Janice Gault is the CEO of the Northern Ireland Hotels Federation. On a positive day for hotels in Northern Ireland where the re opening date has been brought forward to July 3rd, we spoke to Janice about her time with the NIHF, how Covid has impacted hotels but more importantly how hotels will manage their way through this crisis. 

The Northern Ireland Hotels Federation is a not-for-profit limited company representing the hotel and guesthouse sectors in Northern Ireland; it's main roles are identifying and reviewing issues affecting the hospitality industry and lobbying governments and the NI Assembly on the economic and employment opportunities of tourism. Developing services for the benefit of the industry, the Federation actively works in partnership with others to create the right conditions for tourism.

Boostly is an award winning hospitality training and website design company which is owned by award winning social media guru Mark Simpson. Mark's goal is to help 1 million hospitality owners increase their direct bookings, cut down on commission costs and boost their profit margins. In this episode, Mark gives actionable insights on how to do that. 

In 2016 he became frustrated by the lack of online support for hospitality owners in Scarborough and Whitby with online marketing tactics, he decided to start the Hospitality Community Facebook Group. It was designed for only the local accommodation owners. Word of Mouth spread, and within a few years, it became the world's 🌎 most engaged Facebook Group with over 4,500 members and 92% engaging rate.

In 2020, Mark was honoured when he won the Best Use of Social Media at the Shortyz Awards. 

You can get in touch with Mark in the following places:

Email: [email protected]

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mrmarksimpson

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCj4GxNlzjWGASeQVC6hroiQ/featured

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/HospitalityOwners

Just before Easter we had the pleasure of speaking to Robert Walton MBE. Robert is a recognised and respected figure in the hospitality industry and is President of the Restaurant Association of Great Britain. Having trained as a West-End chef and then becoming a hotel owner, he has unique hands-on experience and insider knowledge of the sector.

Robert is the founder of The Nth Degree Global which runs some of the most prestigious hospitality events in the UK including the Michelin Revelation, Young Chef Young Waiter and the Restaurant Association Gala Dinner. The Nth Degree Club  which falls under the parent company is an exclusive Private Dining Club based in London, Dubai and other prestigious locations around the world with an exclusive membership network of successful, influential and like-minded individuals and corporate companies.

In this episode, we discussed Roberts background in hospitality, the experiences of fine dining and how to build resilience in the face of adversity. 

On this week's episode of Your Next Generation Hotel podcast we talked to Robert Richardson FIH, GM at The Grand Folkestone, boutique hospitality manager of the year 2019, and winner of many other awards (below). We discussed his own approach to the Covid-19 crisis as well as looking at how hotels can meaningfully incorporate technology to improve the guest experience.

Below are a list of the distinguished awards Robert has won:

• The Boutique Hotelier 2020 Power List – Young Trailblazer

Today on Your Next Generation Hotel we talked to senior lecturer Dr Nick Naumov about how he believes the hospitality industry can adapt and grow in a post-covid world. Listen out particularly for his insights into how rural hotels can leverage their location and what role technology has to play.

Nick’s industry background is in hospitality management and more specifically, front office operations and F&B Management. Having worked in his native Bulgaria alongside the UK and USA, he is very interested in service quality, customer experience and service innovations.

James Lemon is a leading start-up and travel consultant helping founders & enterprising leaders to grow their business in novel ways. His expertise in strategy & performance has been built over 10+ years in senior positions at IHG, Travelport, as well as COO of Series-B scale-up Hostmaker.

He is currently on assignment with IHG, leading a large programme to revolutionise global approaches to e-commerce and online distribution; and advising start-ups and investment community on growth opportunities in travel, technology and beyond.

In this episode we discussed innovation in hotels and how hospitality brands globally are tackling COVID-19.