{caption}NEW MEETING MIXER: The hotel industry is seeing small meetings begin their return, with most planners booking for the second half of 2021. More planners are organizing hybrid events that feature live streaming of in-person events to attendees that cannot or do not want to travel or meet face-to-face in the age of COVID-19.{/caption} Corporate business makes up majority of events, say experts who anticipate an unleashing of pent-up demand As public health agencies expand COVID-19 vaccination programs across the U.S. and states ease up on public-gathering restrictions designed to keep ..read more

{caption}THROWBACK TO 2019: A panel of hotel industry leaders was part of a general session during the 2019 Hunter Hotel Investment Conference at the Atlanta Marriott Marquis. The 2021 conference is set for May 10-12 at the same venue with COVID-19 health-and-safety protocols in place.{/caption} Hospitality event will test COVID-19 boundaries as well as hybrid-meeting format The Hunter Hotel Investment Conference will be the industry’s first large meeting to be held during the coronavirus pandemic. The Atlanta event will be a hybrid format of in-person and virtual access, also an industry fir ..read more

{caption}The coronavirus crisis has forced hotels to reexamine their traditional competitive set as nearby properties close or transition to other uses.{/caption} Experts advise owners and operators look differently at business drivers, including who is booking these days The coronavirus crisis has altered the business models of many hotels. For that reason, the pandemic also is forcing hotel managers to reconsider their competitive sets and how to benchmark their hotel’s business performance. Just about every hotel owner and operator is familiar with STR’s STAR Report. STAR is an acronym for ..read more

{caption}SKEWED OUTCOMES: Many of the hotel rooms that have gone offline because of the coronavirus pandemic are in big-box hotels. For that reason, industry experts say measurements of average daily rate across the industry are skewed and, for the most part, hotels that remain open are managing to hold rate despite low occupancy during the COVID-19 crisis.{/caption} Industry watchers say decline in ADR is product of low occupancy, not weak business strategy Despite the steep drop in business in the U.S. hotel industry over the past year, one key performance metric that seems to have held its ..read more

NextGen in Lodging launches its monthly podcast on Long Live Lodging’s platform by recognizing Women’s History Month. NextGen in Lodging is an organization founded in 2020 by mid-career hospitality professionals with a goal to connect and share new streams of thought and innovation that will revolutionize the hospitality industry in the post-pandemic era. This inaugural episode features three self-starters carving unique paths in the hospitality industry. Their ventures encompass hotel investment, management and education. The entrepreneurs tell how they altered business strategy and professio ..read more

{caption}POSITION OF LEADERSHIP: Ron Vlasic, center, in November 2012 is flanked by Joseph McInerney, left, then president of the American Hotel & Lodging Association, and John Fitzpatrick, president and CEO of the Fitzpatrick Hotel Group during AHLA’s annual event at the Plaza Hotel in New York City when Vlasic was inducted as chairman of the association and Fitzpatrick vice chairman. Today, Vlasic is COO at Hostmark Hospitality Group in Schaumburg, Illinois, and a new member of the U.S. Travel and Tourism Advisory Board.{/caption} Lodging veteran continues to illuminate way through dark ..read more

Twelve years ago, Merriam-Webster added the word “staycation” to its online dictionary. In doing so, the publisher said it traced the word to a 2005 article in the Huntsville Times in Alabama. The publisher noted that modern society might mistakenly think because the word is relatively new, the concept of a staycation is also novel. But Merriam-Webster also found the word in a July 1944 full-page ad selling beer in The Cincinnati Enquirer. Though many in the hospitality industry might have different opinions on when staycation became a component of travel, there’s no doubt the concept has evol ..read more

  Resources and Links Download the full transcript for this episode Darshan Patel at Hotel Investment Group Ben Seidel and Joseph Yi at Real Hospitality Group Sagar Shah and Rich Gandhi of Reform Lodging The post 311 | Shelters From the Norm: Hotels used for hospitals and housing face unexpected problems first appeared on Long Live Lodging ..read more

{caption}Ridgemont Hospitality in Oakland, California, in October sold its 22-unit motel, The Inn at Temescal, to the city which is working with a local consortium of non-profit organizations developing affordable housing for vulnerable populations. The Inn at Temescal is being converted into apartments for military veterans at risk of homelessness. It was one of two hotels the city acquired for $17.5 million as part of its affordable housing mission.{/caption} Housing developers pay top dollar for certain kinds of lodging assets good for conversion, says Arizona hotel broker Dhruv Patel, pre ..read more

  Resources and Links Download the full transcript for this episode Kathleen Bertrand The post 309 | ‘Stay the Course’: Kathleen Bertrand recalls hospitality career focused on growth through diversity first appeared on Long Live Lodging ..read more