Bleisure travel - new niche market for hotelier

Bleisure travel is a trip mixing business with leisure that purposes in improving job satisfaction and loyalty.

For example, a business trip that may include family or a significant other, which then leads to a short vacation and extended hotel stay.

According to a 2014 Google Travel Study, 57% of US business travelers plan to extend their trips for leisure. With this growing trend in the hospitality industry, it is important for hoteliers to start developing a better understanding of this market in order to effectively accommodate bleisure travelers during their stay.

The latest survey from BridgeStreet Global Hospitality polled 640 international travelers and found that most bleisure travelers tack on an average of two vacation days to their business trips.
More than half of respondents also said they’ve brought family members or their other half with them on such trips and most (78 percent) agreed that adding vacation days adds value to their work assignments.

The most popular bleisure activities are sightseeing, dining, arts and culture.

The survey also found that an overwhelming majority of younger travelers (aged 35 to 44) are more likely to take advantage of a business trip to soak in the sights: 94 percent of travelers in this age group said they’re likely or more than likely to take a bleisure trip in the next five years.
That compares to the worldwide average of 60 percent.

Meanwhile, a similar survey of 2,020 American travelers released earlier this month found that about half (49 percent) of American adults used their business trips to discover a new destination.
The Hotwire.com survey also found that younger travelers -- defined as 18-34 -- were more likely to mix business with pleasure compared to their older counterparts (aged 35 to 44) at 56 percent and 37 percent respectively.

The bleisure travel experience is one that involves multiple influences from business, leisure, travel companions and personal goals, which makes this segment of travelers often difficult to understand.

By taking the time to understand the desires and behaviors of the growing bleisure segment which includes their desire for all-inclusive hotel accommodations, being aware of the need to be constantly connected and their attraction towards hotel packages; hoteliers gain a huge advantage to the future of travel in hospitality.
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Cleaning Tips You Haven't Heard Before

No.1. The best way to dust blinds: Close them, then wipe up and down with an old dryer sheet. It'll create an antistatic barrier that helps prevent dust from building up again.

No.2. To eliminate that ring in your toilet, drop in a bubbling denture tablet, and leave it for at least 30 minutes or overnight. The stain will come off with just a few swishes of the brush.

No.3. The Mr. Clean Magic Eraser is your friend. It will cut your cleaning time in half for bathtubs, sinks, countertops, and dirty walls.

No.4. Shine your bathroom tiles with lemon oil. It also helps prevent mold and mildew.

No.5. To clean glass and mirrors, use coffee filters, not paper towels. They leave no streaks or lint - and they're cheap.

No.6. Clean cobwebs with a yardstick covered by a tube sock. That also works for cleaning under stoves and refrigerators.

No.7. Vinegar and water is a great deodorizer for a musty bathroom. Spray your shower down as you're getting out. It really absorbs the odors, and the smell of vinegar goes away in an hour.

No.8. To clean your microwave oven, microwave a cup of water with some baking soda in it until it's boiling. That eliminates odors and makes it super easy to wipe away all that stuck-on stuff.

No.9. A wet pumice stone will clean a dirty oven faster than any spray-on product.

No.10. Our biggest secret weapon? A powdered product called Bar Keepers Friend (amazon.com). We use it on everything. Its active ingredient is rhubarb powder, which really cuts through grit and grime. It cleans glass-top stoves, counters, toilets, porcelain and more. Your sink will never be shinier.

No.11. Vacuuming bathroom mats is a nightmare. Toss them in the wash every week or two instead.

No.12. Seventh Generation dish liquid diluted with water is a great nontoxic all-purpose cleanser. Just put two squirts in a spray bottle and fill it with water.

No.13. To damp-mop wood floors, use plain water or a water-based floor cleaner like Bona. Don't use vinegar. The acid in it will pit your polyurethane finish, can void your warranty, and may reduce shine over time.

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What housecleaners never tell you?

