Designing the Next Decade of Hospitality Industry - Christian Henning (3rd Semester Bachelor´s Degree in Hotel Management)

Christian Henning (on the right)
3rd Semester Bachelor´s Degree in Hotel Management


My name is Christian Henning, im a current student here at CESSA Universidad completing my third semester. I am here to talk a little about how a student in visions the hospitality industry 10 years from now, but before going into the main topic I would like you to know where and why I started.

A couple of years ago I was a high school graduate with no idea of what I wanted to study for a career. I took on a temporary summer job which ended up extending for six months as a helper at the banqueting area in the food and beverage department at the Four Seasons Mexico city. I had no idea of what I was getting into at the beginning, although in a short time I had a vague idea of what this was all about: providing a service while demonstrating consistency in excellence and quality. I enjoyed what I was doing and realized it was a different job from any other, as the hotel for me was the place where i could extend my personality and my qualities. I was fascinated by this idea and decided to enroll in a University which better suited my needs and future comings.

Where do I as a student see the hospitality industry in 10 years? In order to answer this general question, we have to see the big picture. The direction the fastest growing industry in the world is taking can be identified with current trends:

Diversity

The tourism and hospitality industry is among the most diverse of all industries in terms of employees and guests. Hospitality and tourism present a unique opportunity to understand new cultural experiences for both employees and the tourists.

Diversity in the hospitality and tourism industry is enhanced through visions that promote equal employment opportunities to cater for the different nationalities in the market. The industry gets to appreciate the world's socio-cultural and economic differences through the recruitment of people of diverse backgrounds. Due to the multiple options for new employment seekers and the need for a wider diversity of races and cultural backgrounds in the organizational structure of hospitality establishments, people will begin to travel even more, attracting different markets and workforce. In a way hotels will increasingly attack the global market in the next few years. Hospitality establishments are also a great tool to enable work abroad, as legislations protecting employment have been implemented in many countries around the globe.

• Focus to service, make service better

Service

In the last few years there has been a global competition in the service area, quality in service is playing an essential role in attracting costumers. Some of the most differentiating factors in every hospitality environment is the costumer experience, this increasing competitions has made hoteliers search for the competitive advantage.

Excellence in service doesn’t just come from one day to the next, we will be looking at hotels making investments to train there personnel in order to increase the value of what the customer is paying for. This is a key factor for competitiveness as nowadays we are living in times where brand loyalty is no longer a main factor in the costumers choice.

Technology

Technology has not only become a key factor for competitiveness in customer satisfaction, it is also an advantage for the establishment as it improves operational activities. Advanced software and communication tools allow developing operational efficiency. In addition, decision-making through decision support tools, databases and modeling tools assist the manager’s job. Thanks to these tools managers and other employees can take better decisions that ultimately contribute positively to the establishment.

Wireless communication offers a competitive edge: Increases staff productivity and reduces response time to satisfy guest requests, improves overall guest satisfaction and service, increases efficiency by saving time and reduces human errors and provides higher quality customer service.

Technology is a huge part of the hospitality industry and is growing at a relentless pace. There are a few trends hotels must be able to keep up with in order for them to not be flying blind. The first one is mobility, new devices such as tablets or smartphones have revolutionized the way people interact with technology. This enables hotel team members to 'meet and greet' their guests at any location, improving the personalization of the check-in experience and reducing the costs associated with static reception desks and all their technology at each location. Another important trend is the social media, trip advisor, Facebook and twitter are beginning to have a profound impact on the industry. Hotels must be aware of their reputation and actions can be taken to correct what is necessary. Finally, personalized service experience has been on the rise as people are increasingly demanding a unique touch accommodating their needs and preferences. In order to facilitate this, hotels must create a database with the guest preferences enabling higher quality service.

Ecology

Sustainable tourism will never be completely sustainable, the industry will always have an impact on the environment, but it can begin to work towards making it more sustainable. As many are aware, more and more countries are developing their tourism industry, and as a direct effect we are diminishing our natural resources, consumption patterns are changing and we are polluting. There must be a response by the industry to survive, if we continue the way we are going there might not be anything left for future generations.

