What’s Negotiable in Hotel Management Agreements?

Having represented management companies and owner/developers in projects ranging from five-star mixed-use luxury branded resorts to limited-service highway franchised hotels, I have had the opportunity to work on many branded management agreements, third-party management agreements (non-branded) and franchise agreements. From my years of experience, I’ve compiled a list of key terms and tips for you to live by.

In this article we will look at the key terms of a Hotel Management Agreement (HMA) that form the basis of the ‘bargain’ between the management company and the owner in a typical, full-service branded hotel management agreement. These are the provisions that are likely to be negotiated over a period of weeks, even months, assuming bargaining strength exists on both sides of the negotiating table.

The trend is to set out the basic business terms first in a Letter of Intent (LOI) before proceeding to the ‘definitive document’ phase. Here are those key terms on which there should be a ‘meeting of the minds’ before the parties may conclude that they have come to agreement on the terms of an HMA:

Some basics:

• Brand Selection: Is the chosen brand right for the location? Has a feasibility study been done to confirm this? Is there competition in the market that will dilute the brand’s effectiveness? Does the developer have the required financing (equity and debt) to build to the brand standards?
• Identification of the Parties: Is the developer entity the ultimate owner or will the developer negotiating the terms instead be a partner, member or shareholder in the entity into which equity investments will be made?
• Description of the ‘Hotel’ or ‘Project’: Are all hotel rooms ‘dedicated’ as full-time hotel space or are there ‘condo-hotel’ units available as hotel ‘keys’ when the unit owner is not in occupancy? Is commercial space to be managed as part of the Hotel or leased to an operator, which affects how revenue is treated? Are there other not-strictly-hotel uses – perhaps a parking garage or amenities such as a spa or resort facilities – that are to be included in the scope of management?
• Residences: Will they be branded, marketed and managed by the management company? What hotel amenities will be available to residence owners? What is the split of rental proceeds with residence owners?

Once you have a fundamental understanding of these, you can then focus on what is actually negotiable in the HMA:

1. Term:
The term tends to be longer for branded management agreements – 20 years these days with perhaps one ten-year renewal at the management company’s election, conditioned perhaps and with no prior failures of the performance test (see below). Third-party (non-branded) management agreements tend to be much shorter duration. The HMA typically may not be terminated by the owner with the payment of an agreed termination fee (liquidated damages), but this is becoming more common.

2. Performance Test:
This is typically a two-pronged test. For example, the management company must achieve 90% of budgeted GOP and 85% of the RevPAR of an agreed competitive; with failure to meet both tests for two consecutive years (or sometimes two out of three) constituting a failure of the performance test that may be ‘cured’ by the management company’s paying to cure one of the budgeted GOP shortfalls. A more meaningful test for the owner would be a bottom line NOI test, but management companies generally decline to be evaluated that low in the hotels.

3. Revenue-Based Fees:
Base fees, typically 3% or 4% of total revenue, plus perhaps a marketing fee of 1%, are generally not negotiable. But an owner may obtain a ramp up in the early years of a new hotel until stabilization. These are overhead recovery fees by the management company. There has to be clarity as to what is and is not included in total revenue. For example, only the net rent from space leased to third parties, such as sundry shops, rather than the third-party’s total revenue, is included in the hotel’s top-line revenue number.

4. Incentive Fee:
This fee rewards not just volume (which is measured by total revenue) but also operating efficiency, by basing the fee on GOP (typically 8% to 12%). GOP is arrived at by deducting from total revenue those operating expenses within the management company’s control. This fee is ripe for negotiation, with owners wanting more expenses deducted and perhaps an ‘owner’s priority’ that must be satisfied, such as a return on the owner’s total investment in the project or debt service, before the incentive fee is paid. Another issue: are unpaid fees ‘earned’ and therefore accrued to be paid at a later date from excess earnings? There are many variations to how the incentive fee is determined.

5. Other Charges:
There are many other fee opportunities for and impositions from management companies, such as reservation fees, reward programs charges, employee training charges, technical services fees, optional purchasing programs, brand marketing cost reimbursements and other programs for which the management company charges all managed hotels. Allocation of these charges to participating hotels is a topic that owners will want to explore. These charges may be hard to predict unless the owner looks to a similar hotel managed by the same management company for some idea as to what to expect.

6. FF&E Reserve:
Generally this is funded from hotel operations and is 4-5% of total revenue that is set aside for replacement of FF&E (soft goods, carpets and the like).

