The hospitality industry exists to serve the intrinsic human desire to gather, celebrate and rejuvenate. This fact has driven hotel architects for the past several decades to place continual emphasis on the design and creation of evocative communal spaces. Today, the hospitality industry finds itself faced with an enormous challenge: in the wake of COVID-19, people no longer feel safe in public areas. Tom Bergerson, Principal at architectural services firm AO, offers solutions and insights on how the industry can continue to provide comfort, convenience, and social interaction while providing guests with a sense of safety and well-being. READ MORE

Hotel executives understand how knowledge management as facilitating organizational processes and activities enhances corporate learning to organize existing information. I stress that knowledge management is a strategic resource for corporate learning. Many hotels still implement corporate learning development projects without sufficient consideration of their knowledge management infrastructures. Hotel executives can see that cultivating corporate learning requires developing knowledge management infrastructures within hotels---not only at the higher echelons of the hotel but at every level. They can manage knowledge to expand the growth opportunities available to hotels that may be challenging but important to close the gap between success and failure. READ MORE

PART III. In the last two weeks, we compared the demands made by governments (to protect us from a vicious and omnipresent viral scourge) to the harmful results (economic, health, individual freedoms) brought about by acquiescing to those demands while no pandemic materialized. We examined the censorship of all information departing from the official narrative and the harmful nature of the enforced vaccinations that lack efficacy and consistently demonstrate harm. This week, we examine who has been pushing this travesty and offer solutions to help put an end to the monkey business so the hospitality industry, and society in general, can regain diversity and its former joie de vivre. READ MORE

We have arrived. We are here, at the doorsteps of the next dimensions of life. This is a clear and precise message for soul-filled humans. Our lives depend on each individual and the whole. The quote contains the purpose of each us on this planet and as a universal citizen. A strong message was delivered many years ago, that is right now taking place within each of us. Even the denial of that process is no longer valid. The old, very much outdated and incompatible systems no longer work and are literally disintegrating right in front of our eyes. READ MORE

The hospitality industry is facing the greatest challenge in our lifetime as hotels around the world have been closed, international borders restricted, and flights cancelled in response to the novel coronavirus pandemic. There is no question that travel will return, but it won't be easy and the hospitality landscape is likely to be forever changed by current events. We are starting to see some signs of optimism in the countries that have made the most progress in terms of managing the virus, and these initial glimmers of hope are important because they give us a glimpse into the brighter future that lies ahead. READ MORE

The wellness industry pre Covid-19 had expanded rapidly. Hotel spas were diversifying placing greater emphasis on overall well-being. While at the time of writing this article many hotels are closed, the sentiment in the industry is positive. There is an all-time high in the level of interest for our health and well-being, with hotel spas poised to support this guest need. As a high-touch industry we need to re-imagine, for the short-term at least, how our programming remains relevant in the post Covid-19 landscape. This poses some challenges. Diversifying to attract a more wellness minded guest may be the solution. In this article we'll consider if a more diversified wellness offer is right for your spa and what low touch wellness services are trending with guests. READ MORE

While women all over the world have been staring and their hands and feet wondering when they'll ever get a mani-pedi again, nail salon owners have been anxiously awaiting word from local officials when it will be safe enough to reopen and serve their clients. By now, most know that it won't be business as usual, and many changes must be made to ensure the health and safety of not just guests and staff, but of society at large. If COVID-19 has taught us anything, it's that we all need to take science-based safety measures to prevent infection transmission. In the business of nails, it was important to have medical-grade sterilization before and now it's absolutely essential. READ MORE

Futurology can be understood as the scientific study of the future. This is a particularly important paradigm to view a post-COVID-19 environment for the lodging industry. The changes this industry will experience in the coming years due to the global pandemic are as of yet unknown, but through effective modeling and open discussions with industry leaders there is a chance to identify emerging best practices and be forward-thinking and proactive in approaches to working within a new reality for the hospitality industry. This article identifies emerging trends due to COVID-19 as well as speaks to opportunities for returning to profitability in a new normal. READ MORE

AHC Hospitality's vice president and managing director George Aquino's thoughtful and realistic COVID-19 reflection explores the state of the travel industry and how hotels can reopen safely through permanent changes to protect guests and employees. Mr. Aquino touches on sanitation practices, new design for amenities, meeting spaces and hotel restaurants, the importance of social media, as well as evolving traveler preferences. He proposes new protocols such as regular temperature checks for employees, increased hand sanitation stations on-property and more remote meetings for hotel teams. READ MORE

Coronavirus has cast many dark shadows across the world of hospitality. It has highlighted certain disagreements between hotels and their guests when it comes to payments, in particular whether money should be refunded or put towards future bookings. To progress beyond the global crisis, a new form of mutual respect between all parties is required. One way of achieving this is for everybody to agree that people are an important part of the ecology of the planet and that by creating a Travel Emotional Intelligence a long overdue appreciation of each others' needs can be attained. READ MORE

PART II. Last week, we looked at how the official response to the pandemic morphed from great concern about the danger; to numbness at the economic devastation (the UN World Tourism Organization estimated earnings down 80% on 2019 and the loss of 120 million jobs); to increasing rejection of the absurd. This week in Part 2 we review how a draconian censorship of the medical community is being enforced not just in China, as one might expect, but also in the Western world; we examine the information that has been hidden so enthusiastically from you, and finally explain why almost every action taken by authorities has been at variance with impartial science and common sense. READ MORE

While our nation's lockdown is loosening, we still won't see a 100% return to business as usual for some time. So your content marketing strategy shouldn't act like it has. According to Jessica Kaiser, CEO of leading hotel marketing agency Hawthorn Creative, if you're a hotel or resort that has recently re-opened or is in preparation to do so in the near future, here are the ways to best use your content (blog posts, email campaigns, and social media) to not just encourage bookings but to ease your guests' concerns and get them excited about future travel to your destination. READ MORE

The impact of the coronavirus pandemic has hit the hospitality sector like a sledgehammer. As hotels around the country prepare for reopening, however, it's incumbent upon hotel owners and operators to demonstrate that they have not only absorbed the blow, but also the hard-but-necessary lessons about what it will take to flourish in a post-quarantine world. The good news is that leading hotel management companies have been doing just that, pivoting to new approaches and integrating new operational realities. While the operational modifications safeguarding guest and employee health are likely to be the most visible evidence of that adaptive flexibility, it is behind the scenes in sales and marketing where there is potential for truly transformative change. READ MORE

Industry insiders across a range of businesses, including hotels, all seem to have the same rosy view of the future. "Working together, the (your category here) industry will come back stronger than ever." If it were only so. The corporate world has discovered that working from home and conducting meetings on Zoom, while not ideal, work just fine. Moreover, the trade-off of keeping people healthy (now) and saving significant sums on travel (now and in the future), will almost certainly offset any perceived advantages of in-person meetings. This article lays out the grim prognosis while offering recommendations for a new vision of the industry. READ MORE

While the extent of global financial distress is still uncertain on account of its enormity and the virus being nowhere near control, what is certain is that the world will soon be grappling with several changes of a permanent nature that will become the "new normal." These will be in the form of products, services, and the several life choices we make in our everyday life as we gradually, over time, put the memory of this pandemic behind us and move on. Here are some trends and changes that will likely be seen in hotels across the world. READ MORE