Hotel Contactless Tech: What Will Stick and What Won’t?

Contactless interactions have become crucial to the successful operation of a hotel during these times of crisis. Surveys are showing that guests want it, and hoteliers realize it. The result is a major jump in the uptake of contactless technology.

That said, not all technology is created equal, and that also goes for the various contactless tech solutions. Some tools have seen strong uptake in the past months, but might fade as the virus (hopefully) fades in the coming years. Other tech will continue to define how hotel guests interact with hoteliers for years to come.

CONTACTLESS TECH WILL BE LESS IMPORTANT THAN IT SEEMS NOW

This is a big headline to kick things off with. To clarify, it is clear that almost every hotel will eventually adopt some or all of the contactless technologies set out [in the report]. This is clearly a growth area with a lot of room to grow.

We believe, however, that surveys or success cases stating the importance of these technologies to guests should be read with a pinch of salt. Not only will the importance of contactless interactions undoubtedly diminish over the coming years, guests generally overstate the importance of hotel features when asked.

A case in point is a 2018 research paper published in the Cornell Hospitality Report, which shows that the vast majority of guests ‘overpredict’ what hotel amenities they will actually use. The authors surveyed 724 hotel guests staying in 33 different U.S. based hotels, questioning them before their stay about their anticipated use of hotel amenities, and then again afterwards about their actual use of amenities. Below we have visualized a selection of the findings.

Exhibit 6: Most hotel amenities are used less than expected by guests

The results show that we should be careful when assuming that the uptake of these new contactless technologies will be universal, even when guests say they want them in surveys. And when we consider the presence of these technologies as a determining factor in booking a hotel, their impact is likely to be even lower.

Of course, anticipating that there is free WiFi, or a seamless check-in process, could certainly impact booking behavior, but countless studies have found that price, location, and possibly brand, always trump any other factors. And considering the race is on for most hotels to implement these systems, the competitive advantage for hotels with contactless tech will soon be lost.

McKinsey introduced an interesting framework in a recent article to evaluate which COVID induced consumer trends and behaviors — and which technologies as an extension of that — will be here to stay, and which will likely fade. We can apply this to contactless technologies in the hotel space. Below is our view, but with the ever-changing situation this is very much an opinionated stance. Everyone should determine for themselves how they see different technologies evolve, and make decisions based on that.

Exhibit 7: Evaluating the future potential of contactless technologies

Source: https://skift.com/2020/09/25/hotel-contactless-tech-what-will-stick-and-what-wont/

Marriott in Danger of Losing 122 Hotels to Much Smaller Brand

A Boston real estate trust that severed ties with IHG on a 103-hotel deal last month appears poised to do the same with Marriott on an even larger portfolio — and a smaller hotel company stands to benefit once again.

Service Properties Trust, or SVC, sent Marriott a payment shortfall notice this week on 122 hotels across 31 states. Marriott has 10 days to cover the $11 million shortfall or SVC will terminate the agreement and transfer the hotels — largely a mix of select-service and extended stay brands like Courtyard and Residence Inn — to affiliation with Sonesta International Hotels Corp., the memo states.

The flag affiliation transfer would be the second growth shot in the arm in less than a month for Sonesta, which currently has 83 hotels ahead of taking on the 103 IHG hotels at the end of November. IHG failed to make an $8.4 million payment on guaranteed property returns to SVC, sparking that agreement termination.

Sonesta, which has hotels in North and South America as well as Egypt, largely benefits from the cancelled agreements due to SVC’s 34 percent stake in the hotel company.

SVC claimed its hotels saw stronger performance under Sonesta flags in prior brand conversions. Revenue improved by more than 14 percent at 16 SVC-owned hotels that switched from IHG to Sonesta affiliation in 2012, according to an August SVC memo.

“We have received SVC’s correspondence and are reviewing it,” a Marriott spokesperson told Skift. “We don’t have any further comments at this time.”

SVC and Sonesta declined to speak for this story, but Sonesta CEO Carlos Flores hinted earlier this month of further growth opportunities on the horizon beyond the IHG conversions.

“I think it’s highly improbable we would not explore and pursue other opportunities,” Flores told Skift. “I say that tongue-in-cheek because we’re already seeing other opportunities in the market.”

The continued build-up for Sonesta is notable, as it goes against so much of the hotel industry’s view on growth.

Analysts as well as leaders of major brands like Marriott, Hilton, and IHG have all predicted the biggest hotel companies will benefit over the next few years due to so many travelers craving familiarity on their first hotel stays during and after the pandemic. That familiarity is typically found with bigger brand standards and would conceivably lead hotel owners to consider switching flag affiliation to one of these bigger brands.

But Sonesta has far less scope than the two brands SVC is dropping. Sonesta is on track to have a little more than 300 hotels after the IHG and Marriott-branded properties change flag affiliation. IHG had more than 5,900 hotels at the end of the second quarter. Marriott had more than 7,400.

“I do scratch my head in terms of distribution systems and branding in general: Marriott vs. Sonesta, IHG vs. Sonesta — that could be a challenge,” said LW Hospitality Advisors CEO Daniel Lesser. “SVC owns the assets, but they also own the brand, so from that perspective, I can see what they’re doing.”

SVC’s wave of flag affiliation shifts has less to do with maximizing distribution channels and more with gaining control at both the ownership and operations side of these hotels as well as bulking up the Sonesta brand, Lesser added.

At least one of the impacted companies doesn’t see the SVC agreement cancellations as a sign trouble is ahead for some of the world’s biggest hotel companies.

