The Employee PerspectiveNow, how about looking at the same trend in another meaningful context: our workplace. How does the BYOD trend affect hospitality employees and what is the best way

to address it?

Our millennial generation has grown up in an era where technology has taken a huge flight, exposing us to devices that allow everyone to be connected at any time and place, giving us access to desired resources in real-time. With digital natives entering the workforce in our industry, it will prove difficult to suddenly limit the use of something they are so attached to! So, actually, the best way to go about this as a manager is to think like this: If employees will want to bring their personal devices to work anyway, how can we make this a mutual advantage and make the most effective use out of these devices?

More and more businesses are beginning to accept BYOD and integrate it in the working environment. Here are some benefits you could imagine to reap from this:

Instant communication: employees can be reached at all times, anywhere on property.

Real-time data access: employees can access corporate applications on their devices, providing them with information at their fingertips (e.g. through integration with PMS, RMS, CRM systems, etc.)

Immediate reporting: employees can directly report on important things happening via their devices on specific applications (e.g. customer reviews, complaints, opportunities, etc.)

Flexible learning & development: employees can use their devices in

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their spare (or dedicated) time to access training materials and revisit SOPs when needed.

Reduced costs: the company saves on hardware investment, and it is more likely that employees will take very good care of devices that are their own, also saving on maintenance/replacement costs.

Employee satisfaction: employees feel empowered, trusted, and are happy to be able to use the devices that appeal to them.

Keep in mind that there are also some general risks of bringing BYOD into your workplace; these include dealing with device liability, data security, and an increased workload on IT to handle all the devices on the network.

Even with the above-mentioned benefits, I’m sure you might still be thinking: can I really allow my staff to be connected on their personal devices during work?; they are only one click away from a myriad of distractions that could divert them from other tasks they are supposed to do! Especially in the hospitality industry where most employees are guest-facing, it would be considered a disrespectful action by customers who catch employees on their devices.

Nevertheless, the BYOD trend is coming and will continue to grow in importance and acceptance, so the only way is to find related solutions that will maximize operational efficiency and optimize the customer experience!

Realizing that it is not an easy, quick step to accept and

implement BYOD with the fear of also having to deal with anticipated employee distractions, I’d also like to share a few tips on how to best approach adopting a BYOD-friendly workplace:

• First and foremost, it is important to ensure you have a positive working culturewith your employees. Everyone needs to understand the vision of the company, and the path to get there; it is key that employees feel engaged, empowered and appreciated for their work. With good vibes in place, and the full support of your team, it will be easier to implement new practices and policies in the workplace.

• Allowing BYOD brings along many benefits to the organization as underlined above, however, plenty of distractions are also easily accessible through the devices. It is necessary to create simple SOPs, giving your employees guidelineson the usage of their devices during working hours (without sounding too strict!). These guidelines will differ for each department, depending on various factors: e.g. health and safety issues (Kitchen), or frequent guest-facing operations (Front Office). Along with a positive working culture, employees will be more receptive to your communication on these SOPs.

• Finally, each member of your team should be aware of their goalsfor the business, with

clear expectations established of the tasks that need to be fulfilled to achieve them. If you regularly measure your team’s group and individual performance, and the results are in line with expectations (or even exceeding them!), then one can conclude that any distractions facilitated though a BYOD-friendly environment are not negatively influencing business objectives; employees are trusted to carry out their activities in the way they perceive it to be best!

Overall, it is essential for the management and the team to be on the same lines of understanding regarding a BYOD workplace. With trends evolving, our environment inevitably continues to change; I’d like to close this article with a great definition on today’s workplace that fits in nicely with the BYOD trend, once mentioned by IBM:

“Today’s workplace is a virtual and/or physical environment, characterized by connections, collaboration and user choice, that enables the worker to be more agile and perform activities anywhere, anytime – ultimately creating greater enterprise value.”

About the author Samantha Noll forms part of the business development team at Novility, a startup developing a number of leading-edge solutions for the hospitality industry. Based in the Netherlands, the team comprises hospitality, design, and tech experts. Our first upcoming product, Novility HELP, focuses on modernizing housekeeping training. Find out more at www.novility.com

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The ILHA asked Luxury Hotel Concierges around the world how Guest Experience has evolved the last few years. Recent trends, like technology, customized experiences, and traveling like a local, have impacted how guests interact with Concierges, as well as their expectations. Here is what they they said:

Ask the

Concierge how Guest experience

has evolved

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“One of the most apparent examples of the constantly evolving needs of our guests is the yearning to experience the comfort of home whilst on the road. From connectivity to the design of our resort, guests are looking for an experience that mirrors their life back home. Another area that has seen a change over the years is the dependence and need for technology. Guests are bringing more devices with them than ever before and expect the resort to support this behaviour. The need of fast-speed internet connectivity, numerous plug-in ports and guests traveling with multiple devices has become increasingly evident and an important factor for guest satisfaction. The technology revolution has sparked other changes as well, namely in the way guests share their hotel experiences, both good and bad.”

– Amod Jha, Chief Concierge, Sofitel The Palm Dubai.

Amod Jha

Jorge Sousa

Liloo Alim

Deon Prinsloo

“I have seen a shift more towards the expectations of a guest from a service perspective. Luxury design and construction is easier to achieve nowadays, but it is the quality of service that set each experience apart. Travelers today want a good service experience and aren’t willing to compromise on that, especially since they can get a nice looking hotel in most places. That’s why our guests choose Four Seasons. We have built our brand on delivering exceptional service like no other.”

– Liloo Alim, Chef Concierge, Four Seasons Hotel, Toronto, Canada.

“Guest expectations have definitely changed in the last 28 years – with modern technology (smart phones, tablets, etc…), guests are much better informed about everything that’s going – in general. Technology however, has been a terrific working tool for Concierges, as it assists to enhance the experience. The personal experience and knowledge that a Concierge passes on to the guest through recommendation, is and always will be, the most reliable and credible information the guest can ever get.” - Jorge Sousa, Chief Concierge

– Interview Committee Member “Les Clefs d’Or Australia”, Four Seasons Hotel Sydney, Australia

“I started my life in the Hotel Industry 27 years ago and needless to say the changes have been bigger and more challenging than we sometimes realize or like to acknowledge!

When referring to Leisure Guests, the usual 7 day Family Vacation has turned into a few day “Quick Fix/ Guilt Trip” experience. What I mean by this is that very often an absentee Father will try to win his family back with the most outrageous offerings and let the Kids organize and rule their time away to try and ‘make up’ for lost times. Kids have also been exposed the Best in the World when it comes to Hotel Offerings and are not shy to express their disapproval or discontent.

