Being at the top of the ladder gives CEOs the unique opportunity to see the big picture, both in terms of where a company has been as well as where it’s heading. During the “Global CEOs: The Only Way Is Up – Hospitality Leadership in a Brave New World” panel at the recent International Hotel Investment Forum in Berlin, several leaders shared their thoughts on the lessons learned during the pandemic and how companies will have to adapt to survive. IHIF is a part of Questex, the parent company of Hotel Management.
While detailing the lessons learned during COVID-10 would take “many hours,” Federico J. González, CEO of Radisson Hotel Group, said companies will be forced to engage in more relevant innovation.
“Renovation internally is how you optimize, how you reduce costs, how you bring flexibility to the company,” he said. “Innovation towards the consumers with better brands, more focused brands, and avoiding proliferation of empty words … when talking about our brands and promises.”
This innovation toward owners includes technology, rooms and hybrid meetings, he said.
“Now, we are presenting a convertible room. So, we will make sure that all the hotels have nearly any meeting room can be converted into bedrooms, or the opposite. It’s very much innovation. I think that’s really key.”
Patrick Pacious, president and CEO at Choice Hotels International, said COVID-19 forced his company to become much more focused.
“When you have no guests, you recognize who your customer is. For us, it’s our franchisees. We have 20-year agreements with them, and they’re asking us to bring them business when there’s no guests,” he said. “Owners are having to make up the beds. They’re having to man the front desk because we’ve got a labor shortage that was true in the pandemic and it’s gotten even worse as demand has come back. Really focusing on that franchisee has always been core to what we do. But we’ve gotten better at it.”
In addition, the low occupancy the industry was experiencing allowed Choice to introduce a number of cost-saving innovations it had been thinking about implementing.
“The margin of error when you’ve got 30 percent occupancy—which is where we were in April of 2020—is pretty low,” Pacious said. “We took a lot of things that were in pilot, like housekeeping upon request, and pushed it out as an option for our owners. Labor-saving, and also guests wanted nobody in their room during COVID. It’s also helpful from the environmental perspective as you’re just using less water and less chemicals by not having to turn the rooms.
“Owners are very happy that we did because now it’s really providing them a cost savings and helping with their [profit and loss].”
González also pointed out the advances in sustainability as a byproduct of the pandemic: “The focus of the hotel companies and the industry on sustainability will be good to count for the future.”
Mobile and cashless payment and a focus on the climate are three things that are really important to pay attention to going forward, according to David Kong, outgoing president and CEO of BWH Hotel Group.
“The truth of the matter is when we were all cooped up during COVID last year, a lot of us ordered takeout from restaurants. You download the restaurant app and boom, boom, boom. Within a minute, you’ve ordered your food, you’ve paid, and you just go pick up your food. It’s so easy,” he said. “I think that’s going to drive consumer behavior and expectation going forward. They think booking at a hotel should be that easy. They think staying at a hotel, checking in and checking out and even making requests should be that easy. So, I think mobile is something that we should all pay attention to.”
Minor Hotels developed eight pillars in terms of dealing with the pandemic, said Dillip Rajakarier, group CEO of Minor International and CEO of Minor Hotels.
“Of course, you have the usual strategy—which is, OK, cut costs. Save money. Strengthen your balance sheet. Make sure your cash flow is strong, break-even points are reduced. But at the same time on the other side—on the non-financial side—to also make sure our guests feel comfortable coming to our hotels. We introduced many safety measures, both with our guests and also our team members.”
These pillars also involved “very easy things” like bringing tutors to the hotels so kids could continue their lessons.
“We had many of our customers or our guests who were staying for a long time—long stays, or what we call the “staycation”—and they were able to enjoy a different environment. The kids were kept busy, both academically and also mentally and socially,” Rajakarier said. “The parents were happy because they can enjoy a glass of wine, they can go to the spa, they can go on the beach, and they can do all the nice things. Then, they can go and wear a jacket and do a Teams call as well, which is fantastic.”
The bottom line, he said, is that hoteliers “can learn what’s good and what’s bad and you take the good things and you move on.”
The next installment of the International Hotel Investment Forum will take place May 3-5 in Berlin. Visit www.hospitalityinsights.com/ihif for more information.