Tag: managing director

Briefing: Understanding Millennial priorities

Posted on by Guy Lean

The latest research on millennials from Choice Hotels found that 33% of Millennials would put off buying a home to take a dream vacation.

Holidays remain as desirable as ever. Particularly for this young generation where an opportunity to have a new experience can take priority over other areas of life. The study also found that 12% of Millennials have quit their job to take a vacation or go to an event such as a concert.

In these videos four experts discuss the behavior of Millennial travellers:

Choice Hotel’s study Uncovering the Millennial Mindset looked into the behaviours and priorities that Millennials have when taking a holiday. The survey polled 1,000 U.S. adults, ages 18-65 between September 30 – October 3, 2015.

It highlighted some differences between a Millennial at home and a Millennial on holiday, finding that 27% of Millennials have stayed in a hotel to impress someone and 79% of Millennials say they are more adventurous about eating and drinking when travelling.

The industry has had to drastically change to cater to emerging distribution methods. But tradition has not been shunned altogether, with 35% of Millennials will still turn to the friendly help of a travel agent to make their decision.

Not all the generational shifts are as drastic as the move to online research and booking. The study also found that 61% of Millennials carry hand sanitizer when travelling—more than any other generation. And 30% of Millennials keep earbuds in their ears when travelling so people don’t talk to them.

The study highlights the Millennials appreciation for instant rewards. It states that 69% of Millennials see freebies (such as snacks/sandwiches/to-go breakfast) as more important than opportunities for increased loyalty or reward points. And 43% of Millennials believe that if you do sign up to a rewards program you should receive your first benefit straight away.

Video clips produced by ybc.tv for the Hospitality Channel, including interview from industry conferences such as the IHIF conference as well as specific Hospitality Channel shoots.

Briefing: The expansion of extended stay

Posted on by Guy Lean

A Special Report by Skift and Homewood Suites by Hilton found that there has been a 42.3% year over year growth in the pipeline for extended-stay properties in the US. Homewood Suites has 325 hotels in the US. Another growing extended-stay brand is Staybridge Suites, which has 101 hotels in the pipeline. With increasing awareness and demand for extended-stay accommodation internationally, there is high potential for growth.

Experts discuss extended-stays in a variety of accommodation types:

The report ‘The Changing Business of Extended-Stay Hotels’ found that the average age of extended-stay travellers is mid-40s. Also the 18-34 year old age group slightly favours extended-stay style accommodation for leisure trips.

The survey found that guests in extended-stay accommodation are more likely to be on business than leisure and that business travellers will stay longer.

Unsurprisingly the survey found that free wi-fi and a complimentary hot breakfast were considered the two most important amenities in an extended-stay hotel by both business and leisure travellers.

The survey found that only 45.4% of travelling Americans had stayed in extended-stay accommodation and 8.6% didn’t know what extended-stay accommodation was, suggesting there is potential for further growth in the market in America.

According to figures from STR, occupancy in extended-stay has been growing over the past few years. In the US, demand for extended-stay was 72.5% in 2012, 73.1% in 2013, and 74.9% in 2014. 125,000 new extended-stay rooms are expected to open in the US by 2018.

In the economy sector, STR data also showed that extended-stay supply growth was 2.6% YTD in May 2015 and ADR showed a 7.9% year on year change.

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Video clips produced by yBC for the Hospitality Channel, including interview from industry conferences such as the IHIF conference as well as specific Hospitality Channel shoots.

Briefing: High staff turnover is costly for hospitality businesses

Posted on by Guy Lean

A new report from Deloitte, Hospitality 2015 – Game changers or spectators, found that employee turnover in hospitality can be as high as 31% and may increase further as the recession is left behind. This is nearly double the average rate for other industries and can be expensive for businesses. So how can hospitality businesses hold on to valuable staff for the long term?

In these videos hospitality experts discuss staff retention:

Staffing costs account for a tremendous proportion of hotel operation costs. Deloitte’s report states that, ‘An average hotelier spends 45 percent of operating expenses and 33 per cent of revenues on labour costs.’ High turnover rates cause extra costs in recruitment and training. According to the report 52% of the cost of replacing staff is productivity loss and 14% is orientation and training.

