EHMA
forward-thinking dynamism. As the attendees met for their farewell brunch at the elegant Swiss Diamond Hotel, they surely had every right to feel confidence in the year ahead. If they have come through what the hotel gods have thrown at them since March 2020, then whatever comes tomorrow should be simple enough.
Reflections and predictions It is hard to overstate the scale and influence of EHMA. Founded in Rome in 1974, the group was built around the principles of quality service and professionalism. Given how far the association has come over the following 48 years, you have to say it has been a success. These days, EHMA boasts some 400 members representing 23 European companies. Of these, 300 are general managers at some of the continent’s most prestigious hotels, from Milan’s Principe di Savoia to the Grand Hyatt in Athens. All told, EHMA represents around 85,000 individual hotel rooms and 65,000 employees. This breadth was certainly reflected at EHMA’s
Lugano conference as speakers came from across the continent. The first day alone saw speeches from Dr Jens Zimmer Christensen (Denmark), Marco Truffelli (Italy) and Ian Millar (UK). Yet if delegates travelled far and wide to reach the Ticino, everyone was uniformly conscious of the momentous changes wrought by Covid-19. Typical here were the comments of Roland Fasel, COO at Aman Resorts. “I often say from a crisis comes clarity,” he explained. “This period has allowed the industry to really reflect and take stock of how to move forward in such a drastically changed travel climate.” Among other things, Fasel emphasised the
continuing challenge of recruitment in the wake of the Great Resignation – a phenomenon that saw a million US hospitality workers leave their jobs in November 2021 alone. Other speakers agreed. “In the immediate future,” argued Shannon Knapp, president and CEO of Leading Hotels of the World, “labour will continue to be a challenge, particularly for the luxury hospitality sector that relies so heavily on our staff – as the soul of the hotel – to deliver that extraordinary luxury experience travellers expect.” At the same time, Knapp continued, the pandemic and its consequences underlined the potential difficulty of providing stellar service using digital platforms alone. This is fair enough; remote check-in and room service may have been reassuring in 2020, but nothing can beat a warm smile and a hand with the luggage. There is evidence, moreover, that as Covid-19 recedes, this is exactly what customers want. According to work by PwC, 74% of non-US consumers are looking for more human interaction going forward. If the conference was united in pinpointing the difficulties of the pandemic, however, it was similarly
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unified in highlighting solutions. When it came to the question of recruitment, for instance, Knapp described how the industry had to offer more flexible career paths – making it easier to attract talent from outside hospitality. Fasel concurred, suggesting that better pay and a more positive work culture were just two ways of keeping staff engagement high. Fortunately, the industry appears to be doing just that. In France, to give just one example, hospitality organisations recently offered employees average wage increases of over 15%.
Above: Top performers were honoured for the fi rst time since 2019.
Opposite: EHMA movers and shakers attending this year’s AGM in Lugano.
“Increased virtual communication with the customer has led us to improve analytics, which allow us to personalise their stay and align services and experiences to their preferences.”
Ezio A Indiani, EHMA president
Although digitalisation risks dampening the special joys of luxury travel, delegates were just as keen to see the bright side of technology. As Ezio A Indiani made clear, this is particularly true in the realm of analytics. “Increased virtual communication with the
customer has led us to improve analytics, which allow us to personalise their stay and align services and experiences to their preferences,” explained Indiani, general manager at the Principe di Savoia and the association’s outgoing president. “This is a big competitive factor, especially in luxury travel.” Once again, there is evidence that the industry is
taking this advice to heart. As a 2020 survey by Statista found, 50% of travel and hospitality companies now consider customer data analytics “very important”, with 23% describing it as “critical”.
Raise a glass Though much of the conference focused on big themes like digitalisation, delegates also took time to
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