Hotel Industry is challenging terrific uncertainties. Almost all the majors are trying to re-branding with the scope to bite the meat where the profit is higher. Marketing strategies are somehow impressive, not always lucrative.
The golden rule is always the same. Perceived quality must be higher than provided quality. This, according to the majority of the players, optimises the EBIT.
Horizons, targets, and indexes change dramatically though, when we swift from a short term, operating horizon to a longer term, holistic vision.
AI has many fans, too many from my opinion, as the new ‘Hotel Crisis Manager’. Cutting costs is its main course. Without dessert. And when coffee is served, no sugar will make it sweet.
Soft skills are among the easiest techniques used by gifted managers. When the distressed season comes, there is no worse treatment than cutting down labour costs. Who cares when the same Illuminated will have to cut down their revpar. Two mistakes, in two opposite directions never grow the bank account!
Check in-check out time is one of the commonest mistakes too many hotels are facing now. And the competitor smile. Because they love to sit down at a table where the meal is free.
It is more and more normal to read in the hotels’ policies that check out is within 10.00 and check-in starts at 15.00
Apparentely is only a 2 good-hour-cutting down from the older average 11.00- 14.00.
But a two hour-cutting is perceived by the market as a very unfair decision. It limits the so called ‘available staying time’ to 19 hours, nigh time included.
As a result, many researches are showing that there is a high correlation in between the check-in/check-out policy and the ranking of the hotel in the web portals.
And this means that the short time saving in the housekeeping department is more than killed by the satisfaction index that lifts down the revpar. We might agree it or not!
A flexible, more fair policy, dressed with (when possibly) a gratuity for early check-in or late check-out is worth betting on.
Customers do appreciate it, as a gesture of goodwill that turns into higher revenues and profit in the long term. Customer loyalty counts. And a ‘little’, apparently, financial sacrifice will bring much better results in the rating of staff and services provided.
Smart skills are, sometimes, much easier than soft skills!
— Ettore Bellucci