The solution being approached by many now-a-days does not only consist on planting trees and hanging plants off their walls, but becoming friendly with the environment. This means taking care of the indigenous people in the area, looking after the community and its natural resources. Economically speaking, the implementation of green technology may look like a big investment at the beginning but the real benefits come in 10 or even 20 years from now, new ways of spending energy instead of using electricity and combusting materials will not only benefit the world we live in, but will also reduce operational costs in the long run.

With these initiatives people will begin to change their consumption patterns and will become more aware of the environment. With around a billion people travelling every year with an average spending of 700 USD becoming more “green”, we will see hotels investing big money in sustainability even before 10 years. What do we really want to leave behind for future hospitality entrepreneurs?

Marketing

Traditional marketing is becoming obsolete; we are failing to deliver the same effective message to all segments of a market. Why is this?? Because of the way we are transmitting the message. Consumers today are technology-enabled; the internet is a powerful tool which has allowed for the marketing landscape to change. Nowadays the power has shifted to the consumer, through social networking and blogs, consumers have been able to express opinions and share information around the globe for millions of people to see and share. Consumers trust more consumers than they trust the actual organizations, online content must be handled very delicately as it may change their perception of the hotel, resort or destination. Hospitality establishments must be spot-on, they must begin to invest in digital marketing, this will allow them to get an edge on the competition.

As an end result, guests will experience better attention, for example: commenting on twitter about something gone wrong may sometimes be more effective than calling the front desk, everything becomes magnified. There are no more secrets, now if things go wrong 1000 people will know about it, if things go right 1000 will know about it.



All in all, the hospitality industry needs to keep adapting and innovating to ensure their survivability. In the next 10 years I believe we will see more people travelling all over the globe, that is for tourism and employment, service will be a cutting edge in competition for those who invest on it as consumers crave a more personalized service. Hospitality establishments will also begin to invest in sustainability for economic and social causes as the world is becoming more aware that we are deteriorating the environment, we grow 5% annually as an industry, if we don´t take care of it our chances to survive become slim. I believe there is a new era in marketing, digital marketing, everyone’s attention is channeled through social networking and investments are imperative in order to effectively utilize, manage and adapt to better understand the market. Finally, technology, this pretty much links all the mentioned before together. Without the right technology you will most probably be falling behind, as you will be insensitive to societies changing dynamics.
Thank you very much for your time.

Categories: negocios

Designing the Next Decade of Hospitality Industry - Jordi Gaya (7th Semester Bachelor´s Degree in Hotel Management)

Jordi Gaya
7th Semester Bachelor´s Degree in Hotel Management

The hotel industry is a business that by its definition is always looking to be revolutionizing, expanding and adapting its particular service to the new market and global trends as they develop. Technology plays a very important role concerning how fast can these changes be made and these new trends molded into the specific requirements of the user or company. But in order for these elements to combine and generate revenue, hoteliers need to know how to use and understand the impact that it is causing that instant on the perspective of future guests. This is why I believe that in the next decade, with the help of technology and education, personalization of service will be the key factor to staying on the competitive end of the hotel industry.

I will now discuss briefly what I believe are the six key technology trends that will be the topics of tomorrow.

I. SaaS: Software as a Service. The whole idea behind having different programs tailored to specific needs is to facilitate action and processes. I will refer to this software as “the cloud” for easier comprehension and the fact that it is not in a fixed location. Firstly, initial investment is lower with the cloud as there are no initial hardware costs or associated expenses such as full time, in-house IT staff to maintain the system. Secondly, hotels like the idea of taking the headache and distractions of IT off their site, leaving them free to focus on the day-to-day business of looking after their guests. As well as the low capital expenditure of the cloud and the cultural "fit", there is also the fact that implementation timetables can shrink from months to days, resulting in immediate and obvious benefits in obtaining time to value. The sum total of these drivers is that cloud technology is no passing fad: for the hospitality sector it is the new norm.

II. Mobility: Mobile is the new face of computing as devices such as tablets and smart phones revolutionize the way we interact with technology. Hospitality is no exception to this revolution, in some cases even leading the way. There has often been the expectation that because hotels are, by their very nature, fixed entities, mobile technologies may have minimal impact. However, this myth has been thoroughly laid to rest as tablets, mobile phones, smart phones and laptops have become critical tools on both sides of the check-in desk.

