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Articles by Bill Barnett
BEING 2026 returns as global wellness boom transforms Asia’s travel sector
BEING 2026 features a full-day line-up of expert-led sessions and highly engaging workshops Wellness has become one of the most consequential forces shaping the travel and hospitality industry. Globally, this sector is predicted to be worth US$1.35 trillion by 2028* – more than double its value in 2022. Thailand is at the forefront of this growth, as wellness seekers are lured by a seamless blend of hospitality, wellness innovation and ancient wisdom.
The Bangtao Effect: international lifestyle brand surge reshapes Phuket’s most valuable coastal district
NLCS Phuket, opening in 2028 in the Bangtao vicinity Bang Tao is fast becoming Phuket’s key brand-led growth corridor, as international hotel groups, branded residences, Central-backed retail and a new international school help turn the coastal district into a year-round lifestyle and community hub.
Indonesia Tourism Xchange 2026 to unite industry leaders for a forward-looking dialogue on the future of travel
The inaugural Indonesia Tourism Xchange 2026 will be held at The Langham, Jakarta Indonesia’s tourism and hospitality sector will gain a new national industry platform with the launch of Indonesia Tourism Xchange 2026 (ITX 2026), a focused forum bringing together hotel owners, operators, investors, and senior decision-makers from across the archipelago to examine the forces shaping the country’s tourism economy at a time of renewed growth and increasing complexity.
Chain Scale Hopscotch: Benefits and Challenges of Moving Up and Down - By Bryan Younge
Chain Scale Hopscotch: Benefits and Challenges of Moving up and Down - Image Credit Unsplash Are there any advantages to moving up or down on the chain scales? Absolutely, say industry experts. Any hotel chain knows of the existence of the chain scale, a ranking system based on hotels’ average daily rate and the number and quality of amenities and services they offer.
What is TRevPAR? Total Revenue Per Available Room Explained - By Jonathan Gough
What is TRevPAR? Total Revenue Per Available Room Explained - Image Credit Lighthouse Hotel performance is often judged by a few familiar numbers – occupancy, ADR and RevPAR. But while these metrics are useful, they tell only part of the story. As a revenue manager, if you focus solely on room income, you risk overlooking valuable contributions from other parts of the property that can significantly boost your bottom line, such as F&B, spa services and paid add-ons.
RISE 2025 to empower women in hospitality with full-day learning event in Phuket
A powerful new initiative to elevate and empower women in hospitality is set to launch in Phuket this August. RISE 2025 – Reshaping Hospitality by Empowering Women is a full-day learning experience focused on career growth, skill-building, and inclusive leadership. The event is co-organised by C9 Hotelworks, Mrs B Group, and Delivering Asia.
Koh Samui shines as Thailand challenged: Positive tourism performance drives island growth
The Koh Samui hotel and tourism market is demonstrating solid growth through the first four months of 2025, supported by strong air and cruise arrivals, stable hotel performance metrics, and impressive European market engagement. From January to April of this year, Koh Samui International Airport recorded 1,127,832 passenger arrivals, representing a 9% increase over the same period in 2024.
Tourism boom drives residential-led hospitality investments in Phuket
Thailand’s tourism boom is driving lifestyle investments as traveller traffic morphs into a desire to stay longer in the country. The number one beneficiary is Phuket, where arrivals continue to soar with a 23% increase in 2024 compared to the previous year for a total of 8.65 million arrivals registered at Phuket International Airport.
Visayas, Mindanao developers lead the archipelago’s best real estate at the 12th PropertyGuru Philippines Property Awards
The 12th Annual PropertyGuru Philippines Property Awards, presented by Kohler and supported by Boysen Paints and Dongpeng Ceramic, today distinguished the achievements of real estate developers, featuring major winners from across the Visayas and Mindanao regions. Held at Shangri-La The Fort, Manila, the black-tie gala spotlighted the rapid growth and diversification of property markets beyond the national capital in over 80 categories.
