Hotelier Perspectives

The knowledge and skills transfer from faculty to students forms the core of what education is all about. One of the most rewarding and important roles in a school is played by the department that strives to support those on the front line of education delivery: the teachers. Welcome to the role of faculty development!

Modern travelers want more than comfortable beds and room service — they want all-encompassing experiences that support their physical, mental, and emotional well-being during their time away from home. Hoteliers that create immersive wellness experiences give guests a compelling reason to choose their accommodations over competitors.

When was the last time your hotel staff had data security training? The speed at which cyber criminals adapt their tactics can be frightening, and the only way to keep your business – and your guests – safe is to regularly retrain your team in the latest best practices for security.

For this, new creative methods are essential for hospitality to leverage teaching excellence based on the transfer of knowledge among professionals, i.e., experts from the industry who wish to expand their professional skills to include practical facilitation and teaching.

It’s the holiday season, and whatever holiday you choose to celebrate – or choose not to celebrate – gifting is the norm. So, I have a gift for you: the five easiest customer service tactics that anyone and everyone can do – and they won’t cost a thing!

As a lodging industry training provider, we receive an extraordinarily high number of inquiries for guest service training specific to the topic areas of “handling guest complaints” and “service recovery.” While it is always great to see interest in these topics, we always prefer to deliver a more comprehensive approach to hospitality and guest services training that better serves all stakeholders.

Question 1 from Dr. Fred DeMicco: John, tell us about your cruise career journey, how it started, the cruise leadership experiences you have had? John’s response: My career in the cruise industry happened accidentally and was actually my third career.

As 2025 approaches, boutique and design hotel groups—especially those balancing bustling city center hotels with countryside or beach properties—face a pivotal moment. Are you prioritizing profitability, guest relationships, and autonomy? Or are you still overly reliant on OTAs like Booking.com, whose high costs and unpredictable policies might be eating into your bottom line? It’s time to rethink your approach and chart a smarter path toward sustainable success.

How to handle angry customers is a topic I’ve covered in the past. Recently, I was interviewed by three different reporters/authors about this topic within a week. Why, all of a sudden, is there a renewed or greater than usual interest in this topic? I’ve been reading a lot about how the tough economy can cause customer frustration or anxiety. Maybe this is part of why some customers lash out at employees when there’s a problem.

Leadership coaching can have a profound impact when individual leader development is integrated with a team-focused approach. This dual focus leverages the interdependent nature of leadership teams, maximizing the benefits of coaching for both individuals and the organization. The foundation for these improvements lies in self-discovery, achieved through greater awareness of influence and effectiveness.