As nearly 80% of hotels experience staffing shortages, hoteliers are offering potential hires a host of incentives to fill vacancies, according to a new survey of hoteliers conducted by the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA).

Seventy-one percent of respondents are increasing wages, 64% are offering greater flexibility with hours, and 33% are expanding benefits – but 81% say they are still unable to fill open positions.

Seventy-nine percent of survey respondents indicate they are experiencing a staffing shortage, 22% severely so. The most critical staffing need is housekeeping, with 43% ranking it as their top hiring need.

The numbers are an improvement from September 2022, when 87% of respondents to an AHLA survey said they were short staffed, 36% severely so, with 43% ranking housekeeping as their top hiring need at the time.

Respondents are attempting to fill an average of seven positions per property, down from 10 vacancies per property in September 2022.

These staffing challenges are resulting in historic career opportunities for hotel employees. As of December, national average hotel wages were at all-time highs of more than $23 per hour. Since the pandemic, average hotel wages have increased faster than average wages throughout the general economy. And hotel benefits and flexibility are better than ever.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, hotel employment is down by more than 250,000 jobs compared to February 2020. Hotels are looking to fill many of the jobs lost during the pandemic, including nearly 100,000 hotel jobs currently open across the nation. 

To help hotels fill open jobs and raise awareness of the hotel industry’s 200+ career pathways, the AHLA Foundation’s “A Place to Stay” multi-channel advertising campaign is now active in 14 cities, including Atlanta, Baltimore, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, Nashville, New York, Orlando, Phoenix, San Diego and Tampa. For more info on the campaign, visit thehotelindustry.com.
 

Additionally, AHLA affiliate “Hospitality is Working” recently launched the Workforce & Immigration Initiative. The effort is aimed at urging Congress to address workforce shortages with bipartisan solutions to incorporate more immigrants into the American economy. You can learn more about the effort here.

“Recruiting enough workers continues to be the top challenge for many hoteliers, and this is leading to historic career opportunities for hotel employees,” said AHLA President & CEO Chip Rogers. “AHLA and the AHLA Foundation are working tirelessly to grow the industry’s talent pipeline and retain workers through innovative events like National Hotel Employee Day and compelling ad campaigns like ‘A Place to Stay,’ but there is still more to be done. We need Congress to help address workforce shortages with bipartisan solutions to incorporate more immigrants into the American economy.”

Methodology: AHLA’s Front Desk Feedback survey of more than 500 hoteliers was conducted Jan. 10-17, 2023.

IRIS, a provider of digital F&B and guest experience platforms, was deployed to provide guests with a seamless and efficient mobile dining service and to maximize F&B opportunities and drive revenue across the hotel. 

With 950 bedrooms and 7 restaurants and al fresco bars, the luxury resort is located in the heart of the Arizona desert and offers a host of state-of-the-art facilities, including five pools, luxury cabana cottages and pool suites.

The IRIS app, first installed prior to COVID, enables the hotel to enrich the guest stay and drive ancillary revenue with a quick, effective method of ordering and paying for food and drink items. Orders are delivered directly to the kitchen via the EPOS integration, and as a result demands on staff time are minimized, processes are streamlined and delivery times are quicker, all serving to increase operational efficiencies.

Nebojsa Sarenac, JW Marriott Phoenix Desert Ridge Resort & Spa’s Senior F&B Operations Manager commented, “The IRIS mobile dining platform gives us many options to maximize ancillary revenue across our resort and enhance the guest experience. With the simple and seamless ordering platform, in-room sales and average check size have soared by 40% and we are already seeing a significant return on the investment.

“With new features being released regularly, we’re learning all the time. The app is fully integrated and seamlessly connects across the systems and operations we currently have in place.”

Today’s guests are demanding a more contactless experience where they can self-serve online. As such, JW Marriott Phoenix Desert Ridge now plans to maximize sales further by expanding the scalable, mobile dining platform to other parts of the resort including the Spa Bistro and the pool areas, thereby adding additional channels to boost revenue generation.

With the use of QR codes along with IRIS’s approach to F&B ordering, JW Marriott’s guests can browse menus, place orders for in-room dining and pay their bills at a time and location that suits them, via their own mobile devices. Likewise, QR codes in all the bedrooms eliminates the need to print off and distribute 950 laminated menus for each room. Unlike paper directories, when changes are made, the digital menus are updated automatically online, the team only needs to print the QR code once. Not only does this lower printing costs, but it also offers a more sustainable, environmentally friendly way to manage menu changes and reduce paper, whilst at the same time saving housekeeping having to manually update the paper version room-by-room.

The staff at the newly revitalized resort have also experienced the benefits of the app. It’s easy to edit and update with new menu items and they are able to control the pace of orders by setting delivery times and temporarily turning off mobile ordering to ease congestion in the kitchen and reduce strain on staff and resources during peak times. 

For the full case study on the JW Marriott Phoenix Desert Ridge Resort.

 Ecotrak and Therma, an IoT-powered equipment monitoring and analytics platform, formed a strategic partnership agreement that integrates Therma's Cooling Intelligence Platform with Ecotrak Facility Management Software.

Therma IoT sensors send temperature and humidity data directly into refrigeration and HVAC assets in Ecotrak, triggering real-time emergency alerts and intelligent workflows. Asset runtime hours and downtime events are also tracked and recorded, delivering sensor-driven insights on the lifecycle of the asset.

