conversations
conversations
What’ s in a conversation? It’ s the beginning of new ideas. A sharing of personal stories.
BY MAE MAÑACAP-JOHNSON
A start of meaningful relationships. With this new series, Conversations will highlight opinions, ideas, visions and personal anecdotes of CEOs and leaders from across industries. Join the conversation. Send your questions and suggestions on industry leaders you ' d like us to profile next.
Anearly 50-year veteran in the hospitality industry, American Hotel and Lodging Association( AH & LA) President and CEO Joe
McInerney understands today’ s rigorous demands of creating a favorable business climate for the hotel and lodging industry.
In this Conversation with Pulse, he voices his thoughts on issues impacting international travel, trends that are redefining how the hospitality industry is marketing travel experiences and ways to further strengthen the alliance between the hospitality and the spa industries.
PULSE: In your nearly 50 years’ with the hospitality industry, what lessons about“ service and leadership” have you learned through experience? McInerney: I learned the best way to deliver service is to provide guests a value proposition. Give them what they are looking for and listen to what they want, or else they’ ll go somewhere else.
As for leadership, lead by example. People don’ t want to be micromanaged so give them the opportunity to succeed and then, get out of their way. Empower them to make decisions as well as give them the opportunity to fail and learn.
P: Given the number of recognitions and awards you have received( 2009 J. Patrick Leahy Lifetime Achievement Award by the Illinois Hotel and Lodging Association, Tourism Man of the Year by the Pacific Area Travel Writers’ Association, 1999 Stephen Brener Silver Plate Lifetime Achievement Award by the Hospitality Magazine, etc.), how does a man of your stature define success? M: Success is doing the right thing— both for the people I work with and the company I’ m involved with. Did we put things in the right direction? Did we make the best decisions for our people? Are our stakeholders seeing and reaping the benefits of our business initiatives? If we did these, then we have succeeded.
P: Since the hotel and lodging industry is closely impacted by tourism, what needs to be done to strengthen the tourism sector? M: To boost inbound travel and help stimulate the economy, U. S. President Barak Obama signed the Travel Promotion Act which provides spending money to promote U. S. tourism around the world. This is the kind of legislation we need to strengthen the tourism sector. One way to also strengthen international travel is to make obtaining visas more accessible and the application process less cumbersome. At present, for instance, there are only five visa centers in China.
P: What do you see as key trends in the hospitality industry today, and how is the AH & LA responding to them? M: The trend we are seeing in the hospitality industry is in the type of properties that are growing, mainly lifestyle properties. We are seeing growth in smaller boutique properties designed specifically for the young traveler who are technologically savvy. They often make travel plans or book their reservations online or through social media sites like Twitters, blogs or Facebook.
28 PULSE ■ January / February 2011