The first of its kind, The Hospitality Show is a bold new event for the entire hospitality ecosystem with one shared goal: operating hotels efficiently and profitably. Brought to you by The American Hotel & Lodging Association and Hotel Management, the event will bring together top industry leaders, senior executives of hotel brands, owners, operators, management companies and procurement specialists—and their teams—to discover, network and drive profitability.
Business accelerates when the right people are in the room, and this new weekly series of advisory board interviews goes 1:1 with the industry’s best and brightest as they build the inaugural event to be held June 27-29, 2023, at The Venetian Resort Las Vegas.
In this installment, we catch up with Jeff Bzdawka, CEO of Knowland.
What issues are currently causing headaches for the industry?
Bzdawka: Some challenges persist, such as labor shortages, new and inexperienced meeting planners, food shortages and cost increases, as well as still shorter booking windows. Some markets are nearing full recovery as consumers and business travelers get back on the road. Meanwhile, the industry is still actively working on rebuilding and retooling as guest expectations continue to shift. We saw a time when the guest was understanding about staff shortages and other key challenges that affected customer service. But those days are growing short as guests become more demanding, looking for the level of customer service they expect, particularly as rates have been raised in hospitality and air travel.
What will it take for those issues to smooth out and when do you anticipate that will happen?
Bzdawka: It starts with deeper and tighter alignment across all stakeholders (i.e., owners, operators, brands/chains and those that service the industry). This alignment should be tightly focused on outcomes to make addressing root issues easier. A key area of focus must be ensuring that the technology in place is working correctly and being used to its full advantage by ensuring staff is adequately trained. Doing so will ensure that the intended experiences are delivered and desired outcomes are realized.
Leveraging data to gain insight and better understand how competitors and prospects have changed will be vital to succeeding today and into the future. Keeping an eye on these trends can also inform asset value and when and where to make investment. As a data company, we have seen ongoing momentum in meetings and events data benchmarked against 2019. We reported remarkable growth metrics in January of this year as December of 2022 reached 103 percent of December 2019 meetings and events activity. This is a strong indicator that recovery is here, so it is up to today’s savvy hoteliers to ensure they can deliver the service and experiences customers crave.
What new trends do you see affecting the hospitality industry the most in 2023?
Bzdawka: From the meetings and events perspective, staff shortages are the biggest driver affecting hoteliers and planners in 2023. With such a big focus on great moments and unique experiences, hotel sales and ops teams have to be as efficient as possible. Even when it comes to selling – being productive with smaller teams means leveraging data to tell you what is happening in your market, what your competition is up to and how to boost RFP win rates. 2023 is the year to maximize performance with data-driven efficiency.
That’s why at The Hotel Show, I am looking forward to having the right people in the same location to discuss common challenges and opportunities, debate and learn together. It will be an unmatched event for hospitality industry collaboration and engagement!
What do you see as the biggest opportunities for the industry as we make our way through 2023?
Bzdawka: Meetings and events provide a profitable opportunity to establish and maintain a bookings base for today’s hoteliers. Even those that have smaller properties are taking advantage of utilizing space to accommodate group activities. Data insights are one of the critical drivers for gaining access to those opportunities that increase productivity and enable growth. This insight, particularly as it applies to the shifting sales cycle, provides an in-depth look into today’s evolving buying behaviors. For instance, leveraging data to understand the market better helps sales teams make informed decisions to win the “RFP game.” Ultimately, the right tools and actionable data insights in the hands of the right sellers allow them to track market and account changes and better prioritize those proposals that fit their property.
What do you think the industry’s biggest win this year will be?
Bzdawka: The resurgence of travel is our reward. It is what those of us in hospitality crave, and the focus and dedication we have put into those efforts will continue to pay off. That being said, a full recovery (if not better) to 2019 revenue levels will be a big win. Group meetings and events in 2023 were strong right out of the gate, and meeting planners are much more confident moving into this year.
Necessity forced the siloes to come down. If the downturn taught our industry anything, it was to return to the basic constructs of teamwork between sales, catering and operations teams to solve extreme challenges in the face of adversity. Another aspect of working together as a team is the collaborative partnership between hoteliers and their solution providers. Those hoteliers who continue to foster these examples of teamwork will ensure that today’s expectations are met and in return growth and profitability will be the biggest winners.
What are you most looking forward to at The Hospitality Show?
Bzdawka: I am very excited about being at a place where the right people come together, not only technologists but a genuinely cross-functional, cross-stakeholder event. I am looking forward to having the right people in the same location to discuss common challenges and opportunities, debate and learn together, all with the intent to improve guest experiences and business outcomes.