The report shows that the top barriers to retaining employees are lack of compensation increases and excessive workload. At entry level, hospitality jobs can typically have somewhat irregular hours and fairly low pay and can attract younger workers who may not considered hospitality a long term career. However hardworking, happy and engaged staff are essential for the smooth running of a hotel and the longer staff stay in their roles the more they will have to offer the company.

In order to impress guests companies need staff across the business who understand the industry well and are able to represent the brand at the level expected. It is well worth focusing attention on giving staff a good experience so that they want to perform their best.

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Video clips produced by yBC for the Hospitality Channel, including interview from industry conferences such as the IHIF conference as well as specific Hospitality Channel shoots.

Briefing: Business, Leisure, Community – Hospitality for millennials

Posted on by Guy Lean

New hospitality brand Zoku launched this week. This and other brands are responding to the needs of the millennial business traveller. BridgeStreet’s Bleisure Report 2014 found that the line between business and leisure travel is blurring as more people are looking for ways to include leisure activities into their business trips. In the survey ‘Nearly half of respondents (46%) add personal travel days to business travel “every trip” or to “most trips”.’

Young business travellers want to experience the city they are in and socialise and want to stay somewhere that enables them to do this, as discussed in these videos:

BridgeStreet’s survey of 640 international guests shows that instead of only exploring cities on leisure trips, ‘83% of respondents use time on business trips to explore the city they’re visiting.’ The report also states that: ‘The top reason for bleisure travel is a desire to see the world and gain cultural experiences’. This is also shown in TripAdvisor’s Trip Barometer 2015, in which 29% of people said their reason for visiting a specific destination was that they ‘love exploring the area’.

Zoku is aimed at people who need short or extended stay accommodation in a new city for work. The accommodation incorporates social spaces, events, and app to help guests to make connections. Zoku’s launch announcement goes so far as to proclaim the ‘end of the hotel room’. Instead of bedrooms there will be ‘lofts’, which are designed to be living and work spaces rather than just places to sleep, and are intended to be more homely and social in the same sized space as a hotel room. There is a new take on the holiday rep as ‘Zoku Community Managers’ will help make introductions between guests. The first Zoku will open in Amsterdam in autumn 2015.

Services apartment brand SACO is also targeting the bleisure traveller. Their research shows that Millennials are 50% more likely to have travelled for business in the past two years than people over 35. It says that 14% of millennials see travelling as an important networking opportunity (as opposed to 7% of their older peers), and that ‘millennials look for accommodation with shared spaces for socialising in’.

Radisson Red is a new brand from Radisson hotel group which again is promising spaces for Gen Y to work, play and socialise.

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Video clips produced by yBC for the Hospitality Channel, including interview from industry conferences such as the IHIF conference as well as specific Hospitality Channel shoots.

Briefing: Meta-disruption in hotel bookings

Posted on by Guy Lean

According to Statistica, over 35% of Millennial and Gen X travellers (all adults under 48) use ‘meta-search’ when planning travel, allowing them to automatically combine search engine results. It is ten years since the launches of two well-known meta-search sites Kayak and Trivago in 2005. In 2015 meta-search is one technology that is developing fast and impacting on hoteliers. According to Skift, changes to Google’s hotel finder search will make Google a big player in the meta-search arena this year.

With the hospitality booking landscape constantly changing these videos have expert discussion on approaches to distribution:

Meta-search allows the consumer to limit the amount of ‘clicks’ from the beginning of their holiday internet research to their booking. While the actual booking is made with the OTA or the hotel the search site allows the researcher to compare deals on the same trip across different sites. This ease and efficiency has made meta-search popular. With consumers choosing to use this shortcut it is important for hospitality businesses to consider whether or not they are showing up in the search results. To appear in meta-search results hoteliers can list themselves on the website (an option on sites such as TripAdvisor or Kayak), or on an OTA (Trivago only lists OTA inventory), which tend to be more prominent in results.