Now, I do not mean for mobile devices and future technologies to replace human contact because that is the very essence of what we are doing, and why I chose to study here at CESSA. Although 21% out of 100 guests are looking forward to checking in, ordering room service, scheduling meetings, and do all processes through a device, the vast majority expects a certain level of human care and contact from their service provider.

III. Personalized Systems: Customers expect their experience within a hotel to be totally personalized to them: from the welcome message on the television screen and food preferences to additional services such as personal training or flowers in the room.

This quickly creates a huge range of valuable customer preference data that needs to be fed into the hotel management system in order to deliver a personalized, high quality service for each return visit. This is not just a case of linking the customer relationship management system into the hotel operations - it is embedding the process of capturing guest preferences and proactively using that data.

IV. Integration: Hotels span many functions - from accommodation and event catering to specialized facilities such as golf or health spas. Each of these areas has, traditionally, operated an individual software system. Whilst this approach has delivered specific functionality, it has also led to massive amounts of information.

Integrating these systems can provide more comprehensive management information, faster reporting and a truly comprehensive view of profitability. The hotel can also pull together truly holistic reports for management information and customer communication.

In the same way, integration offers the possibility of being able to "revenue manage" the guest across all areas of their stay: this requires transaction level interfaces but are not necessarily complex to use. Critically it aligns the marketing -based personalized offering with the financial outcome of the revenue secured.

V. Social: Social media has had a profound impact upon the hospitality industry. Trip Advisor has become one of the main sources of information for people researching holidays, hotels and leisure facilities. Meanwhile, newer social tools like Facebook or Twitter are quickly becoming just as influential. For any hotel to not at least monitor social media is as good as thinking that guests will just show up.

The online reputation of a property is business critical. It does not however, stand alone as a marketing department concern, but relates directly to daily operations. As such, social media monitoring must be interfaced with the hotel management systems so that swift, appropriate actions can be taken.

VI. The last major trend currently in the hospitality industry is globalization. In the 21st century, hotel companies will need to adopt different management approaches to survive and develop amidst high levels of economic uncertainty. As international trade and business expand, there is no question that international links will become more important for the hotel industry. This means that the technology systems in use - especially those in large chains - must account for the global perspective.

This may be something as relatively simple as issues of scalability or international languages, or something as complex as accounting for different regulations and working practices in different countries.

Finally, I would also like to point out the necessity of education and the key role it represents in the future. It is an intricate word “future”, involving an image as far as your imagination allows you to, and it depends on as many variables as there are people who can make it change. Now, we can predict room demand, occupation, seasonality based on past behavior and solid numbers, but we cannot know for sure the direction of an industry that is constantly changing. The subjects that students are required to know and be tested on in the future are not yet known. The problems that we will face are complex and unknown, but what we do know and possess thanks to you, are the tools to examine and understand what is happening and why it is behaving in such a way. This foundational idea is why students thrive on teachers who have had previous experiences on the subject. It is of outmost importance that classes are led by teachers who dominate

Categories: negocios

Designing the Next Decade of Hospitality Industry - Odette Romero (3rd Semester Bachelor´s Degree in Hotel Management)

Odette Romero
3rd Semester Bachelor´s Degree in Hotel Management

Where’s tourism headed during the following decade? During the past decade tourism grew in an impressive way, it’s one of the most important economic sectors in the world today. It has been estimated that tourism itself grew by 5% during the first eight months of 2013, compared to the same period of 2012, reaching 747 million, at this rate by 2030 the projection is a 3.8% increase per year. “While global economic growth is in low gear, international tourism continues to produce above average results in most world regions, offering vital opportunities for employment and local economies,” said UNWTO Secretary-General, Taleb Rifai at the Opening of the European Tourism Forum in Vilnius However a decade is a small short span for a big change to be made. Some changes are happening in the way tourists travel. Be it in the form of arriving to their final destinations, their motives or by the benefits offered by hotels in activities and luxury. The tourism industry is also taking action, to create awareness in the need of being sustainable, offering their customers different options to fill their needs. Last of all people nowadays expect more for their money’s worth, they are looking for long lasting experiences. As we may notice, being part of the industry today is more of a challenge than what it was before, and that challenge will only continue to rise, demanding an improvement.

