Hotel Tech Insider

SPEAKER_01:
All the tools, all the technology, the tech stack that we have in place is designed and there to support that, to identify revenue opportunities, identifies ways where we could ship market share, what our comp set is doing, what our environment is telling us that they are doing and reacting to that. And again, all of those data points that we mentioned before that feed into the decision-making process and help us identify ways to continue driving more revenue and then market to the hotels. And then at the same time, giving our operators the tools to then assess labor, productivity, food costs, all of those elements that then go into the expense component to deliver on the profitability section.

SPEAKER_00:
From Hotel Tech Report, it's Hotel Tech Insider, a show about the future of hotels and the technology that powers them.

SPEAKER_02:
Today we're talking to Lior Seckler, the Senior Vice President of Revenue Management at HRI. Lior speaks to us with a wealth of experience, having started his career in restaurant technology, then moving over to revenue management at Hilton, before finally making his way to HRI in 2010. He now oversees a team of revenue managers working with both branded and independent hotels. You'll want to hear how Lior and his team keep tabs on their competitors, why he looks to the airline industry for inspiration, and what his most critical technology partner is. I'd like to start the conversations by learning a bit more about your background. So if you could take a couple minutes and share with me your career so far, what you've been doing in the industry, and then what you're doing now at HRI.

SPEAKER_01:
I've been in the hotel space for a long time, trying not to date myself, but I graduated from Cornell's hotel school back in 2000 and actually didn't go into the hotel space right away. I went into a business-to-business venture opportunity that arose, actually also part of this conversation. It's interesting because Also in the technology space, it was a new company. That was back in 2000 when that dot-com era was very prevalent and very active. And this company that I joined, it was called Restaurant Trade back then. Now it's called Avero, if they're still around. I'm assuming they're still around. And it was meant to pretty much automate procurement between restauranteurs and suppliers because in the restaurant industry, traditionally, it was like pick up the phone, call your vendor and request the items and they deliver it to you and you get a paper invoice. But we wanted to really automate the whole procurement process, make it more BI-centric with analytics, assisting with the cost element of it, and really streamlining the whole procurement element. So I did that for a couple of years. I was employee number four or five in the company, I think, back then. And I was really tasked with getting the customer acquisition, the whole business development side and getting restaurateurs to buy into the program and the platform and also educating them on the platform and how to really change their processes. So I did that for a couple of years and then I kind of plateaued in the company and I realized that I needed to venture out and explore something else. And I went back to the hotel space and I joined Hilton in revenue management, right? Directly into revenue management at the property level. And I did that for several years. I worked at Hilton on the managed side with airport markets, city center markets, suburban markets, resort destinations, and I even opened new properties for Hilton, Austin and Convention Center. So really did the whole scope with Hilton Revenue Management for probably a decade. And then I really felt that it was time for me to go into above property responsibility and more of a regional support role after being at the property level for so many years. And Hilton at that point was going through the transition with Blackstone and the timing was not right. So I didn't have any opportunities with Hilton. And I did have a great opportunity to join Sofitel, which is a luxury brand within a core. And I was the regional for the Americas, supporting the North and part of South America portfolio on the revenue management side. And it was an interesting experience working for a European or French based company has its pros and cons. And also operating in North America where purchasing behaviors and demand generators and dynamic is very different than the European markets was a learning curve, not just for me, but also for the people that I had to report to and provide support. So I did that for a couple of years and then 9-11 happened and they had to downsize and restructure the regional support and my position was eliminated. And then I took some time off to regroup and recharge and refocus. And then HRI approached me, never heard about the company, never been to New Orleans. And it was intriguing because they really gave me this opportunity or a blank canvas to come on board and redefine and develop the revenue management support for the company. At that point, and we're talking now in 2010, HRI had five properties under its management portfolio. Of those former Hilton and one was a Wyndham and the fourth Hilton were actually revenue managed through the Hilton's revenue management support center that does this outsourcing for brands or for their properties. So first, I brought the revenue management in-house. I recruited and hired talent and really helped define and grow the discipline to... Now we're 28 properties and growing in all markets, all major markets, and all brands. And I have a great team of complex directors of revenue in the company. And I'm proud to say that revenue management is probably one of the strongest disciplines in our organization. So I've been with HRI now since 2010 and that's the gist of it.

