Lodging Leaders - 252 | The BulletInn #2: Coronavirus and group business; Sara Blakely of Spanx at Hunter conference; and short-term rental’s surprising shift

252 | The BulletInn #2: Coronavirus and group business; Sara Blakely of Spanx at Hunter conference; and short-term rental’s surprising shift

03/04/20 • 36 min

Welcome to the second edition of BulletInn, a news report of Long Live Lodging and its Lodging Leaders podcast.

In this episode, we cover three topics: • The spread of the new coronavirus and its impact on travel and the legalities around cancelling group meetings in the U.S. • Surprises in a report by CBRE Americas Hotels Research about the growth of the online short-term rental market in the U.S. • An interview with Mit Shah, CEO of Noble Investment Group and co-founder of the Bharat Shah Leadership Speaker Series, who, during the Hunter Hotel Investment Conference this month, will interview a billion-dollar entrepreneur not normally seen in hotelier circles.

Thanks to Evan Saunders of UberMedia; Lisa Sommer Devlin of Devlin Law Firm; Barbara Dunn of Barnes & Thornburg Law Firm; Jamie Lane of CBRE Americas Hotels Research; Mit Shah of Noble Investment Group;

Welcome to the second edition of BulletInn, a news report of Long Live Lodging and its Lodging Leaders podcast.

Previous Episode

251 | Channel Mix: Hotels balance costs of guest acquisition, OTAs and overall business opportunities

Online travel agencies. Hoteliers love them. Hoteliers hate them.

Brand.com, GDS, call centers, travel agents, groups and so on. There are many types of business in every market.

In this episode, Lodging Leaders explores how hotel owners and operators can learn to use third-party platforms such as OTAs, and when to tap other resources for those all-important direct channels that are critical to a hotel’s profit contribution.

Understanding the full array of business in a market and how to manage communication through the full guest journey can improve the relationship a hotel has with its customers and drive retention and repeat bookings.

We feature Mark Lewis-Brown, CEO and president of Vertical Booking USA, which provides customer reservation system software to hotels; Matthew Arrants, executive vice president of Pinnacle Advisory Group; Tim Lee, a consultant with Pinnacle Advisory who used to work for Expedia Group; and Cindy Estis Green, co-founder and CEO of Kalibri Labs, which analyzes the hotel industry’s distribution channels.

Next Episode

253 | Franchising Report Part 1 - Power Struggle: New hotelier organization lobbies for franchisee protection

Fair franchising. It’s a phrase that’s been used countless times in negotiations with brands, at industry conferences and among associations formed to ensure a balance of power between franchisers and franchisees.

As the hotel industry in the U.S. celebrates nearly a decade of growth, leaner times are ahead, say forecasters. Owner operators are cutting as many expenses as they can but seem to be swimming upstream as costs are claiming more and more of their bottom lines.

Among the biggest expenses are franchisee fees, which are growing at a faster pace than room revenue.

Episode 253 of Lodging Leaders is the first in a series that’s exploring the issues brewing in the franchise industry.

To launch the series, Judy Maxwell, co-host of Lodging Leaders, attended Fair Franchising Initiative, a new organization formed to address hotel franchisees’ concerns with the current state of franchising.

Maxwell also interviewed a hotelier leading a petition drive to get AAHOA back to the discussion table with Choice Hotels International.

Featured are Prakash Shah and Anil Patel, president and chairman, respectively, of Fair Franchising Initiative; Keith Miller, principal of Franchisee Advocacy Consulting; and Sagar Shah, a next-generation hotelier who is leading the franchisee petition drive.