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In tough times, maintain or bolster your sales staff

When managing a hotel in a down economy, you can only make so many cuts to your operating expenses. And while most line items are fair game, there’s one area in particular that stands as an exception: sales and marketing.

Maintaining a strong sales front is more important than ever before—a necessity whether hanging on to your existing customer base or attempting to gain market share, according to panelists earlier this month at Perkins Coie’s Navigating Troubled Times in the Hotel Industry conference at the Fairmont Chicago.

Jeff Kolessar

“It’s very important when you’re looking at making cuts, you can only make so many operating cuts along the way,” said Jeff Kolessar, senior VP of development for Philadelphia-based GF Management. “ … One area that we’re really focused on is keeping the sales and marketing intact.”

And not just keeping it intact. With so many great employees in the job market, there’s never been a better time to bolster your existing ranks or make an upgrade, he added.

That’s exactly what Aimbridge Hospitality did at several of its 54 properties, said Richard Sprecher, VP of business development for the Carrollton, Texas-based company.

“Having a sales person is crucial to success,” he said, adding how important it is to send staff on the road to maintain or build relationships.

“You’ve got to knock on doors,” Sprecher said. “We can’t do this all by phone. … We want our people out of the office. … It’s still a relationship business. It’s sales 101.”

Kolessar shared a similar sentiment: “The relationship side of the sales and marketing is so critical in today’s market. … You can lose that business very, very quickly. It’s just so important to keep your arms around the relationship.”

The sales team at the soon-to-be-opened Elysian Hotel hasn’t been holed up in the office a solid week during the past four months, said Kevin Robinson, GM of the Chicago property. But even then, meeting with clients face to face is only part of the equation.

“As we get people into the doors, it’s up to us at that point,” he said.

“The basics have not changed,” added Sprecher. “We still have to have good customer service.”

Brands, cash flow, and saving green

Throughout the 50-minute session focused on sales and marketing, the panelists discussed a number of other topics ranging from the importance of updated cash flows to the benefits of “green.”

Updated cash flows. Operators should look at their expenses and volumes every day, because they must react to them on a daily basis, according to Sprecher.

Doing so will help avoid unpleasant surprises, said Kolessar. “That’s why it’s so important you don’t get overly aggressive on your budgets going into next year.”

“Green” money savers. Are green initiatives a gimmick? Not so, said panelists.

“They are money savers,” Sprecher said. “I think they’ll continue in the future.”

Regardless of savings on the bottom line, sustainable practices also could add to the top line going forward.

“If you’re not involved in it, you’re going to be precluded from being involved in any type of business from certain agencies,” Kolessar said, adding some states will even give you incentives for certain eco-friendly programs.

Brands bridging the debt-equity gap. Brands are still struggling to get deals done today, but don’t expect them to put money into transactions to bridge the chasm between buyers and sellers, panelists said.

“We still haven’t seen brands willing to pony up to bridge that gap,” Kolessar said.

Sprecher had yet to see it either. “I’ve heard rumors, but actual reality, I’m not seeing the brand put money into anything.”

Thailand's Dusit group to build five luxury hotels in India

Thai hospitality chain Dusit, acclaimed for blending modern global service standards with the country's traditional hospitality in its hotels, hopes to open its first luxury property outside the country in New Delhi next year.

This will be followed by four more hotels and resorts, one each in the national capital, Jaipur, Rishikesh and Goa, by 2013, as part of the group's major expansion plans in the international space.

"The expansion plan in India includes opening of the company's first-ever Dusit Devarana -- the most luxurious brand under the Dusit International umbrella," said Anton Kilayko, corporate director with thehospitality chain.

Officials said they have entered into a joint venture pact with India's $100-million Bird group, with interests in travel trade,hospitality and airport services, to bring the collection of Dusit brands to the country.

The new venture is looking to bring the best in Asian hospitality to the Indian capital before the Commonwealth Games to meet the anticipated shortage of rooms during what is touted as the second largest sporting event in the world.

The Dusit team in this Thai resort explained that the "Devarana" brand itself has been derived from Sanskrit, translating into "garden in heaven" and its spas combine age-old therapies and modern knowledge to pamper and revitalise guests.

The New Delhi project will be the first luxury hotel in Dusit's India portfolio with only 78 luxury rooms, located near the city centre of New Delhi, officials at the chain said.

This is also the company's fifth sub-brand and promises the visitor who values only the finest in the world a definitive sanctuary, they added.

"Every aspect of the Bird-Dusit properties is expected to set a new benchmark for the Indian hotel industry," said Ankur Bhatia, executive director of the project collaborators, the Bird group.

"The brand culture will be manifested through its people -- a devoted group of professionals inspired to understand the needs of each guest and deliver highly personalised experiences to create the elusive Dusit Devarana," Kilayko added.

