techtalk.travel

Tune in to this on-demand podcast of the techtalk.travel COLLECTIVE #MICEBEAT live session with special guests Kristi White, Vice President Product Management from Knowland, and Luke Stevenson, Regional Sales Manager at Encore Global (formerly PSAV). The session was streamed live on Linkedin and Youtube on 27 April 2021.

The Collective #MICEBEAT sessions are data-driven live think tanks focusing on the Meetings & Events industry’s future. Taking stock of where we as an industry are, where we need to go, and how we will get there, co-hosted by Rita Machado, Vice President Sales and Marketing at Great Hotels of the World, and Lea Jordan, Co-Founder at techtalk.travel.

If you prefer watching the video version of this session, find it here. Also, find the original Linkedin Live Video, including all comments and questions from the audience here. 

Read more about the COLLECTIVE #MICEBEAT live sessions here and make sure to join the upcoming ones too.

Also, find all past COLLECTIVE sessions here.

Resources and Downloads from the session

Tune in to this on-demand podcast episode of the HN world panel live TECHNOLOGY session we streamed live on Linkedin and Youtube, Wednesday, 13th March 2021.

Are Robots coming to a hotel near you?

Max Starkov, Hospitality & Online Travel Tech Consultant

Kathryn Murphy, Owner at The Murphy Dublin 

Micah Green, Founder, CEO & President at Maidbot

A recent University of Houston report on robots in hospitality claims that by 2030 over a quarter of hospitality jobs will be replaced by robots. Will robots ever replace all humans in hospitality? Next-gen technology will undoubtedly replace mundane, repetitive, and dangerous jobs in hospitality performed by housekeepers, porters and baggage handlers, concierges, security guards, line cooks, room service, bartenders, waiters, etc. Some hoteliers claim that hospitality is an industry of "people serving people" and robots will be playing only a marginal role. Others, citing the high labor costs which constitute as much as 50%-84% of overall hotel costs in these low travel demand, low occupancies era, predict that robots will replace humans in all dangerous, repetitive and mundane jobs at the property.

The question is, are robots coming to a hotel near you anytime soon?

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If you prefer watching the video version of the session, find it here. Find the original live stream video including all comments and questions from the community as well, here.

Resources mentioned during the session

Also, find these HN world panel sessions

"When considering the discussion about (the lack of) central guest profiles, loyalty and knowing your guest: How would the guest journey change if a mobile device can securely be linked to a central guest profile? Imagine you identify and know the guest, the moment he/she arrives on premises, by mobile, and start servicing." - This question was posed initially on Linkedin by Hauke Lenthe.

If you prefer to watch the video version of this session - find it here.

Tim Weiland, General Manager at The Alpina Gstaad

About The Alpina Gstaad

Featuring 56 rooms and suites, the hotel nestles in 20 hectares of park grounds just above the charming centre of Gstaad village. Opened in December 2012, it is already the recipient of numerous awards, including the GALA SPA AWARD in the category “Best Luxury Hotel City/Resort”; the “Best Ski Spa de Luxe above 1000 metres” award from Handelszeitung magazine; the Prix Bienvenu; and the TripAdvisor Travellers' Choice Award 2018 (number one in the category ‘Luxury Hotel’ in their Top 25 Luxury Hotels award category). The establishment regularly appears in lists of best hotels published by renowned magazines, such as SonntagsZeitung, Travel + Leisure (best 100 hotels worldwide), and the Condé Nast Gold List. Most recently, The Alpina Gstaad has been ranked for the second year in a row, #1 in the new hotel rating published by Switzerland’s NZZ, won the Preferred Hotels & Resorts’ ‘Hotel of the Year: Europe’ 2019, Best Transformative Spa in the Organic Spa Magazine’s top Wellness Travel Awards 2019 and was awarded one of 41 hotels across 17 countries with the “World’s Best Rooms 2019”. The hotel was also awarded a five star rating by Forbes Travel and won Best Luxury Ski Hotel Worldwide 2019 in the Hotel of the Year Awards.

