News Briefs

As more than two thirds of hotels continue to experience staffing shortages, hoteliers are offering more pay and a host of incentives in order to attract and retain talent, according to a new survey conducted by the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA).

Over the last six months, 82% percent of respondents have increased wages, which hit a record high average for hotels in December 2023. In addition, 59% are offering greater flexibility with hours, and 33% are expanding benefits. Nonetheless, 72% say they are still unable to fill open positions.

Sixty-seven percent of survey respondents said they are experiencing a staffing shortage, and 12% said they are “severely understaffed,” meaning the shortage is affecting their ability to operate. The most critical staffing need is housekeeping, with 48% ranking it as their top hiring need.

These numbers are an improvement from May 2023, when 82% of survey respondents indicated they were experiencing a staffing shortage.

Respondents to the most recent survey are attempting to fill an average of nine positions per property, nearly unchanged from May 2023 but up from the seven vacancies per property average in January 2023.

Ongoing staffing challenges are resulting in historic career opportunities for hotel employees. There are more than 70,000 hotel jobs currently open across the nation, according to Indeed, and as of December 2023, national average hotel wages were at an all-time high of $23.91 per hour, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Additionally, average hotel wages have increased faster than average wages throughout the general economy since the pandemic, and hotel benefits and flexibility are better than ever.

“The hotel workforce situation is slowly improving thanks to record-high average wages and better benefits and upward mobility than ever before,” said AHLA President & CEO Chip Rogers. “But nationwide labor shortages are preventing hoteliers from filling tens of thousands of jobs, and that problem will weigh heavily on our members until Congress takes action. We urge lawmakers to address this urgent issue by creating an H-2B returning worker exemption, passing the Asylum Seeker Work Authorization Act, and passing the H-2 Improvements to Relieve Employers (HIRE) Act.”

As of December, the United States had 9 million job openings, but only 6.3 million unemployed people to fill them, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Congress can help hoteliers address workforce shortages by taking the following actions:

• Expanding and streamlining the legal H-2B guestworker program. The H-2B program is vital to helping independent hotels and resorts in remote vacation destinations fill seasonal roles, but the program is capped at 66,000 visas each year. Exempting returning workers from this inadequate cap would help hoteliers hire employees who can provide critical staffing relief for seasonal small business hotels and help rebuild the post-pandemic economy.
• Cosponsor and pass the Asylum Seeker Work Authorization Act (S. 255/H.R.1325). A historic number of asylum seekers are already housed in hotels across America. They are awaiting court dates and are following the legal process. Unfortunately, current law prevents them from legally working for at least six months, forcing them to rely on assistance from local governments and communities. This bipartisan legislation would help hotels address critical staffing needs by allowing asylum seekers to work as soon as 30 days after applying for asylum.
• Cosponsor and pass the H-2 Improvements to Relieve Employers (HIRE) Act. This bill would expand the H-2A/H-2B labor certification period to three years and permanently authorize the waiver of in-person interviews for returning workers. The HIRE Act would make it easier for qualified workers to secure jobs in fields that are struggling to recruit and retain enough employees to meet demand.

Methodology

AHLA’s Front Desk Feedback survey of 408 hoteliers was conducted Jan. 8-18, 2024.

Domino's Pizza Inc. introduces its new and improved loyalty program. 

Domino's Rewards offers loyalty members even more opportunities to earn and redeem points across its corporate and franchise store locations. Domino's enhanced rewards program allows customers to:

• Earn points for less
  • Loyalty members will now earn 10 points on every order of $5 or more
• Redeem points for even more menu items – and earn free Domino's after just two orders
  • Members can redeem a variety of points for more menu items:
    • 20 points: A free dipping cup, a 16-piece order of Parmesan Bread Bites or a 20 oz. drink
    • 40 points: An order of Bread Twists or Stuffed Cheesy Bread
    • 60 points: A medium, two-topping pizza; pasta; Oven-Baked Sandwich; or a 3-piece order of Chocolate Lava Crunch Cakes
• Earn more rewards
  • Loyalty perks are now even better, as members will have exclusive access to member-only deals, special discounts and opportunities to earn bonus points!

"We are thrilled to give the brand's loyal customers additional ways to earn free Domino's items more often," said Mark Messing, Domino's vice president of digital experience and loyalty. "At a time when most brands are scaling back their loyalty programs and making it more difficult to earn and redeem points, Domino's is doing the opposite. We want to make it easier to reward our customers and give them more options so they can get rewarded faster."

Marketing a LTO 

From now until Oct. 22, 2023, rewards members can take advantage of a limited time offer to redeem 20 points for a free order of Domino's new Pepperoni Stuffed Cheesy Bread, which is normally a 40-point redemption, in celebration of the product's recent launch. 

Voicify, the market leader in conversational AI, today announced it has been selected as the Conversational Voice AI provider for 

Danté Restaurant and Bar has selected Voicify AI Answering to service customers who call its New York City locations.

High Volume Calls

Danté's use of voice AI frees up staff to serve in-person guests and fulfill orders while extending a high-touch, high-end experience to customers who call. 

Each Danté location fields 1,500 customer calls per month. 

"We were named #1 World's Best Bar in 2019 and Best Bar in America for both 2019 and 2020, so we have a reputation to guard," said Linden Pride, Owner of Danté. "As a result, we're highly selective when it comes to customer-facing technologies. Among conversational AI providers, Voicify was the obvious choice because of their deep expertise and superior technology. Voicify automates aspects of our front-line service to free up human employees to focus on the personal, face-to-face guest service that has won Danté a top spot in the hearts and minds of so many New Yorkers for more than a hundred years."

Before Voicify, these calls were answered by onsite staff or went to voicemail. Voicify is answering calls even when the venues are closed.

