TRENDING
growth outlook apart from your relationship with Georgetown ? DD : We made very strategic investments during the downturn of the pandemic in three areas . The first investment was in our people to make sure we ’ re prepared for the long run , to keep the operating team at full strength . We found really good opportunities to invest in new talent during that time period .
The second one was significant investment in revenue management technology and related infrastructural process to ensure that operating companies managed hotel revenues better than anybody else in the business .
The third was to lean in on the challenges of talent and labor and make sure we had modern and cutting-edge technology to manage labor as well as keep the employee experience at efficient levels .
These three investments provided us with opportunities to grow and we ’ ve been able to foster that part of the business about 20 % in the last 12 months . We will continue at that pace and increase over the next few years . There ’ s a good momentum coming out of the pandemic and that will help us expand our geography more broadly .
We ’ ve added considerably to the team of professionals and are looking forward to announcing some key executive hires that are joining us in the next two to three months .
H : As we come out of the pandemic , what are the challenges you have faced so far ? DD : There ’ s a lot of discussions around the global search for talent , at the property level and at all levels of the organization . We ’ re not unique in the hotel business to face this challenge . We view that as a fundamental opportunity for us and a challenge on the long-term basis .
We ’ re doing a number of things to ensure that we are well positioned to attract talent . We ’ re moving our corporate office to downtown Chicago , proximate to world-class transportation system and the energies there that will be a very large attribute of talent attraction .
We ’ ve made some investments in technology to ensure scheduling , labor tracking and management are at high levels of specificity .
We have shifted our thinking about employee experience to the person ’ s life experience . We think about how our employees think about work-life balance here and are really broadening our context around how people come to work for us .
There are a number of employee recognition programs that we have in place , but it goes back to the larger challenge of attraction and retention of talent , which is fundamental and key . We have a strategic advantage since we run our business centered around our people . It ’ s a family-owned and family-oriented business and it ’ s a way of life for us , and not just a back of the brochure employee promise .
H : What is your performance yearto-date and forecast ? DD : We pride ourselves for having above-average profit margins at all our hotels . That ’ s because we have invested in tools to support that .
Year-to-date , across our portfolio every region is ahead of budget by the bottom-line and topline on a year-to-date basis . Obviously , COVID-19 and its variants softened the demand surge but we ’ re looking forward to the return of business . We think it ’ s going to be a fantastic summer and fall .
Across our portfolio , the forwardlooking patterns are extending , the group business is staying in place instead of falling off . We ’ re seeing a solid 2022 on the books .
The aspect that will overcome the challenges of the business travel are the transient and leisure travel . In many of our markets , we think the numbers are going to be very strong in summer .
H : How do you see the recovery of business travel and group travel ? DD : What we ’ ve seen in many of our assets is the traditional return of transient , business travel and then group . We ’ re seeing a fairly strong return of group business , outpacing traditional business travel .
H : Post pandemic , travelers more often prefer extended stays and experiential vacations . How is First Hospitality responding to these emerging trends ? DD : As an adjunct to bringing group business back , we want to ensure that we ’ re advertising and making great opportunities available to that traveler so that they can extend their stay beyond the business event itself . We ’ re fortunate that a large majority of our hotels are in exciting , urban markets that weren ’ t exciting during the downturn because they were largely vacant .
But as we return to places like downtown Chicago , Louisville or Columbus , as Broadway and entertainment come back , we ’ re setting up specific rate programs to attract that business traveler to also extend their average length of stay . We ’ ve seen a 30 % increase in the average length of stay over the past for months , which is largely a result of travelers extending their stay beyond their business travel .
This is accomplished at the grassroot level and by having a great revenue management system in place that motivates travelers to stay for longer periods of time at slightly lower rates .
20 hotelsmag . com June 2022