Tim McLaughlin

It's official. The Hospitality market is back and bigger than ever. According to Lodging Econometrics, the US hotel construction pipeline is now at an all-time high in terms of projects and rooms under construction. In Q3 2024 we had 6,211 projects in the pipeline which represents 722,821 rooms. Where is this development happening? The Dallas Metroplex leads the list, followed by Atlanta, Nashville, and Phoenix. It's definitely noteworthy that three of the top cities are in the South. (For these purposes, we'll count Dallas as part of the South, although Texas is really it's own special thing.). What sorts of projects are we seeing? The most activity is occurring with properties at the Upper/Mid level and the Upscale level. The Pandemic Effect is behind us. As we moved out of the COVID pandemic we all knew that, sooner or later, there would have to be a resurgence in hospitality projects. It took a while, but it's happening now. This is great news for those of us who supply products and services for hospitality sector clients. For sales leaders, it means you should have solid Hospitality objectives and KPI's for your sales teams. For product designers and developers, this means you should be very focused on the design needs of hospitality projects at the Upper/Mid and Upscale levels which could offer you better than average profitability. And since most companies are deep into their 2025 budgeting process, executive teams should be clear on your expectations and resources allocations relative to Hospitality in 2025. All in all, pretty good news as we head to the end of what has been a difficult year for many. #UShospitality #Hoteldevelopment #hospitalitydesign

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CAVA (~$35M/restaurant) and Chipotle Mexican Grill (~$20M/restaurant) far outperform other industry comps for valuation per location. What's their secret? A recent conversation with investor Andy Giacone from Roark Capital summed it up brilliantly: "I've done due diligence on a LOT of public and private restaurants. One of the assets that consistently leads to the highest valuations is the robustness of a brand's loyalty program. For B2C businesses, a scale and high-performing loyalty program is almost as important as recurring revenue in B2B." Why? Performant loyalty programs offers predictability and therefore downside protection while also making it far easier to achieve robust future growth. McKinsey & Company concurs: "While growth is difficult to sustain, it is generously rewarded. In examining 15 major publicly traded restaurant companies... there was a more than 80 percent correlation between annualized same-store sales growth and annualized total shareholder returns.... Successful loyalty programs translate directly into financial results, often encouraging both larger order sizes and greater order frequency from program members. These programs can funnel customers into brands’ first-party delivery businesses, which offer the brand higher margins than it receives from orders conducted through third-party delivery services."

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I'm often asking what are the important factors in building AI agents for high touch sectors like restaurants...my thoughts are shared here. Would love to hear your thoughts on what’s important now and into the future.

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We’re diving deep into extended stay hotel profitability with International Hospitality Technology Hall of Famer Cindy Estis Green, the Co-founder and CEO of Kalibri Labs. We’re joined by cohost Doug Artusio, Founder of the Extended Stay Lodging Association, to explore how data-driven insights are reshaping the extended stay market. In this episode, we cover: • Kalibri Labs: Gathering data from 30,000+ hotels for unmatched RevPAR insights • Why understanding the composition of demand is crucial for extended stay success • The rising cost of guest acquisition: From 5% to up to 25% in recent years • How to choose the most profitable guest acquisition channels • The power of benchmarking to boost your hotel's bottom line • Why not all customers are created equal when it comes to profitability • Practical examples of how extended stay developers can benefit from data insights • Key strategies for operators to target the right business mix • The critical role of length of stay in determining hotel success Gain actionable tips on using data to make smarter, more profitable decisions in the evolving hotel landscape. Thanks to Dellisart Hospitality for sponsoring this episode. #HotelProfitability #ExtendedStayHotels #RevPAR #HotelData #HospitalityInsights #KalibriLabs #HotelManagement #DataDrivenSuccess #HospitalityIndustry

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I found this article from Hospitality Net to be a very good one, thus I'm passing it along as valuable, despite the very ominous-looking images they chose to put in the AI-generated illustration. It's not a doom-and-gloom treatise at all. The writer makes a terrific case for more information-sharing between #hotel #revenue teams and asset management. It lends itself to something that I find myself saying in more than a few training/coaching workshops: "The more everybody knows and understands, the more everybody benefits." Areas such as training & development, investment in technology, flexibility in plans and a meaningful incentive structure are included - all key points for productive partnerships for success. #hotels #hotelsales #salestips #Motivationalspeaker #businesscoach #hospitalitycoach #hospitalityconsultant #twistthefamiliar #hbinbroad #hotelsandresorts #hospitality #eventprofs https://lnkd.in/gtY6Ab6D