Guests can ask basic questions that are answered by Voicify AI Voice Assistants. Questions include 'What hours are you open?'; 'Do you deliver?'; 'Tell me about your menu'; and 'May I place an order?'. With AI acting as a front-line automated assistant, restaurant staff spend less time on the phone and more time serving in-person guests and fulfilling orders. 

An Intelligent Option

Danté  is among a growing number of restaurant operators adding Voice AI to help with operations. Recently, Jersey Mike’s added Voice AI Phone Ordering.  Checkers & Rally's, Panera, CKE Restaurants and Good Times are using – or piloting the use of AI – in the drive-thru to help automate the ordering process so that staff can focus on other tasks such as customer service and food production.  

• RTN's AI Share Group Spotlights Real-World AI Use Cases

Voicify is optimized to handle natural human speech. This means that Danté customers can speak their questions or requests without modifying their speech at all. As part of the conversational flow, Voicify AI assists phone customers using the most appropriate messaging method. For example, the AI assistant can automatically send an SMS text with a link to restaurant location directions or the restaurant's online ordering platform. Voicify assistants continually learn and improve based on customer interactions. As needed or at customer request, the AI assistant can connect the guest with human staff.

Designed to deploy quickly and integrate directly with existing phone, POS, kiosk and other restaurant technologies, Voicify AI sets the standard for conversational AI by learning quickly and delivering intelligent and reliable performance for any situation.  

 RoomRaccoon, a leading Hotel Management System for independent hotels, has announced its strategic partnership with Reconline, a renowned hotel distribution and connectivity solution. The partnership offers RoomRaccoon users a seamless connection to some of the industry's most influential Global Distribution Systems (GDS), including Sabre, Amadeus, Galileo, and Worldspan.

The integration empowers RoomRaccoon users with a powerful yet affordable way to manage their online distribution. By establishing a real-time connection with major Global Distribution Systems (GDSs), RoomRaccoon users can reach over 450,000 travel agents all over the world and showcase their properties to a wider audience of potential guests. This, in turn, can help them to increase their revenue. 

"As a partner, we are delighted that RoomRaccoon is leveraging our best-in-class GDS hotel distribution technology to provide its hotel customers with the opportunity to tap into new streams of revenue in this growing market segment," said Markus Maissen, Managing Director, reconline AG.

“As we continue to expand our hotel distribution connectivity marketplace, we are excited to partner with Reconline and grant our users access to their extensive distribution network,” says Steven Reffin, Head of Partnerships at RoomRaccoon. “Thanks to enhanced distribution, our hotels can showcase their properties to a global audience, driving increased bookings and revenue.” 

Hotels can now automate their room reservation process with the help of RoomRaccoon and Reconline. With RoomRaccoon's Channel Manager, the hotel's property management system can efficiently send real-time information to the distribution system. This ensures that travel agents have access to the most accurate data regarding room availability and rates.

The RoomRaccoon and Reconline integration is available to hoteliers worldwide. 

Cloudbeds, the hospitality management platform powering more reservations and happier guests for independent lodging businesses around the globe, has today revealed rankings of the highest revenue-generating Online Travel Agencies (OTAs) worldwide, as well as by various countries and regions.

The findings, featured in Cloudbeds’ 2023 ‘Big Book of OTAs’, underscore the robust resurgence of OTAs, with the highest revenue-generating platforms experiencing a remarkable hold in the market. Meanwhile, regional OTAs across Asia have been rising in popularity, signaling the return of Asian travelers to the market.

The analysis follows extensive research by Cloudbeds involving tens of thousands of independent properties globally, including hotels, inns, motels, hostels, short-term rentals, and serviced apartments.

Sebastien Leitner, VP of Partnerships at Cloudbeds, said: “Based on data gathered from thousands of customers’ independent properties between 2021 and 2023, we’ve witnessed a remarkable pace of recovery for Online Travel Agencies. While top OTAs like Booking.com, Expedia, and Airbnb have held onto their spots as the top revenue generators, we’ve also seen China’s Trip.com climbing two spots.

“For independent properties, building a comprehensive channel mix is integral to securing a steady stream of reservations, yet navigating the complex world of OTAs is no easy feat. That’s why our team at Cloudbeds analyzes booking data from tens of thousands of independent properties each year, offering insights into which OTAs dominate globally, regionally, and across different property types.”

Below are the ten highest revenue-generating OTAs globally in 2023, according to data from Cloudbeds’ independent customer properties:

1. Booking.com
2. Expedia
3. Airbnb
4. Hostelworld
5. Agoda
6. Trip.com
7. Hotelbeds
8. Vrbo
9. Traveloka
10. Despegar / Decolar

The new rankings from Cloudbeds also highlighted the OTAs that drove the highest revenue for its customers in leading travel destinations across North America, LATAM, Europe, and the APAC region.

While Booking.com, Expedia, and Airbnb consistently ranked among the five highest revenue-generating OTAs in all 11 countries, Cloudbeds observed the return of Asian travelers as Agoda and Trip.com rose in North America and made their debut on Latin American lists.

Meanwhile, Hostelworld climbed the ranks in multiple countries, notably leaping five spots in Thailand and the Philippines, demonstrating a renewed demand for hostels, shared accommodations, and experiences.

In line with previous years, Cloudbeds’ data consistently shows that independent properties of all sizes experience a boost in revenue when additional OTA channels are added, with six channels being the magic number.

For a comprehensive overview of the top distribution channels worldwide – including a breakdown by many regions and countries – download a free copy of Cloudbeds’ second annual “Big Book of OTAs: A Hotelier’s Guide to Top Distribution Channels” at cloudbeds.com/online-travel-agencies.