Dean added that hotel operators must further automate the back-ofthe-house . “ Is housekeeping a daily occurrence ?” he pondered . “ It will be interesting to see if large chains keep it at third day on stayovers . That is now standard in the franchise community . It will be interesting to see if brands and operators go back to daily housekeeping – it ’ s still a question mark .”
Leal talked about how Virgin went through a cadre of SOPs and eliminated 15 % of them that were no longer efficient . “ Then augment them with technology and keep our people employed ,” he added . “ Any strategy to make hotels more profitable has to go hand-in-hand with process improvements .”
NEW WAYS FORWARD Dean also talked about how Remington monitors other successful businesses during the pandemic to consider new ways forward . He said he sits on the license board at Starbucks and that he has come to learn that 42 % of their business is “ mobile order and pay ” in corporate stores and it ’ s growing toward 50 %. “ Why can ’ t we do the same ?” he said . “ Millennials drive everything off their personal device . This is an opportunity to reinvent the way we operate . We can drive business to contactless and mobile . We need to take opportunities in business and reinvent them .”
Zeidan added how Life House has invested in its own mobile app , as well as SMS messaging , which has had great adoption . “ We partnered with Kayak to be our mobile app for consumers booking independent hotels and don ’ t want to download hotel ’ s app . There is a sprouting of technology to support independent hotels .”
Finally , Leal talked about how data wars have arrived . “ Are we prepared ?” he asked . “ Airbnb has an incredible data machine and as a result have a competitive advantage . Brands are mostly siloed and control their own data , but their ability to manipulate data and understand guests is critical . Hoteliers must get the most out their data when being bombarded by third-party companies like Airbnb . Data should be on all of our minds and we should know that the strategy of big brands is to continue to accelerate their data learning curves .”
The day was capped off by a cocktail mixer in the sand at the sunny Mandarin Oriental , Miami .