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Hyatt’s acquisition of boutique hotel platform Mr & Mrs Smith is showing early signs of success. Since the deal was announced in June 2023, both companies have reported expanded market reach and back-end systems have been integrated. https://hubs.li/Q02ZV8990

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I recently saw this metric from Carta’s 1Q24 VC Fund Report, which is very concerning. DPI... is nowhere to be found in earlier vintages that probably should start showing DPI. Funding early-stage projects is great, but ultimately, these venture dollars need to exit their investments and pay back their limited partners. That’s where the metric Distributed to Paid-In Capital (DPI) comes in. While managing a fund, we get interim measures during the life of the fund (e.g. IRR, MOIC), but ultimately, “you can’t eat IRR.” If you want to build a lasting venture capital organization, you need to start showing DPI for your fund. Keep in mind that this is traditional VC data from Carta, and is not strictly crypto venture. Crypto venture tends to get liquidity earlier (tokens) and things tend to go parabolic sooner (faster, more unicorns) - but I’d wager that the data here is somewhat similar for Crypto VCs… Not as much DPI as there should be from these earlier vintages. Read the full article, as well as a recap of all the crypto fundraising rounds for August, here: https://lnkd.in/g3eVJ-iF

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Switching to dynamic pricing can definitely boost your business, but preparation is key. Start by gathering 2–4 years of historical booking data to train pricing algorithms, and ensure your team is trained in using dynamic pricing tools and understands revenue strategies. You can experiment with existing software to make pricing decisions, track demand, and adjust rates or take it a step further by developing a custom model tailored to your specific needs for even better results.

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RoomPriceGenie : Do your hotel’s least expensive rooms often fill quickly, while premium rooms and suites sit empty or are given away as free upgrades? Do guests often get confused about the differences among room types? #hotels #hoteliers #hotelrevenue #revenuemanagement #hotelpricing #hotelroomcategories #hotelbooking #expertinsights Thomas Landen – Ewa Gabara - Marvin Speh – James Andrew Rhind – Leon Pijpers – Kenneth Arnott – Ari Andricopoulos

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Frank Wolfe CAE, CEO of Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals (HFTP®), emphasizes the urgent need for the hospitality industry to modernize its conventions to stay relevant, coinciding with the launch of the HITEC Technology Investment Conference. The pandemic has accelerated technology adoption in hospitality, creating a favorable investment environment. Wolfe identifies four main challenges in hotel IT: industry fragmentation, on-premises systems, costly integrations, and siloed data. These issues are now more manageable with new technologies like cloud solutions, open APIs, and AI, which promise cost reductions, improved service, and global scalability.   Click to learn more about why Wolfe views this as the beginning of a new era in hotel technology, inviting deeper investment and collaboration at HITEC. #hotelnews #proptechnews #hospitalitynews #hospitalitytech #HITEC #HospitalityTech #Innovation #Investment #AI #CloudSolutions #HotelTechnology #HFTP

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Machine Learning is revolutionizing Venture Capital in ways that may not be widely recognized yet. In the past, building billion-dollar companies required hefty investments upwards of $200M, typically at a late-stage growth round. However, today, small teams of 4-6 individuals with a few contractors are achieving multi-billion dollar valuations right now. Today. The ability to leverage Machine Learning for tasks such as source code development, architecture building, lead generation, marketing content creation, and customer support is enabling these lean teams to operate capitaly efficient. This trend is expected to keep company sizes small throughout their growth trajectory. As AI and ML technologies continue to empower entrepreneurs, the barriers to entry in the startup space are significantly decreasing. This shift is likely to drive a surge in the number of startups, with projections indicating that 90% of companies in the near future will emerge from the startup ecosystem. Exciting times lie ahead for the startup landscape as technology reshapes the entrepreneurial journey.