The officials explained that in New Delhi, apart from launching their Devarana brand, they will also built another property under the DusitD2 brand. The projects in Jaipur, Rishikesh and Goa will be offered under the Devrana brand.

The Dusit group's unique selling proposition is in detail. Guests have a wide menu to choose from even for the pillows, with a selection that includes those that seek to curb snoring, originally designed for American astronauts.

In fact, even its menus are known to combine some of the best in Thai and Indian cuisines. The highly acclaimed restaurant here, Moxxie at D2, offers some amazing dishes like broiled snow fish tikka and tajima wagyu meats with morel sauce.

The fare includes some palette-tickling ginger-based desserts and the chef has added new Asian-Indian dishes to the selection of cuisines.

"The day is not far when I can delightfully order my favourite dish -- mutton rogan josh with makki ki roti -- at the D2 hotel restaurant in Chiang Mai," said Tarun Kalra, a senior executive here and all of 30 years.

The Dusit group hopes to use the experiences of team members like Kalra -- who have joined the group after stints at the Ritz-Carlton and Raffles in Singapore -- to ensure that their properties in India also blend to the regional tastes.(IANS)

UK hotels target unwanted relatives

Families looking to offload mother-in-laws over the Christmas period have been given a 25% discount at UK-based Holiday Inn hotels.

Holiday Inn introduced the special mother-in-law rate, aimed at families wanting to negate some of the stresses of hosting certain family members over the festive period, according to a report by The Press Association.

A spokesperson for Holiday Inn said it hoped the idea would help reduce stress levels in the busy days just before and after December 25.

A 25% discount will be offered between December 23 and 29 for mothers-in-law staying at any of the 194 Holiday Inn or Holiday Inn Express hotels across the UK.

Family expert Kirsten Gronning told The Press Association: "Christmas can be an extremely stressful period, especially for the family planning and catering for it, with incidents of arguments increasing five fold during the festive period."

Lebanon - Law banning smoking in closed public areas will improve health and business

Restaurant workers and patrons in Lebanon are being exposed to hazardous levels of tobacco smoke, thus prompting researchers and business owners at an AUB conference to call for complete smoking bans in closed public areas.

Organized by the AUB Tobacco Control Research Group, the conference, which was recently held in Gefinor-Rotana Hotel, assessed smoke-free policies in indoor areas at four educational institutions, five private offices and companies, and nine food and drink establishments. The conference also presented the findings of a 2008 air quality survey at 28 different venues in Lebanon—including restaurants, pubs, and hospital cafeterias—which was conducted by the National Tobacco Control Program at the Ministry of Health.

"More than 90% of the venues surveyed had unhealthy to hazardous air quality," said George Saade, who heads the program. Saade, who is also a cardiologist, said that in several venues, especially in Ramadan tents that fog up with nargileh smoke, the aerosol monitor they were using would lock, indicating that the air pollutant levels were higher than the maximum level it could measure—or 400 times higher than acceptable levels set by the US Environmental Protection Agency.

The aerosol monitor was placed at the venues under study for a minimum of 30 minutes, during peak hours.

With more than 135,000 individuals working in the restaurant business in Lebanon and millions of tourists and locals who are patrons at such venues, immediate action is needed, said Saade.

"Policies and laws that ban secondhand smoke from public areas are an effective strategy to reduce workers' exposure to this toxin," said Saade. "This, in turn, may translate into improved health outcomes for these employees."

Secondhand or passive smoke contains nearly 5000 chemical compounds, at least 172 toxic substances, including 67 known human or animal carcinogens, said Saade, adding: "There is no acceptable exposure level to secondhand smoke."

Assessing smoke-free policies at schools and universities, a team led by assistant research professor Rima Nakkash found that although teenagers are aware of the harms of smoking, they still take up the unhealthy habit. "The solution: to implement smoke-free policies in schools and universities," said Nakkash, also an active member of the Tobacco Control Research Group.

In fact, AUB's experience with implementing smoke-free policies has proved rather promising, said Monique Chaaya, associate professor of epidemiology and statistics at AUB and a member of the Tobacco Control Research Group. In the first year after the smoke-free policy was implemented on campus, almost half of staff members and 18% of students thought they had reduced their smoking frequency.

Indeed, educational institutions that ban or restrict smoking on their premises noticed a significant health benefit related to smoke-free policies. Currently, more than 60% of Lebanese teenagers 13 to 15 years old smoke some kind of tobacco.

Moreover, the 2005 Global Youth Tobacco Survey had shown that smoke-free policies in schools and universities help students and teachers quit smoking and also discourage teenagers from taking up the habit.

The AUB research group also found that private companies had no problem enforcing smoking bans, but researchers recommended that bans be accompanied by smoking cessation programs to help smokers quit.

Meanwhile, a study of nine food and drink establishments found that if a national law that bans smoking in all closed public places is passed, the hospitality sector would willingly comply.