SPEAKER_02:
So in your current role, you're overseeing all of revenue management for HRI. What does that look like in terms of your team? Are you working with the brands at all? I'm curious to hear more about your current role.

SPEAKER_01:
Sure. So pretty much I am responsible for all the revenue management support for the properties, but not directly. I have complex directors of revenue that report to me. In our company, we pretty much structure it whereby each complex director has about three properties under their support structure. And we keep it brand-centric, meaning that you either support Hilton or Marriott or Hyatt or Independence or IHG or whatever it is, because we are franchisee for all the brands and all the chains. But now, I'm looking into the future and potentially looking at maybe changing it a little bit just from a career development and professional growth for my team and making them more cross-pollinate between brands. So maybe now you're just a Hilton-focused director of revenue. How about training on Marriott systems? And maybe that will give you some more exposure to the Marriott world and gaining more exposure and experience to that. So There are a couple of individuals that really want to grow and learn and develop and really cross brands and disciplines. So we're doing that. I definitely work with the brands as well. All the brands have regional revenue management support that they extend to the franchise community. So it's pretty much on a neat basis. We reach out to them if we need support, if we need help with policies, procedures, loading, trying new initiatives. In the franchise world, we always try to test the waters and draw outside the lines. So many times we need to reach out to them for approvals or different waivers and requests that don't kind of comply with the branded standard operating procedures, which we tend to do often. And then I also work with the development team on new developments in terms of market assessment, analysis, feasibility, and also, which is part of our conversation, I identify technology and identify tools and resources that would help my team perform better in their daily duties.

SPEAKER_02:
Curious, in your eyes, what is the most critical technology partner for you?

SPEAKER_01:
It's a partner that is innovative, nimble, forward-looking, forward-thinker, dynamic, user-friendly environment, and customer service-centric. We find that some of our partners, whether they're mandated or we decide to contract them through brands or whatnot, have gone through evolution, whether it's mergers, acquisitions, transitions, they grew outside their means, customer service becomes an issue, the reliability of the product becomes an issue. So one that is definitely engaged, involved, reliable, and Again, innovative and creative that just not has the boilerplate template approach and really able to identify opportunities to think differently and evaluate data and strategies in a way that would help us move the needle forward.

SPEAKER_02:
And is there a particular vendor that you're working with now that checks all those boxes?

SPEAKER_01:
Yes, Lighthouse is definitely one of them. Lighthouse is definitely one that has gone through evolution. If I go back to the days of OTA Insight before Lighthouse, there was always the, even I'll admit it as well, I always thought OTA Insight was a great chopping tool. But then a couple of years ago, I was really made aware that it's not just a rate shopping tool. They provide a lot more BI solutions and more analytics besides just rate shopping in terms of the way that they capture the data, the way they aggregate the data, and then allow you to then analyze the data and information. Then fast forward, we also partnered and joined Spider, which now is part of Lighthouse as well. And Spider was a game changer for us because it was the first time that I was able to easily and quickly view data, analyze data, aggregate data. independent of the brand affiliation, in one platform and one dashboard in a very seamless way. Because as a franchisee and as an operator, we operate all brands, all chains. But I can't... I can, but it's just very laborious to go into the Marriott systems and the Hyatt systems and the Hilton systems every day and pull data. This way, I have one dashboard that pulls all the information in one seamless way. Second to that was that we onboarded our entire portfolio on OT, Insight, and Spyder all at once, which is a very big task and a big ask. And the team at Lighthouse was very accommodating, very supportive, and very instrumental in getting us through the process, the onboarding process very quickly, very seamlessly, and follow through with any technical issues. They are also very nimble. They're very open to recommendations, suggestions. When we joined Spyder, We had bi-weekly calls and then monthly calls and the team provided a lot of suggestions about ways to improve the platform and they took a lot of them. And some of the elements in the platform today have come from recommendations and suggestions from my team on how to make the platform better and more useful. I will share another one. We were not a big player with them, but Duetto has been another great partner. Duetto really also helped us look at things differently. For example, we don't have to close rate plans and we don't have to limit certain production or certain market segments. We just need to modify their structure and modify the way we position those rate plans and those channels in the distribution systems. So for example, if we're getting to a compressed period, we might not want to close off a certain channel, but maybe just restrict the amount of discounting or the level of discounting. So that's one way that Duetto kind of really structures their model and their platform to improve the revenue management support structure.