“Candidly, the relationship is a complex financial one, and we have to do what we think is right for our shareholders. They have to do what they think is right for their shareholders,” IHG CEO Keith Barr said this week at Skift Global Forum. “We have more interest coming in than we have going out. That’s more of a financial relationship and transaction than it is a definition of the performance of the portfolio.”

Source: https://skift.com/2020/09/25/marriott-in-danger-of-losing-122-hotels-to-much-smaller-brand/

How MSC Cruises Is Operating Safely in the Mediterranean

MSC Cruises has so far — knock on wood! — been operating safely in the Mediterranean. The MSC Grandiosa departed Aug. 30 on its third voyage since the COVID-19 pandemic began. TravelPulse discussed the resumption of operations with Ken Muskat, executive vice president and COO of MSC Cruises USA. Here is an edited transcript.

TravelPulse (TP): Does MSC Grandiosa’s safe cruises thus far prove that cruising can be safe during these times if tough protocols are in place?

Ken Muskat (KM): The completion of MSC Grandiosa’s first two Mediterranean voyages — since the temporary halt of operations in March — as well as her third voyage, which began on Sunday, August 30, has reflected a successful implementation of MSC Cruises’ new and comprehensive health and safety protocol.

A good example of this is the Universal Health Screening of every guest prior to embarkation, including a temperature check, a health questionnaire and a COVID-19 antigen swab test. With this measure, we went above the guidance that was required by key international and regional authorities, and the protocol is doing what it was meant to do.

During the embarkation of the second cruise, a young man tested positive at embarkation (that’s both at the first antigen test as well as the second molecular test). As a result, he and his traveling party (his family) were denied boarding. In addition, so were the other guests — 15 in total, including the young man and his family — who had traveled to Genoa by van together with them.

The restart of MSC Grandiosa has given some proof that cruise ships, with the new protocols in place, can be a protective healthy bubble.

TP: Your guests must explore ports in Italy and Malta only on MSC Cruises-organized shore excursions. Why?

KM: This allows us to ensure that the same high standards of health and safety that are applied on board are also applied ashore. For instance, transfers are properly sanitized; tour guides and drivers are wearing personal protective equipment, and the attractions we are visiting are following the same strict standards that we have on board.

TP: What would happen if someone onboard did show symptoms?

KM: We have a fully equipped onboard 24/7 Medical Center with highly qualified medical staff who are fully trained for COVID-19 treatment and who are supported by a 24/7 ashore medical team. Our comprehensive isolation procedure will deal with suspected cases, and the onboard medical team will establish direct contact with ashore laboratories to treat the case in conjunction with the local health authorities. We have dedicated isolation staterooms on board, which have their own air supply and dedicated medical team. Close contacts of any suspected cases will also be tested and treated if necessary.

TP: Where are most of the passengers coming from on MSC Grandiosa? Italy? Or the 25 other Schengen countries that have abolished internal borders?

KM: Approximately 90 percent of our guests for these initial cruises have come from Italy. The rest have come from other Schengen countries with France being the second most important source market.

TP: Have most of the passengers been following the rules, save for the one family that left the approved shore excursion?

KM: Our main objective when establishing our new protocol has been to reduce the risk of a suspect case joining the ship, to prevent and mitigate the risk of transmission during the vacation, as well as ensuring we have a dedicated response plan in place should someone fall sick.

Starting with testing at the pier, our guests have been extremely cooperative and understood that our Universal Health Screening is providing them with the confidence that everyone on board the ship is healthy.

We’ve also seen that our guests are very comfortable with the protocols on board as they are going out and enjoying the services while being reassured that the various measures are being applied on board and in all the ports. This includes our guests adhering to the required hygiene rules such as wearing masks and keeping appropriate distance from guests outside their social bubble.

Guests also enjoyed and respected the new buffet system – whereby guests tell the server the food they want, and it is plated for them – with some preferring the new approach and feeling it was more efficient.

MSC for ME wristbands were also distributed to everyone to facilitate proximity and contact tracing on board. The smart wearable wristband collects data related to interactions on board and ashore during excursions. The complete history of all contacts between guests, guests with crew and among crew members can be traced and identify anyone on board who may have been exposed to a positive or suspected positive COVID-19 case. Guests wore these bracelets throughout the week and were also able to make good use of them for contactless bookings and payments in particular.

The small number of guests that chose not to follow the rules and processes set out in the protocol, such as a family of three who broke away from their organized shore excursion, were not allowed to put other guests at risk and were denied re-embarkation. By departing from the organized shore excursion, this family broke from the “social bubble” created for them and all other guests.

TP: Does it appear that people are enjoying the cruise despite face masks and social distancing?

KM: The feedback from the first two cruises has been positive. Guests understand that protocols such as wearing face masks in public spaces and social distancing have been put in place for their own health and safety, and they are comfortable with them.

From an onboard experience perspective, we have opened all major facilities and services that our guests would have expected pre-COVID (i.e. specialty restaurants, cafes, shops, theaters, spa etc.), but in a far more spacious setting as we sail at a reduced capacity.

Our guests came back from the shore excursions happy and were reassured that the same high standards we’re applying towards health and safety on board was also able to be undertaken by our tour operators and tour guides.

Source: https://www.travelpulse.com/news/cruise/how-msc-cruises-is-operating-safely-in-the-mediterranean.html

Execs Say US Cruises Could Restart, Based on Success in Europe

Cruise industry stakeholders in the U.S. are optimistic that cruising’s largely successful restart in Europe bodes well for the American cruise industry.

Cruise executives have cited this European precedent in their efforts to get the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to lift its ‘No Sail Order,’ which is currently set to expire on September 30, but which many expect will be extended following the agency’s review. The deadline to respond to the CDC’s request for public input about the potential resumption of large- and small-ship cruising is just days away, reported Travel Weekly.