The collaboration enables Ecotrak and Therma customers to reduce food waste, carbon emissions, plus save time, energy, and maintenance costs.

Knightscope, Inc., a developer of autonomous security robots and blue light emergency communication systems, today announces another successful deployment of its K5 Autonomous Security Robot (ASR) at M Resort Spa Casino, a PENN Entertainment, Inc. property and the Official Team Headquarters Hotel of the Las Vegas Raiders.

"We are always looking for ways to enhance and elevate our guest experience," said Patrick Durkin, VP of Marketing for M Resort. "M-Bot is a welcomed addition to the security team as it helps provide guest assistance, peace of mind and safety for our guests and staff."

The K5, affectionately named “M-Bot” by resort staff, patrols the parking lots and garage wearing the M Resort logo. M-Bot greets guests with a friendly voice and promotes the M Resort brand while providing additional eyes and ears for the large human security team. The robot also offers a two-way communication system to enhance the safety of visitors and workers. Even more importantly, M-Bot provides some relief to human guards required to patrol in the blistering Las Vegas heat.

“There is a good reason Knightscope Security Robots have been spotted at so many casinos across the country,” said William Santana Li, chairman and CEO at Knightscope. “Entertainment and gaming professionals acknowledge the importance of technology to manage positive customer relationships and ensure an experience with the highest levels of safety.”

Resort, gaming and hospitality professionals looking for innovative security solutions or improved emergency communications for properties in the U.S. are encouraged to book a discovery call or meeting now at www.knightscope.com/discover to learn more about Knightscope’s autonomous security robots and blue light emergency communication systems.

Meyer Jabara Hotels emerged from the pandemic stronger than ever. The management and ownership group is coming off a record-setting year. To keep the company on this trajectory for financial stability and growth, MJH appointed 30+ year hotel finance veteran Jay Sarkar as Chief Financial Officer.

“In today’s economy, average daily rates and revenues are up; that’s the good news,” said MJH President Justin Jabara. “The bad news is the cost of goods, capital projects, interest, and labor are up too. To keep Meyer Jabara Hotels financially strong and growing, we brought in an expert in hotel finance. Jay is a results-driven, hands-on CFO who is known to develop corporate strategies and translate them into actionable financial plans that maximize profitability and performance. He is a forward-thinking leader with tactile foresight and demonstratable success capitalizing on growth opportunities, improving bottom-line performance, and optimizing organizational efficiencies. We are delighted to bring Jay on board and consider him a trusted advisor and partner to our stakeholders and executive team.”

In addition to managing the accounting processes for Meyer Jabara’s 31 individual hotels, Sarkar is tasked with planning the financial future of the management company. He will be working alongside the Chief Investment Officer, VP of Investments & Asset Management and the VP of Development to get more hotels into the portfolio.  

“While we wait for the economy to stabilize, we will focus on finetuning the finance department and making it a well-oiled, plug-and-play machine,” Sarkar said. “In addition, we will be creating a new reporting process built on accuracy and timeliness to make sure all financial data is consistent across all Meyer Jabara Hotels. Key to financial success will be adding more revenue from the management-company side of the business.”

Longevity in Hospitality

Hospitality is Sarkar’s passion. Prior to joining Meyer Jabara Hotels, Sarkar served as CFO for StepStone Hospitality in Providence, R.I., and prior to that held a CFO post at Alena Hospitality in Orlando. He also held regional controller and numerous finance positions with Pyramid Hotel Group in Oak Brook, Ill.; Adams Mark Hotels in Indianapolis and Northbrook, Ill.; and numerous Starwood Hotels & Resorts in New York. Sarkar is a licensed Certified Public Accountant. He received his Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Phoenix and Bachelor in Accounting degree from Mercy College in White Plains, NY.

“It is truly an honor to join a hospitality company whose success comes from 45 years in the hotel business,” Sarkar said. “You don’t see longevity like this in too many industries. The Meyer Jabara name – derived from the partnership of Bill Meyer and Richard Jabara – holds a lot of weight in our industry. I am proud to work for this multi-generational family venture now under the direction of Justin Jabara. The Journey Culture and tutelage behind the Meyer Jabara name is its real strength.”

QSR Krystal recently launched a new franchise website to further attract partners and continue their aggressive growth plans.

The site was developed by Hot Dish, a full-service, Franfocused and BrandFocused ad agency. The new site was built to support a lead conversion strategy and a speed to market approach.

"Krystal has a goal of reaching 500 units in the next few years and our franchise partners play a vital role in this endeavor. We're continually developing ways to better support our partners and to ensure our shared growth and success," said Casey Terrell, Chief Marketing Officer for Krystal Restaurants LLC. "With its more than 90-year history, Krystal has stood the test of time and is a proven concept that offers partners a winning business model. In addition to our legacy that is backed by our unique and highly craveable menu, we offer partners flexible store designs that fit their markets and extensive support from onboarding to opening and beyond to help them achieve their goals."

Industry Vet Moves to Krystal

The new franchise website comes on the heels of recent franchise deals that Krystal has inked with popular celebrities in music, media, and sports, as well as a notable multi-unit deal with seasoned restaurant professional Argus Wiley and his Red Door Foods. The Wiley deal includes the purchase of 21 existing Krystal restaurants and a development deal for 15 new locations. Krystal also recently expanded internationally with the opening of their first Puerto Rico location.

Krystal also recently opened a new U.S. prototype designed with off-prem in mind and has been posting breaking record sales.