The hotel is justifiably proud of its Six Senses Spa with Himalaya Salt Grotto, Hammam steam room and indoor and outdoor pools, as well as of the Sommet restaurant (18 GaultMillau points, 1 Michelin star), Swiss Stübli restaurant, and MEGU Japanese gourmet restaurant (15 GaultMillau points) – the latter is the first iteration of this famous concept in western Europe. The Alpina Gstaad is a member of the Preferred Hotels & Resorts Legend collection, the exclusive Virtuoso travel network, and Swiss Deluxe Hotels. The hotel is also a member of the NOW Force for Good Alliance and certified Silver by EarthCheck. 

Richard Valtr, Founder at Mews

Richard Valtr is an entrepreneur and ex-hotelier with an extensive background in hotel investment and management. Richard was educated at UCL in London before returning to his native Czech Republic where he became a project manager for a number of property developments, culminating in the creation of the Emblem Hotel. The idea for Mews originated from his time spent leading the concept development, design, procurement and project management of the Prague based luxury hotel where he experienced the inadequacies of traditional hotel management systems first-hand.

Hauke Lenthe, Managing Director APAC & EMEA at Nomadix

Hauke Lenthe is the Managing Director, EMEA & APAC of Nomadix, Inc., the leader in hotel internet services and guest technologies. He brings more than 25 years of hospitality and international hotel technology experience, spanning from managed internet services to operational PMS and guest-facing software.

Martin Bookallil, VP Information Technology at Marriott International

Martin Bookallil is an Australian Hospitality technology leader who, after graduating with a Swiss Diploma in Hotel Management, has been contributing to Global Hotel groups for 38 years. Martin is the Continent leader, based in Hong Kong, as Vice President, Information Technology Asia Pacific for Marriott International, reporting to the APAC Chief Sales and Marketing Officer, as well Global Chief Information & Digital Officer. He oversees iT functions for 700+ managed Hotels/160+ franchise Hotels, 800+ pipeline Hotels and 20+ Company owned offices encompassing 1,100+ IT Associates operating in 25 countries.

Brands include Bulgari, The Ritz-Carlton and The Ritz-Carlton Reserve, EDITION, W Hotels, St. Regis, JW Marriott, The Luxury Collection, Le Méridien, Westin, Marriott Hotels, Sheraton, Renaissance Hotels, Autograph Collection Hotels, Moxy Hotels, Courtyard, Four Points by Sheraton, Fairfield by Marriott, AC Hotels, Aloft Hotels, Element Hotels, Tribute Portfolio, Delta Hotels, Design Hotels and Marriott Executive Apartments.

Tune in to this on-demand podcast of the COLLECTIVE #hotelierPULSE live session we streamed live on LinkedIn and Youtube 25th March 2021, with special guest Steffi Breitsprecher

If you prefer watching the video version of this session, find it here. Find the original Linkedin Live Video, including all comments and questions from the audience here.

Also, make sure to read the spotlight interview with Steffi, you can find it here.

Also, find all past COLLECTIVE #hotelierPULSE sessions here.

Tune in to this podcast episode of the COLLECTIVE #hotelierPULSE live session we streamed live on LinkedIn and Youtube 25th February 2021, with special guest and Aviation expert Jonathan Gavin Eccles, Management Consultant & Professor (Aviation and Tourism)

If you prefer watching the video version of this session, find it here.

Also, find all past COLLECTIVE #hotelierPULSE sessions here.

Tune in to this podcast recording from the HN world panel live TECHNOLOGY session we streamed live on Linkedin and Youtube, Thursday, 18th March 2021. 

Hotel Technology during crises, does it innovate? - That's the question the audience discussed with these panelists:

The HN world panel live TECHNOLOGY sessions are a joint project of Hospitality Net and techtalk.travel, and are hosted by André Baljeu.

If you prefer watching the video of the session, find it here. Find the original live stream video including all comments and questions from the community as well, here.

Resources mentioned during the session:

Watch the recording of the COLLECTIVE #hotelierPULSE session that was streamed live 28th January 2021 on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Youtube. 

The COLLECTIVE #hotelierPULSE series is co-hosted by Pedro Colaco, CEO at Great Hotels of the World and Guestcentric.

Based on the latest findings of 10th edition of The Hotelier PULSE Report this live panel invited the community to discuss how these findings reflect in the respective hotel markets currently, what the sentiments are like, the key findings of the survey, and their impact on the coming months.