Eat, Pray, Sleep Bali-Style. How I Escaped the Box : 4Hoteliers
At the time, the idea was radical, captivating, and edged over the boundary of hospitality norms. Fast forward to 2022 and KP’s daughter Renyung Ho has embarked on a generational leap with her own version of escaping the box, this time at the newly opened Buahan – A Banyan Tree Escape on the outskirts of Ubud, Bali. What’s different this time? In a nutshell, the walls of the box have disappeared and what’s left can simply be termed an amazing journey into a magical rabbit hole.
Thailand Archives - Asia Property Awards
There had been an influx of tourists since Thailand scrapped the Test & Go programme and other entry requirements on 1 May
White labels rock the boat across Asia
There is one truism about the connection between trends and the global pandemic that could not be more accurate: COVID-19 for the most part is an accelerator towards a future that was already coming, suddenly pushed into the path of a speeding train.
Burning The Hotel Sales & Marketing Plan : 4Hoteliers
One of the most predictable strategies we are seeing is the FOS (flock of sheep syndrome), in this case, the flock is Russian and Eastern European travelers. Mind you the snowbird season is winding down and the next opportunity will come at the end of the year, hotels are urgently hiring Russian-speaking sales staff, staging sales calls, and making a last-ditch effort for the remains of the day.
How I was unfriended by the hotel industry and lived to tell the tale
Bill Barnett, managing director of C9 Hotelworks, discusses the absence of B2C communication and urges hoteliers and their marketing teams to not forget existing customers. As the world collectively yawns and slowly wakes up from the nefarious Covid-19 induced travel coma, countless hotels are suddenly looking at kick-starting their sales and marketing efforts. My only comment to them is shame, shame on you.
The dumbing down of the hotel industry (one byte at a time)
Bill Barnett, managing director of C9 Hotelworks, examines the use of technology by hotel chains and its lack of appeal to the next-gen workforce. My fascination with dinosaurs has been a captivating interest since childhood. Ranging from early indestructible toys and eventually morphing into the late-night watching of the Japanese movie Godzilla. Size mattered in the fight for world domination and big, bigger, biggest was the order of the day.
Re-opening Thailand to tourism will be vaccine dependent
Bill Barnett from c9hotelworks.com continues to follow the difficult journey of the Thai hospitality industry. Traditionally, now would be the start of the country’s highly profitable high season for the tourism industry. But not this year. Thai hotels find themselves in the middle of an existential crisis – either still closed, only partly open, or one of the few converted to limited ASQ traffic. The situation is dire, when you consider that between 15-20% of Thailand’s GDP is linked to tourism.
Build Your Personal Value Proposition
Executives set value propositions for their products — the target market segments, the benefits they provide, and their prices. It’s why a target customer should buy the product. But value propositions go beyond just products. Your personal value proposition (PVP) is at the heart of your career strategy. It’s the foundation for everything in a job search and career progression — targeting potential employers, attracting the help of others, and explaining why you’re the one to pick.
The Hotel Business Plan – Why It Must Die (and soon) : 4Hoteliers
It’s Friday and I’m over-caffeinated, so hang on tight. Wait, I can hear my heart beating fast, or is that a gang of unruly wild cats on the roof of my office? Never mind. Every great religion in the world has a voluminous written tome aimed at spelling out in truly arcane, absurd, and most often monotonous overtones why they are the true one and only el supremo. These are fanatical spiritual guidebooks that expect unquestioning followers to simply take instructions and question nothing.
Death of the Travel Middleman : 4Hoteliers
Sadly, it’s weak as English tea and as saggy as an aging, punched out, a heavyweight boxer in the waning seconds of the final round. One thing for sure is death, in this case, is DOA (for those unfamiliar with noir, that’s dead on arrival). As usual, I have digressed at an early stage. Is it too late for a comeback or have you moved onto browsing those all too funny endless stream of cat photos? Cats are hard to beat on IG or YouTube, but let’s give it a whirl anyway.
All Zoomed out: How collaboration has become the kill switch of hotel creativity
Bill Barnett, managing director of C9 Hotelworks Company, looks at the "creative nightmare" of virtual meetings. There is no mistaking the sound of a flushing toilet. It’s not a sudden rainstorm, or the whoosh of a juiced up, flash mob of joggers on steroids passing by on the street. Arguably, it’s a dirty little low-pitched thunder from down under that somehow triggers the gag reflex.
