By now, you’re probably aware that in your hotels, experience is everything. That’s the guest satisfaction mantra as 2017 comes to an end. We know it, you know it, and everyone in hospitality knows this. But frankly, that’s old news. What you need to get the new year off to a great start is an understanding of what the biggest trends and best practices will be in 2018, not what they were in 2017.
Here are some great resources from which to learn about the issues and concepts you need to know to help you be successful in the New Year.
AHLEI: The American Hotel & Lodging Educational Institute, has been educating professionals for 65 years. This educational forum not only provides you with the latest best practices and employee training, they also offer certification programs such as the CHA® – the Certified Hotel Administrator. One big issue the Institute wants you to know about in 2018, changes to financial reporting standards impacting the hotel industry, specifically around how revenue from OTAs should be recognized.
Lodging Econometrics: These folks will help you understand the state of the hotel industry construction pipeline. The Total 2017 number of new hotels expected to open by the time Baby New Year makes his debut, according to Lodging Econometrics (LE), is 979 Projects with 112,016 Rooms, representing a 12% increase over the actual number of Hotel Openings in 2016, which stood at 850 Hotels/99,881 Rooms. But what does 2018 hold in store for your market, and how will new supply affect your business potential? In 2018, LE will let you know.
STR: The standard bearer for industry operating statistics, STR provides regular updates and predictions throughout the year. They’ll let you know either market by market, or in aggregate, how the lodging business is performing with key fundamentals such as supply and demand, RevPAR, occupancy, and ADR from which you can benchmark your business against. They’ll also let you know whether the industry is trending up or down regarding profitability and where they believe its headed.
HVS: Thinking of buying or selling a hotel in 2018? HVS focuses on lodging industry real estate trends, providing understanding of hotel valuations with its hotel valuation index. Are hotels going to be increasing in value, or decreasing in value? Be sure to check out their content to learn the latest industry trends around profitability.
No Vacancy News: Hear directly from industry leaders about emerging trends and where the hotel industry is headed with this collection of videos and podcasts. Guests include the upper echelon of industry insiders and industry icons from CEOs at the big brands, management companies and investors, as well as influencers such as the leaders of AAHOA, US Travel and more.
And finally, be sure to tap into our resources here at SkyTouch to maximize your 2018 opportunity. We want you and your employees to take full advantage of the built-in features of the SkyTouch Hotel OS®. So, we have built a series of online training courses to ensure you and you’re capitalizing on your partnership with SkyTouch.
We wish you the most success in 2018, and by using the above resources, you’ll be ahead of the trends.