MSC Cruises and Italian line, Costa Cruises, resumed activities in August and early September at limited passenger capacities, with strict health and safety measures in place and starting with one ship each. Both now plan on launching second ships to continue sailing the Mediterranean.

Such smaller-ship operations as Hurtigruten, SeaDream Yacht Club and Ponant Cruises had already been operating in Europe, beginning as early as June. Among them, only Hurtigruten reported a large-scale COVID-19 outbreak, which occurred in August and forced the company to suspend sailing on all three of its ships.

Hurtigruten’s CEO, Daniel Skjeldam, issued an apology and attributed the onboard infection to weaknesses in the cruise line’s internal processes. It turned out that crew members from the Phillippines had been COVID-tested prior to departing their country, but weren’t re-tested upon arrival in Norway, prior to boarding the ship, and infected individual(s) must have slipped through.

Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings CEO Frank Del Rio told Miami-Dade County officials earlier this month that the cruise industry’s recent successes in Europe ought to prove to the CDC that U.S. cruise lines could also safely resume service, as long as the proper protocols are in place.

“We are so happy to see MSC and Aida and Costa cruise in Europe,” Del Rio said. “It proves it can be done. I am 100% certain our protocols are second to none and it will be safe to cruise from America.”

Rick Sasso, chairman of MSC Cruises USA, told lawmakers that the European arm of MSC Cruises, “shows that cruising can be done safely. The protocols we put in place for our first cruises in Europe are working effectively.” He pointed to the “close collaboration” of MSC and European authorities as a key element of coming up with effective protocols and standards. “We are ready to work with authorities in the U.S. directly to plan for a safe and successful start of cruising in the U.S.,” Sasso said.

Cruise executives and health experts have also postulated that cruise lines are now better prepared to identify and isolate infected passengers, and, in at least four cases, one passenger had come down with COVID-19, but the virus didn’t spread to anyone else onboard.

“That ability to contain an infection if one occurs on a ship is critical,” Dr. Jewel Mullen, an associate dean at the University of Texas Austin’s Dell Medical School and an advisor to Carnival Corp. “I think it’s really encouraging to see no subsequent spread.” She opined that a successful cruising restart would depend upon a combination of testing, onboard protocols (and the willingness to observe them) and what passengers do during the fourteen days before and after a cruise, even if they are asymptomatic.

Source: https://www.travelpulse.com/news/cruise/execs-say-us-cruises-could-restart-based-on-success-in-europe.html

From High-touch to No-touch: How Hotel Guest Experience Has Changed?

A lot has changed in these few short months. What has not changed is your guests’ expectation to be wowed by your experience and service.

It used to be that guest experience was a key differentiator in a sea of sameness. Now the challenge is not just to meet your guests’ expectations but to adapt to new ways to surpass and exceed them.

Having robust health and safety guidelines is given. You will win lifelong loyalty by demonstrating your authenticity in adopting this change and making your guests feel safe.

For instance, a major American airline turned back a flight when passengers refused to wear masks.

Before we look at what guest experience looks like in a world of Coronavirus, let’s look at

What is guest experience means?

Guest experience is more than the service you offer when a guest walks through your front doors. It’s the first time they’re even aware of your property or your brand. It starts with the brand awareness and their experience with that brand, specifically. And it continues through their entire customer journey, from booking their room to checking in and checking out, and even long after their stay when they’re considering another visit.

Why guest experience matter?

Your guests are a powerful marketing tool. In this age of online reviews, especially as guests seek trusted and safe experiences due to COVID-19, a recommendation from someone who has stayed with you goes a long way to build trust and credibility.

Tips to deliver stellar guest satisfaction and experience in the times of COVID-19 are: 1 Focus on hygiene and cleanliness:

Hygiene practices and procedures are a key selling point. Potential guests want to know the measures that have been implemented and that their health and wellbeing have been prioritized. These measures must be communicated in advance via all available online channels such as your website, social channels, and listings on OTAs. Equally, display the new hygiene standards – including expectations from guests to adhere to these – through clearly displayed signage on-premise.

Make sure your health and safety guidelines always adhere to the local government advice. More importantly, it is critical to train your staff on these new policies. Giving rooms a good clean after a check-out, even “rest time” between bookings is becoming common as more stringent health measures are adopted.

2 Be flexible:

Uncertain times call for greater empathy from hoteliers. This empathy, in the form of flexible cancellation policies, will earn you loyal guests. You could get creative with your cancellation policy by offer guests gift cards when they change or cancel non-refundable bookings.

3 Adopt a contactless service model:

Driven by a need to be socially distant, contactless service is not just appreciated – it is expected. Introduce online check-ins and check-outs. Upgrade your point of sale system to be speedy and mobile. Take payments via a virtual payment gateway link pre-arrival to avoid handling of cash or credit cards by staff. Longer-term, you may even want to consider keyless entry activated via mobile apps.

4 Guests want tech-savvy accommodation:

Guests expect hotels to be keeping up with technology. A presence on social media channels, such as Facebook or Instagram, is vital, especially for up-to-the-minute updates. They expect hoteliers to deliver a contactless experience without compromising on quality. A hospitality world where the Internet of Things (IoT) is embraced through products such as Alexa, Google Home, smart lighting, etc to minimize touch is being further defined in this era.

5 Focus on in-room facilities:

As guests avoid common areas to avoid overcrowding, they spend more time in their rooms. Make sure it has all facilities needed. If you’re welcoming business guests, check that they have everything needed to work comfortably from their room. Widen your dine-in menu as they may be favored over buffets and restaurant service.

