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 Jordan Hollander, CEO of Hotel Tech Report.
What issues are currently causing headaches for the industry?
Hollander: The hotel industry is facing several challenges that are causing headaches for hoteliers. These include a labor shortage, slow recovery from the pandemic, rising operating costs, competition from alternative accommodations, technology disruption, and sustainability concerns. Despite the challenges, these issues also provide opportunities for hotels to adapt and improve their operations.
What will it take for those issues to smooth out and when do you anticipate that will happen?
Hollander: The resolution of the challenges facing the hotel industry will depend on several factors, including the ongoing global pandemic, consumer behavior, economic trends, and technological advancements. While it is difficult to predict precisely when these issues will smooth out, there are some trends and developments that can provide insight into potential timelines and outcomes.
For example, the labor shortage in the hotel industry may be mitigated by increasing wages, offering more flexible work arrangements, and improving employee retention strategies. The slow recovery from the pandemic may improve as more people become vaccinated, travel restrictions are lifted, and consumer confidence in travel increases. Rising operating costs may be addressed through energy-efficient technologies, tax incentives, and sustainable practices. Competition from alternative accommodations may be tackled by offering unique experiences, personalized services, and innovative marketing strategies. Technology disruption may be navigated by investing in cutting-edge technology, developing direct booking channels, and leveraging social media platforms. Sustainability concerns may be addressed by implementing eco-friendly practices, promoting responsible tourism, and adopting sustainable technologies.
Overall, it will likely take a combination of these and other strategies to smooth out the challenges facing the hotel industry. The timeline for these changes will depend on various factors, such as government policies, market conditions, and consumer behavior. However, with careful planning, innovation, and adaptation, the hotel industry can overcome these challenges and emerge stronger than ever.
What new trends do you see affecting the hospitality industry the most in 2023?
Hollander: The hospitality industry is likely to witness a series of new trends and developments in 2023. Probably the biggest trend that hoteliers need to understand right now is around the shift from search to discovery. We all have more flexible schedules and the younger generation is spending tons of time on platforms like TikTok or Youtube that curate content rather than asking users to search it out. This means that hotel marketing spend will become more efficient and effective which should lower cost of acquisition over time (at least in theory). Instead of a hotel only being able to buy the Google keyword “Tulum Hotel” they can now find creative ways to reach willing nomads who may not have even considered a trip yet let alone Tulum but have the spending power, motivation and ability to go on that trip - this is an incredibly important shift.
One of the most significant of these trends is the increasing use of big data and artificial intelligence to offer personalized experiences, tailored recommendations, and customized services to guests. The importance of sustainability in the hospitality industry is also expected to grow, with hotels adopting more eco-friendly practices to showcase their environmental efforts.
With more travelers prioritizing their health and wellness, hotels may offer more amenities and services to support this trend, such as on-site fitness facilities, healthy dining options, and wellness programs. The pandemic has accelerated the adoption of contactless technology in the hospitality industry, and this trend is expected to continue. Hotels may use technology such as mobile check-in, digital keys, and touchless payment systems to minimize contact and enhance guest safety.
Remote work becoming more common may lead to more travelers opting for "workcations" – combining work and leisure in one trip. To cater to this trend, hotels may offer work-friendly amenities such as high-speed internet, co-working spaces, and business services. However, it's important to note that these trends may vary by region, market segment, and consumer preferences. The hospitality industry needs to adapt to these trends and develop innovative strategies to meet the evolving needs and expectations of guests.
What do you see as the biggest opportunities for the industry as we make our way through 2023?
Hollander: Technology is the single biggest opportunity for hoteliers right now. When you look at the industry historically hotel owners have had to pay exorbitant franchise and management fees. Technology is unbundling a lot of the services that these gatekeepers used to provide hoteliers with more choice than ever before. If they need direct bookings, they can go it on their own with metasearch platforms, hire a digital marketing agency or implement website optimization tools like The Hotels Network or Asksuite. If they need to improve group business, they can leverage next gen sales management platforms like Event Temple, Proposals and Tripleseat to hit their targets without needing 3rd party involvement. Third party managers (i.e. the gatekeepers) still add value but by unbundling these different services, technology gives hotel owners more control, more choice and more independence than ever before - all of these when handled appropriately end up resulting in higher margins and more efficient operations. As we look out in the near future, it’s not hard to imagine a world where independent hotels can have super low cost digital agent powered call centers pulling just one more service into their control without adding cost or really even making the operation more complex.
What do you think the industry’s biggest win this year will be?
Hollander: I’ll be speaking about AI at the show and frankly everyone is speaking about AI right now. There are some major opportunities across hotel departments to automate tedious tasks, clean data and uncover hidden value - all without hoteliers needing to hire an entire data science team to uncover those opportunities. The interesting part about AI is not about writing responses to text queries in ChatGPT, for example, the compelling piece for hotels
What are you most looking forward to at The Hospitality Show?
Hollander: I’m looking forward to fresh content and new ideas. The legacy U.S. based hotel technology shows feature the same people and ideas every year with nothing new really for 30 or 40 years—it’s a nice excuse to get together but the content value and programming is lacking compared to other industries like tech where you might have a show like SXSW or Dreamforce. I’m hoping that the Hospitality Show will bring some new formats, viewpoints, energy and concepts to the table. I’m also excited that the show is making tech accessible to operators whereas other shows focus solely on IT professionals. The way software is used today requires that operators are knowledgeable about the tools within their role and only a small subset of software is really operated day to day by IT professionals. In any other industry IT pros manage software and tech infrastructure but they do not choose the software that other employees are using - that’s left up to the employees in each relevant department. That is the future of hotels and it’s only a matter of time before the legacy buying behavior is rendered obsolete - the hospitality show has the right people in the room to be talking about which systems are out there and should be explored to solve their acute pain points and tackle their opportunities.