The Hospitality Show, now in its second year, will take place at the Henry B. González Convention Center in San Antonio from Oct. 28-30, 2024. The Show will bring together 5,000 attendees and promises to drive profitability for owners, operators, and hospitality innovators through dedicated content, extensive networking and 400+ operations and technology vendors.
In this installment of Advisory Board Q&A, we catch up with Jyoti Sarolia, CEO, president and owner of Ellis Hospitality.
What do you think is the biggest problem for the industry currently?
Sarolia: Labor continues to be a challenge not only for the hospitality industry but all small businesses in the United States. It is one of the line items on our P&L that grows faster than revenue. Second is interest rates, especially if your loan has renewed recently. The significantly higher cost of capital is also adversely impactful to owner returns. Third is the influx of many new brands in our market and the challenge of keeping pace with them.
What new trends do you see affecting the hospitality industry the most in 2024?
Sarolia: I think we are embracing programs out there that will bring efficiencies to our operations as well as shave off labor hours. We have to ask what can replace human hours with programs that are automated. It is exciting to see the technology out there that allows us to save human hours, and my hope is that artificial intelligence will further assist us in this regard.
What do you see as the biggest opportunities for the industry this year?
Sarolia: Our industry should continue to find ways to streamline efficiencies in operations so there is less dependency on human labor.
What do you think the industry's biggest accomplishment has been in the past year?
Sarolia: Our industry continues to be resilient. We continue to buy and sell real estate while factoring in high interest rates. Participating in three industry organizations, I feel that we are the strongest we have ever been as it relates to advocacy. I feel we are creating more meaningful relationships with elected leaders and educating them on how laws affect our business and in some cases, how it helps us.
What are you most looking forward to at The Hospitality Show?
Sarolia: I am looking forward to meeting my colleagues and other industry leaders. Between networking, hearing our industry leaders speak, the educational content and trade show, I am confident I will find exponential value in this event.