The "Singapore Theory"

Plus: Tech has Apple - now hospitality has “Strawberry”

Author

Josiah Mackenzie
May 23, 2023

Good morning. We’re doing a deep dive into the life and strategies of the 3-time Hilton Connie Award winner and AHLA General Manager of the Year Craig Poole this week. He has a radically different approach to hospitality investment and operations that’s resulting in near-perfect guest ratings and compset-beating financial performance. Listen to our intro episode on our new podcast website here if you didn’t catch it yesterday.

Today we’re looking at:

  • Podcast: The "Singapore Theory"

  • Strategy: Tech has Apple - now hospitality has “Strawberry”

  • Investment: New approaches to data needed

  • From our community: A contribution by Todd Ryan

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The "Singapore Theory"

with Craig Poole, President of Reading Hospitality

Craig has hired far more people than the typical owner of a DoubleTree hotel does. A whopping 208 people for a 208-room hotel.

Why? For him, it’s something he calls the “Singapore Theory.”

“When I was young, I was running lots of hotels,” Craig said. “I used to hear about amazing hotels in Singapore: Four and five-star hotels that had one staff member per room. I wanted to do that here for my hotel. And because we own and operate the hotel, we did!”

What’s even more remarkable is the people he hired.

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STRATEGY

Tech has Apple - now hospitality has “Strawberry”

This week, the company formerly known as Nordic Choice Hotels rebranded to “Strawberry” in an effort to reflect its expanded focus beyond just hotels. It’s a great example of the megatrend Richard Valtr shared with us earlier: that hospitality is “eating the world.” 

Earlier on our podcast: How we are providing hospitality outside the walls of our hotels - Christian Lundén

Christian Lundén and his team are looking at new opportunities to provide hospitality (and generate revenue)

INVESTMENT

New approaches to data needed

by Ben Walker for Hospitality Investor

New systems to collect and process customer data are necessary to increase the profitability and asset values of hospitality firms, delegates heard during an IHIF panel discussion last week. “There is a huge opportunity for the big five hotel brands [Marriott, Hilton, IHG, Wyndham, Hyatt] to become more like data banks,” Alex Sogno, CEO of Global Asset Solutions said.

FROM OUR COMMUNITY 

from Todd Ryan

Credit: Todd Ryan