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I still enjoy coming to work every day and am delighted by satisfied and regular return Guests, especially those whom I have taken care of for many years. I still have so much to say about the ever changing Life as Concierge and my role in the Hotel as it is not just a Job to me but a way of life.”

- Deon Prinsloo, Head Concierge / Guest Relations Manager, The Palazzo Hotel, Johannesburg, South Africa

Hana Lynn

Mohamed Rabie

“In a busy Resort like ours the guest is both more self-sufficient and dependent on the knowledge of a Concierge. Many guests tend to investigate and learn about a place they will vacation in from the Internet prior to their arrival. They then contact the concierge for insider knowledge or to reserve activities, dinners and take care of other arrangements, as they may be overwhelmed by the sheer volume and variety of the offerings. I feel that today’s guest is then more appreciative of the personal touch that we offer, our attention to detail, our hand on knowledge and familiarity with the options.

In the age of technology it may feel refreshing that there is a person on the other end that remembers their name, or their likes or dislikes and pays individual attention to their needs.”

– Hana Lynn, Concierge, Four Seasons Resort and Residences Whistler, British Columbia, Canada

“Guest expectations have become very high these days. When they enter the Ritz-Carlton Hotels, they expect the extra mile, we need to anticipate our guests needs before they ask for anything. Guest expectations are beliefs about service delivery that serve as standards or reference points against which performance is judged. Because guests compare their perceptions of performance with these reference points when evaluating service quality, thorough knowledge about guest expectations is critical to hospitality services. Knowing what the guest expects is the first and possibly most critical step in delivering good quality service. Being wrong about what guests want can mean losing a guest’s business when another company hits the target exactly. Being wrong can also mean expending money, time and other resources on things that do not count to the customer. Being wrong can even mean not surviving in a fiercely competitive market.”

– Mohamed Rabie, Director Of Guest Services & Concierge, 3rd Vice President of Les Clefs D’Or

– Qatar, The Ritz Carlton, Doha, United Arab Emitates.

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Isabelle Hogan

Riccardo Arnaldi

“To me it has changed for the best. I have realized that guests depend more and more on the concierge desk to make their whole stay as enjoyable as possible. There is a bigger trust between guests and concierges that was never there before. They do expect more and a wider range of questions but with the best contacts in town and making the impossible possible for our guests we enjoy every moment of every day.”

-Isabelle Hogan, Chef Concierge, THE MARK, Madison Avenue, New York, United States of America.

“Yes indeed guest expectations have changed a lot, they have become more demanding as guests are looking for details. In the luxury market, the details make the difference, all luxury hotel brands can offer top service, but only a few of them can make the difference. Making the guest feel special and not just a guest or a customer but part of a journey can be tough even for just one day.

In the past without internet and all tech possibilities the guests were blind when travelling and the concierge was the reliable person to contact for anything. Now most of them know where to go, therefore we have to be extremely good in surprising them, with technology, and where the internet does not reach. Special places, special moments, special emotions, those sensation cannot be reached through a computer, it is something that we have inside, we have to have “customer caring”.”

“We have to be updated, always. They do not want to waste time when in a business city, they want to discover the city but in a human way, they want to know what others do not know. When relaxing in a leisure hotel, they want to switch off their minds, – we have to be great to let them understand that now it is their time to relax.”

-Riccardo Arnaldi, Head Concierge Desk, The Westin Palace, Milan, Italy.

“Guest expectations over the years have seen a growing transition to a more electronic & expedited service. Guest’s expectations for the concierge have also transitioned to less of a demand for the basic request we once used to receive. The growth of hospitality media applications allow the guest to receive “non-biased” responses to guest experiences, which may put the creditability and motive of the concierge in question. This means the knowledge and personal experience the guest has is even more important than in the past. There will always be a moment that a concierge will be a necessity within a hotel, however that necessity will continue to change over time and demand.”

– M. Stephen Webster, Concierge, Four Seasons Houston, Texas, United States of America.

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the newest Skill a

Corporate F&B needsI find that being in a Corporate F&B role is relatively similar to being Zsa Zsa Gábor’s 9th husband….

I know what to do….but it’s a lot of work trying to make sure I’m making things more interesting than the others.

This is a daily struggle. We know what guests expect for their F&B experience for each of the 9 brands in our portfolio, but how do we present and serve it in a way that is sustainably superior and more interesting than our competitors?

With consumer attentiveness to quality food continuing to advance at a blurring rate, a brand or organization cannot hide behind the economic

difficulty of the required progression to higher quality for long. The focus has to be on how to match or exceed the latest guest expectations economically. Guests will voice dissatisfaction to off-trend, calorically supersized or subpar Beverage & Food offerings, even at the most basic level (think coffee). Even down to the creamer you provide to put into it (think artificial or nondairy). So where does one focus? Here are three areas that top my list.

Reducing Menu Variety:Menus are shrinking, variety is being reduced and a sharp focus on a narrower selection of higher quality

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offerings will be the rule. Scaling back from 100 good menu items to 40 or 60 picture worthy ones that have a story to tell, allows you to increase the food cost of the keepers while simultaneously offsetting some of that cost through portion size management and the elimination of the others. It also allows you to either re-task your labor to help improve the quality of remaining items (maybe you now make your own salad dressings in-house instead of buying pre-made), or a simple straight-line reduction in labor. Tightly focused, high quality menus are easy to spot, but I’ll reference the QSR area because it touches almost everyone and will be familiar. Starbucks purchased and now has deployed “La Boulange” for breakfast items, and “Evolution Fresh” for juice, and even developed their own craft carbonated sodas. At Chick-fil-A, you can now get a very high grade coffee, the highest grade actually, “Specialty Grade” and my favorite; Lemonade, clearly labeled, “Sugar Lemons Water” (Splenda for diet). Chipotle offers premium quality, cooked from scratch in the store, total customization, and a “Patron” Margarita if you so desire, (double emphasis on Patron there). Guests now are very used to getting affordable high quality items even when produced in a high volume environment. Our FF&E (Furniture Fixtures and Equipment) no matter how fancy, cannot compensate for a diluted or questionable presence of quality F&B. To put it another way, the hardware cant be better than the software.

