New initiatives from Hotel Business

I’m always happy when I get to use this page to announce ways in which Hotel Business will continue to lead the industry and help grow your businesses. Especially now, when we’re just beginning to turn the corner on what could arguably be one of the worst—if not, the worst—human and financial crises this industry has experienced.

Tough times for sure, but there is some levity in the air as leisure travel is starting to pick up, the economy is rebounding and conferences are keeping their rescheduled dates. Side note: Allen and I, as well as Senior Editor Adam Perkowsky, are booked for the Hunter Conference. We can’t wait to be in-person at an industry event and hope to see you in Atlanta.

More than ever, we know you want—and need—to know the stats to inform your decision-making process and to once again create stability within your organization as the hotel industry begins this road to recovery. And I’m thrilled to tell you that Hotel Business has entered into an exclusive partnership with Kalibri Labs to bring its unique, useful and useable data, via its “Mind the Gap” series, to you, as you continue to plan, rebuild and thrive.

We’re working closely with Kalibri Labs’ Cindy Estis Green and Mark Lomanno to deliver this information in biweekly emails, starting this month, available online and through social media channels. In addition, a quick snapshot of pertinent data will accompany each of our print issues in a dedicated spot on the news cover (see page 5 of the issue).

“Mind the Gap: Your Resource for Recovery” is a series that highlights the gap between historical and post-COVID hotel demand. The reports tap into the Kalibri Labs industry database, which is uniquely stratified by market segment, and will examine the wide variation by market and location types along with chain scales and hotel tiers to inform you about the underlying demand composition.

Pre-COVID, approximately half of the U.S. hotel industry revenue was driven by commercial travel—including corporate accounts, consortia, business-related conventions and meetings, government travelers and airline crew—and much of it stopped by the end of March 2020. Those markets, submarkets and hotels with a higher reliance on commercial travelers sustained the heaviest blow from the pandemic, and understanding the composition of demand by market and hotel type is essential to enable improved planning for a return to economic health.

Moreover, Hotel Business will be bringing this data to life through its Hot Topics event series, where industry experts will weigh in on the information and provide in-depth analysis about what it means to the hospitality industry. The content generated from these sessions will be available on all Hotel Business media platforms.

And speaking of our media platforms, Hotel Business is now on Instagram! Make sure to follow us at @hotelbusinessmag. We’re super excited to launch our IG debut with a new campaign: Meet Me. We’re highlighting human-interest stories featuring hospitality professionals from all levels who give back to our industry, lending their time, resources and knowledge. Leaders like these are crucial to keeping our hospitality spirit alive, especially as we navigate recovery.

Our first person to meet is Mitesh (Mike) Jivan, founder of 1070 Hospitality. We were introduced to Mike by Keith Driver, who works for Mendocino County offices in Ukiah, CA. Keith emailed us writing, “In my last meeting with Mike, he had your magazine on his desk, and I did some research and decided to send you this email. Mike and his company have saved countless lives in our community, and I believe he has not gotten the credit he deserves for his efforts.” Well, Keith, we learned more about Mike and his caring heart, and we agree, he deserves credit. So, Meet Mike. Check out his story on Instagram.

We’re looking forward to hearing and sharing your story, too. Email Digital Content Manager Abby Elyssa at [email protected].

One final note: This is our annual management company issue. Our list is typically ranked by gross annual revenue, but this time, we’re presenting it in alphabetical order. Many of you reached out with concerns about reporting numbers for 2020, and we understand. By the time our Green Book publishes in December, I hope we’ll be able to resume reporting and ranking just like we have for the last 24 years.