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RMS vs. Revenue Managers: Is it a battle or a partnership? Marvin Speh of RoomPriceGenie takes you inside the debate and reveals why the smartest hotels are leveraging both RMS and human expertise to maximize revenue. It’s not about replacing the revenue manager but empowering them with cutting-edge tools to boost efficiency and drive success. #HotelRevenue #RMS #HospitalityStrategy #RevenueGrowth #HotelSuccess https://lnkd.in/eJhiRq6w

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What's the ROI on guest experience? We can answer that for guest messaging. #hospitality #guestexperience #guestmessaging #roi https://lnkd.in/gUZEGqke

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David Bloom, from Capriotti's and Wing Zone, explains how their systems are designed for managing multiple restaurants efficiently.  Discover how technology drives revenue, profitability, and guest service. Watch the full conversation on YouTube. https://lnkd.in/gnYP2PQ5 #RestaurantManagement #TechInDining #HospitalityInnovation #Capriottis #WingZone #RestaurantIndustry #Leadership #Innovation #GuestExperience

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If only 10% of hotels purchase an RMS—how many businesses have been 𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 and don’t even know it? 💭The number above got me thinking. Many hoteliers are still viewing hotel tech as ‘optional’.  Even tools as essential as a revenue management system. This is a huge problem. Without an RMS, hotels are likely to experience: 👎🏻 𝐒𝐮𝐛𝐨𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐥 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠: if you can’t set competitive prices based on demand, you will lose out on revenue opportunities in high-demand periods. Or experience reduced occupancy in low-demand periods. 😶‍🌫️ 𝐈𝐧𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: Can’t optimize room availability across distribution channels? You’ll end up underbooking and overbooking as a result. 📉𝐈𝐧𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐮𝐞: If you’re not strategic in pricing, and your inventory approach, your numbers will be all over the place. Then how will you anticipate cash flow or budget accordingly? According to a recent study, hospitality rarely exceeds a 2.5% investment in technology. Compare that to other industries—like banking—where that percentage is closer to 10%, as reported by McKinsey. You don't want to find yourself in that 90%. So, where do you go from here? Carry out a SWOT analysis. Figure out what’s working and what isn’t. Our Hotel Tech Stack Advisor will do much of the work for you… No exaggeration, it’ll get you a fully custom tech stack in seconds based on your property's unique characteristics. 💪🏻 But you still have to do some heavy lighting. 👀Take a look at what’s currently in your tech stack. Get on the ground level 🔨Talk to the people who use those tools every day. And keep an open mind about what’s available on the market. We'll give you a head start 👇🏻 Go here to audit your tech stack for FREE 👉🏻https://t2m.io/axA91eaW #Digitaltransformation #Hospitalityindustry #TechTransformation #AI Sources: Skift, McKinsey, Hotel Yearbook HotelTechReport.com | The Leading Authority on Hotel Technology

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After three years working outside hotel marketing, I've been part of teams that generated over $50M in revenue from significant ad investments. The dynamics in that kind of environment can be applied to hotel marketing as well. From that lens, here is how I would approach my hotel marketing: 1. Identify the most profitable guest segments Most profitable means: high repeat booking rate, high revenue per stay, high revenue on extras, ... 2. Look for patterns These guests will have some patterns in common such as: country of origin, age range, families, couples, etc. 3. Based on those findings, set strategic goals Now that you know the most profitable segments, set strategic goals with clear KPIs to observe. For example: "Increase the % of stays from segment X by 10% this winter season" 4. Figure out how to reach these segments Ask questions such as: - How can we start interacting with more of these people? - How can we get them interested in our hotel? - How can we best reach them? 5. Create an amazing offer that targets this segment: This is where you need to get creative to stand out from all the different competing options. To do this: - Get clear of what this target segment is seeking during their holiday (Tip: talk more to existing guests from this segment) - Build out an enticing package (please don't just create a 3=4 nights offer) 6. Launch your ad and e-mail campaigns and monitor KPIs Keep adjusting to see what works and what doesn't. And most important: Be patient with the results, it will take a while. Remember that booking a holiday is not an impulse buy, you need to get on the map first.

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Boostrapping vs VC Funding A great breakdown from Data-Driven VC on the bootstrapping vs. VC funding decision. ✨ Key Takeaways: Bootstrapping means leveraging personal savings and revenue for growth, offering full control but possibly slower progress due to limited resources. VC funding provides rapid capital and strategic support, enabling faster scaling but often comes with equity dilution and external pressure. 👉 Your choice depends on your goals. Looking for independence and sustainability? Bootstrapping could be for you. Want to scale quickly? Consider VC funding. #cofounder #startups #innovation #inovexus #startupcommunity #entrepreneurship #vc

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