Re-engineering the Global Hospitality Industry.
When owners, general managers, investors want an unbiased opinion on the quality of guest experience their hotels truly provide, they invite Sydney-based GLENN ROGERS a.k.a Asia’s Mr. HOSPITALITY.
He speaks with JACQUELINE SEQUERIEA on the urgent need to re-think the workings of the global hospitality industry.
OWNERS MANAGEMENT GEN. MANAGERS FRANCHISES
hen the bar of excellence in product and service needs to be raised the global hospitality industry looks to Asia’s Mr. Hospitality for authoritative, unbiased opinions, views and observations based on 25 years of priceless experience over all facets of mainstream hospitality.
Glenn Rogers began his sojourn with the industry in 1992 after a tryst with fate courtesy the Four Seasons in Philadelphia. Thereafter, he has visited/reviewed hotels and internationally commented on hotels owned/managed by all major chains including, The Hyatt, Marriott, Shangri-La, Starwood, Four Seasons, Accor, Best Western, Hilton, Intercontinental, Choice Hotels and Wyndham Hotels.
His work includes the review of operational performance, human resources, public relations, sales & marketing, food & beverage, franchise structuring, carbon measurement initiatives, revenue management, employee relations and brand positioning.
“Current trends call for immediate, creative solutions to the talent crunch that threaten the foundations of an industry whose very definition is racing toward extinction. We must rally to protect the spirit of hospitality if only because the understanding, human values and selfless service it represents comprise the very soul of humanity. We can and we must, save it,” says Rogers.
“We have to look beyond the volumes versus margins equation and open ourselves up to new possibilities smart hoteliers are looking at today. These include preaching to the unconverted, converting satisfied guests into brand ambassadors and involving suppliers in the guest acquisition process. The industry could easily see this if it wasn’t for the inward thinking that has to stop. Initiative must be encouraged because it will give expression to practical solutions.”
The Guest Experience is Everything!
Rogers says, “guests’ scores at every level of service put the steering wheel where it should be. Hoteliers must learn to profit from guest appreciation and positive criticism or they will be taught costly lessons via infectious negativity courtesy social media.”
Proactive owners and management companies comprising our client base have successfully grown their guest loyalty base and consequently repeat-guest occupancy rate. A sense of ownership has to be all pervading at every level of service and management must sustain a results-based incentive programme as the blueprint for quality, sustainable growth.
The need for investment in the training of public relations personnel is long, long over due, says Rogers. “Publicity management is vitally important and key to bottom line profit. The level of competence today is chronically deplorable and if this trend is not corrected immediately, the whole effort toward success will suffer the ‘treadmill effect’ – running but getting nowhere.”
As part of our effort to encourage the industry to reach for greater heights of excellence, the Mediazone Group is bringing to bear its vast social media network to help bring an overall new positivity, fresh hope and results-based solutions to the global hospitality industry.
With Gratitude To:
• Owners & Owners Representatives for their confidence in my unbiased judgment.
• General Managers who have afforded me the latitude to do my job conscientiously.
• General hotel staff who make my work a pleasure.
A New Paradigm
The quest for ‘progress leaders’ is necessary in order to beat the trend toward automation, says Rogers. “The industry can no longer afford to lose focus while on the race-track to perfection. We must accept that performance alone will save the day. If the industry continues to head toward automation, we will lose a vital element of the human spirit irrecoverably. Hospitality hones all that is good and sound about the human spirit without which we are weaker as a species. The way forward is to place prudence before politics and make way for true professionals to ride ahead of pretenders. We have to give expression to the ‘will-do’ attitude within us and do away with the sloth, incompetence and buck-passing that has gnawed away the very fabric of this extraordinary industry. We must now, either rise to the challenge of wait to be consumed by it.”
World’s Best Hotel General Manager
The General Manager is the chief architect of the guest experience, says Rogers. He notes that while there will always be people and factors governing the GM’s performance, men and women committed to excellence in guest service will always shine through.
“It is not just a question of morality but rather business sense. Critics argue that the variables are infinite as the flavours/levels of guests’ expectations but it is possible to achieve reasonable standards of we all put our back to the wheel.”
I Admire Most:
• Owners unafraid to be accept my findings.
• General Managers who don’t differ responsibility.
• F&B personnel who take tough questions.