6 Personalized experience:

Contactless does not mean non-personal service; personalization is the key to making your guests feel special. If you’re welcoming a returning guest, make the check-in quicker by using details from the previous booking. Smile, even if it is hidden behind a mask. If the guest has stayed with you before, use what you know of them to customize the current visit. At the very least, leave a welcome message.

Conclusion

This is a pivotal moment. What we’re creating now is history. How we react now will impact us in the years to come.

While the pandemic has brought change and unfortunate times for the travel and hospitality industry, it presents an opportunity like never before. You have the option to rebuild your brand to be more customer-focused and digitally-led to achieve the responsiveness of start-ups and digital natives while tapping into the data and tools that you already have. And when you do this, you will be able to deliver an experience that will surpass the expectation of your future guests.

Source: https://www.hotelnewsresource.com/article112407.html

Is today’s hotel industry built on data-driven personalization?

Never has hospitality been more competitive; understanding the behavior of guests is now crucial to success.

The hotel industry is on track to reach its tenth year of consecutive growth— having surpassed US$800 billion in 2017 in the US— but while that brings immense opportunity for its members, it has never been more competitive.

Customers now have more choice and purchasing power than ever. Consider the roaring rise of Airbnb, wanderlust for new locations inspired by Instagram, and the wealth of choice and information available through comparison sites— it’s no wonder hotel companies are having to work so hard to stay at the top.

Meanwhile, demographic shifts, led by millennials and Gen Z, are bringing new expectations for technology and user experience.

In an industry where members can be made or broken from an online review, and optimal customer experience (CX) has become the reigning benchmark of success, power is now firmly in customers’ hands. And while they may be more fickle than ever, ensuring customers have a great experience is the best way to ensure ongoing loyalty.

More than ever, hotels are making use of the vast amounts of data available to them to streamline operations and personalize to ensure they’re hitting the mark when it comes to customer satisfaction.

Whether it comes from mining reviews sites such as Yelp and TripAdvisor, monitoring social media for likes, dislikes, and trends, good old fashioned surveys, or leveraging loyalty program data to optimize price-value combinations in guest promotions, the insight available to companies is practically unlimited.

“The more sophisticated properties might use keycards to collect data on guest use of amenities and put together packages to appeal to them based on that,” Dr. Anil Kaul, Co-founder, and CEO of Absolutdata, told TechHQ.

“If a guest used an on-site spa, a hotel could put together a spa weekend package to entice that customer to visit again.”

A personalized experience

Some of the largest hotel chains in the world are now incorporating voice assistants, while personalized recommendations for dining and drinking options in the hotel or in the surrounding area could be advertised on-screen. Just look at what Alibaba’s ‘future hotel’ is offering.

But data and AI technology are also transforming the supplier side as well. Personalized property recommendations can pour through a hotel’s online reviews and draw insights based on the nature of reviews services and facilities offered by the business. For example, suggest opening a restaurant later, or offering a healthy breakfast option.

AI bots could even shed light on pricing tactics used by competitors in real-time, such as adjusting pricing by 20 percent ahead of a compression period.

The key to success is to “be able to react quickly” and to improve overall CX, said Kaul, which, more often than not, comes down to providing a tailored experience to each individual guest.

“Data-led personalization is a critical success factor for hospitality companies because guests have a lot of choices,” said Kaul. “If the business doesn’t personalize service and make each guest feel like the property is tailoring service to meet their unique needs, those customers will go to a competitor instead.” And rest assured, if one hotel company isn’t leveraging the data available as well as it could be in order to provide a personalized service to its guests, outside of just sales and marketing, its competitors probably will be.

Acting on insights

But despite “almost all” hospitality businesses applying data in some way, many continue to fall short when it comes to data-led personalization because they’re not using that data to its full potential.

For example, Kaul explained, they’ll conduct market research to answer a business question, and then shelve the information, rather than integrating it into their institutional knowledge and applying it for other purposes.

Another problem is that too many hospitality businesses aren’t acting on data quick enough. To get the most out of data, it has to drive decision-making at the “speed of business” because trends change and preferences evolve day-by-day.

With data use now a differentiator in the hotel industry, Kaul said acquiring as much data as possible is now paramount, in order to more accurately personalize offers and develop better promotions. To overcome the difficulty of acting on that data and becoming overwhelmed by it, AI and machine learning can help process huge datasets and detect patterns that human analysts could easily overlook.

Of course, any doubling down on data collection, processing, storage, and use means hospitality businesses must ensure their cybersecurity defenses and compliancy policies are airtight.

Aside from the infamous Marriott data breach this year, a report by Symantec found that a staggering two of three hotel websites continue to inadvertently leak guests’ booking details.

Source: https://techhq.com/2019/10/is-todays-hotel-industry-built-on-data-driven-personalization/

How a Scotch whisky producer is setting up for a sustainable future

For Chivas Brothers, the Scotch whisky business of Pernod Ricard group – the world’s second-largest wine and spirits company – sustainability is a way of life.

The Dalmunach Distillery near Aberlour, Moray, is the company’s most energy-efficient distillery, and uses 38 per cent less energy than the industry average for sites of a similar size.

Commitment to specific targets, and resources to achieve them, is key to ensuring we end up with the right technologies for a sustainable whisky industry that remains a core part of the local community.

Ronald Daalmans

“We believe sustainable business should be at the core of any enterprise that takes a long-term approach and expects their product to have a purpose and role in society,” says Ronald Daalmans, environmental sustainability manager for Chivas Brothers.

