Open Forum

Hi community members! We're here with the next Huddle of the Week discussion.

Adapting to pro-active marketing plans to capture demand based on key market indicators, keeping a real-time pulse on booking channel shifts, being prepared to pivot revenue strategies with agility, and adopting automation as well as contactless tech in hotel operations will help hoteliers understand when and how to communicate to prospects in a way that drives long-term loyalty.

Trends and considerations for hospitality professionals focused on sales, marketing, operations, and revenue management - an interesting topic for hoteliers in continuing to drive recovery in 2022

Question for you

What do you think will drive hotel recovery in 2022?

Let us know your thoughts and feedback below! #HuddleoftheWeek #VoiceIt​​

#ManagingVirtualEvents
#SourcingaVenue

------------------------------
Megha Jetley
Assistant Manager
Cvent Marketing Department
------------------------------

What do you think will drive hotel recovery in 2022?   Now that vaccines have been approved for children ages 5-11, more families can travel. With each passing day,  the industry works more toward a new normalcy as in pre-pandemic learning techniques that deal with the pandemic knowledge (sanitizing and cleaning), social distancing. and guidelines for social gatherings.  Organizations have been making wise decisions for social gatherings and a future business roadmap as they balance CDC guidelines and risk.

------------------------------
Mary Ann Hall
Event Specialist
Federal Reserve System
------------------------------

Higher vaccination rates will help drive increased travel and positively impact hotel recovery. Believe this will also help drive a return to more in-person events at hotel venues. However, it will be imperative that hotels continue to adapt to health and safety protocols to provide that extra layer of assurance.

------------------------------
Bouran Qaddumi
SR MANAGER, NATIONAL FIELD TRAINING
Cajun Operating Company d/b/a Church's Chicken
------------------------------

Hotel recovery can only be driven by people being willing to travel. What the triggers are for someone to feel comfortable traveling may differ from person to person, but hotels or venues that exclude people based on vaccination status are going to see a lower number of attendees. A much safer practice would be to pre-screen for symptoms, check for fever, or require a negative test prior to the event... since we know that being vaccinated does not mean you can't get - and pass - the virus. In addition, hand washing stations, ensuring there is always soap and towels in the public restrooms, and wiping down high-touch surfaces can help to prevent not only this particular virus, but cold and flu in general.

------------------------------
Lori Wildman
Senior Marketing Manager
DuCharme, McMillen & Associates, Inc.
------------------------------

I think vaccination, as many mentioned, will be a key factor in attendees' comfort with going back to in-person events. On the venue sourcing side, I think hotels can make their case stronger by having some meeting space info ready on holding socially distanced meetings, and where sanitation stations or crowd flow with a lengthened check-in process (accounting for having to check vaccination status) might go.

------------------------------
Béline FALZON
Conference Program Specialist II
California Teachers Association
------------------------------

What do you think will drive hotel recovery in 2022? I think hotel recovery will be fine in 2022. Many hotels are filled with rollover events from 2021 and in-person events seem to be coming back steadily, especially in the private sector. 

------------------------------
Rebecca Quinn
Corporate Events Manager
Transplace Texas, LP
------------------------------

People are going to have to get comfortable with an element of risk.

I started in the medical field, so my perspective on illness is different: I accept certain elements of risk. I think we'll need another 3 years of recovery before 75% of people "feel safe" to attend large events mingling with strangers.

I think that just as we've become deadened/emotionally tolerant of many "normalized" things, there will be a normalization factor out there. And it does not depend on "100 vaccinated," as @Lori Wildman correctly stated, even "fully vaccinated" people can catch, carry, and pass on an active Covid infection. It has been the same for the normal variants of flu viruses year over year. We're not facing a medical crisis so much as an emotional refusal-to-accept-even-normal risk crisis. ​

------------------------------
Brenda Ainsburg
Channel Program Manager
brenda.ainsburg@siemens.com
Siemens Aktiengesellschaft
United States
------------------------------