"In general, no problems were encountered when an employee at a café or pub would ask a patron to stop smoking in compliance with the establishment's smoke free policy,"

said Nakkash, citing study results.

Nakkash and others concluded, based on findings, that there is a pressing need for a law that bans smoking in public areas in addition to a body that would ensure the enforcement of the law.

Moreover, studies conducted in the United States, Canada, and Britain have shown food and drink establishments do not lose any business—often even attracting more clients—when they adopt smoke-free policies. Researchers do not find such results surprising, as they note that the majority of any country's population are non-smokers.

According to Hussam Eid, Zaatar wu Zeit's marketing director and a smoker himself, a London study showed "that the only businesses that were substantially affected by smoke-free policies were Laundromats: because people don't need to wash off the stench of tobacco from their clothes the next day."

Are hotel key cards safe? Well

Many hotels and resorts use electronic key cards. These cards with a magnetic strip are programmed in such a manner that once the duration of the stay is over, the person does not get access to the room.

The key cards make it impossible to pick up a card and break into a room. Electronic door locking systems were introduced across the globe as they help enhance hotel security, but what information does it contain?

Are electronic key cards safe? Well, it could be a threat depending on the details it has stored on it.

"All hotels mention the customer's name, address, room number and duration of stay in the key card. The key card of the hotel has vital information. Some of the hotels and resorts do store personal details -- including credit card number and its expiry date," says Shah Amber, consultant (information security management services), Mahindra Special Services Group.

Agrees, Pramoud Rao, managing director, Zicom Electronic Security Systems [ Get Quote ], there are many ways the credit cards can be misused in a hotel. There are chances that key cards could be lead to a data theft.

Some of the five-star hotels declined to reveal details of the key card citing security reasons.

"The key card has the code to access a particular room. It does not store any other details, not even the name of the guests," Kanan Udeshi, manager communications, The Oberoi Group, said.

The key card has the name of the guest and the period of stay. Credit card details are recorded separately by the front desk to validate payment. There is also a provision in the system to make the credit card function as an e-key, according to an industry official.

If the electronic key card contains information like the credit card details it can be easily manipulated.

"There has been no data theft reported so far in India [ Images ], but there are chances as the information remains on the card till it is handed over to another guest. If the credit card number is stored in the key card, when a guest uses other services in the hotel, he can swipe the card, which in turn is aligned to the front desk for billing," says Shah.

"We cannot reveal any details about the key card. We do not disclose any information that could be a threat to our guests," Nikhila Palat, Taj Hotel [ Images ] spokesperson, Mumbai [ Images ], said.

The key card is not allowed to be taken by the guest and it remains with the hotel when the guest leaves the hotel.

"The details from the card can be accessed by swiping the card in a normal scanning device. There have been cases abroad where the key card details were used to make mock credit cards. Most of the time the customers are not aware of the fact that the key card holds their credit card number," Shah points out.

If some of the employees connive with miscreants they can access all the information by just swiping the card in any scanning device, Shah adds.

However, the All India Credit Card Users Association has not received any complaints. "There has been no case of fraud reported from a key card data theft. The possibility of hotels giving credit card numbers on key cards seems remote," says Vinod Kumar Chand, general secretary, AICCUA.

Meanwhile, Trend Micro, a leading antivirus and Internet content security software and services entity, says on its website that this a hoax and calls it an 'urban legend'.

The firm says that there is a 'rumour circulating via email which alarms the public that hotel key cards contain personal information about the guest that can be put to ill use by malicious hotel personnel who have easy access to it. This hoax erroneously claims that the guest's home address and credit card number are recorded on key cards dispatched by hotels, thus exposing their customers to unauthorised purchases and cash withdrawals made using the sensitive information'.

The company says that although the origin of the email is based on a real investigation effort of a Southern Californian police district, US authorities have ruled out any security risks this controversy may pose. Moreover, hotel owners have clarified that only minimal information about their guests -- like their names, room numbers and arrival/depature data -- are encrypted in the cards they use.

Data theft

Shah Amber explains how data theft can be prevented.

"Internal threat is a big risk factor for companies. Companies must see to it that any data that can be misused should be completely secure. There are all kinds of technologies to secure IT systems," Shah says.

"Companies have hiked IT security budget and have made no compromise on this. Many have changed application security procedures as well. They have learnt how to recoup from the crisis," he adds.

"As for individuals, they must be very careful about data theft with proper anti-virus systems installed in their computers. It should be updated. They must make sure their Wi-Fi is not misused. They must not disclose e-mail id to any unknown site. They must also make sure children do not surf sites and accidentally pass on information," says Shah.

"There are many fake sites which can lure you and many end up giving their passwords as well. So there is a big threat so one must be very careful. To avoid hacking they can secure ports."

Internet has become an open medium so it is exploited by terrorists. But it is not possible to shut down all those sites. One must be very cautious while surfing and sharing information.

Manu A B in Mumbai