PERSONALITIES
H : What are your expectations on the return of business travel ? FM : I expect an approximate 20 % reduction in business travel overall . And I say that because I really believe in the value of the importance of human connectivity . The face-to-face manner not over Wi-Fi … I ’ m optimistic we will get beyond this pandemic , and future pandemics .
I think that ’ s an optimistic view . Candidly , there are other people who are not invested in the hotel or travel space who will say , why shouldn ’ t half of our sales calls be over Zoom . People have figured out how to do it .
A 20 % reduction to business hotels or meetingsoriented hotels is huge – that ’ s your profit . Right ? So , what do you do to compensate for that ? I think that the hotel business has to reduce the cost of sale , the conversion from gross to net revenue . I don ’ t hear anyone talking about that . They ’ re targeting their approach , fine tuning how they sell . But they are not addressing the cost of sale .
WHILE I AM A BIG FAN OF REVENUE MANAGEMENT IT LATELY SEEMS TO HAVE CROSSED A LINE INTO HOW BADLY CAN WE GOUGE THE CUSTOMER IN A HIGH DEMAND SITUATION . I THINK THAT IS LONG-TERM DUMB .
– FLIP MARITZ
where you can focus a little bit more on the long term , on doing the right thing with less compromise . So , for example , at The Ameswell , partially because we think it ’ s the right thing to do and partially also because we think that market demands it , we worked really hard to be really green , really sustainable , really health oriented .
The “ front yard ” of The Ameswell , Mountain View , California