No.1. If you don't have a lot of cash, ask me to come for just one hour. I can do just the bathrooms and the kitchen or only the areas guests will see.

No.2. My best clients are people who work for their money, like teachers, bartenders and cops. Rich people think they're doing you a favor by allowing you to scrub their toilets. Working people understand you are doing them a service by making their lives easier.

No.3. Recommend us to your friends. We may give you $25 to $50 off a cleaning for each referral - if you ask.

No.4. I wish you wouldn't insist on bleach and other harsh cleaners. For almost every situation, there's an eco-friendly option that's just as effective.

No.5. If you leave your personal life out for us to see, we most definitely will talk about you. We may even send pictures to our friends and relatives.

No.6. After I leave, check the base of the toilet and the top of the fridge. If they're clean, you know I'm thorough.

No.7. Pick your clothes up off the floor, get your dishes out of the sink, and clean up your kids' toys. Your house will end up a lot cleaner.

No.8. Many cleaning companies do not run any sort of background check or even check references. I answered an ad, I was on time and presentable, and I was willing to take the job. That is all most companies care about.

No.9. Make sure we're bonded and have liability insurance. Otherwise, you're on the hook if we break something or get hurt on the job.

No.10. Even though I smile and act interested, don't use me as your therapist, gossip buddy or friend. Frankly, most of us have a lot less than you, and we can't fathom why you're complaining. Plus, you slow me down.

No.11. When using a new maid service, leave a few dollars hanging out of a pants pocket or lying on the counter. If we take a dollar or two, you'll know we're probably going to take other things.

No.12. Want to save money on high-priced maid services? Instead of booking a regular appointment, ask to be on our on-call list to fill last-minute slots at a discount. Or see if you can be a "training home" for new cleaners.

No.13. If you use a service instead of an individual, ask for the same people every time. Your cleanings will be more consistent, with fewer strangers in your home.
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Build employee loyalty or build customer loyalty?

The business world there is always a lot of talk about the importance of customer loyalty. But employee loyalty is every bit as important. Many people overlook the importance of employee, but to do so can be detrimental to your business. If you have not considered the issue before, there is no better time than now.

There are many reasons why having loyal employees is a must in your business. They are the backbone of the company, and the ones that will ultimately make or break your product or service. They represent your company and will either put your business goals into action or snuff them out before you can even figure out the root of the problem.
Employee loyalty should be at the top of every entrepreneur's list, and it should be integrated into your business strategy. It’s that important!
Here are a few secrets that I have learned about gaining employee loyalty:

Putting it into action
To put this in action, take some time to focus on your employee loyalty. Work at building a loyal team and doing what it takes to make that happen. It may take you coming to terms with the fact that you need to replace a few people, or that you need to work on your own actions toward your employees. When you evaluate what needs to be done and get it done, everything else will fall into place.

Lines of communication
Often times, as business leaders, we tend to focus all of our attention on the consumers and our bottom line. But what we must realize is that when we turn some of that attention and focus to our employee loyalty, it will automatically help us reach those other goals. Employees who are loyal will provide better customer service and will be more apt to helping your business grow.
Another important issue when it comes to having loyal employees is keeping communication flowing. The businesses that focus on keeping their employees informed and in the know help to make them feel more a part of a team. When you take the time to clearly communicate with your employees, letting them know your expectations, their job duties, and provide feedback, they will be more loyal.

Evaluate
The first thing you need to do is recognize that some people are naturally loyal, while others are not. So, fire those people who are not loyal. Replace them with people who have a history of being loyal in their prior positions. If they were loyal in the past, they will most likely be loyal in the future. Being loyal is a work ethic that people either have or they don’t, so it’s not really something you can teach or train them.

Simplify
Those leaders who gain loyalty do it by removing barriers for everyone else. Their primary job is to continuously make everyone else’s job easier. If your employees see you trying to help make their job easier, they will be much more loyal.

