Lodging Leaders

This episode is a short promotion of our upcoming digital conference called LodgingStream: A Brave New World.

What you’ve just heard were sound bites from previous podcast reports covering the coronavirus pandemic and its impact on the hospitality industry.

The voices belong to Lily Mockerman, Dave Shah, Darshan Patel, Andressa Chapman, Jamie Lane and Ron Mitchell.

They have all been featured in our special news project that’s focused on the crisis.

So far, we’ve produced 13 podcast episodes exploring different facets of the industry as it navigates the pandemic’s economic challenges.

Until President Trump declared COVID-19 a national emergency on March 13, Lodging Leaders was producing one news podcast a week. On March 16, we began to produce three reports a week during this unprecedented time.

We’ve gone back to one report a week for the time being, but depending on how it goes that may change. We’ll let you know if it does.

The big reason we’ve returned to our once-a-week programming is because it’s been all hands on deck here for another very big project.

My partners and I at Long Live Lodging, producer of Lodging Leaders, have been crazy busy organizing the online conference called LodgingStream: A Brave New World.

Because of your great response to our expanded programming, we wanted to put this event together and bring a lot of advice and thought leadership under one roof, so to speak.

LodgingStream will take place live at 1 PM Eastern Daylight Time on Thursday, April 30th.

The event platform allows attendees to go in and out of a panel discussion just like at a real conference.

LodgingStream: A Brave New World will open with State of the Industry presentations by economist Jamie Lane of CBRE Hotels Americas Research, who will look at where the hospitality business is today and where it’s headed; and Daniel Lesser of LW Hospitality Advisors, an expert in hotel transactions and other investment activity who also will provide his futuristic view. We’ll then give the floor to hotel owners, operators and others in a session called What’s Your Story?

While interviewing folks for our special coronavirus reports, we have heard some interesting and amazing stories from professionals on the front lines of the industry. By listening to their stories, I was reminded of how the true spirit of hospitality shines bright in our darkest moments. I think you’ll be inspired.

For the rest of the LodgingStream conference, you’ll be able to attend three concurrent workshops and ask panelists questions. Of the 12 sessions, topics will include managing rate to attract business, marketing to regain travelers’ trust, rehiring challenges, what the new workplace will look like and what it’s going to take to bring the industry back.

Everyone you heard in the beginning of this podcast will be among the panelists.

As the conference wraps up you’ll be able to attend a virtual Happy Hour, sharing a little bit about you while making meaningful connections.

I am so excited about this event. I’ve never been a part of anything like it. Just like many of you during this time in which we find ourselves, I’ve decided to tackle new things. It’s never too late to change your mindset.

Please join me at 1 PM eastern daylight time Thursday at LodgingStream: A Brave New World. Registration is just $5, which covers our cost to bring you the conference.

To sign up or for more information, go online at LodgingStream.com.

Hunter Hotel Advisors brokered the sales of more hotels in 2019 than in any year in its history.

Sellers and buyers that generated $1.2 billion under Hunter’s guidance were a mixed bag and included institutional firms, private investment groups and hotel companies.

Many hotel brokers expect to tally similar results, making 2019 one of the most active years in hotel transactions in the U.S.

Industry analysts we interviewed expect 2020 to be an even busier period of hotel investment in part because private investors will continue to recycle their capital and shop for places to stash their cash.

This episode of Lodging Leaders takes a look at the history of hotel transactions last year as well as the whole past decade, including the growth of REITs, the emergence of private equity and the expansion of ownership groups that aggressively grew their portfolios with branded select-service assets. We also explore what might lie ahead this year as hotels in many major markets experience a slowdown in business.

We talk to Teague Hunter, CEO of Hunter Hotel Advisors in Atlanta; Lou Plasencia, CEO of The Plasencia Group in Tampa, Florida; Daniel Lesser, president and CEO of LW Hospitality Advisors in New York City; Kevin Mallory, senior managing director of CBRE Hotels in Chicago; and Brian Waldman, executive vice president of investment for Peachtree Hotel Group in Atlanta.

Though average daily rate in U.S. hotels continues to grow year over year, hotel operators are not so eager to increase room prices these days.

