Briefing: The value of thoughtful recruitment

Recruiting new ways of thinking into your business can be very advantageous. A study by Delloite says that ‘diversity of thought’ within a team can ‘help increase the scale of new insights’ and ‘guard against overconfidence’. Teams that hold a variety of skillsets, identities, and backgrounds will challenge each other and encourage learning and innovation. Whoever you choose to bring into your business, ensure you are supporting them to achieve their best.

Our experts look at the importance of thoughtful recruitment and training:

The advantages of having diverse teams, beyond the immediate social importance, is noted in various studies. McKinsey found that ethnically diverse companies are 35% more likely to financially outperform competitors. While a study in a PNAS journal revealed that traders in diverse markets were better at accurately pricing stocks.

When recruiting new employees you should consider ‘what they can bring to the team’, and also what they can bring out in a team and what you can bring out in them. Think about more that filling a gap and relying on old habits and assumptions, but really look at how they can fit in the business and work to help them develop, as discussed in the above videos.

A drive for recruitment and upskilling in the industry is needed this year is especially in light of Brexit, which could see UK hospitality businesses losing many of their valuable staff. BHA say that “Assuming that 10% of the EU workforce (70,000) leave the sector and/or the UK each year and the industry’s total headcount grows by a conservative 1% (45,000) annually, the annual recruitment need is for over 100,000 people.”

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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: The distribution channels keep coming

In June, Ryanair announced its intention to enter into the world of accommodation. “Ryanair Rooms” is just the latest addition to the changing sphere of hospitality distribution. The company has 116m customers and this move from air travel to accommodation booking, again highlights the potential for any established brand to disrupt the industry. There is still much debate around where Airbnb, which has a “mission to change the way people travel”, could sit in the industry in the future.

In these videos, experts discuss developments in distribution and booking behaviour:

In April this year Airbnb launched an updated mobile app with a focus on personalisation that aims to match people to better hosts, neighbourhoods, and experiences. This product indicates Airbnb’s continued effort to use developing technology as an edge.

Ryanair Rooms will launch on the 1st October, and will provide a variety of low cost accommodation in the form of hotel rooms, hostels, B&Bs, holiday villas and homestays. Diversification is a common move from aspirational business in today’s business world. Ryanair sees this as a natural progression towards Ryanair.com becoming the “Amazon of air travel”. Ryanair already has a hire car service which it launched last August.

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.tv for the Hospitality Channel, including interview from industry conferences such as the IHIF conference as well as specific Hospitality Channel shoots.

Briefing: Political risk from ‘Brexit’

The EU referendum, which will take place in just under a month in the UK, has been the cause of much political debate. Fears have been stirred up about the potential negative impact of either outcome. But how has this affected investor sentiment and how would the UK’s exit from the European Union impact business in the hospitality industry?

Four hospitality and investment professionals discuss ‘Brexit’:

The referendum is just one example of how political uncertainty can affect business. Any potential disruption or change to regulations and the way business is done could be classed as a ‘risk’ that need to be factored into a business’s decision making at least in the short term.

Some examples of warnings arising throughout the campaigns, about the longer term effects of the decision, are that Leaving the EU would ‘spark year-long recession‘ and that Staying would increase the UKs population and put the NHS under “unsustainable” pressure.

Last year ICSA reported that 63% of boards said a UK exit from Europe could be potentially damaging to their company.

The European Union – often known as the EU – is an economic and political partnership involving 28 European countries. The UK’s exit from the EU has the potential to impact everything from immigration, to the environment, to procedure around working abroad, to law making itself.

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.tv for the Hospitality Channel, including interview from industry conferences such as the IHIF conference as well as specific Hospitality Channel shoots.

Briefing: Understanding Millennial priorities

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

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.

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 so 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: Business, Leisure, Community – Hospitality for millennials

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.

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.

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