7. Budget Approval by Owner: The owner will always want more than just a right to review the budget that the management company prepares, and generally owner approval is allowed. But some items can be excluded from the owner’s approval right, such as the cost of utilities or the central service charges. Items in dispute can be set at the prior fiscal year’s level plus a CPI-based increase pending resolution by an expert.

8. Capital Expenditures:
The owner must fund all CAPEX to achieve compliance with brand standards, life safety requirements and legal compliance.

9. Owner’s Financing: The management company will seek to impose limitations on the owner’s debt level to avoid over-leveraging and is likely to seek a Subordination Non-Disturbance Agreement (SNDA). In these instances, the management company acknowledges that its fees are subordinate in priority to debt service (but typically only after a default by the owner under the loan agreement) and the lender agrees to keep the management company in place after a foreclosure.

10. Credit Enhancements:
These are sometimes provided by management companies to enhance the owner’s ability to finance the hotel. Indeed, they take many forms, such as a contribution of technical services, key money (an outright grant paid on opening that’s recoverable if the management agreement is terminated early), debt service guarantees and more.

11. Employees: In the U.S., the management company typically employs all hotel employees, with the unintended consequence of preventing the owner from obtaining a roster of each employee’s salary and benefits out of privacy considerations. Outside the U.S., the owner acts as the employer, but the management company will assign certain experienced personnel to serve in key positions such as the Executive Committee. These key personnel will usually exit the property when the HMA is terminated or expires. In many jurisdictions, hotel employees will be deemed to be jointly employed by both the management company and the owner for purposes of assessing liability to the employer for conduct of the employees.

12. Hiring and Firing Key Personnel:
The owner typically requests and obtains the right to interview candidates and approve the hiring of key personnel such as the General Manager, Controller, and Director of Marketing and Sales. However, management companies may be able to negotiate limits as to how many qualified candidates can be rejected by the owner before the management company is able to hire its choice for best candidate. The owner may also obtain the management company’s good faith consideration to the owner’s complaints about the performance of personnel, but the decision to fire or not is generally solely the management company’s decision.

13. Indemnification and Insurance:
It’s typical for the management company to expect the owner to indemnify the management company against all claims, losses and liabilities, except for those arising out of the management company’s acts that constitute willful misconduct or gross negligence. For the management company’s indemnification to be meaningful to the owner, acts of key employees should be attributed to the management company. Ultimately, liability insurance coverage of both the management company and the owner under the same policy is the means by which both parties are protected from third-party hotel-related claims, such as ‘slips and falls’.

14. Damage and Destruction: Property insurance is provided by the owner with coverage acceptable to the management company. The owner will have to apply insurance proceeds to repair the hotel, but may have a termination right if the damage is severe.

15. Sale of the Asset:
Typically, the management company can stipulate that its agreement survive a sale of the hotel and that certain purchasers be prohibited, such as competitors, purchasers with criminal backgrounds or buyers with other legal issues.

16. Agency:
HMAs have been held by many courts to constitute agency appointments by the owner as ‘principal’ and the management company as ‘agent’. For this, there are two consequences: (a) the owner has the power to terminate the HMA at any time for any or no reason, but may face a damage claim from the management company under contract law for wrongful termination; and (b) the management company owes the owner a fiduciary duty. This area of law is complex and experienced counsel is required to advise both parties as to its implications. These agreements have also been held to be personal service contracts with the owner having the same power to terminate the agreement as if it were an agency appointment.

These are many but not all of the negotiating considerations. Many other areas are addressed in the HMA, such as governing law, dispute resolution and more. Management HMAs have evolved since their first appearance in the early 1950s to the point of becoming highly specialized in their vocabulary, business terms and legal interpretation. They require experienced counsel as well as hotel development and operational expertise. Industry custom has rendered these agreements somewhat ‘standard’ in appearance nowadays, but there is plenty of room to negotiate the key terms.

Source: http://www.hospitalitynet.org/news/global/154000320/4074702.html

Guestline are listed as one of the 1000 Companies to Inspire Britain 2016

“We want to shine a light on what we know to be true, that these companies are the engine of the UK economy”

Guestline is delighted to be listed in the London Stock Exchange Group’s 1000 Companies to Inspire Britain report. The report is an annual celebration of some of the fastest-growing and most dynamic small and medium- sized enterprises (SMEs) in the UK. Guestline were selected after demonstrating a positive growth in revenue over the last four years and significantly outperforming their sector peers.

