How do we impact the lives of our guests?

When I speak with staff members who are new to the hospitality industry and ask, What do we do in the hotel business? ,or, What is the hospitality industry about? The typical answers I receive are something like this.

We put heads in beds.

We drive revenues and profits.

We provide service to our guest.

We provide a place for people to stay.

We provide hospitality.

Many people do not understand the bigger picture of what we really do and all of the various reasons that people need to stay in hotels. Here are just a few of the more common reasons.

Corporations and associations holding meeting, conferences and conventions.

Corporate business travelers attending training, new product roll out, sales meetings, Board of Directors meetings grand openings of new stores or plants, making sales calls on clients.     

Leisure travelers and families on vacation.

Incentive trips for those that have met their goals and are being rewarded by their companies.

Social celebrations : Weddings , family reunions , bar/ bat mitzvahs , anniversaries, birthdays engagements , funerals , quinceanera’s , sweet 16 parties, renewing wedding vows , bachelor parties , girls weekends away.

Tour buses

Sports teams: Youth, collegiate and professional

Crews: Airline flight crews, constructions crews, emergency response crews, department of transportation or electric company crews

Law firms doing legal depositions, recruiting new attorney’s or for extended legal trials

Long term stay guests, people waiting for their homes to be built or insurance companies housing a family who lost their house in a fire or natural disaster.

Military personnel traveling on leave

Local, state and national political campaigns and rally’s

Parents visiting their children at their schools , Parents weekend or Homecoming

Community events: Concerts, festivals, sporting events , tournaments

Local attractions : People visiting theme parks, museums , and zoos

Universities and hospitals with visiting professors and doctor’s   

Religious retreats , marriage retreats and church workshops

Charity and nonprofit organization fundraisers

Bands, entertainers and Broadway shows traveling the country

Holiday travel: New Year’s Eve, Valentines, Christmas, Memorial Day weekend, Labor Day weekend, Thanksgiving. St. Patrick’s Day, July 4th

Community Shows: Antique cars shows, recreational vehicle shows, gun and knife shows, scrape booker weekends. Food shows, wine and craft beer shows, arts and crafts shows, antique collectible shows, home and garden shows, boat shows and motorcycle rally’s

People who are visiting out of town friends and relatives

Spring break for college students

Truckers and people who are driving hundreds of miles that just need a place to stop and rest for the night. 

Just to name a few …..

In the hotel industry we interact with hundreds of guests every day and we have the ability to positively or negatively impact their lives. Each of these travelers has a different reason why they are traveling and staying in our hotels and, as such, meeting their needs is not exactly the same for each guest. There is a common denominator, however, as all guests want to feel welcome and know that we will respond quickly and attentively to their requests or when they experience a problem. 

Making guests feel welcome can be accomplished by training your team in the art of gracious hospitality the highest form of guest service. Gracious hospitality creates memorable experiences and makes guests feel welcome by personally engaging them. The goal is for our guests to sense the authenticity of our true desire to serve and understand their individual needs, so we may then exceed their expectations. For more information on the importance of gracious hospitality see my article dated Oct 19, 2019

So how do really make a positive difference and impact the lives of our guests? 

1. We impact the career success of people who plan meetings and events by making them look good and helping them to plan and execute creative, memorable meetings and events.

2. We help people who attend meeting and events to grow by creating an environment that facilitates learning and allows them to rest, relax and re-energy so they are able to be productive and at their best.

3. We facilitate professional networking; team-building and help employees create new friendships and alliances which allows them to grow their careers.  

4. We help people celebrate key life experiences Weddings, Anniversaries, Birthdays, Family Reunions, Engagements, Promotions, Award or retirement ceremonies, Bar/ Bat Mitzvahs.

5. We help couples to rekindle and strengthen their relationships.

6. We help families bond and have fun together with their children.

7. We create an environment for sports teams to rest, re-energize and focus so they can be their best for their game our tournament. 

8. We offer a safe and relaxing haven for travelers to rest along their journey.

So ,as you can see, the hotel industry is much more than just putting heads in beds.

We can actually make positive impacts on our guest’s lives in many different ways by focusing on helping them to have memorable experiences.  

Greg Greenawalt is a Certified Hotel Administrator (CHA) and a career hotel General Manager whose experience includes Marriott, Renaissance, Westin, Hilton and IHG- Crowne Plaza Hotels, and was awarded the Crowne Plaza Brands “Best of the Best” National General Manager of the year award.