Countries have noticed the benefits of tourism in their GDP’s and in their employment percentage. Also investors look for locations where they may create a place similar to paradise, this is shown by a trend which has marked the sector for many years, were tourism is growing by a 6% in emerging economy destinations, while advanced economies have grown by 4%. 20 years ago only the people who had money had the chance to go on vacations to another country. Today with the creation of cheap airlines, they offer customers low cost flights, giving families a chance to go away for weekend getaways. China and Russia increased their tourism expenditure, China has ranked top of the list since they are a growing economy and they have fewer restrictions on foreign travel, the other countries which remain in the list show an increase in their tourism expenditure, except for France and Italy whom showed a decrease. Their growth in the tourism demand, make people to expect quality in the service and location, for them being surprised is more than just a simple meal.

Due to noticeable climate changes, people are aware that a change in their lifestyles has to be made, in order to continue enjoying of the world we live in. Just as the people see it, the tourism industry is taking part of the change, focusing on sustainability, creating design and service options offered to the customers, giving them a reason to feel good about themselves while enjoying their trip. They ensure that the destination retains and enhances the distinctive attributes that makes it attractive to tourism, by offering an emotionally intelligent approach to service that begins with empathy. Hotels take careful consideration of the effects that operating systems, materials, and purchasing policies have on the environment, therefore they are continually developing new initiatives and procedures to minimize the ecological impact. They try to make a difference by using programs in place to conserve energy, re-use water and re-cycle waste materials produced by resorts. Although it might generate a greater cost for the hotels, therefore increasing the final bill, people are willing to pay for the service to help out the environment.

As the industry continues to grow, expectations rise, people are looking for experiences rather than simply getting to know the place. The industry is conscious of that, therefore hotels to keep up, without investing a lot of money, renovate their decoration, offer a better service for free, whatever small change that makes a huge difference. Also the motives to travel have changed, generating segmentation in tourism. Who would’ve imagined that going on a Safari to Africa, would become as one of the must live experiences one has to encounter, or flying across the globe simply to race in a sports event. Hotels are signing contracts with famous chefs, just to hold exclusivity of the brand inside their premises. Food has also brought tourism along the way, be it for gastronomical excursions or simply to take cooking classes from your favorite chef. Design is the economic power in Italy, and people travel all the way to Milan, pay off the rack prices to stay at hotels during fashion week and settimana del mobile, the same happens in France. Architecture has always played a strong role in tourism, that’s why people go to Egypt, to see the pyramids, to Dubai, to see amazing constructions, such as the Burj Khalifa and the Burj Al Arab, to Malaysia to see the Petronas, to France to see the Eiffel Tower, Italy to the Coliseum, the duomos and Vatican City. Therefore hotels know that they play an important role, to host the guests, so to retain their customers for future visits they have to go the extra mile. That way they also create loyalty since they know that a happy customer is a returning customer.

Tourism is for sure changing and it’s changing for good. Demand has made the industry try harder, creating new experiences, offering better services, new locations to explore, better installations, all to satisfy the customer. Some parts of the world suffer an economic crisis; however they know that to maintain themselves afloat, tourism has to be taken care of. It’s where their countries receive money from; luckily tourism will continue to grow. Transportation has made it easier for people to travel and technology shows them what is out there, what they have to live and experience. However with changes comes, a higher competitiveness. Being students right now may be seen as an advantage or a disadvantage, depending on how we see the market. It’s an advantage since we are living the changes, we are noticing the growing demands and where we may stand out in the outer world. However it´s a disadvantage because we have to work harder, to keep up and go ahead of what the industry is expecting of us, surprise them. That´s why I believe that doing the internships we are required and working in our free extra time gives us an advantage and gives us the tools to practice what we’ve learned in school. Therefore when we finish this journey and we graduate, we may graduate as the best, because we have seen what is expected in a future and we know we have to anticipate to future demands.