How Collaboration Has Become the Kill Switch of Hotel Creativity : 4Hoteliers
One of the truly troubling misguided themes of the pre-pandemic trends of co-working, co-living, co-thinking, work from home but innovate in groups ethos was that collaboration was indeed the way forward for innovation including hotels. This is bullshit. Pure and simple. I’m sorry to those who say ‘you can’t say that?’ Well guess again, I just did.
Smashing the inner demons of hotel interior design inertia
Bill Barnett, managing director of C9 Hotelworks Company, explores the inflexibility of interior design and a shift away from the concept of four walls. It’s Monday morning and my thought process has somehow hit the wall. Not literally mind you, but the thought of wearing a helmet and assuming the psyche of a crash test dummy just makes it all worse. My head has been literally spinning around in circles, not unlike that classic case of devil possession in the Hollywood thriller The Exorcist.
Mindbender: The oh so fine art of escaping hotels
Bill Barnett, managing director of C9 Hotelworks Company, reflects on the last few months and how the pandemic has fostered innovation. Help. I’m stuck in an industry that is headed for a head-on collision in a whacked out, amped up vehicle that is absolutely out of control. Am I going to die? Dunno. Maybe. Stay tuned and welcome to my Sunday morning dilemma. I’m three robust coffees in the tank, fully caffeinated and a bit edgy. Human nature has a strong fatal attraction with disaster.
Let’s Make A Deal
Over the past three months not one single hotel I stayed in last year has contacted me, bothered to connect or even reached out to say hey. I stayed in over 50 individual hotels last year. I find this strange as a host of people I barely know have checked in on Facebook, Linked In, Email or WhatsApp during the crisis, but businesses that rely on loyalty have fallen insanely mute. I’m a hotel loyalty member of Marriott, Hyatt and ACCOR and travel frequently.
Let’s make a deal - The hotel chain crisis reaction
Bill Barnett, managing director of C9 Hotelworks Company, shares his thoughts and experiences on hotel chain communication and distribution throughout the crisis. While we are still in the midst of the evolving Covd-19 storyline, one thing that is apparent is how massively ill-equipped global hotel group’s sales and marketing and distribution systems are for disruption.
Damn the Outlets. Why Hotels Get Restaurants and Bars Insanely Wrong : 4Hoteliers
You can already tell how the story is going to play out, when you premise that hotel operators lump what should be brand opportunities into a sorry, sad basket called outlets. I’m a hotelier by trade, but am man enough to know how we get things wrong and it’s time to change. Let’s start at the beginning of the disaster about to happen, as the hotel technical service group and others issue out an area program, brand standards and outlet concepts.
The One-Night Stand : 4Hoteliers
The great escape is on folks. For hotels across the country we are now being inundated with a mad candy-crush like obsessive storm of direct email, social media and even phone calls for pre-paid hotel stays. I do get it. Hotels are now being forced to open, and the Thai government social security subsidy is set to disappear so properties are wondering what to do with all those staff.
Damn the outlets: Why hotels get restaurants and bars insanely wrong
Bill Barnett, managing director of C9 Hotelworks Company, shares his view on the redundancy of hotel F&B outlets. From buffets to welcome drinks, overly standardised offerings and no sense of space utilisation, hotel restaurant and bar design remains a highly institutionalised vanilla-flavoured train wreck. You can already tell how the story is going to play out, when you premise that hotel operators lump what should be brand opportunities into a sorry, sad basket called outlets.
Green shoots: Farm-to-table hotels
Bill Barnett, managing director of C9 Hotelworks Company, explores creative food menus in farm-to-table hotels. Let me tell you a story. Growing up we did not have the internet. It did not exist. As a boy, my best set of friends would gather and talk in the schoolyard about what we had watched on television the night before. It ended up being a form of collective trending in an age before twitter hashtags. As there were just three major TV networks to choose from, the options were rather limited.
When Choosing a Job, Culture Matters
Some organizations will excite you. They’ll stimulate your success and growth. Others will be stressful. They may lead you to quit before you’ve accomplished much or learned what you hoped to. With the pressure (or excitement) of finding a new job, it’s all too easy to pursue a job opportunity or to accept an offer with only a hazy view of how the institution really operates.
