The winds of change are sweeping across the hotel industry, and Hotel News Now has connected with industry leaders and experts to discuss how hoteliers can expect those changes to affect them.
In a series of podcast interviews, experts have tackled topics including technology, revenue strategy, technology and company culture. Here are some of the highlights.
Labor Elections
A recent National Labor Relations Board ruling makes it easier for union's to be recognized if the NLRB decides employers haven't properly followed the rules. Labor attorney and partner at Fisher Phillips Mike Carrouth told HNN that makes it all the more important to make sure you're doing things the right way.
He said that will require taking a look at employee handbooks with fresh eyes to make sure there aren't policies in place that could be subject to an unfair labor practice ruling.
“If you’ve just got certain rules, if they can be interpreted as infringing upon the rights of employees, that’s going to be presumed unlawful and you’re going to have to prove that it’s necessary,” he said. “There’s no easier way to do it.”
How Leisure Demand is Changing
Priya Chandnani, vice president of revenue and distribution strategy at Pyramid Global Hospitality, said there's been a noticeable dip in leisure demand this summer compared to recent years, but that might be a sign things are normalizing more than any underlying weakness.
“If you were to look at 2019, in terms of demand, occupancies have still stayed consistent,” she said. “Where we are seeing a decline is [average daily rate] to the prior year, and a lot of that has to do with the fact that last year was a great year.”
Are Hotel Companies Innovative with Technology?
The hotel industry has a reputation when it comes to technology, and it's not a good one. But AHLA's Chief Technology Officer Mike Blake disagrees with the assessment that the industry isn't innovative.
"The ability to scale and the capability to effect change is very prevalent in our industry, and I do think that when they say we aren't very innovative, I push on that a lot," he said.
Keeping a Company Cutting-Edge
Innovation obviously goes beyond just technology. A pair of Remington Hospitality executives, President Chris Green and Senior Vice President of Revenue Strategy Gilbert Arredondo, said innovation starts with how you structure your company. At Remington, in particular, Green said executives are empowered by CEO Sloan Dean to try new and different things.
"He looks out over the horizon, and he says: 'This is where we're going as an organization.' He'll point us in a direction, and he really does just say, 'go,'" Green said. "He gives us the freedom ... he really doesn't dive into, 'Chris how are you going to get this accomplished? He just goes, 'I just want to be here; let's go.' And I love that about him."
What a Hotel Industry Recession Will Look Like
On Hotel News Now's recurring "Tell Me More" podcast, CoStar's Jan Freitag and STR's Isaac Collazo broke down what they expect in terms of a recession and what that could mean for the hotel industry. Freitag said the pain will likely be mild, calling it a "stub-your-toe recession."
Collazo agreed it is likely to be less severe than previous recessions.
“Business travel is not going to fall … and we also have the international component, which is starting to come back,” Collazo said. “And high-income households continue to travel like never before. … There’s an insulation there that protects the industry.”
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