“To me, personally, this means making sure we can say we are using resources responsibly, and reducing or treating emissions. Although many environmental challenges have been met, we still have significantly more to do, especially when it comes to carbon emissions, fossil fuels and heat.

“Commitment to specific targets, and resources to achieve them, is key to ensuring we end up with the right technologies for a sustainable whisky industry that remains a core part of the local community.”

As headline sponsor of VIBES: Scottish Environment Business Awards, Chivas Brothers is helping champion environmental sustainability for businesses.

Since they were established in 1999, the VIBES awards have recognised more than 150 businesses in Scotland that are taking significant steps to reduce their impact on the environment, typically making significant savings in the process.

Earlier this month, Scottish environment secretary Roseanna Cunningham confirmed that Scotland was setting an ambitious new target of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2045 – meaning the country will stop contributing to climate change within a generation.

“There is a global climate emergency and people across Scotland have been calling for more ambition to tackle it and safeguard our planet for future generations,” Cunningham said. “Every single one of us now needs to take more action – not just the Scottish Government but also all businesses, schools, communities, individuals and organisations.”

VIBES is run in a strategic partnership between the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA), the Scottish Government, Scottish Water, Scottish Enterprise, Highland and Islands Enterprise, Zero Waste Scotland, Energy Saving Trust and Scottish Natural Heritage.

Terry A’Hearn, SEPA chief executive, says: “The scale of environmental challenge facing humanity is enormous, with a real urgency to act. If everyone lived as we do in Scotland, we would need three planets to sustain our current living. Yet we only have one.

“This underpins One Planet Prosperity – SEPA’s regulatory strategy for tackling the challenges facing Scotland’s environment.

“A key premise is that only those businesses, societies and nations that have developed ways to reduce their water, materials and carbon-based energy consumption, as well as creating little waste, will thrive.

“This is about businesses not just complying with environmental legislation – but going beyond – to help us leave behind a better world than the one we inherited.”

“Scottish Enterprise believes tackling climate change is critically important in a 21st-century economy and works with businesses and sector bodies to promote sustainable business.

“Our team works with companies to identify, develop and deliver projects which lead to improved business efficiency,” explains Ken Maxwell, sustainability specialist at Scottish Enterprise.

“The aim of our support is to improve the efficiency of premises, products and processes – leading to reduced costs and improved environmental performance.

“We also help to ‘future proof’ business practices by encouraging discussion on the impacts of climate change and identifying opportunities arising from increased awareness of sustainability issues and the circular economy.”

Source: https://www.scotsman.com/news/how-a-scotch-whisky-producer-is-setting-up-for-a-sustainable-future-1-4930509

TECHNOLOGY THAT COULD END HUMANITY—AND HOW TO STOP IT

In his 1798 An Essay on the Principle of Population, Thomas Malthus predicted that the world’s population growth would outpace food production, leading to global famine and mass starvation. That hasn’t happened yet. But a reportfrom the World Resources Institute last year predicts that food producers will need to supply 56 percent more calories by 2050 to meet the demands of a growing population.

It turns out some of the same farming techniques that staved off a Malthusian catastrophe also led to soil erosion and contributed to climate change, which in turn contributes to drought and other challenges for farmers. Feeding the world without deepening the climate crisis will require new technological breakthroughs.

This situation illustrates the push and pull effect of new technologies. Humanity solves one problem, but the unintended side effects of the solution create new ones. Thus far civilization has stayed one step ahead of its problems. But philosopher Nick Bostrom worries we might not always be so lucky.

If you’ve heard of Bostrom, it’s probably for his 2003 “simulation argument” paper which, along with The Matrix, made the question of whether we might all be living in a computer simulation into a popular topic for dorm room conversations and Elon Musk interviews. But since founding the Future of Humanity Institute at the University of Oxford in 2005, Bostrom has been focused on a decidedly more grim field of speculation: existential risks to humanity. In his 2014 book Superintelligence, Bostrom sounded an alarm about the risks of artificial intelligence. His latest paper, The Vulnerable World Hypothesis, widens the lens to look at other ways technology could ultimately devastate civilization, and how humanity might try to avoid that fate. But his vision of a totalitarian future shows why the cure might be worse than the cause.

WIRED: What is the vulnerable world hypothesis?

Nick Bostrom: It’s the idea that we could picture the history of human creativity as the process of extracting balls from a giant urn. These balls represent different ideas, technologies, and methods that we have discovered throughout history. By now we have extracted a great many of these and for the most part they have been beneficial. They are white balls. Some have been mixed blessings, gray balls of various shades. But what we haven’t seen is a black ball, some technology that by default devastates the civilization that discovers it. The vulnerable world hypothesis is that there is some black ball in the urn, that there is some level of technology at which civilization gets decimated by default.

WIRED: What might be an example of a “black ball?”

“The vulnerable world hypothesis is that there is some black ball in the urn, that there is some level of technology at which civilization gets decimated by default.”

NICK BOSTROM

NB: It looks like we will one day democratize the ability to create weapons of mass destruction using synthetic biology. But there isn’t nearly the same kind of security culture in biological sciences as there is nuclear physics and nuclear engineering. After Hiroshima, nuclear scientists realized that what they were doing wasn’t all fun and games and that they needed oversight and a broader sense of responsibility. Many of the physicists who were involved in the Manhattan Project became active in the nuclear disarmament movement and so forth. There isn’t something similar in the bioscience communities. So that’s one area where we could see possible black balls emerging.

WIRED: People have been worried that a suicidal lone wolf might kill the world with a “superbug” at least since Alice Bradley Sheldon’s sci-fi story “The Last Flight of Doctor Ain,” which was published in 1969. What’s new in your paper?