Established in 1991 with offices in Shropshire and Bangkok, Guestline specialise in developing, implementing and supporting innovative software solutions for the hospitality industry to meet and exceed the ever-changing demands of a continually evolving marketplace.

Guestline has been recognised in the Technology and Digital section of the report, which seeks to illustrate the UK’s pioneering entrepreneurial spirit and the nation’s ability to produce world-class innovation. The growth of Britain’s technology sector continues to outstrip GDP with companies like Guestline helping to seal the UK’s reputation as a global springboard for new enterprises.

Phil Davidson, Managing Director at Guestline said “The team at Guestline are very proud to be recognised in this report. It’s a huge achievement for us and testament of the hard work and dedication of all our staff across the UK and abroad.

With 1500 hotel clients across five continents, we are an ambitious company and are constantly developing and growing our suite of solutions to ensure our technology is at the forefront of innovation. We also invest heavily in our staff and pride ourselves in delivering exceptional customer service.”

The UK tech sector has been growing faster than any other part of the economy for several years, with the number of tech related companies rising by 31% since 2010 – one new company every hour of every day for the last five years! With this in mind, Guestline are honoured to receive such recognition.

Commenting on the report, Xavier Rolet, CEO at the London Stock Exchange Group
said “We want to shine a light on what we know to be true, that these companies are the engine of the UK economy. The report highlight 1,000 of the fastest-growing SMEs up and down the country and reveals a community of UK businesses richer and more varied than we believe ever identified in any other exercise of this type.”

Source: http://www.hospitalitynet.org/news/global/154000320/4074697.html

Acentic appoints industry frontrunner, Carl Ward

Leader in hotel TV and hospitality tech announces new appointment of VP for Enterprise Solutions

Acentic, global leaders in hotel TV and hospitality technology, are delighted to announce the appointment of Carl Ward as VP Enterprise Solutions.

Carl joins from Hoist Group, where he was Director Key Accounts, and brings extensive experience in complex hardware, software and cloud solutions from both a sales and product management perspective. Prior to his role at Hoist Group, Carl was at Otrum UK as Major Accounts Director.

Richard Robinson, Chief Executive of Acentic, comments: “I am delighted to welcome such a top industry talent as Carl to our experienced team. Acentic has a fantastic industry-leading product portfolio and we are attracting a wealth of clients who need the very best solutions to keep their businesses ahead of the game. Carl has outstanding expertise and I know that he will quickly rise to the challenge of what is bound to be a fast-paced, dynamic year ahead.”

Capitalising on his significant industry experience, Carl will be responsible for the Product Management team whilst continuing to engage with Global Chain Hotel Operators. Together they will develop both the in-room solutions and the Radiant 4 Solution Set in order to expand the Acentic portfolio further into the Hospitality sector.

The Team will build on the improving commercial success achieved throughout 2015 and focus on driving new business in new territories, ensuring the delivery of the 2016 budget. A task made all the more achievable with Acentic’s portfolio of in-house developed, cost-effective solutions in both guest room entertainment and the connectivity space.

Source: http://www.hospitalitynet.org/news/global/154000320/4074655.html

Village Hotels Successfully Roll Out hetras, Replaces Former PMS System

Gone are the days of queuing at reception, replaced by the ease and ultimate convenience of self-service.

Village Hotels, the British hotel chain comprising twenty-eight properties with an urban touch, is in the middle of a fast roll-out of the hetras native cloud platform to all of its hotels. As part of this roll-out, Village Hotels is replacing its entire PMS scenery, one that has been running for many years, with hetras´ cloud based Hotel Management System. Village Hotels is taking advantage of hetras versatile landscape in order to run applications such as CRS, GDS, online distribution and mobile check-in.

The hetras technology behind the new level of self-service and convenience offers hotel groups a cutting-edge, cloud­-based hotel management platform. hetras’ technology package includes property management and central reservation systems, as well as distribution connectivity, and allows hotels to manage online all aspects of a mobile guest journey, from booking to billing.

In other words, at any Village Hotels with hetras cloud based hotel management software, guests are able to serve themselves, conveniently, online. This includes booking a room, checking in, obtaining a mobile room key, easily accessing available services, like the hotel’s health and fitness club, Starbucks, or the in-house restaurant, and receiving the bill via email after their stay.