Reduced or Appropriate Portion Size:The shift in consumers’ value perception has now gone from feeling great about the super large plate of XYZ to realizing that not only can they not eat it all, but that they should not eat it all. Guests now show a clear preference for smaller or sharable portions of something creative and high quality. Quantity no longer defines the value of a meal. This will be further emphasized by the mandate for food labeling and calorie counts for menus and cocktails taking effect soon. Darden’s “Seasons 52” restaurants are clearly ahead in their approach and creativity with the small desserts and wood fire flavor in lieu of butter etc.. This will become quite prevalent at breakfast in coming years; although I don’t necessarily anticipate a significant decline in pancake sales, I do see guests objecting to a serving that is too large and thus 1,250 calories or a buffet stocked solely with calorically dense items like Danish, Cinnamon Roles etc.

Menu Descriptions & PhotosIf you are not mentioning that your chicken is hormone free, or your tomatoes are locally grown, or that this dish contains a full serving of vegetables or fruit, then you are letting the Chipotles of the world out-market you. Presentation is key, not because we are going to put photos on the menus, but because if I can present things creatively, guests will take their own photo, and post it, hashtag it, Instagram it, Facebook it,….etc.… We have free marketing, whether it’s good… or bad. We just need to direct it a bit (print your preferred hash tag on the menu next to the allergy warning) and plan for it with plate presentation. Even design standards are now beginning to include the realization that F&B venues need to be lit and designed to complement such picture taking for both F&B, and the guests taking them.

The ability and talent needed to evolve our F&B programs to match the acceleration curve of guest expectations is generally already in place. It is however, the ability to overcome the intra-organizational concerns and economic objections to get them implemented at that same pace that is rapidly becoming the most important part of the equation.

Until we get ahead of the curve, Guests will continue to move from hotel brand to hotel brand until they have found the quality level they are accustomed to and will continue to abandon those that don’t live up to their expectations ….just like Zsa Zsa.

About the author Bob Midyette is a corporate F&B with IHG and previously directed Global F&B Operations for Royal Caribbean International. He has opened up markets in South America, Australasia, China, and Europe. Bob has an MBA, a BS in Hospitality Management and an AS in Culinary Arts. He was appointed by the U.S. Secretary of Commerce to serve on the Board of Examiners for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award in 2001, 2002 and 2003. He also has completed several Executive Education Courses at Harvard Business School within the disciplines of Finance, Strategic Negotiation, and Operations Management.

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Innovation or Incrementalism?Are you changing fast enough?

Much has been written about innovation. In the age of technology one might think it is easy to innovate. By definition, innovation is the “act of doing something or launching new methods, processes or devices.”

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There is an art and science to making big changes in an organization driving innovation. On the flip side you have incrementalism. This is process of making small changes to something that already exists. It is tweeking to improve a service time, or adjusting something already in place in the operation. While both are important to an operation, the distinction between innovation and incrementalism should not be confused by your management team. With the economic recovery and the rise in demand for luxury hotels, it might be time to really try innovation.

In recent years, we have seen how hoteliers are jumping on the tech bandwagon to make their guests stay more enjoyable while bringing money to their bottom line. A few of the recent tech-savvy innovations include the remote control over everything in the room. This feature is already being used in over 630,000 hotel rooms across the U.S. This technology allows controlling the TV, light, air conditioning, etc. from pretty much anywhere in the room. Another popular innovation is the “be your own concierge” apps. Hotels are now offering mobile apps that allow you to order room service, set up a wake-up call and even order a taxi without the outdated need to call the front desk. Today, hotels are even including energy efficient minibar in each guest’s room; the Neobar is an eco-friendly refrigerant that can maximize the efficiency of minibar operation.

On the energy efficiency level, Nest Labs invented a new device to control the thermostat and energy management vendors in the home. Now a copy cat thermostat manufacture, Schneider Electric offers a thermostat and

programmable room controller targeted to enterprises called SE8000 Series. The customizable and “elegantly designed” look of the controllers is targeted for different environments and decors. The new room controllers also allow commercial buildings to reinforce their brand by displaying any logo, image, or dynamic scheduled message on their screen.

These are all great innovative technologies but you might be asking. “How do I even begin to innovate at my hotel?” If you are part of a large corporation they may have an innovation team but you can innovate too. Here are ten simple steps to begin a journey of innovation.

1. Assign a team of unusual people to include team members closest to the guest. Mix it up with non-traditional group of people you believe can think outside the box. Come up with a fun name for the Team. Like 007 so it has cache.

2. Assign a task related to an unmet need. Review guest complaint cards, look at experiences you feel are missing from the guest stay and define a need. Task the team with coming up with ideas around that need. Otherwise the innovation team may go astray.

3. Ask them to quest outside the hotel industry. Let’s say the unmet need is around the dining experience. Have the team visit new restaurant concepts in the space or need you seek. Have them experience things from a new point of view. Take photos of the experience and have them share the learnings among the team. Search the net for trends

in the topic like “locally sourced” food. Write the best case history on the learnings.

4. Now marry the learnings and trends with your own operation. What can we change to enhance the unmet need in the dining experience? What should we start doing, stop doing and or continue doing because of this new idea.

5. Pilot the change in a low risk manner. Select a day of the week, a time that is less risky than other times. Once it is successful as defined by the metric you seek, make the change. It should be impactful to your bottom line and or enhance service levels. It should feel new and fresh not a tweek of an old idea.

6. Applaud your team publically. Innovation is hard and can be scary to some. Show others your operation embraces new ideas by celebrating this win. You will be surprised to learn that creating a culture of change will drive an openness of sharing even more new ideas.

About the author Shelley Rosen, is Founder and CEO of Luxe Bloom, a Chicago based firm. Luxe Bloom delivers a transformative innovation in the floral industry by offering natural, long-lasting rose arrangements to luxury business operators on a monthly recurring basis. Luxe Bloom roses do not require water or refrigeration to keep their supple beauty and last up to 60 days. In partnership with Pro Ecuador, we procure the finest roses in the world. With over 30 colors and a myriad of designs, we serve the most discriminating luxury businesses. Kindly visit us at www.luxebloom.com to find out how we can save time and money. Contact Shelley with your innovative idea at shelley.rosen@luxebloom.com

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Is it

Time to Make a Renewable Energy Based New Year’s Resolution?

Incorporating clean energy into your hotel or resort’s business plan is oftentimes like exercising an eating right; there are things that you know you should probably do, but somehow don’t ever seem to get around to doing. Be it the ball room needing new carpet or Pizza Hut having stuffed crust pizzas on sale, something always seems to come up. Then you get busy and don’t think about it again until the next time you go clothes shopping or pay the propane bill.

The analogy works in a number of other different ways, as well. Just like exercising and eating right, renewable energy also requires

effort and the expenditure of resources before you get to experience the benefits. While getting healthy might include joining a gym, or buying a new pair of running shoes, with renewable energy you’re going to have to purchase (or lease in some instances) the equipment required to harness the renewable and sustainable resources that may be available to you.