Reciprocate
The biggest secret is to give loyalty first. If you want employees to go above and beyond for you, you must go above and beyond for them. The best leaders get this. They fight for the team, and in return, the team fights for them. This doesn’t mean that you have to give them more financially. There are many non-financial rewards you can give that will help build loyalty, such as giving respect and praise, having an employee of the month, being flexible when they need time off, and listening to their suggestions and feedback.
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How to provide customer services outshines competiors

Some days ago, we talked about how to build customer loyalty. In the last step, we all understand how importance customer services is.

• See more How to build employee loyalty

Excellent customer service that makes your customer feel special, Service that makes him or her want to come back and do more business with your company and recommend your business to his or her friends.

So how can you provide an excellent customer service that will dazzle customers and competitors alike?
Let’s see some suggestions below:

1. Determine what makes what you offer special.
Study the competition.
Think about your competitors' customer service and the customer service you provide. What can you offer your customers that is "better" than the competition? There are sure to be aspects of your customer service that you can promote as special or unique.

2. Study the customer service ideas on your list and examine their feasibility.
Excellent customer service carries that same kind of guarantee; it's not a "sometimes" proposition. So only choose what you can definitely do one hundred percent of the time.

3. Practice customer services ideas.
Put customer services on your business cards and in your email signature.
Make it part of your greeting spiel when you answer the phone.
You need to make your customer service a prominent feature of every ad too, so people automatically associate it with your business. Remember when you're redesigning or creating ads never to describe your customer service as "new and improved"; this implies there was something wrong with your previous customer service.

While one of the big payoffs of your excellent customer service will be the great word-of-mouth advertising it generates, this takes time, and you need to help it along by getting the word out. Don't be shy! Solicit customer service testimonials from satisfied customers, that you can use in print ads, such as in newspapers, ezines, and on your website, if you have one, or can at least use as references for new potential customers.

4. Stay proactive and listen to your customers.
Listen to your customers and find out what kind of special customer service they want. You can do this formally, by creating a customer service feedback form, such as this Customer Service Survey, that you enclose with every promotion or post on your website, or informally, by asking them for their customer service ideas when they're in your company.
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How to keep hotel staffs in safe?

In fact, the staffs can not control all guests in the hotel and sometimes, they do not have enough skills and experience to keep their own safe.  It's important  for managers to provide solutions to maintain hotel security and their employees in safe.
There are many ways to protect hotel securities, but below are 3 most important things that managers should consider at first.

No 1. Training is at the top of the list.

“All hotel people should be trained in observing and detecting abhorrent or dysfunctional behaviors, spot people acting out, and report it right away,” said Ron Williams, owner of Talon Executive Services, a personal protection company.

Training should ensure a uniform response to protect a victim—whether that’s from a fall or an assault, said Anthony C. Roman, CEO of Roman and Associates, a global investigation and security and risk management program consulting firm.

There should be someone who is trained to take an official statement and knows what it means to “preserve the chain of evidence,” Roman said. “The sooner data is collected, the more valid it is. The better the chain is preserved, the more credible it is and is less likely to be dismissed in court.”

A few personal security tips for your employees:
• Never put your own safety at risk; if you are uncomfortable in any situation, remove yourself right away.
• Never be afraid to tell a guest “no” if you are uncomfortable with their actions; report the behavior right away.
• Work only in well lit areas that you know well; know your means of escape before entering.
• Walk and act with confidence.

No 2. Appropriate technology is next on the list.

“In technology, none is the silver bullet - you have to layer technology like you layer policies. Of course, cameras are a good idea in hallways and at all entrances to each room,” Roman said.

And recent talk about panic buttons is supported by some experts.

“It’s an excellent idea. Tremendous idea that they carry an alert device that they can keep with them and it should alert a central station. … It should have a GPS device to register the location on premises.” Williams said.

No 3. Empowerment is last, but not least foster.

