Home Publisher's Point of View Some Thoughts on a Historic Week & The Lodging Conference

Some Thoughts on a Historic Week & The Lodging Conference

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What a week it was. Let’s hope we don’t see another one like it. While attending The Lodging Conference in Phoenix last week, an event that drew more than 1,400 people to The Arizona Biltmore Resort & Spa, America’s leaders in Washington, D.C. debated how best to get our country out of what many were calling the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. Added to that was the largest bank collapse (Washington Mutual) in U.S. history, and an almost unnoticed $25 billion in guaranteed government loans granted to Ford, General Motors and Chrysler to help keep them afloat. The news did not exactly provide the backdrop the organizers of The Lodging Conference were hoping for. What a week indeed.

It was not all bad news in Phoenix, however. Conference speakers, including company presidents and other leaders, were cautiously optimistic that our industry would emerge from the current downturn relatively unscathed. “On a per room basis, owners are more profitable this year, and last year was a record year,” said Harry Javer, president, The Conference Bureau, one of the event’s organizers. Even if owners and operators are able to hold rates steady, however, dollars available for building new hotels will not be easy to find. “The ability to go out there and create new hotels is being challenged,” said Mitesh Shah, senior managing principal & CEO, Noble Investment Group.

Green hotels were the focus of discussion in two educational sessions and the topic was brought up in two general sessions. When asked what our industry’s next major trend is going to be, Peter Strebel, president, Wyndham Hotels and Resorts, said, “I believe it is going to be green hotels. As brands, we need to start requiring green changes.” Now those are the types of comments I like to hear.

More News & Comments

Here are some additional comments gleaned from, and in response to, the various conference sessions.

• An editor from one industry publication asked the panelists in one general session whether or not they thought the green movement was here to stay, or just a fad. Really, does that question still need to be asked?

• Wyndham’s Peter Strebel said the next wave of technology in our industry will focus on how to make hotels more energy efficient.

• Reminiscent of something one might hear 10 or 15 years ago, one well-known industry executive stated that most resource-saving technologies have an ROI of at least four years. Of course this is not true at all. Payback time on the technologies that have the most impact today are usually less than two years and often less than one.

• According to Walter Isenberg, president & CEO, Sage Hospitality Resources, LLC, his company is ranking its hotels by what they do to be sustainable. A points-based system is used.

• In regard to building green hotels, including ones built to LEED standards, Nicholas Lakas, director of global operations and guest experience for Starwood’s element brand, said, “It is not something we have a choice to do. It is a morally and socially responsible step.” Lakas added that Starwood’s first element hotel—in Lexington, Mass.—should get its LEED certification in the next few weeks.

• During the “Eco-friendly Design Concepts and Product Trends” session, one gentleman complained about encountering building commissioning fees that are four times higher than just a couple of years ago. Has anyone experienced the same? Commissioning is required as part of the LEED qualification process.

• Thanks to Denise van den Bossche, LEED facilitation sales/business development for SSRCx, LLC in Phoenix, I learned that Greenbuild, the United States Green Building Council’s annual trade show and conference, will be held in Phoenix in 2009. A total of 35,000 people are expected. USGBC may decide to regionalize the event after 2009.

• If 2009 is going to be a more challenging year, there is no better time than today to start thinking about changes you can make to reduce costs related to energy, water and waste.

• Finally, what struck me throughout the conference is how much more education our industry needs in regard to green design, products, trends and technologies. Our industry’s conferences should dedicate more time to these issues.

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