With both, it also helps to do your research, develop a battle plan and to get your head on straight before you start the process!

Now, some of you are going to read

this and immediately determine that it sounds like a lot of work to do either. And you would be right. As pointed out above, both renewable energy and getting in shape require putting out more effort than not worrying about it. As long as the lights come on when you flip the switch and you can still squeeze into that outfit that you bought last year, why worry about it?

Well, the reason that you should worry about both is that the benefits that you will receive from either activity not only pay you back for your initial investment and effort, but does so with interest!

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“Alright, I know the benefits of working out, but what is renewable energy going to do for me?

The obvious benefit is that you can significantly reduce your energy costs. If properly designed and installed in the right situation, solar pv (photovoltaic), solar thermal, geo-thermal, and even wind energy systems can save your operation substantial amounts of money. Depending upon the type of system(s) that you install and your particular situation, the payback period of a clean energy system can be as little as 3 years! Depending upon how you structure the investment in the system, you

can even start saving money from the very first electron or BTU generated.

While cost savings are important, they are not the only benefit that comes with adopting renewable energy. Other benefits of renewable energy are:

1. Providing a price hedge against future energy price increases.

According to the Edison Electric Institute (1) a trade organization consisting of all of the major investor owned utilities in the US, electricity prices have risen an average

of 2.5% since the year 2000 and are expected to increase substantially over the next few years due to a number of different factors such as many older, less efficient, and dirty coal fired power plants being taken off line.

Renewable energy systems provide a hedge against these price increases because your system will not require fuel purchases! Beyond a minimum amount of maintenance, once you’ve recaptured your capital expenditure, the energy you harvest from the renewable source is, in essence, “free”.

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2. Customers Prefer “Green” Companies.

While there has been some debate in the lodging industry if “going green” has a net positive or negative effect on bookings and ADR (Average Daily Rate), most studies have shown that consumers overall have a preference for green options when given a choice. This is particularly true of the lucrative group meeting/convention market segment where offering a “green” alternative is a definite marketing advantage.

While one study conducted by Cornell University failed to show an increase in ADR, it did observe that consumers don’t view going green as being a negative (2). There are also other studies that show that the percentage of consumers who identify themselves as being “green” is growing and is expected to continue to grow in the foreseeable future(3).

3. Public Relations.

As noted above, while there is some debate over whether or not consumers will pay more for a green product, there is little doubt that people like to read about, and the media likes to talk about companies that are going green and doing good. Remember, as P.T. Barnum is rumored to have said, “There is no such thing as bad publicity”.

Now, going back to our analogy, just as one type of working out or diet plan

might not work for everybody, without studying your particular situation it would be difficult to say which renewable energy system would work best for you (if any). The considerations that come into play can be;

1. The current type of fuel you use to heat your water

2. Who you buy your fuel and electricity from

3. Where your facility is located

4. The age and condition of your facilities

5. What types of facilities you operate (ball rooms, pools, spas, etc.)

6. If you do your laundry in-house or ship it out

7. The availability of incentives and subsidies

While each property’s situation is different and based upon these considerations, your property may not be well situated to take advantage of the various renewable energy technologies, most hotels are situated to take advantage of at least some renewable energy or sustainability schemes.

Here is a breakdown of the most common renewable energy technologies that have proven successful in the lodging industry.

Energy ConservationThe low hanging fruit in reducing your energy expenditures is in

reducing your demand. Basically, every kilowatt hour or BTU that you don’t burn is a kwh or btu that you don’t have to pay for. The trick is in reducing your energy demand in such a way as to not have a negative effect upon your guests or employees.

Fortunately, there are a lot of different methods that you can use to reduce your energy demand without having a negative effect on your customers or spending a lot of money (Which is a topic that I hope to explore in a future article).

Solar ThermalWhen most people think of solar energy, it’s solar pv (photovoltaic) that comes to mind. That is, the solar panels that generate electricity. And while solar pv can be a great investment in the right set of circumstances, solar thermal might be the renewable energy system that can give your property the biggest bang for the buck!

This is especially true in hotels that are outside the reach of a natural gas distribution network and who do laundry onsite and/or that operate heated pools.

Basically, solar thermal systems utilize the sun’s rays to replace natural gas, propane or electricity to heat your hotel’s water. And while heating water may not come to mind as being one of your biggest expenses, it can be a huge portion of your utility bill.

A solar thermal system can help to reduce your utility bills significantly and in some situations even eliminate them (though due to limits on available space, and capital

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considerations most solar thermal systems are designed to reduce, not eliminate your fossil fuel consumption). Solar thermal can also be utilized for space heating, as well as to dehumidify your air, which can significantly reduce the load on your air conditioning units, as well as to fight mold in high humidity environments.

Solar PV (Photovoltaic)As noted above, solar photovoltaic is the solar technology that most people are familiar with. While there are a number of variations on the theme, which have different pros and cons, the basic technology is designed to utilize the sun’s rays to generate a current through the use of semi-conducting materials.

Historically, the cost of the equipment made it difficult to justify the purchase of a solar array because the price of electricity from the local utility was so inexpensive. This was, and is still true in locations where the utilities rely heavily upon coal as their fuel source.

Recently, however, the cost of solar pv has been dropping dramatically, while as noted above, the price of electricity has been going up. This has resulted in solar pv reaching a point of “grid parity” with the cost of commercially available electricity in many markets. Hotels and resorts located in out-of-the-way locations, such as on islands, where diesel generators are often utilized to produce electricity can be particularly well positioned to take advantage of solar pv.

Now, since a good portion of the

total cost of commercially available electricity isn’t included in the cost of a kilowatt hour and is instead “externalized” to the general public in the form of adverse health and environmental effects, solar pv is still not a cost effective alternative in most markets unless you are able to take advantage of the various incentives and subsidies that are often offered by governmental entities.

An example of which would be the 30% Federal Tax credit that the US government grants to people and companies that make the investment in solar or another renewable energy systems (a program that is subject to renewal at the end of 2016). Many states/provinces, municipalities and even some electric utilities also offer incentives. A very helpful resource to check and see what incentives might be available can be found at www.dsireusa.org/ website.

Geo-ThermalWhile far less common that solar pv or solar thermal, geo-thermal is also a sustainable energy source that can be utilized to reduce your fossil fuel demand. While some geo-thermal technologies take advantages of geological hot spots, these hot spots are site specific and don’t apply to most locations. That doesn’t mean that you can’t take advantage of geo-thermal energy; you will simply have to harvest it in a slightly different way.