• Marcomm. personnel who understand that quality promotion costs.
• Media-savvy Chefs.
• Spa-Gym operators who add value to their products.
• Front-line staff who know how to convey mood
• Bellboys who know the value of first impressions.
“Complacence is self-defeating. With today’s choices thanks to the Internet, the growing number of empty hotel rooms and the escalating costs of land and labour, hotels and restaurants must perform or fold. This is where those who have responded to their calling – the be a Hotel General Manager – must act and at now! It has to be remembered, the General Manager is the coveted job position that most of us who join the industry aspire to. The young school/college kid doesn’t associate a hotel with the President of the Group, the VP-Marketing or the Executive Chef de Cuisine. It therefore falls to the GM to protect this institution and in this competition there are no second prizes.”
 
SELECTION OF
WORLD'S BEST HOTEL
-GENERAL MANAGER-
Every year, Mr. Hospitality visits a selection of 5-star hotels across the globe. The hotels host Mr. Rogers for 2 nights during which he is provided with a tour of the facilities and introduced to key personnel including F&B, housekeeping, front office, guest relations, sales & marketing and human resources personnel. During his stay he experiences the hotel’s guest relations services, its fine-dining restaurants, rest & recreation facilities, etc and speaks with the staff and guests with a view to understanding their levels of satisfaction. He then interview the hotel’s general manager which is recorded on film for subsequent publishing across the Mediazone Group’s relevant print and online magazines. Hotels visited/reviewed subsidize the effort with a small fee to cover costs. These interviews, alongside Mr. Roger’s remarks are tabled for eventual study by the Mediazone Group’s Guild of Publishers. The final rounds of cross-checking references of the ‘runners-up’ candidates begins and the winner is announced.
WHAT THE WINNER GETS
An impressive 6 page full colour spread published in Hong Kong’s Most Valuable Companies – the territory’s largest and most authoritative English language business annual. The official announcement is sent to the office of the President/Prime Minister and Ministry of Tourism of the country of origin of the chosen GM, the local Ambassador/Consul General and the international press as well as to all relevant social media. The total publicity package is worth more than US$500,000/- and has been instituted by the Mediazone Group with the sole purpose of fostering excellence in the global hospitality industry.
Media Management Workshops
• General Manager
• Marcomm.
• F&B Personnel
• Front Office
Some of The People I’ve Slept With
The Lanesborough Hyde Park London
The Ritz London
The Ritz Macau
The Peninsula New York
Hotel Plaza Athenee
The Dolder Grand
Beau-Rivage, Geneve
Victoria-Jungfrau Grand Hotel & Spa
Le Mirador Kempinski Lake Geneva
Grand Hotel Bad Ragaz
Grand Hotel Bad Ragaz
Baur Au Lac
Hotel Okura Amsterdam
Ritz Paris
Hotel De Crillon
Sheraton Charles De Gaulle
Fairmont Hotel Vier Jahreszeiten
White Swan Hotel
Mariott Mumbai
Taj Hotel
Sukhothai Bangkok
Lebua State Tower
Conrad Bangkok
Vigitt Resort
Six Senses Yau Noi
Evason Phuket
The Pavillions Phuket
Sheraton Krabi
Le Meredien Khao Lak
Six Sense Hideaway
Intercontinental Hua Hin
Sheraton Hua Hin
Sheraton Macao
Melati Beach Resort & Spa
Sofitel Wanda Beijing
Langham Place Beijing Capital Airport
Sheraton Xian Hotel
Sheraton Macau
St Regis Beijing
Grand Hyatt Shanghai
Hyatt Guam/Saipan
Westin Beijing Financial Street
Westin Beijing Chaoyang
Westin Macau
Special Features
Mandarin Oriental Pudong, Shanghai   Mandarin Oriental Macau   The Spa at Mandarin Oriental, Macau   InterContinental Wuxi
Pullman Wuxi New Lake   Habour Grand Kowloon   Habour Grand Kowloon   Le Royal Meridien Shanghai
Grand Hyatt, Shanghai   Pudong Shangri-La East Shanghai   Sofitel Macau at Ponte 16   The Westin Chosun Seoul   Renaissance Seoul Hotel
The Park Lane Hong Kong   Sibu Island Resort   Mandarin Oriental Kuala Lumpur   Sunway Resort Hotel & Spa
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