NB: To some extent, the hypothesis is kind of a crystallization of various big ideas that are floating around. I wanted to draw attention to different types of vulnerability. One possibility is that it gets too easy to destroy things, and the world gets destroyed by some evil doer. I call this “easy nukes.” But there are also these other slightly more subtle ways that technology could change the incentives that bad actors face. For example, the “safe first strike scenario,” where it becomes in the interest of some powerful actor like a state to do things that are destructive because they risk being destroyed by a more aggressive actor if they don’t. Another is the “worse global warming” scenario where lots of individually weak actors are incentivized to take actions that individually are quite insignificant but cumulatively create devastating harm to civilization. Cows and fossil fuels look like gray balls so far, but that could change.

“It looks like we will one day democratize the ability to create weapons of mass destruction using synthetic biology.”

NICK BOSTROM

I think what this paper adds is a more systematic way to think about these risks, a categorization of the different approaches to managing these risks and their pros and cons, and the metaphor itself makes it easier to call attention to possibilities that are hard to see.

WIRED: But technological development isn’t as random as pulling balls out of an urn, is it? Governments, universities, corporations, and other institutions decide what research to fund, and the research builds on previous research. It’s not as if research just produces random results in random order.

NB: What’s often hard to predict is, supposing you find the result you’re looking for, what result comes from using that as a stepping stone, what other discoveries might follow from this and what uses might someone put this new information or technology to.

In the paper I have this historical example of when nuclear physicists realized you could split the atom, Leo Szilard realized you could make a chain reaction and make a nuclear bomb. Now we know to make a nuclear explosion requires these difficult and rare materials. We were lucky in that sense.

And though we did avoid nuclear armageddon it looks like a fair amount of luck was involved in that. If you look at the archives from the Cold War it looks like there were many occasions when we drove all the way to the brink. If we’d been slightly less lucky or if we continue in the future to have other Cold Wars or nuclear arms races we might find that nuclear technology was a black ball.

“We might not think the possibility of drawing a black ball outweighs the risks involved in building a surveillance state.”

NICK BOSTROM

If you want to refine the metaphor and make it more realistic you could stipulate that it’s a tubular urn so you’ve got to pull out the balls towards the top of the urn before you can reach the balls further into the urn. You might say that some balls have strings between them so if you get one you get another automatically, you could add various details that would complicate the metaphor but would also incorporate more aspects of our real technological situation. But I think the basic point is best made by the original perhaps oversimplified metaphor of the urn.

WIRED: So is it inevitable that as technology advances, as we continue pulling balls from the urn so to speak, that we’ll eventually draw a black one? Is there anything we can do about that?

NB: I don’t think it’s inevitable. For one, we don’t know if the urn contains any black balls. If we are lucky it doesn’t.

If you want to have a general ability to stabilize civilization in the event that we should pull out the black ball, logically speaking there are four possible things you could do. One would be to stop pulling balls out of the urn. As a general solution, that’s clearly no good. We can’t stop technological development and even if we did, that could be the greatest catastrophe at all. We can choose to deemphasize work on developing more powerful biological weapons. I think that’s clearly a good idea, but that won’t create a general solution.

The second option would be to make sure there are there is nobody who would use technology to do catastrophic evil even if they had access to it. That also looks like a limited solution because realistically you couldn’t get rid of every person who would use a destructive technology. So that leaves two other options. One is to develop the capacity for extremely effective preventive policing, to surveil populations in real time so if someone began using a black ball technology they could be intercepted and stopped. That has many risks and problems as well if you’re talking about an intrusive surveillance scheme, but we can discuss that further. Just to put everything on the map, the fourth possibility would be effective ways of solving global coordination problems, some sort of global governance capability that would prevent great power wars, arms races, and destruction of the global commons.

WIRED: That sounds dystopian. And wouldn’t that sort of one-world government/surveillance state be the exact sort of thing that would motivate someone to try to destroy the world?

NB: It’s not like I’m gung-ho about living under surveillance, or that I’m blind about the ways that could be misused. In the discussion about the preventive policing, I have a little vignette where everyone has a kind of necklace with cameras. I called it a “freedom tag.” It sounds Orwellian on purpose. I wanted to make sure that everybody would be vividly aware of the obvious potential for misuse. I’m not sure every reader got the sense of irony. The vulnerable world hypothesis should be just one consideration among many other considerations. We might not think the possibility of drawing a black ball outweighs the risks involved in building a surveillance state. The paper is not an attempt to make an all things considered assessment about these policy issues.

WIRED: What if instead of focusing on general solutions that attempt to deal with any potential black ball we instead tried to deal with black balls on a case by case basis?

NB: If I were advising a policymaker on what to do first, it would be to take action on specific issues. It would be a lot more feasible and cheaper and less intrusive than these general things. To use biotechnology as an example, there might be specific interventions in the field. For example, perhaps instead of every DNA synthesis research group having their own equipment, maybe DNA synthesis could be structured as a service, where there would be, say, four or five providers, and each research team would send their materials to one of those providers. Then if something really horrific one day did emerge from the urn there would be four or five choke points where you could intervene. Or maybe you could have increased background checks for people working with synthetic biology. That would be the first place I would look if I wanted to translate any of these ideas into practical action.

But if one is looking philosophically at the future of humanity, it’s helpful to have these conceptual tools to allow one to look at these broader structural properties. Many people read the paper and agree with the diagnosis of the problem and then don’t really like the possible remedies. But I’m waiting to hear some better alternatives about how one would better deal with black balls.