SPEAKER_02:
And are you using Duetto at all? 28 properties?

SPEAKER_01:
No. Duetto is only for our independent properties in the Bay Area.

SPEAKER_02:
I would imagine the brands require you to use their RMS.

SPEAKER_01:
Yeah. Which, again, that's another conversation piece. Talk about tech stacking. Obviously, as a franchisee of the brands, we are mandated to use their systems, which is fine. But not all of them are very user-friendly. They're not reliable. They're not advanced. They're not very sophisticated. I will say they have invested money and resources in the last couple of years to make them more sophisticated and more intuitive and more advanced in their algorithm and the way they measure performance and capture data and provide the algorithm for the analysis. But at the same time, Marriott, for example, is still using systems from the 1980s. And the systems fail sometimes, there's a lot of downtime, the reports are delayed, the information is not fully accurate, a lot of it is manual. So there's a lot of hurdles in some of the systems and the trust in their reliability and just the performance. Fortunately, we have systems that layer on top of them, again, going back to the spiders of the world, that take the data, aggregate it, and spin it differently so we're able to still navigate through that. But it requires us to invest in outsourcing of systems that really build off of the branded systems.

SPEAKER_02:
Any other tech that your team is using on a daily basis?

SPEAKER_01:
So we also use TravelClick or Amadeus products. You know, the BI tools, the Demand 360s, the Agency 360s. And then obviously, then you have the backend accounting software that my team use as well when they're forecasting and budgeting process.

SPEAKER_02:
And what system is that, that the accounting is run on?

SPEAKER_01:
So we use a platform called Vena. V-E-N-A.

SPEAKER_02:
And then are all the systems connected? So the data from OTA Insight, does that communicate with the data from Duetto? You know, does it all flow into reporting in some way?

SPEAKER_01:
Some do and some don't. So for example, again, with Lighthouse, the rate chopping feeds into Spyder. And the data from the PMSs and the CRSs also feed into Spyder. But for example, Agency 360 is standalone. Demand 360 is standalone. So we have to go and view those on a separate platform. Another platform that we used before that we're considering maybe bringing back again in some of our properties is Calibri Labs Hummingbird. I will say that again, it's another company just like Duero that looks at data and information differently and really challenges you to think in the less traditional ways of metrics and KPIs that the hotel industry uses today. So for example, today we measure performance by RevSpark, the revenue per available room. Calibri Labs does that as well, but they take it to the next level by measuring data through profitability. So all of the information you're getting, all of the rate plans, all the production, all the distribution channels, They look at the volume and the revenue that comes in, but then they also break out the costs associated with those channels and what the profitability that's associated. So sometimes you would assume, oh yeah, our OTA volume, our OTA business is less profitable because we pay a significant amount of margin commission to the OTAs, meaning Expedia, Booking.com and all of the third parties. But then when you look at it, When you look at your direct channels, you have to pay the connectivity component, the commissions to the travel agent sometimes, that when you factor all that in, sometimes it's not less profitable than another channel. So it really depends by market, by seasonality, by property type, and by the amount of volume that each channel contributes to your mix of sales to drive it. So I really give accolades to the team at Calibri Labs for being able to really challenge the industry as well and offer the hotels ways to really measure performance at the profitability level as opposed to just at the revenue level. They also, the Hummingbird platform does capture on a very granular level, captures demand information from different sources destination management companies, global distribution systems, the brands, in terms of corporate account production at the corporate account level. So not just at the travel agent level, but really the corporate account. And they also capture air travel information, which Lighthouse does as well with their heat maps. So they're really capturing travel industry related items, both platforms do Lighthouse and Hummingbird that really help us navigate information and look at variables in the universe that impact our activity, not just the traditional information that we've received before.