This is done by taking advantage of the fact that just a few feet below the surface, the earth itself stays fairly warm in the winter and fairly cool during the summer. Geo-

thermal systems take advantage of this differential by burying a system of tubes that carry a heat transfer fluid that collects the heat from the earth, then runs it through a heat exchanger, which in turn delivers that warmth to where it is needed. During warm weather, the process is reversed.

Other Renewable Energy SourcesWhile there are other renewable energy sources that may be available to hotels, such as biomass, co-generation and wind energy, these sources tend to be very site specific and not generally accessible to most properties.

So, should you make a resolution to adopt renewable energy to improve your property’s bottom line? Chances are the answer is yes. But, as with getting healthy, it’s going to have to be something that you want and are willing to put in some effort to obtain. The end results, however, will be worth it every time that you look in a mirror or sit down to pay your property’s utility bills!

About the author Bob Mitchell is a renewable energy/sustainability consultant based in Raleigh, North Carolina. Clean Energy Guy, LLC specializes in helping companies, particularly in the lodging industry, incorporate renewable energy into their business models in order to improve their bottom lines and to reduce their impact upon the planet.

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There are endless titles for jobs that have been created in the last decade to form a role that signifies the ever growing business levels and importance of online representation. These job titles are now stabilizing themselves, but clearly the roles are not. The positive development is that the role has become more senior over

the last years, nowadays these guys are part of the revenue meetings, part of the budgeting process, and a permanent member of the internal sales meetings.

That of course is only the case when the employee and colleague is actually based on property, sure the title says it, online, but does

4 Reasons why Centralized online Marketing by Hotel Companies is a Bad Idea!

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that mean the role, the actual position is online too? In the last 10 years on the many visits in several geographical areas, as well as numerous independent as well as large established hotel brands, we have seen incredible marketing opportunity vanish, through many notable decisions, one of the largest being the centralization of the online marketing role.

The following will tell you why so much financial opportunity is lost and why it takes significant time to get the role up to speed with the one hotel or property.

1. Going local. Sure corporate online guidelines and the brand book are of extreme importance, they give the company direction, a strategy to grow, expand and deliver to stakeholders like shareholders. Even more so they should be used to educate and motivate employees to become a part of a company culture. Question asked, is that material that supports every hotel valuable locally, for one or two properties?

Sure we need those guidelines, but a centralized set up will not promote any local development. In fact it will do quite the opposite, local knowledge is of extreme importance. Not only following that ever growing trend of “the need to be and experience local”, but the actual physical need of a person being there to understand the market segmentation, pricing, packaging, efforts of the outlets like restaurant or spa.

Knowledge of what’s going on in the city, to be able to plan ahead with co-sponsors or partners, yes they require meetings, time and valid local input to create successful campaigns. One rule definitely does not fit all, within online marketing.

2. Physical attendance. As mentioned before the online marketer needs to have a key position in the management team. Not only because online travel is soon or already for many hotels surpassing 30% of the room revenues, but also because decisions, in room management, yield management, inventory, corporate and leisure contracting is still in many cases a local decision.

An example is a recent client contracting with one of the largest Japanese electronics companies, bidding for about 4000 room nights. The sales calls went smooth, the RFP was approved and much was done agreed with the local travel manager in London. There was one challenge, the company wanted to make use of their intranet, with full support of the hotels, last minute promotions, monthly local updates and much more. In fact they are fully open to opportunities like special weekends for the employees, Spa packages, last minute upgrade opportunities and much more. Clearly this requires someone who know what’s going on, knows what gaps there are in the future,

builds a personal (not virtual) relationship with that client. In this case the client was not only lost, but the opportunity to create, build an additional revenue stream, marketing opportunity for the brand, were too.

Understanding the property or hotel is vital, it’s that local knowledge and skill that should be communicated, worldwide!

3. Cost or revenue. The large corporates are continuously showing the trend of centralizing, clearly with many financial benefits, streamlining in efficiency and creating effective processes. Our team has been a part of many of those, both with Six Sigma as well as Lean activities and implementations. Main results are not only cost saving results but even more, removal of non value added steps in the process for particularly the guest. Defending roles to the management in marketing have always presented themselves with challenges; how do you calculate success? Many companies have come with resourceful calculations, and other efforts to show results of campaigns, PR activities and events. Yet there is not one that is widely accepted, particularly not when it comes to leadership or management decisions, and definitely not within the hospitality industry.

Besides the role description as described before being an issue, the wage is also a hot potato within the management

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team. Can and will the hotel be able to afford the online marketing position. All too often do we come across the function being filled by happy and creative, but unskilled people who do not only fill a position that can create an entirely wrong profile, with the simple touch of a button, but are not strategic, do not communicate with the revenue department, or show only basic skills within marketing. This leads to incredible potential revenue displacement.

Tools available online, bookings codes, virtual or physical codes can help show results of marketing efforts, but the biggest result by far making the position worth every penny, on property, is marginal revenue growth and bottom line profits through upselling or yielding.

4. Instant results, seasonal efforts. In the many years of consulting, but also in analyzing business and business performance we have come across something which is rather sensitive in our hospitality industry, called low seasons. An industry jargon, which is baked into the way business levels are viewed over a certain period. We predict the business and base pricing and sales strategies around that.

All too often do we find that the online marketing role is used mainly for last minute campaigns or to filter through standing promotions like the

typical Romantic Weekend.

The focus is on existing contracts, corporate or leisure or group contracts. The online marketing role is too often seen as ‘last minute’ fill up solutions. They are even account managers for Booking, Expedia and such highlighting exactly that. Sure that role together with the revenue director is of great importance, but long term strategies for all low season are so extremely important, as we know that with existing contracts the chance to get those filled are minimal. Early planning and campaigning can be a great solution, and offer brilliant opportunity, by thinking outside the box. With support of the entire executive team great financial efforts can indeed make a difference to the somewhat old fashioned way of addressing these low seasons.

Finally a few more words on the online marketing role. The above list is by far non exclusive, there are many other pro’s and con’s to centralizing or decentralizing the role. However the trend is affecting business levels, and makes many companies in the hotel industry more of a slow corporate monster than is needed. And that really makes the industry very unsexy to attract the best people in the market, but also creates a competitive environment, which all comes down to one thing, pricing. Putting a hold to incremental growth, creativity, innovation and people development!

