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Articles by Philip Schaetz
Stop asking what AI earns; ask who it earns for
Every hotel owner meeting now contains the same question. What is AI earning us? It sounds reasonable. It is the wrong question. Show the same AI tool to an operator, an asset owner and a guest, and you will hear three different answers. Each is correct on its own scorecard. None of them agrees on what "return" actually means. That gap kept surfacing as I prepared to moderate a panel on AI and human intelligence at IHIF Asia. Hospitality is not short of AI. It is short of agreement.
Is your hotel relevant enough to be chosen?
A single question is quietly disrupting one of hospitality's most comfortable assumptions. It's not whether your hotel is beautifully designed. Not whether your team delivers warm, genuine service. Not even whether your brand story is compelling. The question is simpler, and more demanding than that: Are you relevant to the specific person making the decision, in the specific moment they are making it? This is important because relevance — not authenticity, not uniqueness — is what drives choice.
If you only know the guests you already have, you are already falling behind
Hoteliers at luxury properties often say they know their guests better than anyone, and in many ways this is true. Guest history tools are used well, customer relationship management profiles are updated carefully and on-property teams pay close attention to repeat behavior and personal preferences. The systems capture the facts. The people capture the feelings. It is the feelings, the emotional observations, the small details that make luxury hospitality meaningful.
Food for thought: Why food-and-beverage revenue is the hotel industry's best-kept secret
When you think of revenue optimization in hospitality, your first instinct may be to focus on rooms — rate management, occupancy forecasting and room pricing strategies. But there’s a revenue goldmine that’s often left untapped: restaurants and bars. Traditionally seen as a necessary service rather than a strategic revenue driver, this area is rapidly emerging as one of the most exciting growth opportunities in hospitality.
Is hospitality losing its heart and its profit?
With artificial intelligence and automation advancing rapidly in hospitality, one question lingers: As technology takes over, are we losing the personal touch that sets us apart? This isn’t just about nostalgia; it’s a commercial issue. If we focus too much on efficiency, we might miss out on something that directly affects guest satisfaction, loyalty and ultimately revenue. This thought has stayed with me since a dinner with my friend and mentor, Lynn Grebstad.
Go Where the Money Is: Mastering Hotel Asset Performance
In the competitive arena of hospitality, the key to success extends far beyond the allure of an exquisite building or a renowned brand. It hinges on mastering the intricate interplay between product positioning, guest personas and revenue optimization. Welcome to a domain where hospitality meets business acumen, where the pursuit of top-line revenues reigns supreme and where every interaction with guests presents an opportunity to shine.
Welcome to Hotel Netflix?
Today's modern guests don't just want to make a reservation. They want their preferences, interests and needs to be understood by "their brands." They are used to this from brands such as Netflix with its personalized user interface, as well as from Amazon or Starbucks. Forbes even claims that guests are willing to pay a premium if the value of an experience is considered unique. Accordingly, brands that have recognized this achieve an additional profit of 10% to 30%. Attitude vs.
Welcome to Hotel Netflix?
Today's modern guests don't just want to make a reservation. They want their preferences, interests and needs to be understood by "their brands." They are used to this from brands such as Netflix with its personalized user interface, as well as from Amazon or Starbucks. Forbes even claims that guests are willing to pay a premium if the value of an experience is considered unique. Accordingly, brands that have recognized this achieve an additional profit of 10% to 30%.
And you thought COVID-19 was bad? What’s coming could be worse – life on Mars - WIT
And you thought COVID-19 was bad? What’s coming could be worse – life on Mars 17/08/2021, by WiT, in Distribution, Featured, Marketing, Mobile, Regions, Sectors What if Apple built a hotel, streamed it like Netflix, designed it like Airbnb? By Philip Schaetz and Martin Reiher FORGET COVID-19. What if you woke up in Elon Musk’s dream? We have conquered the Red Planet. Through terraforming, we built an atmosphere and a liveable ecosystem. Shuttling back and forth to Earth is now an easy commute.
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