Source:https://www.wired.com/story/technology-could-end-humanity-how-stop-it/

Hotel Club Level Stays Are The Best Luxury Bargain In The Hospitality Business

The best indulgences are always those that are easiest to justify. Heading to the club level of a hotel is one of my favourites. A privileged enclave of peace and quiet. Space to work. Magazine and newspapers to rifle through. Usually at the top of the hotel, guests benefit from the best views in the building. One more hors d’oeuvre. Another glass of wine. 

Not all club levels are equal though. Some appear to content themselves with a few slightly curled sandwiches and rapidly dehydrating cake at tea time, but at others, the sense of munificence runs the course of a full day.  

At the Belmond Charleston Place – in a quintessentially Southern way – the hospitality doesn’t stop coming. Breakfast has all the bacon, salmon, scrambled eggs, bagels and danishes you might want. It moves seamlessly into lunch – a mixture of cold and hot hors d’oeuvre, then afternoon tea (a particularly delicious coffee cake to go with the sandwiches). Evening sees more hot appetisers and cheese. 

Cementing the Belmond Charleston Place’s charm, to one side, there’s a bar to sit at, with a sterling collection of wines, beers and spirits and if you’re lucky, veteran bar tender Dan Etherton will be mixing potent cocktails, all of which are complimentary.

A really good club level of a hotel has the ease of your parent’s fridge but with none of the restrictions or guilt factor; the feel-good flipside to butler service, and a boon to greedy introverts who don’t want to navigate room service. At the Renaissance St Pancras, guests of the Chambers Suites have access to the Victorian splendour of Chambers Club room. As hotel loyalty programmes start to ramp up, club lounges are being increasingly deployed.  Platinum Elite, Titanium Elite, and Ambassador Elite Members of the Marriott Bonvoy travel programme have guaranteed lounge access.

It’s an area where innovations are coming thick and fast. At the PuXuanhotel in Beijing, the club kitchen has been designed by Bulthaup. Designed to look and feel like an apartment, the perks include laundry and dry-cleaning, secretarial assistance and complimentary car travel. At the Ritz-Carlton Millenia in Singapore, there’s an easel set up and drawing materials provided. 

Initially designed to appeal for business travellers, these days, they often have considerable appeal for families. Food at club level is generally buffet-minded and keep extended hours, cutting down on room service and are a handy, controlled space outside the hotel room for both parent and child. 

Do your sums right and they can be cost-effective too, especially for leisure travellers. For instance, rates at Belmond Charleston Place start at $345, but only $475 for the club level. A few cocktails in the evening soon smooths out the price difference. For the best bargains, look for weekend rates in hotels that are generally geared towards Monday-Friday business travel.

A good club area isn’t too quiet either. Guests chat to each other, conversations are easily formed. Clubs are meant to be convivial places after all.

Source:https://www.forbes.com/sites/sarahturner/2019/05/13/hotel-club-level-stays-are-the-best-luxury-bargain-in-the-hospitality-business/

Four Seasons Montreal Transforms the Luxury Hospitality Landscape

The highly anticipated Four Seasons Hotel and Private Residences Montreal, which is also home to MARCUS, the first Canadian outpost of renowned celebrity chef Marcus Samuelsson, is now open.

Built around the “Social Square” that brings together both locals and visitors to the heart of the Golden Square Mile in one multi-faceted space, Four Seasons is much more than a hotel, encompassing a lively dining and drinking experience, a spa and wellness sanctuary, the city’s newest venue for top-level business meetings and glittering social galas, and within the same building, an exclusive community of private residences, all just steps away from the city’s best shops, galleries, restaurants and museums.

“The joie de vivre of Montreal is unlike any city in North America. We’ve captured this incredible spirit and infused it into every aspect of this stunning new property,” says Christian Clerc, president, Worldwide Hotel Operations, Four Seasons Hotels, and Resorts. “Everything has been designed to set the stage for connecting people, community and culture; and to showcase the very best of Four Seasons through world-class design, culinary experiences, and personalized service.”

Hotel General Manager Goncalo Monteiro leads a team of more than 200 hand-picked staff who are dedicated to providing world-renowned signature Four Seasons service.

“Ultimately this place belongs to Montrealers, we want to create a space where locals and international visitors can connect and interact. We’ve created a unique eco-system where visitors are surprised at every turn, that encourages social engagement, sets the stage for unexpected encounters and where unique moments and memories are created.”

Be Among the First to Experience the Four Seasons Lifestyle in the Golden Square Mile: Four Seasons Hotel Montreal is currently presenting an introductory offer that extends 20 percent savings on the regular room rate, along with other attractive packages designed to introduce the Hotel. For reservations, call 1 800 819 5053 or book online.

Destination: Montreal

Montreal is a city of poets, visionaries, innovators, dreamers, and builders, regarded as one of the world’s great capitals of style, culture, and lifestyle.

The city also hosts an array of international events including the Formula 1 Grand Prix, the internationally renowned Festival International de Jazz de Montreal and the always popular Just for Laughs Festival, the Osheaga Festival Musique et Arts and the Rogers Cup tennis tournament, all happening this summer.

“Four Seasons Hotel Montreal is an important and prestigious addition to the destination that elevates Montreal and sets it apart as a world-class city. Plus, we are counting on this hotel to add to our value proposition on the luxury market,” says President of Tourisme Montreal Yves Lalumière.

Design: Sensual Style

The Social Square: The focal point of Four Seasons Hotel Montreal is its Social Square, a sprawling space on the third floor that encompasses the hotel’s lobby and signature dining and drinking experience, MARCUS by Chef Marcus Samuelsson.