Sources:The New Rules of Marketing & PR

– David Meerman Scott

The Social Media Marketing book – Dan Zarella

Marketing for Hospitality & Tourism

– Philip R Kottler

ISixSigma – Online Marketing

Boston Consulting

Mckinsey – Generations to come

Ethics Resource Centre – Research brief

Mocinno International Consulting data

About the author Jeroen Gulickx is originally from Holland, where he obtained two business degrees. Later in life he also certified as black belt in Six Sigma.He is Managing Director of Mocinno International, a hospitality consulting company that started in 2006, focused on delivering incremental revenues for hotels, spa’s and hotel suppliers. Jeroen is well travelled and has extensive experience in the luxury travel segment. The main capabilities vary from streamlining cost and operational models, strategy, yielding, business development, and marketing. Mocinno International works with a network of highly experienced, energetic and yet innovative people, based in key locations.Jeroen leads Mocinno originated projects and companies within the luxury spa and travel industry.www.mocinno.com

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InteRvIew

Harlan Goldstein Hong Kong Celebrity Chef

HARLAN GOLDSTEIN earned his first Michelin stars in Hong Kong with his restaurants GOLD, and STRIP HOUSE, and has earned “celebrity chef” status with his fearless personality and philanthropic heart. He has survived controversy, soured partnership deals and financial setbacks, yet continues to draw the hip and elite to his flagship restaurant GOLD by Harlan Goldstein

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where he shares his passion for food and his love for the journey. We spoke to him about trends, his philosophy towards food, and why he loves a challenge.

What do you see as the most important trend influencing chefs in the next two years?Focusing on organic products, good technical skills, cross-fertilization of concepts such as a mixture of Indian, European and Mexican so the customers can experience

something really different, cool environment, great music, totally hipster.

You credited your team when you were awarded Michelin stars for two or your restaurants, Gold and Strip House (rebranded as Comfort). What is your secret sauce for motivating and training your staff?I’m a natural born leader, driving and motivating my team is the key to any entrepreneur’s success, and remembering this journey is not a

one-man show.

What is your philosophy towards food and how does that influence the way you live your life?It starts with the passion, love of the job, happiness of the customers, being able to create dishes and working with a happy bunch of lovely people.

As a celebrity chef, you are often in the public eye. What is your guilty pleasure when you have moment alone?Don’t tell anybody, a slice of pizza makes me crazy and a little food porn never hurts.

You clearly love a challenge, professionally and personally, what drives you? To reach a different level in my current position. I never want to be stagnant and I want to push for excellence and inspire others to do the same.

Now that Gordon Ramsay has rejected your challenge to a boxing match for charity, are you working on another exciting project for 2015?Let me think about it. I love challenges and I love to give to charity so I’m sure I’ll come up with something.

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A Flawless PerformanceThis Festive Season, I was fortunate enough to attend a wonderful Festive Concert by the great Maltese tenor Joseph Calleja, an evening which can only be described as a flawless performance, not only from the performers’ point of view, but for the total experience. The entire evening flowed seamlessly starting with the parking arrangements on arrival, through the

entire evening until the audience of a full to capacity auditorium reluctantly exited the venue. It made me stop and reflect on exactly what contributes to a

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successful event. A room full of people enjoying themselves? A full programme of entertainment? Gourmet food and free flowing beverages? Pages of coverage in the local press? The answer has to be a carefully planned, rehearsed, choreographed event with the greatest attention to the smallest detail.

PlANNING to ACHIEVE OBJECTIVESIt would be fair to state that the starting point should be to define your event objectives and to start planning the steps well in advance in order to achieve those objectives.

So it is all in the planning and while this statement may seem like stating the obvious, it still baffles me how many professional managers and companies will try to organize an event without sufficient advance planning.

In total contrast to the above seamless experience, I was recently invited to attend an event where a large sum of money had been spent on various types of entertainment, hostesses and artists, but sadly, only half a dozen people turned up to enjoy the evening; and even more baffling, when it came to serving refreshments, it appeared that not enough serving staff had been allocated to the event…… the organizers, it seemed, were determined to stage an event, irrespective to whether anybody actually attended the event. I later found out that the event had been organized in 3 days.

A week later, arriving at another event, I was encouraged to see a great turnout of beautifully dressed

ladies eagerly awaiting the evening’s programme and entertainment…. which never materialized! The organizers, it seemed, were gauging their success on the attendance of the event, irrespective to their guests’ experience and the ultimate impression those guests carried away with them at the end of the evening.

Guests left this event bewildered as to the point of the invitation and needless to say, highly unlikely to attend future events organized by the same organization.

So what makes an event successful?

It is all in the planning of the finest detail; both in the planning stages in the weeks and days running up to the event as well as on the day itself in the execution of the event.

TIMINGExactly how much time is needed to plan an event? Well, this of course, depends very much on the type and size of the event. I always find that it helps to work backwards; so once you have set your event date, start planning your Timeline/Project Management backwards.

Setting the right date, time and venue for an event are in themselves important points to consider and will determine the number of guests accepting your invitation.

Once you have established the date, time and venue, it is time to develop a Project Timeline. It is important to include all items within the Timeline, even the most obvious, as more often than not, these are the small things that are

forgotten but contribute so much to the ultimate success.

Typically, you would include the basic Headings, together with columns for Due By and By Whom. A Timeline review meeting should be held at least once a week, in the weeks leading up to the event, and daily in the final days.

GUEST lIST & INVITATIONSOnce the venue and date have been decided, invitations can be designed and a guest list drawn up. Do send out a “Save the Date”. This triggers anticipation for the event and your guests will be expecting to receive the invitation, while their availability to attend the event is already determined. If you are organizing a public event, do use social media to create a teaser and build anticipation.

Depending on the event and the venue, you need to calculate how many guests need to be invited in order that you end up with the right number of guests at the event. This is particularly relevant for corporate events. In the UAE, you would typically invite 4 times the number of guests you wish to have at a corporate event. After a follow up telephone call, approximately 50% will accept the invitation, and 50% of these will actually attend the event. Attendance increases if you have a celebrity attending or if you are holding the event at the hottest venue in town.

THE GUEST JOURNEYThought needs to the be given to the decoration of the venue, colour schemes, dress codes, entertainment, audio visual

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equipment, food and beverage, gift bags, etc. All very obvious….. But the one thing that is often forgotten is the “guest journey”; i.e. the guest experience from the moment they arrive at the venue, to the moment they leave. This guest journey needs to the thought through and managed in detail. Who will greet the guests? What will they do on arrival? At what point do speeches start and finish? When is food and beverage available?

EVENT MANAGEMENTIt is essential to appoint an Event Manager who will orchestrate the timing of the event and ensure a seamless flow of the Programme. The Event Manager will have a Team working with them, each person responsible for one aspect of the event; F&B, Media, Entertainment, A/V, etc.

