Shr Soundbites

Scott Brown, Cluster Director of Sales, for Meliá Hotels International, joins me from Manchester, England. Scott talks about joining Meliá just before the pandemic hit, the impact on his hotels due to the 2nd lockdown, selling a hotel amid a pandemic, and more.

Krunal talks with me about the securing a positive future for one of England's most celebrated resorts, the encouraging last couple of months, how revenue management has changed, the data looking at to forecast, and much more.

Monika likens her experience during the pandemic as a new parent, explains how her leisure, high-end hotels are performing, her team's adjustments with executing revenue management, and more!

Mandy Morris, Therapist, Co-owner & Co- Clinical Director of Mosaic counseling group, continues our conversation on the massive job loss in hospitality and while previously covering what hoteliers who have lost their job should do, this episode she talks about what should not be done.

Mandy Morris, Therapist, Co-owner & Co- Clinical Director of Mosaic counseling group, joins me to talk about what the number one thing hoteliers who have lost their job should be doing. Job loss is as big an event as loss of a loved one and divorce, and she suggests grieving as such should take place. Sound odd? Watch to learn more.

Siim Karu, Chief Revenue Officer, for a&o Hostels, joins me from Berlin. Siim talks about the punishing effects the pandemic has had on hostels, that he's grateful for their few hotel properties, and how they decided to accelerate their automation of the revenue management function.

Jason Gossop, AHOSPA (Cert RM), Sales & Revenue Manager, with Carlton Park Hotel, in England, joins me to talk about the impact COVID-19 has had on his hotel, the changes in managing revenue, the data used to forecast, and more...

Chris Trick, SVP, CMO, with RLH Corporation (Red Lion Hotels), talks to us about dependencies and cooperation between Sales-Marketing-Revenue departments, how Red Lion is structured, and what their aligned strategy is designed to accomplish.

Josie Kilgore, Brand President, with Cobblestone Hotels, talks with us about cooperation between Sales-Marketing-Revenue while running lean, some things they are doing to drive bookings, their tech stack, and more. Watch more interviews like this one at https://shr.global/soundbites

Monika Nerger, Global CIO, with Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group, talks about trends she's seeing in terms of market mix and travel behavior, how Oriental's technology stack has supported these trends, and other changes she sees moving through the pandemic.

Paulina Levo, Assistant General Manager, with Drury Hotels, joins me from St. Louis, Missouri. No Drury hotels have closed, so all the learning to function amid a pandemic happened on-the-fly. Key takeaways: -U.S.-based, family owned and operated, 150 hotels -Remained open amid the pandemic. -Corporate and leisure guests historically. -Marketing function out of HQ -Advice for hoteliers? From an operations standpoint, think like an owner. Caring of your hotel, your team.

Dana Cariss, CRME, CHDM, VP of Revenue Strategy and Distribution at CoralTree Hospitality, coming to us from San Diego, California. CoralTree is one of those rare instances amid the pandemic, finding themselves in a growth mode. 19 hotels in 6 different cities, with a mixture of resorts, conference centers, urban boutiques, and a couple of brands. Key takeaways: -One hotel was able to stay open since the beginning, with 75% re-opened. -Best two performers are leisure properties. -Urban core hotels are about the weekends. -The pandemic has forced revenue managers to de-automate or re-humanize and re-establish the metrics that matter. -Data looking at? Performance from last week, trends from last month, looking very closely at where business is coming from, rate codes and ‘what’ is being booked, more so at a micro-level, ‘where is that business coming from and what is the attractiveness.’ -Doubling down on personalization, focus on value of a direct bookings, and doing their best to stay out of a price war.

MCR Development LLC buys StayNTouch. Jacob Messina, VP of Digital Operations for MCR, joins me from New York City to break it down for us. Key takeaways: -MCR is a hotel management company with 96 hotels across 29 states (U.S.), mostly branded, some independents, including the very cool TWA Hotel (1962 TWA Flight Center at JFK Airport)--a must-see, Google it. - MCR or TWA Hotel rather, started as an impressed customer of the StayNTouch PMS. - Will keep as separate company. - Looking to invest $10MM in first year.

Jonathan Holcomb, CHIA, Corporate Director Revenue Strategy & Distribution for Storey Hotel Management Group joins me from San Francisco, California during my day of recording at Margaritaville Lake Resort, Lake Conroe | Houston. Storey is mostly boutiques, with a motor inn, & 255-room property opening in April. Key takeaways: Closed all hotels April 1 wtih one re-opening the middle of April. The first opened property is further along than the rest with higher occupancy and more of a rate draw. As Jonathan reviews his STR comp set, he’s seeing this property outperforming most. Data Jonathan is reviewing what he calls ‘micro event’ data: data from OTAs, conversations with fellow Revenue Managers, impact from wildfires. November and December have never been great months but looking at drive markets and packaging live music events with a room product and food and beverage credit. No sales staff left but partnering with a PR company while doing some marketing on their own. Partnering with entertainers w

Thomas Finn joins me. Director at Edwards & Finn, a revenue management recruiter, coming to us from New Castle, England. Key takeaways: -Competition for what jobs are out there is fierce. -Candidates aren’t getting feedback from companies. -Great candidates are being rejected b/c of very small differences between themselves and another fantastic candidate. -Profile of typical hotel hiring right now? Smaller hospitality groups. Corporate hotels seem to be behind. -Expectation of Revenue Managers has changed drastically over the years, now a commercial role, seen in the board room, highly analytic but also able to communicate, handle objection—character traits found in their sales counterparts.

Wilhelm K. Weber, VP Global Revenue and Digital Strategy with Kempinski Hotels, joins me from Switzerland. I had the pleasure to be recording at The Houstonian Hotel, Club & Spa. Kempinski is a diverse portfolio of luxury and iconic hotels, both city and resort. Key takeaways: -Predicting the decisions of politicians proves difficult, adding to the challenge of forecasting. -Made a cultural shift from 'efficiency driven by good forecasting and planning' to 'efficiency by acting fast to the main drivers in the market.' -That shift prompted action, like: Disabled decision uploads, changed the forecasting rhythm, changed the structure of the weekly meetings. -About mid-April, stopped looking at number of cases in the weekly meeting. -Data to look at: pickup, airline capacities, travel restrictions. -Advice for hoteliers? Shift your mindset from planning based on forecasts to fast reactions to proven cause and effect drivers.

Kristi talks with us about group meetings and the hotels who are landing these gigs as the pandemic continues, that it's not as bad as some think--180% increase in meetings over the last 60 days, most being corporate meetings, and hotels are already seeing some good signs for 2021. More interviews like this one at https://shr.global/soundbites.

I am joined by Priya Chandnani, Vice President Revenue Management for BENCHMARK, A Global Hospitality Company, coming to us from New Jersey. With 43 hotels, mostly independent, and primarily in North America, residing in different states, with differing governmental restrictions, the first thing Priya’s team did was, ‘accept their circumstances.’

Another amazing woman hotelier! Leanne Reddie, Cluster Director Sales & Marketing, with Rosewood Hotels & Resorts Bangkok, joins me to talk about her experience, their amazing hotel and the challenging Thailand market.