Joao Corte-Real, General Manager of Tivoli Mofarrej in São Paulo, Brazil, a member of The Leading Hotels of the World joined Pedro Colaco and André Baljeu sharing his takes and observations about the current development of the travel and hotel markets.

You prefer watching this session? Find the video version here.

techtalk.travel COLLECTIVE - The hotel industry's open sessions for all industry stakeholders facilitating exchange, relationship-building and knowledge-transfer. Hoteliers will share their best practices and reflect on the past months experiences, as well both their learnings and expectations for the months to come.

Tune in to the recording of the COLLECTIVE #hotelierPULSE session that was streamed live 17th December 2020 on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Youtube. 

The COLLECTIVE #hotelierPULSE series is co-hosted by Pedro Colaco, CEO at Great Hotels of the World and Guestcentric.

Based on the latest findings of The Hotelier PULSE Report this live panel invited the community to discuss how these findings reflect in the respective hotel markets currently, what the sentiments are like, the key findings of the survey, and their impact on the coming months.

Daniela Hupfeld, Commercial Director at Pierre & Vacances Espana joined Pedro Colaco and André Baljeu sharing her takes and observations about the current development of the travel and hotel markets.

You prefer watching this session? Find the video version here.

techtalk.travel COLLECTIVE - The hotel industry's open sessions for all industry stakeholders facilitating exchange, relationship-building and knowledge-transfer. Hoteliers will share their best practices and reflect on the past months experiences, as well both their learnings and expectations for the months to come.

Great Hotels of The World is a Founding Member, Guestcentric is a Contributing Member of techtalk.travel. 

Learn more about the techtalk.travel member companies.

Tune in to this recording of the first COLLECTIVE #hotelierPULSE session that was streamed live 26th November 2020 on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Youtube. 

The COLLECTIVE #hotelierPULSE series is co-hosted by Pedro Colaco, CEO at Great Hotels of the World and Guestcentric.

Based on the latest findings of The Hotelier PULSE Report this live panel invited the community to discuss how these findings reflect in the respective hotel markets currently, what the sentiments are like, the key findings of the survey, and their impact on the coming months.

Kyp Charalambous, Vice President of Sales at the iconic Atlantis, The Palm in Dubai joined Pedro Colaco and André Baljeu sharing his takes and observations about the current development of the travel and hotel markets.

techtalk.travel COLLECTIVE - The hotel industry's open sessions for all industry stakeholders facilitating exchange, relationship-building and knowledge-transfer. Hoteliers will share their best practices and reflect on the past months experiences, as well both their learnings and expectations for the months to come.

This podcast is also available on Spotify, Google Podcasts and Apple Podcasts.

Please note: As during the session various slides with market data are shown, you might prefer to watch the video recording of the session.

Grit Pauling is the General Manager at the 25Hours Hotel The Circle in Cologne, Germany. 

Grit speaks with André Baljeu, Founder at techtalk.travel and shares insights about her background, what a typical day of hers looks like at the moment, how the hotel has been performing during the crisis, if and how they adjusted the hotel's tech stack during the past months and much more.

00:23 - Grit's Background

01:42 - A Typical Day

02:51 - Hotel is doing well 

04:36 - COVID19 Adjustments in Hotel Operations 

07:31 - Message to Guests & Staff

09:40 - Government Support

12:40 - Tech Adjustments in Support of COVID

15:34 - Guest Expectations around Contactless Technology

16:46 - Distribution Changes

21:01 - The Front Desk

23:01 - Grit's Travel Peeves

24:55 - Grit's Restaurant Tip in Cologne

The Restaurants Grit recommends in Cologne are Neni Cologne and C.C. Kowalski

You prefer watching the video version of the Interview? Find it here.

About 25hours Hotels

25Hours Hotels offer a unique hotel concept providing contemporary answers to the cosmopolitan urban traveler's needs, through a range of services offered with great charm and personality. Each of its addresses takes its authenticity from a unique character, with its own story and forged in a particular style. This unique brand is already present in all the largest cities in Germany as well as Zurich, Vienna and Paris and will soon make its arrival in Dubai, Florence and Copenhagen. 

Visit 25hours-hotels.com

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