Hospitality’s Health + Wellness’s Great Escape From Niche, To The New Luxury : 4Hoteliers
--- When I was six years old, my world ended with the abrupt start of first grade in school, I recall the traumatic experience and sharp departure of my pre-school lifestyle into the new dark world of a disciplinary regime and gone was breakfast at leisure, endless hours of TV and the luxury of time.
The Aha! moment: Hotel design’s new mantra shouts “out with the new, and in with the old”
Bill Barnett, managing director of C9 Hotelworks Company, shares his view on the future of vernacular design. “Bingo”, it’s like a lightbulb exploded straight in my face, as I spring off the psychologist’s couch and straight into the nearest craft cocktail bar. My newfound euphoria is little match for a sudden comprehension into the post-crisis apocalyptic world of hotel design.
How hospitality’s colossal social experiment ran straight into a wall
Bill Barnett, managing director of C9 Hotelworks Company, shares his view on the future of hotel social spaces. It’s no easy task unraveling the COVID-19 great wall of voodoo, let alone predict the future. I can only think back to the 1990’s and the heyday of singer Dionne Warwick’s Psychic Friends Network, where for $3.99 a minute, clairvoyance was only a short call away. Today all we have are digital soothsayers, pseudo LinkedIn experts and webinars.
How Asia’s luxury hotel branded residences are evolving into investment grade real estate
Bill Barnett of C9 Hotelworks looks at the upward trajectory of Asia's hotel branded residences sector. A sustained upward growth trajectory in Asia’s hotel branded residences is seeing the sector mature into a Grade A real estate asset class. According to C9 Hotelworks' latest research, the Asian region now accounts for more than a third of global stock.
My Exile on Pain Street : 4Hoteliers
Mind you there currently is no travel ban between Thailand and Singapore, yet someone in one office has not informed another office to connect the dots. The resulting chaos means either I can opt in and go home, with the consequences being my kids cannot go to school for two weeks or else I check into a hotel and become a refugee away from home and family. I’ve chosen the latter. Singapore is generally an extremely safe place, often referred to as Asia-light or Orange County East.
Top 5 Things Hotel Developers Should Know : 4Hoteliers
But for the myriad cast of new and inexperienced hotel developers out there, perhaps a visit down Alice’s rabbit hole is necessary to see just how to measure success in a crowded playing field. Here is our Top 5: As beachfront land and ocean views disappear in an urbanizing trend, hotel development is seeing an unprecedented push inland. Big, medium and small box properties are springing up in locations where owners only explanation for a hotel, is that they already owned the land.
Phuket eyeing 55 new hotels for the future
by Bill Barnett One of Asia’s leading resort destinations, Phuket, looks set to weather a perfect storm as soaring hotel supply is forecasted to be challenged by declining tourism demand. New research from consulting group C9 Hotelworks in their Phuket Hotel Market Update Mid-Year Edition has revealed an island development pipeline of 15,348 keys set to enter the market over the next 5 years, which represents an 18% push in total supply.
How Serviced Apartments Found Their Mojo : 4Hoteliers
Prehistoric caves, in fact, have a lot in common with serviced apartments. First off, depending on the weather or the imminent threat of a rabid pack of T-Rexes, the local population might decide to stay in the cave for a week or even a month. Wa-la, a hotel segment was born. Let’s face it, caves catered to extended stays with the earliest known convenience kitchens, spacious lounge areas and, of course, amenities like a firepit.
Florida mayors: Gov. DeSantis, make early-childhood education his priority
We mayors and our colleagues take seriously the responsible stewardship of our constituents’ tax dollars. We also know that prioritizing early childhood development is a wise investment in Florida’s future. We have plenty of evidence for saying so.