“By replacing our legacy Opera systems, we are changing our operations to become lean and easy and are shifting our team’s focus from a computer screen to the customer,” explains Rob Paterson, Commercial Director of Village Hotels.

“In parallel,” Paterson adds, “we allow our customers to move at their own pace through the guest journey by offering mobile solutions.”

According to Philip von Ditfurth, one of hetras’ Managing Directors, “Our native cloud platform is a perfect fit for Village Hotels. Any hotel group that wants to move to mobile hotel operations and use true next generation technology now has a viable alternative. We are excited we could prove the scalability of our solution and the automated migration from the existing PMS to hetras.”

Uli Pillau from hetras comments, “It has always been our objective to provide hotel groups around the world with a next generation platform that can replace the legacy software on the market. As our technology is native cloud-based and provides all mobile components, it really brings hotels to a long desired next level. The open API platform we have built allows anybody to connect their innovative Apps or other software to hetras.”

The ultimate in guest-centricity
Village Hotels are widely known for their extensive in-house facilities, which include health and fitness clubs, spas, and various coffee shops and ­restaurants. All of the purchases made by guests are managed by hetras’ cloud-based platform and charged to the room. hetras’ Smart Analytics is used to analyze guests’ data after their stay to identify potential areas for optimization.

Source: http://www.hospitalitynet.org/news/global/154000320/4074664.html

Recovering Motivation After Failure!

Each of us faces small or big failures in the course of our life or even the work day. That is the inevitable truth of our lives – personal and professional. There will be targets not met; projects either not completed or done so in not the best way possible; assignments sacrificed at the altar of time or unplanned schedule or interjections from other folk.

The road to periodic and long term success is paved with boulders that make you stumble and fall. But the idea is to get up, shake up a bit and get going. Staying motivated is the key.

Motivation is what gets you out of bed and embarks you on the course of a day, however grueling it may be. The drive to deliver aces in one’s life is what makes you think, plan, strategize and implement.

The magical powers of staying motivated, indeed, turns the very banal to something brilliant, the ordinary to exemplary, the commonplace to commendable!

Here are a handful of tricks that promise to come in handy even on the bleakest of days. Try them!

1. Self Esteem and positive visualization

Positive strokes entailing thinking of all the wins in the past are an immediate pick-me-up.

The triumphant moments and the glorious feedback on outstanding work is the sunshine that can wither away the dark clouds of self-doubt, professional letdowns, interim defeats and light up your mindscape with hope and promise.

Glowing references – once you have been an excellent and above-the-target worker you tend to collect hordes of such gems in your kitty – are the very able crutches that help you limp or sprint back (as the case may be) to life in the busy and productive work lane.

Any self-help Guru worth his grain will tell you to first imagine yourself in the position you wish to scale up to occupy. The power of positive thinking has long been chronicled as one of the finest tools in self-motivation.

1. Get on to Plan B

All good, intelligent and able workers will always have a Plan A and a Plan B. This means that you are always ready to face any eventuality and are already on the road to target completion and achievements even when certain extraneous or intrinsic factors may be acting as impediments.

The well-planned professional will know when to employ what strategy and have the well-honed nous to implement that effectively.

1. Circle of family and friends

This support system, well nurtured with patience, caring and thoughtfulness is your bedrock in the most difficult of times.

They are the people in your inner circle of trust who tell it like it is, yet know your actual potential and stoke that in the right direction.

Invest time and energy in developing such a circle of influence and make sure that it is a healthy and fair give-and-take.

1. Promising self talk and introspective moments

These guide you to learn from the failure and turn it into a good learning exercise that eggs you onto the next level.

Record where you went wrong before, reflect on how you could have done things differently and retrospect so as to evolve a fine future strategy from your past endeavours and experience.

1. Honest Face off

Always facing the issue full on is imperative to bring a closure to episodes of failure and start anew on an energized war-footing.

Whether it is with tears and other emotional display or with reasoning and logic – whatever is your personality inclination; you must confront the situation and build upon it constructively.

Getting it all out so that one can start afresh with no extra baggage is essential for becoming a savvy and swift traveler in your professional voyage.

Keep walking on your unique journey!

Source: http://www.hospitalitynet.org/news/global/154000320/4074595.html

Banyan Tree to slash staff ahead of ‘coming recession’

Banyan Tree Hotels and Resorts will slash 12 per cent of its 1,400- plus workforce over the next few months as part of a restructuring ahead of a “relatively prolonged” global downturn.