You can never underestimate the importance of empowering employees to take appropriate steps where they feel their personal safety is at risk or they are offended by statement, said Chuck Conine, president of Hospitality HR Solutions.

“A great deal of security and safety involves judgment calls, an employee that is empowered to act, and will be backed by the manager,” he said. “To me that’s a simple prescription for most situations being avoided, but if it happens they know what to do.”

Workplace violence is a justifiable concern.

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How to increase hotel brand trust?

How do you inspire travelers to think about you before they travel?
Below I want to show you some tips to get more attention of travelers and try to build customer loyalty.

• See more: Customer Satisfaction vs Customer Loyalty - What's the difference?

No1. Display reviews
Display reviews on your site. Reading reviews is now part of the booking process, so having reviews on your site enables travelers to make purchase decisions.

No2. Social Media. 
Engaging on social media is more critical for hotels now than ever before. It’s where you can identify and engage with your brand advocates (your best customers), and leverage user generated content to build a relationship with their social networks.

No3. TripAdvisor
Update your TripAdvisor and Social Media pages frequently with fresh images. TripAdvisor recently released a study that links photos to increased direct bookings.

No4. Pinterest
Try Pinterest! If you have the resources, Pinterest is a great place to find highly engaged customers who are very likely to be inspired.

No5. Collect data
Once you have your guest’s email, the possibilities for inspirational messaging open up quite a bit. If you’re able to learn more about your guests, like their job titles, interests, marital statuses, and more, you can deliver much more targeted marketing messaging, which has shown to be much more effective than traditional marketing. If you can develop a relationship with these customers, they may become repeat customers and brand advocates.

The trouble is, collecting your guests’ personal information is a tricky thing. 65% of US consumers worry about how marketers use their personal data, according to  SDL’s Data and Privacy Study. But, the same study also found that 80% of US respondents are more likely to provide personal information to a trusted brand.

As hotel marketers, you understand the importance of using guest insights to offer more targeted promotions and discounts to your guests. But guests also want to protect their data. Here are some things to consider when collecting guest data:

Communicate clearly to your guests what they will receive in exchange for their data.
Deliver the right offers and discounts for your audience, based on that data. If it doesn’t seem relevant, it won’t fly with your guests.
Offer a compelling reason for guests to share data. Perhaps they’ll get a coupon for the restaurant for sharing their email addresses or connecting on Facebook.
Reassure your guests that you won’t ever share or sell their information.
By using customer data judiciously and protecting the privacy of your guests, your brand will create loyalty.

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Should manager recruit a foreign chef?

Global marketing, world travel, population diversity, and food information available online have whetted diners’ appetites to try international flavors.

It's big concern for hospitality employer. Which chef should be employed? Excellent at Hometown Cuisine or International Cuisine? Should manager recruit a foreign chef?  

It's not easy question to answer, because it is depending on many factors like mission of business, finance, human resources,... However, next to necessary skills of chef, grounded knowledge of various flavors in the world is a factor should be considered for recruitment in hospitality industry.

Let's imagine that the customers would like to try difference tastes or just limited ones day by day.
Absolutely, the clients love the abundance menu with strange flavors.

Below I want to show some greatest  cuisines, not only chef but also manager should pay attention to enrich the menu.

Vietnamese - The Vietnamese food has been impressing with the unique flavor. Most civilized people eat Vietnamese cuisine as their favorite change from traditional diets. The cooking style uses fresh vegetables lightly cooked, small servings of meat, and highly structured methods of food preparation. Steaming preserves nutrients, desserts have light sugar content, and fish dishes feature heavily on the menu. For these reasons, Vietnamese food offers a healthier style of eating.

Italian - Italian meals have developed over thousands of years, and the country uses fabulous cheeses in over 400 varieties, dried meats, 300 kinds of sausages, dozens of pastas, and an astonishing wealth of Mediterranean produce. The tomato that many people think defines Italian cooking has only existed in the cuisine since the discovery of the new world. Italy has always revered local sourcing, and foods available locally influence regional cuisines throughout the country.