Trivago is the world’s largest online hotel search with 100% growth every year since 2008. It shows results from 266 booking sites (which encompasses 726,065 hotels).

Kayak receives over one billion queries each year. It also has a mobile app which has been downloaded 40 million times.

Metasearch is also frequently used for booking flights on sites such as Monomondo, Skyscanner, and Travel Supermarket.  There is even an apartment specific meta-search site Apartum for consumers preferring alternative accommodation to hotels.

If you’ve been sent to this page and you’re not yet on the circulation list to receive these regular briefings and you would like to sign up, you can do see here. It’s free.

Video clips produced by yBC for the Hospitality Channel, including interview from industry conferences such as the IHIF conference as well as specific Hospitality Channel shoots.

Briefing: A new era for hotel F&B?

Posted on by Guy Lean

After 187 years one of the London’s oldest hotel restaurants, Simpsons-in-the-Strand, part of The Savoy, could be closing according to The Londonist. This could indicate a shift in attitudes towards food and beverage in the industry. But while it may be the end for this traditional establishment other hotel brands are taking on more F&B projects and finding new ways to make them stand out. How integral are restaurants to a hotel experience? Our experts discuss the importance of F&B:

The Savoy is managed by Fairmont Hotel and Resorts and has six restaurants and bars. Simpsons-in-the-Strand offers a very traditionally British dining experience but may be bought and rebranded by another operator, according to the report.

On 16 January IHG acquired Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants for $430 million. Kimpton operates 71 hotel-based destination restaurants and bars. This is not the only area where IHG is showing an interest in F&B. IHG’s Hotel Indigo boutique brand has launched a new “food and drink philosophy” focusing on “Locally crafted” products. The brand is running a competition in the UK to find “Britain’s favourite local food artisan” and has celebrity chef Jimmy Doherty on the judging panel.

Finally, DoubleTree by Hilton has pulled in award winning chef Jean-Christophe Novelli for it’s new property in Liverpool, which opens in April this year.

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Video clips produced by ybc.tv for the Hospitality Channel, including interview from industry conferences such as the IHIF conference as well as specific Hospitality Channel shoots.

Briefing: Disengaged employees need some inspiration

Posted on by Guy Lean

According to research by Gallup, only 13% of employees Worldwide are engaged in their work. Similarly worrying statistics have shown up across several studies in recent years. Boston Research Group, for example, found that 27% of corporate bosses and only 4% of employees believe their firms are inspiring places to work. People are vital in hospitality at all levels. Studies suggest that, when it comes to motivating teams, it can be the basics that make the difference, such as positive contact with management and a pleasant working environment.

In this briefing experts share their insights on employee engagement and motivation:

The 2013 study ‘State of the Global Workplace’ by Gallup suggests that it is important to ensure employees have good working lives. This is because “engaged employees are more likely to be ‘thriving’ – i.e., to rate their overall lives highly on a zero-to-10 scale.”

There may be many different ways of dealing with this issue across different companies and hotel brands. One element of Misha Pinkhasov’s (featured) ‘shared value’ approach to business, is to always considering things on an individual level. The approach suggests that companies as a whole need meaning so that individual employees are inspired.

Engagement, or lack thereof, also reflects in a company’s profits. Gallup estimates that employee disengagement costs Germany €112 Bn to €138 Bn per year ($151 Bn to $186 Bn) and the U.K. between £52 Bn and £70 Bn ($83 Bn to $112 Bn) per year.

A report by Towers Watson suggests that good leadership can make all the difference. It says: “in companies where both leaders and managers are perceived by employees as effective, 72% of employees are highly engaged.” This report, Global Workforce Study 2014, also states that whereas some employees may be engaged on a basic level, they are lacking the ‘enablement’ (tools and resources) and ‘energy’ (from a good work environment) to perform at their best. They say that that this ‘unsupported’ worker accounts for 19% of the global workforce.

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Video clips produced by ybc.hpgcms.wpengine.com for the Hospitality Channel, including interview from industry conferences such as the IHIF conference as well as specific Hospitality Channel shoots.

