How Hotel Managers Can Stay Updated About Their Industry
In order to take advantage of latest trends and be ahead of your competition, hotel owners and managers need to stay updated about latest industry happenings.
There are tremendous changes going on in the hospitality and travel industry throughout the world, ranging from small to big changes. If you are not aware of these then you may be left far behind.
So the question is how can hotel managers stay abreast of latest developments and trends. Thankfully we live in a digital age where all kinds of information is available at our fingertips. Below are few ways to keep yourself updated about the industry.
1. Reading Industry News and Publications –
The first and foremost thing managers need to do is to diligently read industry news without fail. You should not skip this step. You can make it a daily habit to spend an hour or more going through latest news and updates related to the industry.
A good manager will not only keep updated about the industry but will also read about general news and major happenings from around the world. We live in a global village where any event that occurred in one part of the world may have some sort of impact on the business of another part of the globe.
Newspapers, business journals, hospitality magazines, newsletters are some of the major sources of general as well as industry-specific news. Besides these managers may also check out content being published on social media, blog articles related to the industry, interviews of industry experts, watch discussions, etc.
You should have a list of good blogs to follow in your industry, some good social media handles which you regularly check out, few industry related magazines that cover useful stuff. There are a lot of digital magazines too which you can easily read online. One such digital hospitality magazine is HotelBizLink.
2. Networking With Peers –
Another important thing is to network with other hotel managers. You can discuss things with them, ask them questions, answer their queries, share your stories and experiences.
You can find lot of forums, Facebook Groups, Whatsapp Groups, Linkedin Groups where you can find hoteliers or hotel managers to interact with. Quora and Reddit may also be good places to find such communities. One such hospitality related hangout place is the Ace Hoteliers Club.
3. Getting Support & Assistance –
Managers are likely to encounter lot of challenging situations as part of their work. At such times, they may wish to have access to an experienced person to assist, guide, mentor and support them.
One way to get expert assistance is to hire expert consultants who have a proven track record and vast industry experience. But the problem is that such consultants can be rare to find, and if you do find them they may be quite expensive.
There is another option – if you join a hotel franchise brand you can get the support and assistance from them as part of the deal. Usually the brands have tons of experience and they can guide the hotels during challenging and tough situations. Stay Express is one such hotel franchising company that works with its franchisee partners in order to grow their business, increase their savings, boost their occupancy rates and improve their NOI. Find out more here – Top Hotel Franchising