The Social Square is a series of spaces that includes a restaurant, terrace, day bar, night bar and lounge, each with its unique design, musical selection, and atmosphere, designed by Montreal renowned Atelier Zébulon Perron to inspire connections. Within the city’s luxury ecosystem, the Social Square at Four Seasons also offers a direct connection to high-end department store Holt Renfrew Ogilvy, where guests can seamlessly marry a day of shopping with lunch or dinner or drinks at MARCUS.

Art and Architecture: The new building, swathed in black with metallic ribbons was designed by Lemay and Sid Lee Architecture. Hotel interiors including guest rooms, spa, Palais des Possibles ballroom and public areas are designed by Paris-based firm Gilles & Boissier in collaboration with Montreal-based architect and designer Philip Hazan.

Interiors are enhanced by a carefully curated collection of works by local and international artists, including Pascale Girardin’s floral-inspired installation cascading down the building’s open-air atrium and showcasing nature in the heart of the architecture, providing a unique perspective for guests and residents alike.

Original artworks grace all guest rooms and public areas, highlighted by a conversation-igniting collection of vintage photographs of well-known Montrealers and other celebrities displayed throughout MARCUS restaurant and lounge.

The artistic experience surrounds the building, with both the ballroom terrace and the year-round outdoor terrace at MARCUS overlooking the giant, much-photographed mural of one of the city’s most beloved sons, Leonard Cohen.

MARCUS by Celebrity Chef Marcus Samuelsson: A Canadian First

The Canadian debut of the renowned celebrity chef is a modern brasserie that combines Marcus Samuelsson’s signature approach to the dining experience with fresh inspiration from the city’s markets, port, surrounding forests, and farmland.

MARCUS restaurant and its terrace are open daily for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Local seafood – including daily catches from Quebec’s surrounding waters – takes center stage through myriad preparations. The heated terrace overlooking the city’s bustling streets and wrapped in panoramic views is a delightful choice year-round.

“Montreal’s sophisticated and worldly sensibility is one that I’ve long been attracted to,” says Chef Samuelsson. “Its global dynamic and European flair closely relate to my own journey. I’m excited to bring my flavors and vision to this incredible culinary culture.”

As day transforms into night, the MARCUS lounge and bar become the see-and-be-seen center of the Social Square with a lively soundtrack curated by Samuelsson himself, including live musicians, bands and DJs every evening. Designed by Bellosound, expect to hear emerging avant-garde artists and rich electronic sound textures reflective of the city’s sophisticated, international style.

Experience MARCUS at Four Seasons Hotel Montreal: For more information about MARCUS, click here. For table reservations, book via Open Table or call 514 843 2500.

Spa and Wellness Sanctuary at Four Seasons

The Spa at Four Seasons Hotel Montreal is a wellness sanctuary. While the Social Square is all about connectivity, the Spa is the place to disconnect and enjoy a relaxing, stress-free experience. Results-oriented therapies and indulgent pampering are offered by highly trained therapists who adapt each treatment to individual needs. There are eight treatment rooms including the Golden Square VIP Suite for two with its own discreet entrance that offers complete privacy.

Kneipp Hydrotherapy: A very special experience awaits with the city’s only Kneipp hydrotherapy facility, which focuses on the health-promoting qualities of hot and cold water.

Reached via a specially designed reflexology footpath, the therapy pool features a large waterfall as part of the methods originally developed by Bavarian naturopath Sebastian Kneipp in the 19th century.

Additional spa and wellness facilities include sauna, whirlpool and relaxation areas; a state-of-the-art gym designed by celebrity fitness expert Harley Pasternak; and a skylit indoor pool with an upstream current generator.

Lead by Spa Director Geneviève Poulos a careful edit of product lines are featured at the Spa: Omorovicza, a Hungarian skincare line, is featured exclusively at Four Seasons in Montreal, including the signature Gold Hydra Lifting Facial. 111SKIN is another result-driven line, created in London, England by Dr. Yannis Alexandrides, a cosmetic surgeon, in his Harley Street clinic. Finally, the Spa team is delighted to offer PEONI by JB Skin Guru, a line created by Montreal skincare expert Jennifer Brodeur.

More About Four Seasons Hotel Montreal

Guest Rooms and Suites: The Hotel’s 169 guest rooms and suites are designed in a modern, residential style with comfortable seating areas for work or relaxation, at one’s fingertips technology, and generous washrooms with freestanding tubs and Byredo toiletries from Sweden.

Of particular note are the Carré Doré rooms located on the building’s higher floors are on the atrium floors where guests can admire Pascale Girardin’s grandiose art installation; Four Seasons Executive Suites offering the ability to separate the lounge area from the sleep area; and the elegant, two-bedroom Presidential Suite on the top floor that features a full-size dining table and butler’s pantry with separate entrance, ideal for entertaining.

Meetings, Events, Weddings, and Other Social Occasions: The Palais des Possibles is the hotel’s main ballroom, which opens onto the Belvedere Terrace, affording one of the city’s best views of the landmark Leonard Cohen mural.

Easily divisible in several configurations of intimate spaces for board meetings and breakouts, or at full size, for receptions of up to 450 guests, the room also has an adjacent VIP suite, a private retreat for guest speakers and wedding couples. Two additional salons are also located on the fifth floor along with restrooms and a cloakroom, allowing for exclusive booking of the entire suite of spaces.

Private Residences at Four Seasons: Four Seasons Hotel Montreal is also home to a community of 18 Four Seasons Private Residences with interiors by Montreal-based Philip Hazan.

Source:https://www.travelpulse.com/news/hotels-and-resorts/four-seasons-montreal-transforms-the-luxury-hospitality-landscape.html