HOSPA Webinar - 13th May, 2020

Minimising The Wider Impact Of COVID-19 On Your Business

HOSPA board members will be sharing their insights on the effect of COVID-19 on the hospitality sector and offer advice and tips on minimising the impact on your business.

Topics will range from revenue management to staffing, to employer liabilities. We will discuss the technology headaches incurred during the lockdown period and the new tech that hospitality venues may need for re-opening. Jane Pendlebury will be joined by David Pryde, Professor Peter Jones, Michael Heyward and Rob Maloney.

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ATTENDEES

• (JP) Jane Pendlebury - CEO, HOSPA

• (RM) Rob Maloney - HOSPA Membership Officer, Director at Kerry Robert

• (PJ) Professor Peter Jones MBE - Specialist in strategic management

• (DP) David Pryde - Head of IT, Strand Palace Hotel

• (MW) Michael Heyward - Principal of Heyward Hospitality Solutions

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AGENDA

• Welcome and Introductions

• Revenue management - ‘balancing noise with data’

• Staffing for re-opening

• Confidence - staff & guests

• Retraining staff

• Technology threats / issues during lockdown

• Technology for re-opening

• Closing remarks

 

NOTES
Revenue Management (00:09) MH - Good revenue managers have the curiosity to take in info from a wide range of sources and understand how it will impact the business. They take the noise, theories, opinions, look at the data and make sense of it for their business.

Q from Harry Murray: With margins already being wafer-thin, occupancy is likely to be low. What are your thoughts on that?
MH: Discounting won’t help, as doesn’t change demand and will result in a “Race to the bottom”. Chasing topline at the cost of bottomline is not a good way to go, with NYC offering a case study of how not to do this, post 9/11. Trust your revenue management systems. Your system managers will be able to support & understand.

At the moment, we cannot create inbound demand, but we can encourage people to come back once the pandemic has passed.

We need to create confidence in the public (through cleanliness etc) to encourage them to return.

Staffing and recruitment (00:16) RM - Look after your staff now, their wellbeing etc, and help prepare them for returning to work. Staff will remember this and be thankful and loyal in future.
A few have got it wrong, implementing layoff clauses and so on. This is not a good approach.

 

Q from David Derbyshire: Will we need more cleaning staff and less customer-facing staff?

RM: More fluidity in roles, more diversified specs. Everybody will have to learn to adapt. Customers included.

 

Make your staff feel safe. Companies are working closely with insurance companies and providing training ahead of going back to work.

 

PJ: Businesses looking after their staff - it will pay off.
Public sentiment has changed. People are no longer just looking for the product, they’re looking for confidence.

Liability towards guests (00:26) PJ 
MH: Smaller villages are worried about influxes of people from London swarming to their areas for ‘staycations’ after COVID-19, while the hotel owners are feeling a level of responsibility to their teams.
If there’s the slightest hint of feeling unwell, staff should be able to go home.

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Re-opening plan (00:30)
JP: Gantt charts should be in place now to roadmap how hotels will reopen.
PJ: It’s like opening a new hotel - we need to be rigorous. We need to invest in the planning stage now. Think through to prevent closure should it go wrong after reopening.
MH: Plans should be adaptable. People are saying beer gardens are OK because outside space is safe.
RM: In Stockholm, councils are getting involved, regularly checking operations and if they aren’t up to scratch they will close them down. So you can’t afford to rush.
MH: Look at other markets, ahead of ours, as to how they are reopening. It’s similar to the reopening of a seasonal resort. Established relationships are still there.
When will the US inbound market come back? How can we prep for that/work into the plan from a commercial point of view?

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Technology (00:38) DP - Challenges…
Pre-COVID business model cannot simply be picked up and repeated.
Tech-wise: lots of positives; adoption of cloud-based tools etc, people working from home
What has the impact of this been?
Access to data at home. Are we still GDPR compliant?
Since 01 March, 400% increase in soliciting of emails/viruses - be aware.

Zoom - in 6 weeks has had 6 updated versions.
Tech is evolving exponentially - {SHOULD WE BE PREPARED}

 

“Reduce contact, increase engagement” - tech will help massively.
Different solutions out there. The one suitable for the huge hotel, won't work for a small, country independent.
Think about your target market, the demographic.

 

Share information with guests/prospects to build customer confidence - eg. cleaning etc.
BUILD BRAND ALLIANCES. E.g. Hilton and Dettol

 

Thermal imaging tech used in areas with lots of people. Track temperature to 0.3 of a degree and allow staff to act upon it.

 

BARRIER: investment.

 

Quick wins w/o investment - One door in, one door out. Understand who is coming through the door so you can invest in the right technology. Generate cash flow now {UK STAYCATIONS?}

 

MOBILE KEY ENTRY - Pre-checking, sanitized key

 

How do we do social-distancing back of house? Finance does not have to sit in a hotel. Create work environments that are safe for employees. Desks and workspaces can be freed up, assign keyboards and mouse per employee that aren’t shared.

 

What will generate cash flow, build confidence and reduce risk?

 

Hotels will be required to hold more sensitive information. GDPR will need to step up as we hold sensitive info like underlying health conditions etc.

 

PLAN > RISK ASSESS > MITIGATE

Technology (00:53) (Declan Gallaghar) - Staff testing coming in and out of businesses

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Q: What are your views on reissuing contracts to all staff to include multi-skilling?
RM: It will happen more but needs to be done in a certain way and needs to consider staff trust, wellbeing and confidence.

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Q: How will we monitor/hold sensitive info?
DP: Independent auditing, track and trace apps etc.
Don’t fall into the habit of comparing yourself to other hotels around this. Assess your own hotel, your own model and react accordingly.

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Q: Will tech be similar to airports?
DP: Yes, but kept private. Not displayed publicly.

Suppliers producing checklists, HOSPA to list and share

MH: The value of what you invest in cleanliness levels, comes from the customer having an informed choice and confidence in the hotel.
PJ: Start local and expand.

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