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Josiah Mackenzie

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3 Stories, 1 Mission: Our Journeys to Hospitality Leadership – Dina Belon, Mike Hirschler & Casey Barks, Staypineapple Hotels

🏨 In the August 26, 2024 episode of the Hospitality Daily Podcast, Staypineapple Hotels leaders Dina Belon (President), Mike Hirschler (Chief Growth Officer), and Casey Barks (Vice President of Marketing) discuss their career journeys. Belon highlights the role of her design background in leadership, the brand's "elegant whimsy" aesthetic, and her philosophy of kindness with efficiency. Hirschler reflects on his early passion for hospitality, career challenges during COVID, and the importance of cultural fit. Barks offers insights into the contrasts between city and resort hotels, PR during the pandemic, and Staypineapple's brand personality. The episode explores the PATH water bottle initiative and Belon's decision-making process.
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My Journey From The Philippines To Guest Relations Manager in San Francisco – Ana Atienza, InterContinental Mark Hopkins

🏨 Ana Atienza became Guest Relations Manager at the InterContinental Mark Hopkins San Francisco, where she oversees guest satisfaction. After studying hotel and restaurant management in the Philippines, Ana chose hospitality over broadcasting. She started her career as a barista and management trainee in the Philippines before advancing in the hospitality industry in San Francisco. The episode discusses the value of customer service, the challenges at the front desk, and the need for passion and patience in hospitality. Ana's advice includes not taking things personally and focusing on guest interactions. The discussion also highlights San Francisco's allure for visitors. 📅 August 25, 2024.
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Story-Driven Hospitality in 2024 – Samantha Hardcastle

🏥 Samantha Hardcastle, founder and creative director of The Storied Experience, shares insights on story-driven hospitality in an episode dated Aug. 24, 2024. Key insights include the creation of experiences that align with guests' aspirations (02:57), the importance of a hotel's mission and reconnecting with its original purpose (05:16), the impact of the environment on behavior (06:10), activating hotel spaces to provoke curiosity (08:09), aligning with tourism and experiential elements (11:03), incorporating local history interactively (14:37), and embracing regenerative travel principles for community impact (16:42).
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How We’re Building a Next-Gen Luxury Resort With Thousands of Other People – Melissa and Tanner Cummings, Cypress Resort

🏘 Melissa and Tanner Cummings, co-founders of Cypress Resort, discussed their innovative luxury nature resort on Aug. 23, 2024. They highlighted the resort's "thin spaces" concept (03:30), their focus on luxury for quality and service (06:11), and the use of crowdfunding to engage future guests (13:56). The episode delves into serving guests authentically (18:21) and shares details on the resort's groundbreaking, opening, and participation opportunities (23:58).
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Partnerships For Fun, Creativity (And Profit!) – Ernest Lee, citizenM

🏩 Ernest Lee, Chief Commercial Officer at citizenM, highlights the significance of partnerships and collaborations in a podcast episode dated August 23, 2024. He discusses citizenM's approach to creating unique experiences, engaging target audiences, and leveraging resources efficiently. Lee also details a partnership with Yes Theory, a content creation team with nine million YouTube subscribers, showcasing the alignment with citizenM's brand mission. The episode is supported by Sojern, emphasizing the importance of building profitable guest relationships.
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Applying the “Amazon Prime Playbook” to Hotels – Ernest Lee, citizenM

🏨 Ernest Lee, Chief Commercial Officer at citizenM, discusses the "mycitizenM+" paid loyalty program, akin to Amazon Prime, on Aug. 22, 2024, highlighting benefits for customers and the company. The program offers travel, social, and professional perks, reflecting post-pandemic workforce changes with increased flexibility. It impacts key metrics like average order value, customer lifetime value, repeat frequency, app usage, and Net Promoter Score (NPS).
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The Jeff Bezos/Amazon Approach to Hotel Tech – Martin Soler

📢 Martin Soler, former hotel general manager turned fractional CMO and co-founder of 10minutes.news, shares insights on hotel tech on Aug. 21, 2024. Soler emphasizes the importance of prioritizing guest needs over fleeting tech trends, focusing on what won't change, such as the desire for connectivity, personalization, reduced wait times, and more services. This approach echoes Jeff Bezos' philosophy of distinguishing the essential from the transient in the hospitality industry.
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The Big Tech Shift Coming to Hotels In Next 24 Months: My Unfiltered Thoughts on Personalization in Hospitality – Martin Soler

📌 In the hospitality industry, only 9% of hotel guests are likely to return. Martin Soler, a hospitality consultant with experience as a hotel general manager, emphasizes the importance of hyper-personalization to improve guest experience. A significant tech shift is expected in the hotel industry within the next 24 months, with the potential to enhance personalization at scale. Key challenges include integrating various technology systems and the limitation of property management systems (PMS) that focus more on rooms than on guest profiles. Solutions like customer data platforms and modern, cloud-based PMS are suggested for better data management and guest experience. Hospitality professionals should consider collecting relevant guest data now for future personalization capabilities.
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Hospitality Starts In Your Office – Katharine Ames, The Indigo Road Hospitality Group

🎉 Katharine Ames, Chief Marketing Officer at the Indigo Road Hospitality Group, featured in a podcast episode on Aug. 19, 2024, shared experiences of exceptional hospitality within her organization. She highlighted a personal milestone birthday celebration at Oku Atlanta with personalized touches (01:14, 02:05) and a warm office welcome in Charleston for her children (03:40). The episode emphasizes the culture of "Surprise and Delight" at Indigo Road Hospitality Group, showcased on a private company Instagram feed (06:05).
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