SPEAKER_02:
And that's so valuable, I would think to see the data slice different ways to get those different perspectives to help your team make the most educated decision.

SPEAKER_01:
Yeah, because Adrian, we've had quite a few, I'm trying to not use the word disruptor, but Maybe they are a disruptor because they are a player in the space. For example, the vacation rentals, the Airbnbs, the VRBOs, they became a big player before pandemic. Clearly during pandemic, they were a big player because of the dynamics of the purchasing behaviors and the comfort level. But it's definitely something that we have to take into account and not ignore in many of our markets because For example, in New Orleans, the Airbnbs and the Saunders of the world account for about, on peak right now, 10,000 nights of available inventory. So that taps into the demand that we would capture Otherwise, right? So we do see the impact of that space. During special events, conventions, high demand days, because before. We would have our organic compression that would just come from the hotel community. But now we have to consider. other elements that came into the accommodation space that were not as prevalent before. And some of these platforms do factor that in and they do capture like your DNA and they capture all the information that is relevant for us in our assessments.

SPEAKER_02:
Yeah, absolutely. Your comp set is actually a lot bigger than just your star comp set. There's a lot of other players in the market. So it's great that you're considering those.

SPEAKER_01:
Exactly. And that's also, for example, we subscribe to CBRE's Horizons reports, which is the quarterly reports that come from the analysts at the hospitality side of CBRE. And they have a section in their report that also talks about the short-term rental space, because it's a big factor. And when you look at the Lighthouse heat map as well, there's also elements there that you can tap into and factor in the short-term rental space that impacts the activity.

SPEAKER_02:
Anything else on your tech stack that you'd like to share?

SPEAKER_01:
I think those are the major players. The other challenge that we have, and like I started before, is in my discipline, our model is a complex model whereby one individual supports multiple properties. So we want to make sure that their time is utilized effectively and seamlessly. So we want to provide them, again, systems and tools and resources that make their day more seamless and the process more effective because they're looking at different markets, they're looking at different hotels all the time. The information changes very quickly and rapidly and they have to be tuned to it and they have to be aware of all of the changes. So we want to make it very easy for them to navigate through all that information. So we also try to not layer in too many systems and too many tools because Just like with data, it can be data overload and the same with system overload. So at some point when you have too many systems and too many tools, some get used more, some get used less. We want to make sure that we use all of them as best as possible and we get the return on the investment.

SPEAKER_02:
Absolutely. So thinking ahead, is there any vendor that you've seen on the market that has really piqued your interest or seems especially innovative, but you have not implemented it yet?

SPEAKER_01:
Not that I was made aware of, just from a revenue management standpoint. I keep chatting with individuals about technology that really focuses around driving more direct bookings. So for example, we just implemented Guestbook at one of our independent properties in Arizona. The property did not have a loyalty program and was really relying just on their website and some organic marketing for direct bookings. But we're layering Guestbook, which is a very seamless platform on top of our booking engine, to really tap into the loyalty program of Guestbook and get more exposure and get more reach through that. So some of those, I'm talking to somebody tomorrow that has some technology around collecting money for smoking fees for hotels that still allow smoking. I spoke to somebody last week also about again, his technology around driving more direct bookings to the sites, and also more so focusing on the ancillary revenues and how we can capture more on parking, on food and beverage. So also looking at ways of finding tools and technology platforms that help us identifies ways that are not necessarily just room revenue related, but other revenue related because we are looking at total revenue, not just room revenue. So that is really the focus is helping our hotels and our teams find ways to obviously drive room revenue because it's a big component, but then taking it to the next level of really focusing on the total revenue aspect of

SPEAKER_02:
Have you considered or maybe tried a tool that helps with upselling?

SPEAKER_01:
Yes. So we do use that. We use NOR1 in most of our properties for upselling. We also use, for example, in one of our independent properties, we have Amadeus. iHotelier is our CRS, and they have some upselling capabilities through that as well. Synexis, as well as our CRS for some of our other independent hotels, they have some upselling capabilities. We always try to make sure that we have the latest and greatest CRS versions. We have the latest and greatest website versions, because everything evolves. What we have today is not going to be what we have tomorrow. And what we have tomorrow is not going to be what we're going to have next month. So we want to make sure that everything is the most cutting edge, most innovative, more user-friendly. because also today's consumer wants it to be seamless, dynamic, innovative, informative because they buy based on content, they buy based on reviews, they buy based on the photography, the offerings. So we want to make sure that we cater to all of those so we can convert as much as possible.