Categories: negocios

Designing the Next Decade of Hospitality Industry - Hector Oviedo (7th Semester Bachelor´s Degree in Hotel Management)

Héctor Oviedo
7th Semester Bachelor´s Degree in Hotel Management

Good morning everyone. First of all I would like to thank CESSA Universidad for giving me the opportunity to share my beliefs with all of you. I want to thank the Guerrero family, Oskar Palavicini, Gina Tello and Estela Cevallos for believing in me.

I believe that the future is not in 10 years, the future starts in the past and includes the present, we are building the future right now.

Before choosing to study in the hospitality industry we need to consider the fact that hospitality businesses are open 365 days a year and 24 hours a day. We might not work all of them but the industry demands to work longer hours than other industries, work when everybody is out celebrating and having fun and we have to sacrifice so many things.

However the hospitality industry is one of the most satisfying and rich. It is amazing when people appreciate what you are doing for them and how your work can make the difference on someone else´s experience. Our job is not selling rooms, keep them clean, serve food and smile to our guests, we have the power to create a whole new experience which people will remember the rest of their lives whether it is good or bad. We can make dreams come true.

We also have the opportunity to meet people from all over the world, travel, learn about all the different hospitality industry areas through cross training programs, work for different companies with different philosophies, different values, different people and that is what makes it so interesting and enjoyable. Moreover; it is guaranteed that people will always require the hospitality services, we cover the physiological needs of Maslow´s pyramid.

The main difference between the hospitality industry and other industries is that we produce guest satisfaction, which is intangible and cannot be measured; every moment of truth is vital in this process.
We cannot be taught how to give good service; we can only be given the tools but giving good service is a very difficult task. If it is in our blood we are good for this business but if it is not, it is going to take time and effort into it.

To become part of this industry we must be honest, hard working, being team players, be prepared to work long hours, work different shifts, be able to work under stressful situations, be good at decision making, having good communication skills and be willing to provide good service and exceed guests expectations.
Now the most important question is: What do we need to learn and how are we going to learn it?

It all begins with those who will transmit their knowledge to us, our teachers. We want to have teachers who have real experience in the hospitality industry. At school we are given theory and practice; however we all know that in the real world not everything is done by the book. That is why our teachers must have experience in order to teach us what we are really going to face when we become part of the hospitality industry. We need to have competitive advantages because there are a lot of people graduating every day from the Hotel Management career.

There are 185 universities in US that offer the Hotel Management career program. In 2011 there were 8,600 students who enrolled degrees in hospitality. In the US 9,762 students graduated from hospitality degree programs in 2006. In 2013, 13, 104 students graduated from hospitality schools, this represents a 34% increase in the number of graduates. This is more than the change in percentage of the graduating students from institutions for higher education in general, which is 12%. In Mexico 270,000 students graduated from hospitality degrees in 2011.

Textbooks are good tools but classes should not be based on them, the best way to learn is from the different perspectives and points of view that our teachers have gained throughout the years. Textbooks do not teach us the capacity of thinking, it is how teachers share their knowledge what makes us start thinking, questioning, analyzing, retaining what we think it is most important, and applying the knowledge acquired.
We should have a balance between the practice and academic hours, if we learn theory but we do not have the opportunity to put it into practice, we cannot have our own point of view. We have to go out and experience how working in the hospitality industry is through different internships. We want to have long internships to become familiar with the processes, reinforce the knowledge by repeating and then becoming experts. It is fundamental to know different areas through cross training programs in order to have a vision of the big picture.

Internships are the moment where we know whether we want to continue in the hospitality industry or not. It also helps us determine in which specific area or areas we want to develop in and focus our goals. It is important to learn as much as possible and to define our goals on time. I believe that nowadays we cannot be experts in one specific subject, the magic of hospitality is the variety, diversity, the glamour and everything involved; so, the more we know, the more we are valued. I believe that knowledge and experience are the most valuable things in this industry.

It is an amazing experience to have the chance to go abroad to do an internship because we learn about different cultures, customs, ideologies, behavior and traditions, which are different from ours. We also want to have opportunities to work for different hotel chains and different markets. I mean, it is not the same to work at a hotel where most people go on vacations, as it is to work at a hotel where most people go for business matters. We have to adapt and learn how to make good decisions even in the most stressful situations. For example; on one hand if a guest arrives to Bora Bora and the room is not ready we can ask them to wait on the beach while enjoying a piña colada and they will not complain about it because they just want to relax and have fun. On the other hand if a guest arrives to New York for business purposes an wants to check in at 8 am after a 12 hour flight because he needs to have a shower before going to an important meeting. He will not understand reasons and we have to understand his needs and expectations.