Three of the hotel management company’s top executives – Mr David Spooner, vice-president of sales and marketing; Mr Andrew Langston, vice-president of operations, Asia Pacific; and Mr Abid Butt, chief executive – have resigned as a result of the restructuring.

“The restructuring is not just a pure cost-cutting exercise. It is a periodic restructuring to become more lean, more efficient. The cost savings are expected to run into the millions,” Banyan Tree Holdings executive chairman Ho Kwon Ping told The Straits Times yesterday.

As part of the changes, Mr Des Pugson, former vice-president of China operations, will become the head of Banyan Tree Hotels and Resorts. The position of vice-president of sales and marketing has been replaced by a new position, vice-president of sales.

The position of vice-president of operations, Asia Pacific, has been eliminated and replaced by new positions. As well, there will be 18 new and concurrent appointments in sales, operations and business development.

The company embarked on the restructuring late last year to “cut away many legacy costs, processes and structures”, Mr Ho said in a Feb 5 letter to staff.

“We are anticipating the coming recession to be a relatively prolonged one, so we are clearing the decks to write down potential bad debts and uncollectible fees as a precaution,” he told The Straits Times. “Anyone who doesn’t restructure now is going to end up a dinosaur.”

Of the estimated 168 positions to be terminated, about 20 are in the Singapore office, with the rest in Bangkok, Phuket and Shanghai.

In the past few years, the firm’s revenues have increased considerably but operating margins have dropped due to spiralling expenses, Mr Ho said.

Banyan Tree said its third-quarter Ebitda – a measure of profit before tax, interest and other items – fell 26 per cent to $5.7 million for the three months to Sept 30 due to higher sales and marketing expenses. Revenue for the quarter jumped 12 per cent to $81.4 million due to higher sales recognition from property transactions. But this was partially offset by lower contributions from hotel operations in Thailand, the Maldives and the Seychelles.

“The economies of both Europe and Russia, our key source markets, remain weak. The bombing incident in Bangkok in late August (last year) has affected our business in Thailand. The economic slowdown in China may affect our income contribution from China,” it said.

Mr Ho added: “Russian outbound travel and purchases of holiday homes have gone down a lot, but Chinese purchases of holiday homes have gone up in safe havens, which is why we are launching new properties in Australia.”

Source: http://www.straitstimes.com/business/companies-markets/banyan-tree-to-slash-staff-ahead-of-coming-recession

Keys to Success: Employee Satisfaction

2016 is going to be an amazing year for the hotel industry as we previously forecasted. We have also covered the Top 10 Trends of the year to help us stay ahead of the game. But one of the additional keys to success in the coming year is employee satisfaction. Without a satisfied hotel staff we have no foundation upon which to build.

At the recent Marriott owners meeting I attended in December, when asked what will make Marriott hotels successful, Bill Marriottsaid that the key to success at a hotel is to take care of our employees because employees will in turn take care of our guests and our guests will come back. I could not agree more so here are some thoughts on how we should walk that talk.

Leadership

Strong leadership is one of the areas we focus on within our hotels to promote a positive environment. Attitude starts from the top and trickles down to everyone else. Good managers/supervisors with a hands-on approach can build teams up and help grow individuals. When employees have someone to lean on, learn from, and that listens to them, they are much more satisfied and their quality of work significantly increases.

As an example, our front desk staff has some of the most challenging work on property as they interact with our guests more than anyone else. This makes their jobs extremely important to the success of our hotels and as such, their satisfaction in the workplace is paramount. Whether it is assisting with a guest issue or covering the front desk while an employee is on break, it is the littlest things that can make the biggest difference.

As most of us know, employee satisfaction extends well beyond front desk agents to housekeepers, maintenance staff, and all other employees be they managers, supervisors, or line level employees. What could be perceived as the smallest interaction between an employee and a guest could create a lifetime of memories translating into a loyal guest, referral business, or an excellent TripAdvisor review.

The phrase “that’s not my job” is a killer for a hotel, restaurant or frankly any service business. Likewise, a title does not limit one’s ability to assist in other departments. Seeing a General Manager cover the front desk or a Director of Sales helping room service clear trays may not seem significant on the surface, but it sends a unifying message to the entire team that we have each other’s backs. Teamwork breeds satisfaction.