MEDIA COVERAGECorporate and high society events require media exposure and if you are organizing an event where

media coverage is required, it is essential to hire an experienced PR Agency. The media will respond to an invitation from a respected PR Agency and for those media unable to attend the actual event, the PR Agency will follow-up with a Press Release and Media Kit to ensure coverage. An experienced PR professional will manage the media on the day, introduce them to the VIPs and ensure that relevant photographs are taken which are suitable for the various different needs; be it to accompany a Press Release or for society pages of the local media.

Once again, advance planning is important, as a PR Agency will need time to prepare Press Releases, a Media Kit and organise interviews if required.

ESSENTIAl INGREDIENTSA successful event is the result of planning, time and attention to the smallest detail. Choose strong characters to manage your event, who will not accept second best and

who understand the importance of quality and detail at every step of the journey. The result of such attention to detail is a seamless, flawless performance which will remain in the memories of your guests for a long time to come.

About the author Isabel Tapp is the Founder & CEO of Luxury PR & Communications Agency AllDetails Middle East based in Dubai, UAE. Isabel offers a broad range of international experience within PR, Marketing, Branding & Events having spent over 25 years in Senior Management positions with some of the world’s most prestigious hospitality brands in UK, Switzerland and Dubai.During the last 10 years, Isabel has set-up and grown AllDetails Middle East, culminating in June 2014 with winning the PR Award for Best Tourism & Hospitality PR Campaign at the Arab Luxury World PR Awards in Dubai, UAE.Email: isabeltapp@alldetails.netWebsite: www.alldetails.netFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/AllDetailsME

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10 Common Mistakes Hoteliers Make when they Approach an

organic Breakfast

Are you managing a hotel and want to have a Successful Organic Breakfast?

Ask yourself these 7 questions!

• Do you find that your simple and little “organic corner” doesn’t work for your guests?

• Are your guests valuing the efforts you put into your breakfast? And do you communicate the value of your breakfast to them? How?

• Does your organic breakfast cost more than the “conventional” one?

• Who are the team members involved in creating an organic breakfast (only the breakfast or restaurant team?)?

• Do you know the differences between a vegetarian, a vegan, a celiac and a lactose intolerant?

• How can you improve your Brand Reputation and increase your income through an organic breakfast?

• Have you ever thought how to reach those “unconventional guests” that can value your efforts and are really interested in this kind of offer?

3 reasons why it is so important that you ask yourself these questions!Because it is time to satisfy people with all kinds of dietry requirements, instead of making them feel guilty because they are different (there are many guests

with several special food needs, not only the above mentioned). They are not different: they appear different to you just because you have no idea about their needs or their habits. Have you ever thought that you look different in their eyes too?

Because you as a brand have a Social Corporate Responsibility: you are responsible for the way you welcome your guests, and breakfast is the very first way to show how much you respect them and care for them.

Because it’s a new opportunity to reach and achieve new targets, increase revenue, attract more business and elevate your brand reputation.

So, let’s see what happens normally

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when a hotel decide to launch for the first time an organic breakfast!

10 Common Mistakes Hoteliers Make when they Approach an Organic BreakfastYou are convinced that your simple-little “Organic Corner” can increase your guest’s satisfaction or your brand reputation (but your guests want more!).

You don’t communicate on your buffet that you have organic products.

You don’t give preference to local and seasonal organic products (by choosing organic products native to your country and located close to your hotel, you help the economy and the farmers around you)

You don’t consider the preferences

of vegetarian, vegan, celiac, lactose-intolerant, and fair trade-friendly people.

You don’t have dedicated and trained staff in the breakfast room, to help your guests by giving them the information they may need (in some countries you have to explain to guests why you must have some disposable products at your breakfast, even though they’re

organic ones, or the staff have to know the difference between a vegetarian and a vegan). People has no idea about the laws the hotel has to comply with: remember they don’t work in your field as you do!

You don’t involve all the departments: it’s essential that everybody in your team is informed about this specific breakfast. Organic breakfast does not only affect the breakfast team, or the restaurant team, or the kitchen or the Chef! A guest may call and ask the receptionist about breakfast options prior to booking. How do you answer? What about a corporate request for its coffee break, event or seminar?

You think that all guests know about organic food products, or about the difference between organic

products and conventional ones (for example, in some countries people are not concerned with what they eat. They don’t care about eating organic. Do you want to attract this kind of guest?

You don’t dedicate a specific area on your website to informing potential guests about your organic breakfast (there is no communication

normally, or just two lines that mention it!). Does your guest need Sherlock Holmes to find your breakfast on your website?

You don’t encourage in a smart and positive way some good feedback on portal reviews (you have to engage them in your process). If you have some negative reviews in the beginning, persevere, and tell the truth to your guests, ask

for their help, and listen to them! You’ll be surprised to see how much they want to help you, and for free! People normally leave a review when they have to complain about something! Why not “teach” them that with their feedback they can help other travelers to choose a hotel that cares about their special food needs?!

You don’t plan Marketing Strategies on-line and off-line in order to attract guests who are really interested in an organic breakfast. Encourage travelers to visit your hotel by taking part in Wellness Fairs and advertising in online newsletters and magazines they may like to read.

Feed Your Mind! And start NOW to welcome these guests with specific food needs. They are a minority that deserves recognition and can be an added revenue source for your hotel.

About the author Concetta D’Emma was the project co-founder of the first Italian eco-friendly hotel chain for 7 years. Now she’s the (Unconventional) Founder of UnconventionalHotels: a recent project that bridges the gap of communication and understanding between the Tourism Industry and the Unconventional Guests. She’s The Woman Who Listens to Unconventional Guests (she’s one of them!)As the Expert in Unconventional&Green Marketing Strategies, her Mission is to help the Hospitality and Food Services Industry to monetize its efforts thanks to the 3 Golden Rules system, valuing not only the environment, but especially people and animals.

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speciality tea is now the Fastest Growing sector of the

tea MarketTea presents a huge opportunity for luxury hotels to deliver memorable guest experience while driving profits. Don’t let your hotel miss out.

Tea is a drink with a deep and rich history that has inspired rituals and ceremonies all over the world. Since the boom of mass commercial air travel began in the 1950s the flow of ideas and cultures around the world has become more fluid. This has been

particularly true of food and drink culture. However, and perhaps symptomatic of their cultural significance, tea cultures have remained heavily localised and slow or resistant to change. This is now changing.

Speciality tea is now the fastest growing sector of the tea market. Consumer tastes and expectations are evolving to encompass more varieties and higher quality. In luxury hospitality it is no longer

acceptable to serve guests with tea that is lower in quality than they drink in their own homes or in a sub-luxury outlet.