Florida mayors urge DeSantis to prioritize early education | Commentary
From left, Buddy Dyer is the mayor of Orlando. Francis Suarez is the mayor of Miami. Bill Barnett is the mayor of Naples. Lauren Poe is the mayor of Gainesville. From left, Buddy Dyer is the mayor of Orlando. Francis Suarez is the mayor of Miami. Bill Barnett is the mayor of Naples. Lauren Poe is the mayor of Gainesville. Mayors Buddy Dyer, Francis Suarez, Bill Barnett and Lauren PoeGuest Columnist We mayors and our colleagues take seriously the responsible stewardship of our constituents’ tax dollars.
Make Your Job More Meaningful
Work is a financial necessity for almost everyone, along with the sacrifices work sometimes demands. It can be drudgery. But work also can be fun and exciting. The competition can be energizing. Work can be an important and positive part of our lives. I learned a lot about this from Amy Wrzesniewski and her work with job crafting (PDF). She describes three attitudes about work — what she calls jobs, careers, and callings.
Try Out a New Career Before You Make the Leap
Different paths can lead you to new careers, and there are ways to explore these paths with little to no risk. You can build different skills on top of the strengths you already have. There are brainstorming exercises to imagine new possibilities. You can research different fields of work, talk to friends, and attend company presentations. But what if you’re still puzzled? You may not know what works until you’ve tried it.
The Clearest Path to a Career That’s Right for You
Nothing in career strategy is more important than picking the career field that’s right for you. Get that right, and you may be headed to happiness and fulfillment in your work. The most straightforward path to that field is to build directly on your capabilities. A great deal of research shows that people who work in areas where they’re especially strong accomplish a lot and enjoy the work. By building on your strengths, you’ll find the right opportunities.
Dos and Don'ts: How to Get an Employee to Work Faster
There is no doubt that the pace of work everywhere has increased. We’re all expected to do more in less time. So what do you do if you have a tortoise on your team? How do you diagnose why he takes so long to get his work done? And how do you then help him understand the importance of picking up the pace — and support him in doing so?
Create a Growth Culture, Not a Performance-Obsessed One
Here’s the dilemma: In a competitive, complex, and volatile business environment, companies need more from their employees than ever. But the same forces rocking businesses are also overwhelming employees, driving up their fear, and compromising their capacity. It’s no wonder that so many C-Suite leaders are focused on how to build higher performance cultures.
We All Need Friends at Work
Survey after survey shows that employee engagement at work is at an all-time low. One way to help improve engagement at work is to foster friendships. We all know them: the good old fashioned friendships created when we chit-chat, hang-out, joke, and have fun with co-workers. Tony Hsieh, the CEO of Zappos, the online shoe retailer with over $1 billion in sales, fosters fun and friendships as part of his corporate culture.
Drowning in Work? Here’s How to Ask a Colleague for Help.
Raise your hand if you have an insurmountable pile of projects on your to-do list and an inbox so terrifying to behold that you can hardly bear to behold it. You have too much to do. You can’t do it alone. You need people to help you. Why aren’t they helping you?!? Here’s the uncomfortable truth: If you aren’t getting the support you need with your crushing workload, odds are it’s kind of your fault. Cue the sea of angry readers giving their screens the finger right now.
How to Identify and Tell Your Most Powerful Stories
When I ask executives what their favorite speech is, Steve Jobs’s Stanford commencement address is always at the top of the list. Many think of Jobs’s talk as their favorite because it is incredibly moving — thanks to the stories it contains. Execs love to hear talks like this, but few are comfortable delivering them. Why? Because great stories expose our flaws and our struggles. This is what makes them inspiring, and not sharing them is such a missed opportunity to connect with your audience.
When Choosing a Job, Culture Matters
Some organizations will excite you. They’ll stimulate your success and growth. Others will be stressful. They may lead you to quit before you’ve accomplished much or learned what you hoped to. With the pressure (or excitement) of finding a new job, it’s all too easy to pursue a job opportunity or to accept an offer with only a hazy view of how the institution really operates.
The First Requirement for Becoming a Great Manager
Among the many requirements placed on those who take responsibility for the performance of others, there is one that is rarely mentioned. Yet, ironically, it may be the most important because so much else depends on it. We don’t just mean the courage to make hard decisions or take tough actions, such as giving difficult feedback, denying a promotion to someone who’s good but not good enough, cutting popular but unsuccessful programs, or even laying off people when the economy goes bad.
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