The Modern Evolution of the Hospitality Industry

Over the past thirty years, the hotel and restaurant industries have evolved at a rapid rate, with the hotel industry coming to maturity before its less capitalized cousin. Hotels use a wide range of data analytics to set rate, staffing levels, connect with their customers, and bring that unique attention required to obtain repeat customers. Restaurants behave more like hotels did before the 1990’s; by relying on their staff to remember regular customer’s habits, by not differentiating their most profitable customers from least profitable, and by making decisions without the guidance of advanced data.

In the early 1990’s the US hotel industry was practically decimated. A change in the accounting rules during the 1980’s created too many rooms for the market to absorb, and the Savings and Loan crisis almost destroyed the industry. Many profitable chains went out of business, and some small operators were bought out at bargain prices. Business intelligence went from being an unlikely expense to becoming an essential unit for hotel companies. The industry is still evolving today; innovative hotel companies are using these techniques in their food and beverage operations, function spaces, and spa services.

Business evolution is inevitable, but it takes a major change in operating climate for most owners to recognize the need to change. That change occurred with the economic meltdown of 2008, and the ‘V’ shape recovery that many of us hoped for did not occur. Consumers are trading full service meals for quick service establishments (i.e. Panera), and corporate customers are rarely buying private dining spaces, cutting into restaurateur’s already slim profit margin.

Hospitality Enhanced was created with this paradigm shift in mind. We offer a Business Intelligence unit for hire, taking your data and turning it into something you can use to make decisions. We train you and your key staff in the concepts of data mining, and for more advanced users, even set you up to use these tools without us. We recognize that every profitable restaurant business will be adding these services over the next few years, so our client’s self-sufficiency is very important. We are a collaborative organization with very few fixed costs, and most of the software we use is Open Source. We embrace this unique, new operating environment, and strive to increase our client’s margin.

Evolution is inevitable, embrace it, or outsource the expertise of those who do. Data is the new oil; it’s time to start using yours to increase profitability.