These days we have access to social networks that people did not have 10 years ago and we spend a lot of time on them. We should take advantage of these tools, create e marketing and get the most out of it. However; I believe that we should not forget about the human factor. It is not the same to interact through a social network, as it is to be welcomed by someone who knows your name, greets you with a smile, who knows your preferences, and likes what he is doing for a living, which is to produce guest satisfaction through a good and outstanding service.

At school we want to learn how globalization gives us the ease of access to information and what we have to do in order to achieve global coverage. Technology is constantly changing the world, which is why we must adapt to the changes because our guests are explorers and they do adapt to the new trends. We also have to adapt to the new emerging markets and what they demand. The hospitality industry is constantly growing and changing due to its nature, so we must adapt or die.

Technology should not replace us in the industry; it should help us to make processes faster so we can have more quality time with our guests. For example when checking in a hotel we can use a QR code and pay through mobile phones or tablets so we will not have to do everything manually, instead we can get to know our guests.

We want to learn how to use the new tools available to attract more customers, retain them and create loyalty. Of course we want to have happy guests but we also want to learn how to succeed, make money, how to read the numbers and understand every single aspect of the hospitality industry. We all want to become General Managers or property owners.

We have to be able to turn guest satisfaction onto a business, to understand the business itself and its characteristics. Adapt to cover guest´s needs, understand them and transform the intangible to tangible, so we have in the end a round business.

I believe that the hospitality industry is not about individuals, we are like a symphony, we all have to play our individual orchestral score to sound like a mass and follow the orchestra leader who is holding the baton, the General Manager.

“Long time ago, people who sacrificed their sleep, family, food, laughter and family were called SAINTS, now they are called HOTELIERS”.

Categories: negocios

"Gracias a las prácticas profesionales de CESSA Universidad, obtuve las herramientas necesarias para ir abriendo las puertas de las grandes oportunidades que me ayudarán a cumplir mis metas." Jorge de Miranda. Orgullo CESSA

Me gradúe el 2011 de la Licenciatura en Gastronomía y Ciencias de los Alimentos e inicié mi experiencia laboral como representante cultural en Walt Disney World, en Orlando, Florida. 

Después de esta interesante experiencia, supe que el Hotel Ritz Carlton abriría en Puerto Rico, bajo su nuevo concepto de Reserve, la segunda propiedad de su tipo a nivel mundial caracterizada por ser un hotel 6 estrellas enfocado a un servicio de lujo y privacidad. 

El proceso de contratación fue largo y con mucho orgullo puedo decir que después de aplicar junto a otras 3 mil personas, fui elegido para conformar su equipo de cocina.

El trabajar en apertura fue una experiencia increíble. Al llegar a Puerto Rico, un mes antes de la inauguración, el Reserve aún no estaba terminado, pero había un ejército de constructores trabajando las 24 horas del día para tener todo listo en tiempo y forma. Para mí fue muy interesante ver como cada día llegaban vagones de tren con todo el equipo que armaría el hotel, incluido el de las cocinas, mismas que equipamos y limpiamos para llevar a cabo las pruebas del menú. Finalmente el Reserve abrió sus puertas al público el 12 de diciembre del 2012.

Actualmente funjo como cocinero del Restaurante Mi Casa by José Andrés, bajo la batuta del Chef José Andrés, considerado uno de los mejores chefs en Estados Unidos. El restaurante es una fusión de gastronomía latina y española, nominado al mejor nuevo restaurante del 2013 en Estados Unidos por la James Beard Foundation. En la actualidad nos encontramos trabajando día a día con el propósito de obtener los 5 diamantes.

Soy un recién egresado y mi carrera profesional se encuentra iniciando, pero gracias a las prácticas profesionales de CESSA Universidad, obtuve las herramientas necesarias para ir abriendo las puertas de las grandes oportunidades que me ayudarán a cumplir mis metas.

Categories: OrgulloCESSA, VidaCESSA