Recognizing the team for doing a good job is equally important in overall employee satisfaction. Individual accolades are always nice for a positive guest comment or a job well done. Setting goals for the team as a whole creates key performance indicators (KPIs). Whether these goals are for perfect sells in a given period or reaching a certain TripAdvisor ranking, these KPIs give the team something to strive for that can then be celebrated together as a team once the milestones are achieved. An ice cream social or bringing in lunch is not that expensive and will pay dividends in terms of increased revenue well above and beyond the cost of these functions.

As was discussed in Ken Blanchard’s One Minute Manager, leadership behavior that acknowledges someone for having done something right will stimulate the team as a whole. Unfortunately, many managers see their role as correcting behavior only when it is wrong. We have all worked for the manager that was always on our case when we made a mistake, was slow to give praise for having done something right and rarely said, “good job.” Good Leadership is always noticing when someone does something right and makes mention of it. Blanchard also promoted “management by walking around” which in our business refers to checking restaurant service in process, inspecting rooms and working “in the trenches.”

In Service America by Karl Albrecht and Ron Eke, “moments of truth” was a phrase coined by Jan Carlzon, then president of Scandinavian Airlines, to reflect moments of customer service interaction. As such, every service encounter that a team member will make and every expectation that leadership has must be communicated and reinforced. When a team member has clear expectations from leadership, job satisfaction greatly increases and service scores soar.

Labor Costs

Fiscal health is another leadership responsibility item that requires guiding the organization toward profitability. Line managers and department heads sometimes lose sight of the fact that their decisions have financial impacts on the business. Leadership must always be caring and compassionate but today’s worker compensation costs, insurance costs, energy costs and labor costs may cause a business to fail. If that occurs, human conditions like layoffs, bankruptcy, foreclosure or hostile takeover will be much worse than the stress of dealing with and reigning in expenses.

One of the easiest ways to add stress to the team is by understaffing the hotel. Labor is one of our biggest costs as hoteliers and while we need to be diligent in managing labor levels, cutting hours only to save a few dollars leaves a heavy burden on the team and may actually be detrimental to the hotel’s financial performance in the long run. A stressed out team is not only bad for internal morale but also noticeable to guests. Alternatively, an adequately staffed hotel with satisfied employees is not only evident to our guests but tends to be acknowledged via social media platforms that provide terrific exposure for the hotel.

We are in the service industry. This means that despite the cost of labor and benefits, we need to provide good service to our employees as well as our guests. Employees who are satisfied at work, show up with a positive attitude, receive strong guidance, have clear expectations and are recognized for their efforts convey these attributes to our guests and provide a substantially better service experience. After all, employees want to feel valued, cared for and respected. Give them that and they will go above and beyond every time. By ensuring that our service is top-notch, we are setting our hotels up for success not only in 2016, but for years to come.

Source: http://www.hospitalitynet.org/news/global/154000320/4074345.html

How to ramp up employee cybersecurity training

Here are five tips that offer guidance in how to make your property less attractive to hackers whether from an outside offender or employees.

• ensure logins expire after short periods of inactivity;
• require strong passwords that are never written down in public or unsecured locations; and
• scan devices for malware every time they are plugged in.

Source: http://www.hotelnewsnow.com/Article/17600/How-to-ramp-up-employee-cybersecurity-training

Tambourine Releases Valentine’s Day Hotel Marketing Survey

Hotel Marketers Reveal What They Love (and Hate) About Their Jobs

Even on our worst days, we can all wholeheartedly admit: We’ve got it good.

We work in the most pleasant, most exciting, and most alluring industry around. We get to travel. We get to meet people from all around the world. We get to work in historic inns, cosmopolitan skyscrapers, sprawling island resorts.

Best of all – we get to help people make memories. Whether with their family, their spouse, their friends or with business colleagues.

But, there are always two sides of every coin and no matter how amazing our industry is, a hotel marketing professional will eventually have a love/hate relationship with their job.

So, in honor of Valentine’s Day, we decided to ask hotel marketers what they love and hate about their jobs.

Here’s what you had to say:

WHAT YOU LOVE

The Variety
The hotel industry is a whirlwind of change. No two days, seasons or years are the same. Guests check in, guests check out, there are new group business accounts to go after, a constant stream of new technology to master, and new promos and packages to promote. This list goes on and on. If there is one thing a hotel marketer will never encounter in their career, it’s boredom. Hotel marketers are used to being dealt with new challenges and new situations everyday, and because of that, there is …

A Constant Need for Creativity
According to one hotel marketer who answered our survey, “My job makes my brain work, requires me to be more creative and allows me to always be learning new stuff.”Because of the constantly changing landscape and fresh challenges that greet hotel marketers on a daily basis, we’re forced to be innovative and to stretch our creative muscles. We’re never satisfied with doing things ‘the way they’ve always been done.” And, we’re always looking for ways to delight our marketing audiences and our guests.