SPEAKER_02:
And how do you think about keeping that tech stack on the cutting edge? Do you do like an annual audit to make sure all your systems are serving you? Or how do you think about curating that tech stack to always be most relevant?

SPEAKER_01:
We stay current with our partners. We always make sure that we have the most current products with them. But then at the same time, we also... I communicate with my peers and other management companies, as well as other vendors. I also get plenty of cold calls all the time about products and services. So I try to be accommodating to those as well to reach out with their products and services. and also attending the conferences and the conventions that display and showcase some of those tools and platforms that are available as well to keep current, whether it's high tech or the costar conventions or any other industry related events that would allow the exposure to those platforms. The worst part is when you get these cold calls and clearly they've not done their research and they're reaching out to me to talk about something about payroll. And I'm like, no, that's an HR function. It's not my function. We get so many emails and phone calls every day that I'm like, okay, let's make my time and your time useful and do your research before you engage in that because that's the most frustrating part.

SPEAKER_02:
Switching gears slightly, I'm curious to hear about one or two high-priority business objectives that you're focused on, and particularly how technology is helping you get there.

SPEAKER_01:
Our business objective is... The first and foremost is obviously to drive revenue and then increase market share, and then provide the best profitable business and return on the investments for our ownership and our investors. Clearly, we know the top line, we have to deliver the top line. But then also, we have to find ways to deliver on the bottom line. Because unfortunately, not always they work together. Sometimes you miss the top, but miraculously, you're able to make it on the bottom. And sometimes you make the top and unfortunately, you miss it on the bottom. So those are the major business objectives that obviously, financially, we need to deliver on. All the tools, all the technology, the tech stack that we have in place is designed and there to support that, to identify revenue opportunities, identifies ways where we could shift market share, what our comp set is doing, what our environment is telling us that they are doing and reacting to that. And again, all of those data points that we mentioned before that feed into the decision making process and help us identify ways to continue driving more revenue and then market to the hotels. And then at the same time, giving our operators tools to then assess labor, productivity, food costs, all of those elements that then go into the expense component to deliver on the profitability section. And it has to be reliable, it has to be user-friendly, and it has to be efficient. If it's cumbersome, if it's clunky, if it's laborious, you're not going to use it, or there's going to be errors in the process. So again, we find that those that are able to deliver the ones like... And again, it seems like I'm a broken record. But those that are able to deliver the ones that are innovative, creative, dynamic, user-friendly, and reliable are the ones that are going to win the game.

SPEAKER_02:
And does HRI have a business intelligence team or some folks that are focused on curating those reports or reporting tools?

SPEAKER_01:
Yes, I wouldn't say a team, it's maybe a team of one. In our accounting function, we do have a person that is on the analytics side of it and the reporting side of it. So him and I really work really closely together on a lot of that information, but He's the one that really has access to and exposure to the various systems, whether it's the back-end accounting, as well as the front-end components of it. So between him and I navigating through all the systems, we're able to deliver a robust set of tools and reports to help the operators reach those objectives. We're still a boutique management company. So we don't have an army and a team of individuals. The good thing is just like other companies, we're also very nimble. And we also learn and grow as we add more properties and really enhance the infrastructure. So when I started, it was a lot of Excel documents and a lot of manual reports. So we've made leaps and bounds in the last call it 12 or 13 years since I've been in the discipline in the company and added hotels. And I'm sure there's more to come down the road, but we definitely have it a lot more automated, more seamless. I spend less time pulling data from different resources, just really focusing on a couple of really good platforms to give me a good indication and understanding of what's going on.

SPEAKER_02:
And given that there have been so many changes in the industry, what do you consider a couple of key skills or characteristics that every hotelier should have in order to be successful?