Chinese are tourism’s biggest spenders

Posted on by Guy Lean

China overtook Germany and the United States as the largest spender in international tourism in 2012, according to UNWTO, with an expenditure of US$ 102 billion. The market is only getting bigger, in fact The Tourism Administration of China predicts that more than 100 million Chinese tourists will travel abroad in 2014.

Experts from the hospitality industry discuss increased travel within and out of China:

UNWTO says that the increase has been due to, “rapid urbanization, rising disposable incomes and relaxation of restrictions on foreign travel.”

Hotels.com has been following Chinese travel trends since 2012. The Chinese International Travel Monitor 2014 shows that 97% of Chinese travellers have been abroad for leisure and 49% have been for business and education. It says that Chinese international travellers were the top spenders for hotel accommodation in Australia, Japan, Netherlands, and New Zealand in 2013.

This monitor surveyed Chinese travellers about booking and travel behaviour. The research found that on average Chinese travellers looked at almost five sources of information when researching holidays, which is up from four in the 2013 monitor. 53% said they book accommodation online or through a mobile app. 59% of those surveyed said Free Wi-Fi was the most important service they look for on a trip abroad, and 71% of hoteliers said that Free Wi-Fi was the service most requested by guests from China. This desire for connectivity reflects global trends.

Countries across the globe, including Mexico, New Zealand, Russia, Spain, Taiwan, UK, and the US are targeting this growing source market with tourism campaigns and initiatives. However, according to Hotels.com, Australia is the place Chinese travellers would most like to visit. The USA was the top destination actually visited in 2013, and Hong Kong and Thailand follow in second and third place.

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Video clips produced by ybc.hpgcms.wpengine.com for the Hospitality Channel, including interview from industry conferences such as the IHIF conference as well as specific Hospitality Channel shoots.

Briefing: an appetite for investment in the Middle East

Posted on by HPG Advisory

With the world’s eye currently focused on specific parts of the Middle East, it is important to also focus on the huge opportunity open to hospitality and other industries throughout areas of the Middle East. This broader market is one of huge growth and potential for all sorts of hotel product and the pipeline for new developments is massive.

Understanding where the opportunities lie is important, and whether demand is continuing to outstrip supply in some of the most prolific hospitality markets including Saudi Arabia and Dubai is discussed by our leading experts in this briefing. Including video clips from:

  • Elizabeth Winkle, Managing Director of STR Global on the incredible pipeline in the Middle East
  • Bob Loewen, COO of Wyndham Hotel Group on bringing their brands to the Middle East
  • Christopher Knable, COO of Katara Hospitality on the opportunity the World Cup brings for hospitality
  • And Darroch Crawford, Managing Director of Premier Inn Hotels LLC on the market demands in Dubai
 


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Video clips produced by ybc.hpgcms.wpengine.com for the Hospitality Channel, including interviews from industry conferences such as the IHIF conference as well as specific Hospitality Channel shoots.

Briefing: the modern-day leader

Posted on by HPG Advisory

Any leader of an organisation has to command with confidence and assertiveness. To pursue a company’s vision, mission and values. The most successful leaders become synonymous with their brand. Richard Branson is a fantastic example of a charismatic leader who fills his staff with the belief needed to fulfill the ambitions of the Virgin empire.

What can the hospitality leaders of today learn and how will they ensure the successful stewardship of their respective businesses?

In this week’s briefing we hear from industry experts, including:

  • Richard Branson on one of the reasons he has become so successful.
  • Peter Malone, Managing Director of Madison Mayfair, on the multidimensional personality leaders must now have.
  • Sir Nigel Knowles, co-CEO of DLA Piper, on leaders of today becoming closely associated with their brands and organisations.
  • And Debrah Dhugga, General Manager of Dukes Hotel, on preparing a new generation of hospitality leaders.

If you’ve been sent to this page but you’re not yet on the circulation list to receive these regular briefings and you would like to sign up, you can do so here. It’s free.

Video clips produced by ybc.hpgcms.wpengine.com for the Hospitality Channel, including interviews from industry conferences such as the most recent IHIF conference as well as specific Hospitality Channel shoots.

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