Indian - The food of India weaves a complex tapestry of spices and techniques, favoring vegetables over meats. When using meat, Indian chefs cook chicken, goat, lamb and fish. Chefs and diners need to start slowly and gradually become accustomed to the heat in most Indian cooking. Three regional cuisines use different styles of cooking in the South, West and East.

French - France places great emphasis on food and wine, and the entire culture celebrates food. Escoffier created the modern working kitchen, but many classic dishes used every part of food, and chefs created heavy sauces to mask questionable foods in the days before refrigeration. Nouvelle cuisine cuts cooking times and uses only the freshest ingredients. Chefs choose light pan sauces, herbs, fruit juices and vinegars instead of heavy sauces.

Thai – Thai chefs balance the flavors of hot, sour, bitter and sweet. Getting the right balance of flavors makes any cuisine extraordinary. Rice, fish sauce, noodles, lime juice, coconut, peanuts and lemon grass figure prominently in Thai cuisine.

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How to help bartenders in a great performance?

Not like other manpower in hospitality industry, bartenders especially get a great contribution in successful bar. Not only they meet client's tasting need, but also they create the customer's want. Sometimes they are affected by outside and unworthy elements, so they miss their mission. How do you do to keep they in a stability feeling? How to help bartenders in a great performance?

Michael Neff is one of the founder of Ward III in Tribeca and The Rum House in Times Square. His cocktails have been featured in numerous publications, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Penthouse Magazine and, of course, Serious Eats.

Below are 20 rules of Michael Neff that applying in training his bartenders. Do you have any to add?

1. Do everything you can to make your guests happy within the boundaries you have been given.
2. You are on stage and people are watching you. Act accordingly. If you are not comfortable with this, find another job.
3. It's not your party. It's not your booze. It's not your bar.
4. Know what you serve and why. If you work at a beer bar, make sure you know about beer. If you're new and uneducated, pick a few that you can get to know well, and start from there.
5. Sleeping with your customers is a great way to lose money.
6. Learn how to make cocktails. Practice the details.
7. Tips aren't everything. It's a long-term game, so don't sweat the random crappy gratuity from time to time.
8. Cash-handling is king. Neat money shows your customers and owners that you are paying attention to their cash.
9. Insist on proper behavior in your bar, whatever that happens to be. If you let the clientele run your establishment, you will never regain control.
10. Look the part.
11. Learn how to comp and why.
12. Control your environment. Is the A/C too high? Is the music too loud? Your clienteles' comfort is directly proportional to the number of stars they will give you on Yelp when they walk out the door.
13. Know a joke. Get good at banter. People pay for booze, but they tip for your service.
14. Open your mouth. Talk to people. Say hello when they walk up and goodbye when they leave. Chat with your clientele, ask how they're doing, even if it's just passing time. Often, that is exactly what people want from you.
15. Branch out. Make sure you have the skill-sets necessary to deliver what people can reasonably expect in your bar, and work to gain the skills you'll need to succeed at your next job. Because you will have a next job, and it will require more of you.
16. Keep a clean bar. Turn bottles to face forward. Wipe the bar-top. Straighten the stools. If people think you don't care, they won't either.
17. Keep your mouth shut. Don't offer advice. Don't dominate conversations. Keep yourself to yourself.
18. Mise en place. It's a fancy French phrase for how you arrange your tools and ingredients. Set your mise, and do the same thing every time. You can't be fast if you're constantly searching for what you need.
19. Don't touch your face, hair, or any other part of your body. Cough in to the crook of your arm. Sneeze down. Always be seen washing your hands. Don't be disgusting.
20. Behind the bar, you are an illusion, a fantasy, a servant, and an actual person all rolled in to one. Choose wisely which side you choose to present at any given moment.

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