SPEAKER_01:
I'll go back to using some of the objectives I mentioned before. You have to be open-minded. You have to be nimble. You have to be able to really challenge the status quo and not just subject yourself to a box or format or a model that has been in place for a while. When I joined the company, again, luckily I had a blank canvas. I was able to really define and create the policies, the procedures, the structures, the business policies, and the structure of the team. In terms of recruitment as well, you have to be open to the remote work environment. I know many employers are not open to that. But in our company, we fully support the remote work environment structure and all of my team are home-based and remote. And also, stepping back and finding the balance between work, taking some time off, and recharging and refocusing. Because in our hotel industry, we burn ourselves out. And I think as hoteliers, we need to find a delicate balance and really find the time to step back, recharge, refocus, and be able to disconnect, which I don't think that many of us do regularly and properly.

SPEAKER_02:
For sure. Yeah. And when it's really a 24-7 business, it can be hard to... There's always More to do.

SPEAKER_01:
There's always more to do. But at the same time, I tell people, listen, we're not saving lives, okay? So it's fine. Things are going to be okay.

SPEAKER_02:
I like to finish with a fun final question. What is one thing that you believe about technology in the hotel industry that your peers might disagree with?

SPEAKER_01:
That is 100% accurate. Even in our commercial strategy calls every week, we look at the systems, we look at the platform, we look at the information, and I stare at it and I'm like, hmm, that doesn't make sense to me. That doesn't look right. So not always the information in there is fully accurate. You have to... This is like an airplane. I mean, there is autopilot, right? And it does get the plane from point A to point B to some degree, but you still need to have the pilot there. So the same in our case, we have some great tools and resources and they tell us a lot of information, but I do need my shrewd, sophisticated, educated, talented, skilled director of revenue management to still be able to identify those nuggets of information and really piece the puzzle together to make it make more sense and deliver the overall package to the commercial team effectively.

SPEAKER_02:
Yep. We're definitely not at the point yet where technology can do everything for us. We still need that human oversight.

SPEAKER_01:
I'm fascinated by this whole buzz around these self-driving cars. I mean, it's fun. It's a great idea. It's very cool, but it's terrifying thought, you know, that you're going to have roads full of cars that are autopilots.

SPEAKER_02:
Well, yeah, to your point about airplanes, it's the same type of thing. The autopilot works great when everything's normal, but once there's that unusual situation, that anomaly that comes up, that's where probably the human is still very valuable.

SPEAKER_01:
Exactly. I mean, again, the hotel industry has made a significant amount of progress and headway in technology in all ways, whether it's the property management system, the central reservation system, all of the BI platforms, a lot of headways since I've been more than two decades in the space. But there's still fundamental ways of looking at the information, analyzing it, and aggregating it and making it more appropriate for the user, that we're still not there. And there still needs to be a lot more investment from a brain trust perspective, from a infrastructure perspective to get us to the next level where we're a lot more innovative. I will say again, the hotel space is compared often to the airline industry. I give tremendous amount of accolades to the airline industry. They have mastered the ability to capture revenue and manage inventory and ancillary revenue exceptionally well. I mean, when you go and try to buy a ticket right now, After you select your itinerary, you have about five or six screens following that, guiding you through the process of spending more money and really capturing more revenue, whether it's a seat, whether it's baggage, whether it's food, whether it's departure times, whether it's early boarding. They have mastered the ability to do that both on the ground and on the air. And that's what we need to do is being able to master the process, tapping into the consumer's purchasing behavior and purchasing needs at every moment, before, during, and after their stay.

SPEAKER_00:
That's all for today's episode. Thanks for listening to Hotel Tech Insider produced by Hoteltechreport.com. Our goal with this podcast is to show you how the best in the business are leveraging technology to grow their properties and outperform the comp set by using innovative digital tools and strategies. I encourage all of our listeners to go try at least one of these strategies or tools that you learned from today's episode. Successful digital transformation is all about consistent small experiments over a long period of time. So don't wait until tomorrow to try something new. Do you know a hotelier who would be great to feature on this show? Or do you think that your story would bring a lot of value to our audience? Reach out to me directly on LinkedIn by searching for Jordan Hollander. For more episodes like this, follow Hotel Tech Insider on all major streaming platforms like Spotify and Apple Music.