Success does
leave clues. Today, we have a guest blog
by Jean-Philippe Nuel. Like Steven
Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions® Nuel
believe that now is the time evolve not remain as we once were ‘back in the day’
aka 2019. Nuel believes that hotels need ‘to reinvent, revitalize and
reposition’ and the team at Foodservice Solutions® agrees. Here is what he has to say:
It has
already been a year since Covid-19 developed into a pandemic, along with its
panoply of urgent measures to contain, combat and defeat the devastating effect
of the virus. Confinement, curfews, travel restrictions—including the recent
border closures in Europe—and frequent mandatory quarantines for international
travel.
In the
United States, New York City has gone dormant. The dynamism of the American
megalopolis—the world's meeting point for business, art, diplomacy and
tourism—has collapsed. The luckiest New Yorkers have been living in the
countryside or in Florida for a year, and tourists are logically absent.
More than
67 million visitors were expected in New York in 2020. Only 23 million came, a
staggering 66% drop. The impact on the hotel industry is spectacular. In
September 2020, the New York Times headlined “A Complete Cleanup.” Iconic
hotels have permanently closed their doors. Thousands of people lost their
jobs. To get back to the numbers of 2019, we will have to wait until 2024,
according to the New York tourism agency, NYC & Company.
Hospitality
is one of the main collaterals and economic victims of Covid-19. The decline in
clientele will continue even beyond the economic consequences of the health
situation. Businesses have also realized that they can prosper with less
travel. They can switch from in person meetings far away from the office into a
virtual online meeting. Tourists are now more concerned about the environmental
impact of short trips. While tourism is not expected to decrease, the
consideration of carbon footprints of air travel may dissuade many in the
future from flying around the world just for a weekend in New York. The fight
against climate change should eventually lead people to travel less for short
and distant tourism.
The only
alternative to this crisis is to reinvent, revitalize and reposition the entire
hotel industry by offering fewer rooms and more space dedicated to activities
other than lodging: relaxation (sports/spa), catering (restaurants and
boutiques), work (meetings/co-working) and welcoming families (services
appropriate to a family stay). The development and creation of these activities
will be done in conjunction with the neighborhood or the city where the
establishment is located.
The hotel
will thus become a multi-purpose living space, both traditional and new, and
will be able to propose synergies between all its services.
* Workspaces unlike the ones in a home or a meeting room in a business office. The objective is to create environments that are conducive to meeting, creativity, isolation and/or presentation. These work rooms can be rented on a one-time basis. Some of them, such as connected tables in a hallway opened on a green garden, could even be made available free of charge to guests or as a subscription for people living in the hotel's neighborhood. In order to optimize the return on investment of these spaces, the meeting rooms could even become a children's club on weekends, led by professionals, as part of a staycation offer.
* More diversified entertainment services to welcome daytime, weekend and local vacationers. There will of course be areas for sports, swimming, yoga, meditation, connected bicycles and treadmills, and the possibility of taking group or individual classes. The hotel will offer an almost infinite list of possibilities to get together with friends or to get some fresh air: a private screening room, a cooking class, bike ride to discover the city in a different way, an art exhibition or a conference with a local author. Finally, there will be shops that meet the needs of guests and residents alike. The hotel will thus be able to create more life in the establishment and diversify its attractiveness as it is already the case with a Bakery at The Hotel in Barcelona or the Grand Hyatt in Mexico City.
* More personalized, perhaps bigger, rooms with a more functional space for heating and preparing a meal, a more discreet desk, homier and more flexible than ever furniture and decor. The objective is to cater more to families and win back customers today seduced by community rental platforms such as Airbnb.
* The second floor could be connected by a bright and wider staircase, lit with daylight to offer a hybrid function: suites composed of family and mini meeting rooms. The living room of the suite (equipped with a sofa bed, a table, and a micro kitchenette) can be transformed either into a living space for a family connected to one or two bedrooms, or a small meeting room for six to eight people.
* Local customers will find along with sports, swimming, cinema, shops, catering, and workspaces, a whole series of products to be consumed punctually or as a subscription. Nothing will prevent them from also choosing a hotel for a local getaway, a staycation.
* Travelers will first look for an accommodation in a different setting, close to that of a house or an apartment, but will find within the hotel an access to entertainment, professional meetings and sales services, which will constitute a definite advantage over renting an apartment from an individual.
These two clienteles will constantly cross paths.
The hotel's sources of revenue will become even more diversified. Hotels will no longer be just a place to sleep, work, play sports, eat, and attend a conference, but will become a personal destination, a club in the heart of the city, inhabited by locals and a reflection of its environment. This upcoming hospitality industry does not break entirely away from the past. The Covid-19 is just accelerating its transformation.
Looking for success clues of your own? Foodservice Solutions® specializes in outsourced food marketing and business development ideations. We can help you identify, quantify and qualify additional food retail segment opportunities, technology, or a new menu product segment. Foodservice Solutions® of Tacoma WA is the global leader in the Grocerant niche visit us on our social media sites by clicking one of the following links: Facebook, LinkedIn, or Twitter
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