Meeting People
Oh, and what people you’ll meet!

Business travelers from Korea. A family from France. A honeymooning couple from Canada. Or, perhaps even guests from your own backyard who are wanting a local getaway. Whoever they may be, the roster of people checking in and out of your hotel is in constant flux. And, don’t forget your online relationships. The endless Instagrammers, Tweeters and Facebook followers who interact with guarantee that you’ll always be socializing.

WHAT YOU HATE

Irrational Guests/Guests Who Lie
Bad guests are your biggest pains. Every hotelier and hotel marketer has a story of a nightmare guest, maybe even several. It’s one thing to have a guest who will point out a rightful flaw. We value those and love the feedback they offer us. But, it’s a vastly different situation dealing with a guest who constantly makes mountains out of molehills or who belittles your staff. The guest that hoteliers most despise is someone who fibs and makes up problems in hopes of getting back some type of compensation or a comped room. Good news is that our extremely satisfied and happy guests outnumber the wacky and awful ones. And, that the disgruntled guest will eventually check out.

Neverending Deadlines
The dreaded ‘d’ word. Hotel marketers are always chasing deadlines. In spring, you’re working on summer promotions. In summer, you’re dreaming up ways to package autumn’s changing leaves. In fall, you’re working on filling your holiday slump. And, round and round it goes. Not to mention, working around the calendar of events happening in your city and building campaigns with new audiences and new partnerships. The deadlines never stop and neither do you.

Drowning in Details
Hotels have often been compared to a miniature city. And, that means a LOT has to happen to keep the city running. The list of details that hoteliers have to oversee is a long and tiring one, crowded with tasks that have an equal amount of urgency. And many hotel marketers complained about not having enough hours in the day or enough staff and resources to do everything they want to do.

Like any industry, hotel marketing has its share of the good, the bad and the awesome. But, at the end of the day, the pros outweigh the cons. Ninety percent of the hotel marketers who took our short survey shared that they loved their job and rate their satisfaction with a score of 7 out of 10 or higher. So, celebrate your everyday successes and let’s help each other get through the rough spots.

Source: http://www.hospitalitynet.org/news/global/154000320/4074241.html

Caribbean Performance & Outlook Study Shows Tourism Growth Driving Increases In Employment And Investments; 2016 Promising

The Caribbean Hotel & Tourism Association (CHTA) has released the results of its first annual Industry Performance and Outlook survey, indicating a cautious, but positive period as reported by the region’s hospitality and tourism industry stakeholders. The growth in occupancies and revenue stimulated job growth and increased capital expenditures by hoteliers throughout the region.

The majority of respondents indicate a strong to moderate performance throughout 2015 with optimistic forecasts for 2016 despite prevalent concerns over profitability due to increased costs outpacing average daily rate (ADR) growth in a globally competitive industry.

“The good news is that hotel occupancies and average daily rates increased in 2015 for the majority of hotels, and employment has grown along with it. On the flip side, hotels identified high operating and air travel costs as major growth deterrents which continue to plague the industry as it struggles to compete for markets that are unwilling to bear significant rate increases,” said Frank Comito, CEO and Director General of CHTA.

More than 50% of hoteliers reported increases in occupancy and ADR in 2015, while more than 92% reported employment rates at the same level or greater than 2014, demonstrating a positive impact on Caribbean economies.

A more positive cash flow is also resulting in greater investments, with more than 68% of hoteliers reporting an increase in capital expenditure. “These investments have broader economic reach, as hotel expenditures for construction, supplies and materials stimulate greater local spending, positively impacting local businesses, extended employment and additional tax revenue.

Despite the upside and a positive outlook for 2016, approximately 67% of hotels reported a net profit in 2015 compared to 33% reporting a net loss. High operating costs and competitive constraints on raising ADR are the primary contributors to the profitability challenge facing one-third of the reporting hotels.

Despite increased costs in operations, nearly 74% of those polled indicated a fair or positive outlook for 2016 with only 26% responding negatively.

Source: http://www.hospitalitynet.org/news/global/154000320/4074248.html