STR and Oxford Economics forecast ADR will increase by 1.9 percent this year and 2.2 percent in 2020.

While an increase is usually viewed as a positive, the joy is muted in the hotel industry. STR noted in August that inflation coupled with increasing room supply are outpacing the rise in hotel revenue.

Hotel operators are experiencing what STR calls “an absence of pricing confidence.”

So, you don’t want to increase your room rate but you need to make more money.

How do you do that? You upsell. You offer additional products and services to guests who have already booked at your property.

Think you do not have anything to offer besides a clean room and free breakfast? Think again. Generating extra revenue by upselling is possible no matter the location, type and size of your hotel.

In today’s episode Lodging Leaders talks to experts in upselling in the hospitality industry.

You’ll hear from Geoffrey Toffetti, president and chief marketing officer of Frontline Performance Group, and Jason Bryant, founder and CEO of Nor1.

They talk about the art and science of selling upgrades and when to engage the guest with offers. And they give tips on ways to increase incremental revenue that goes straight to your bottom line.

“Active shooter” is a term used by law enforcement to describe a situation in which a shooting is in progress.

The classification calls into action protocols relating to response and reaction – not only by police but also by citizens, says the FBI. In the case of an “active shooter,” everyone’s response and reaction can affect the outcome.

The bureau has counted 288 active shooter incidents in the U.S. from 2000 through 2018.

Twenty-one of those occurred at places of business. Of those, five were at hotels or motels.

Though lodging accounted for less than 2 percent of all active-shooting incidents logged by the FBI over the past 18 years, it’s an unfathomable crisis if it happens at your property.

Many safety and security experts say hotel owners and operators must have a mindset of “not if but when” in preparing for the possibility of an active shooter on property. And some veteran hoteliers say, it only makes sense that the act of hospitality is extended before, during and after times of crisis.

Today’s episode of Lodging Leaders is the first part in a report about hotel safety. We cull information from the FBI, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals (HFTP), a non-profit organization that published a white paper about hospitality attacks.

We talk to Paul Frederick, a security and safety expert and co-founder of Hospitality Security Advisors, and Elie Khoury, executive vice president of operations resources at Interstate Hotels & Resorts, a third-party manager.

Also featured are Roger Bloss, a veteran hotelier who is putting his weight behind a new hotel insurance program called InsuraGuest, which plans to offer coverage for guests injured in an attack on property. Also included is Natalee Bloss, Roger’s daughter who was at the scene of the Oct. 1, 2017, shooting in Las Vegas and sought safety at her family’s hotel.

“Equal opportunity for people of color in the United States remains an unrealized goal.”

That is the opening statement in a recently released study by NAACP.

The same opening statement appears in the organization’s 2012 report on diversity in the U.S. hotel industry.

The 2019 study titled “Opportunity & Diversity Report Card: The Hotel & Lodging Industry,” not only shows stagnation in racial equality in hospitality workplaces, it reveals African Americans have lost ground over the past decade in their climb to the top in U.S. hotel companies.

The report card examines the efforts of four major hotel corporations to diversify their workforces, from rank-and-file all the way up to the C-suites.

None of the companies – Marriott International, Hilton Worldwide, Hyatt Hotels Corp. and Wyndham Hotels & Resorts – fared well in the study, which was based on research performed in 2017. Grades ranged from Bs to Fs in various categories such as hiring, promotion and supplier diversity.

The research was limited. NAACP surveyed the highest-earning companies and their corporate-owned and managed hotels. Franchised properties were not included. But the NAACP and other minority leaders hope to change that dynamic by pushing for information on the diversity of franchisees, as well as who is working in their branded hotels.

In this episode, we take a closer look at the latest report. We hear from Marvin Owens, senior director of economic development at the NAACP; Andy Ingraham, president and CEO of the National Association of Black Hotel Owners, Operators and Developers; and Dyshaun Hines and Skye Curry, graduate students in hospitality administration. We also feature remarks by Hilton CEO Chris Nassetta, who Ingraham interviewed at last week’s NABHOOD summit in Miami, Florida.