The opportunity for luxury hospitality to capitalise on this trend is huge in terms of both profits and positive guest experience, but the sector must be seen to lead the way.

Below, JING Tea of London, experts in international luxury tea

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service recommend five key areas of focus to achieve excellence in tea service. 1) Create Tea Ceremonies

Tea offers fantastic opportunities for guest experience. With the exception of perhaps cocktails, no other drink offers so many opportunities to engage the senses. While teabags are convenient and simple, only by using the finest loose tea will you create truly memorable experiences for your guests. Your tea ceremony can take many shapes; from a full interactive service in your lounge to a simple and compact loose tea infuser and glass timer in-room.

Presentation of your tea service is key. Use a separate menu for your tea list and select teaware that enhances your tea service. Glass teaware is particularly suitable for this – guests will see the quality of the whole leaf loose tea you use and enjoy the vivid colours of the teas as they infuse.

Guests will pay a premium for such inspiring and engaging tea ceremonies. Costs per serving for loose tea are low, even for the very best teas available, giving great scope for high profit margins.

2) Focus on Quality and RangeTake time to select the teas you serve. Above all, focus on taste and perform blind tastings when choosing between suppliers. Just as with your wine or spirits list, the brand and range you select shows guests your dedication to quality. A conservative range with familiar teas will do little to surprise or delight your guests, or

help them try something new. As consumers increasingly experiment with different tea types at home, hotels need to be a step ahead, offering ranges which go beyond the everyday, encompassing a wide range of types and origins. Don’t let your guests be underwhelmed by your selection.

3) InnovateTea covers a huge spectrum of flavours and textures, from light, grassy green tea to floral and fruity oolongs, rich, malty black teas and woody, leathery puerh teas. Experiment with tea and food pairing menus or use tea to enhance the theme of an outlet. Try a dessert menu pairing oolong teas with sweet food to highlight the amazing flavours of this less well-known type of tea.

4) Train and Inspire your StaffTo achieve excellence in tea service, training is essential. Equip your staff with the knowledge to present, sell, make and serve your tea menu. The best tea menu in the world is wasted if not made well, served well and communicated in an essential way to each guest. Many of the world’s best teas are handmade, artisanal products. Training and inspiring staff to appreciate the provenance and quality of tea you serve will affect how they present your tea menu to guests. Introduce standard operating procedures to make loose tea service effortless and ensure consistency of taste and guest experience.

5) Ensure ConsistencyEnsure that you deliver a

consistently high quality tea service not only in one outlet, but throughout your hotel, and across hotels of the same brand. If guests experience a fantastic tea service at breakfast, they will expect a consistent quality of experience wherever they are in the hotel. Don’t give guests an inconsistent message by showcasing an excellent tea service in your lounge, then providing low quality teabags in-room or at breakfast where it can really matter most to the guest. The brands you choose to display in-room are a strong statement of your dedication to quality across your business. Give your guests the same quality of experience in every hotel around the world under your brand.

ConclusionThe tea revolution is well underway. Luxury hotels must seize the opportunity and lead this trend. Judge your tea service from your guest’s chair and ask yourself simple questions to determine whether it really is the best it can be. Does the tea taste good? Does the service elevate or detract from the experience? Does it exceed the expectations of today’s luxury guest? Are your guests drinking better tea at home?

An exceptional tea service can elevate and rejuvenate entire areas of your hotel, deliver excellent profit margins, create memorable guest experiences and inspire brand loyalty. As we enter the busy holiday season, check whether your tea service is delivering this. If not, it could be the perfect project with which to start 2015…

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Picture the scene: a middle-aged Woman named Carlie is traveling for work, something she does at least once a quarter for her job in sales. Carlie usually arrives in town a day ahead of her big meeting in order to prepare. This time, she got a great deal on her trip and opted to have another day just to unwind away from responsibilities back home. She checks in around noon on a Tuesday and works into the evening, breaking for dinner. Having never been to this town before, she checks online quickly and finds a nearby chain restaurant, unaware that at the back of the hotel is a hotel-run restaurant with better food and similar prices. She misses an experience unique to the area.

The following day, Carlie spends the morning putting the final touches on her presentation, and has the afternoon free. She decides to do some shopping at the mall, and while there decides to get a neck massage from a small pop-up shop, unaware that her hotel has great spa services available. The hospitality industry is missing out on these opportunities due to a lack of marketing and communication–in other words, guest engagement.

Guest engagement is perhaps the most important aspect of Hospitality. According to a recent survey from Gallup, Inc, a fully engaged Guest spent $588

compared to $403 for a disengaged Guest. A difference of $185 per stay. Additionally, a fully engaged Guest is less price sensitive when booking a repeated hotel stay, showing the importance of Guest Engagement for the Hospitality Industry. Engagement also encourages Guest Loyalty and delivers another chance for the guest to share reviews on their experience.

If you look at mobile device use in the industry, Hotels are quite slow to adapt to it, and there are still some big brands who do not have a mobile app. Some of these have mobile apps which are just a glorified website, offering a choppy experience that ultimately deters use by the guest. The primary need is to have an interactive mobile app with two-way communication. In such a demanding industry as hospitality, customer centric mobile apps are necessary to build long lasting customer relationships and, of course, increase revenues. Only enhancing Guest Experience could do this. How do you Enhance Guest Experience?

1. Effective communication between Hotel Staff and their Guests.

2. Address Service issues before it is too late

3. Market onsite Services/Promotions to Guests

The solution to engagement could be just this, a mobile app, which will address these 3 key points. The technology is here to empower mobile apps to proactively interact with guests, deliver information about hotel amenities and services, and offer various platforms where guests can engage with the hotel.

With micro-location based technology, hotels can know the exact location of Guests on the property, allowing them to market location-aware ads to Guests. By pushing a personalized notification to a Guest there is a sense of interaction, which could replace hefty loyalty programs for which Guests have to wait until they accumulate points to see reward. A Smart Phone can evolve into an electronic concierge service, turning hotel apps into sources of revenue.

About the author Pankaj Agrawal, Co-Founder & CEO of SmartStay, Inc. SmartStay is a mobile platform, utilizing micro-location based technology called iBeacon to market Services/Promotions to Hotel Guests and to engage them throughout their stay. Please check out http://smartstay.io and reach out to us at info@smartstay.io

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iLHa FaSt ForWard 2020Exploring Trends & Innovation in the Luxury Hotel Industry

WHENSeptember 28th & 29th

2015

WHEREOrlando Convention Center

Orlando, US

REgistER NoW foR EaRly biRd pRiciNghttp://www.luxuryhotelconference.com/