Two weeks ago, hotel industry leaders from across the United States made their way to Phoenix, Arizona for the 2022 Lodging Conference. Over three days, these industry experts enjoyed thought-provoking breakout sessions and opportunities to make valuable connections. There were informative daily general sessions, recapping the biggest trends in the hotel industry from the past year, and looking ahead to the most crucial topics heading into 2023. 

Take a look at some of the biggest headlines from the week.

 

Increased Leisure Travel Demand is Driving Higher Room Rates

Post-Covid, demand for hotels has been steadily growing, specifically in the leisure segment; business and group travel have seen slower growth rates, but are also climbing. More travel has led to higher average room rates across locations, room types, and brands.

There is a clear benefit to hotels being able to fill rooms at higher rates, but there are also some important downstream impacts that can prevent the top-line revenue from reaching a hotelier’s bottom-line profit.

 

 

Labor Shortage Challenges

National unemployment is at an all-time low and expected to remain low in the near future. As such, the majority of hotels are operating with fewer hotel staff than needed to keep up with both the increased number of travelers, and their higher expectations of their stay with increased room rates.

In order to retain talent, it is imperative that hotels create a positive working environment and a culture that keeps employees excited to come into work. Many speakers, including Laura Lee Blake, President and CEO of AAHOA, believe it is important to make sure that employees at every level see hospitality as a vibrant career path for their future.

 

 

Rethinking the Guest Experience

In addition to better working conditions for staff, many hotels and brands are also hoping to decrease demands on their workforce by adjusting the guest experience. Some efforts that have become popular and were talked about frequently were adjusting housekeeping schedules to be less frequent, and leveraging technology for keyless check in/check out and answering guest questions.

Tyler Morse, Chairman & CEO of MCR | Morse Development, proposed considering even more radical changes such as keeping ADRs lower and allowing guests to customize their experience with à la carte offerings on things like coffee, Wi-Fi, or housekeeping.

With changes to the overall experience, hotels must ensure they don’t have a negative impact. David Tarr, Senior Vice President of Development at Hyatt Hotels Corporation, suggested a luxury world class: a sort of upper-upscale and luxury think tank. For Tarr, communication with guests is the key. At every interaction with the guest –from the booking confirmation to the check-in process– it is crucial to ensure the guest knows what to expect, and therefore will continue to have a positive experience.

 

Heading into 2023, hotels, and brands, are positioned to focus on the traveler experience. Partners like Koddi can help do exactly this!

Let’s connect and swap ideas today.