Transportation is an important component of the travel experience. It’s what gets us to our destination. The airline industry has many different service options, each offering various levels of hospitality to their customers, as follows:
* The full-service airline
These types of airlines, such as Delta or United, typically offer a variety of routes and destinations. Different seating classes are offered at different price points, including economy, premium economy, business class, and first class. These seating classes may have different seat sizes or leg room space, boarding priority, and in-flight food and beverage options.
* The low-cost airline
These types of airlines, such as Spirit Airlines, offer discounted prices and are barer boned compared to the traditional full-service airlines. There is no first-class seating, routes may be more limited, and in-flight food and beverage options may also be limited.
* The luxury airline
These airlines focus on the high-end luxury customer. They have first class facilities that are above and beyond, including cabins that have fully flat beds, personalized services, and a full meal menu with metal cutlery.
The airline Etihad takes luxury to a whole new level with their product called ‘The Residence’. Your 12-hour flight becomes even more luxurious in your own apartment on the plane, complete with a small living room, a bedroom, and even a shower.
* Charter flights
With charter flights you negotiate the price for the entire plane. Package tour operators such as Thomas Cook and TUI will charter a plane for their guests.
Technology has also supported the development of the chartered airplane industry. Apps such as Fly Victor, NetJets, Blade, or Wheels Up allow you to book your private plane or helicopter as simply as you book an Uber.
* Private jets
Some people have their own private jets, which is realistically not within reach for everybody. If you need or want a private jet for a particular trip, a charter flight may be your better option.

Traditionally, typical travel-related companies, such as airlines, cruise lines, buses, or trains, focused only on taking people from point A to B.

Currently, there is a greater emphasis on the traveler’s experience. Safety and fuel efficiency are top priorities at the airline level. But, the in-flight experience for passengers looks more focused.

Seats are getting better. Airlines are also working to improve the servicescape. These are the factors that influence how you feel, breathe, sleep, and digest.

Airlines are emphasizing the importance of the passenger experience with meaningful changes. They are looking for an onboard lighting solution to help passengers cope with jet lag. Travelers are unable to stand often, and food is difficult to digest. Airlines are now considering thoughtful meal options to help you feel better while traveling and avoid getting overstuffed.

Are you curious about these changes? Passengers arriving for a trip or in transit between two aircraft can use the new Changi Airport terminal in Singapore. This enhancement also attempts to appeal to the local community. As a result, they’ve created a one-stop shopping, entertainment, and event destination for all travelers. Airports, for instance, are no longer only concerned with safety and efficiency. They want to make a lasting impression on visitors.

Just like some people have their own private planes, other people have their own private yachts. If you want a taste of that life but you don’t have the funds to buy a yacht, there is technology that can help you including apps like GetMyBoat and YachtLife. There is a way for you to taste that life at sea.

When we think of cruise lines, there’s quite a difference between the Caribbean cruise that you might be familiar with and a river cruise. Caribbean cruises are extremely popular. So popular that some cruise lines now have their own islands. Royal Caribbean, for example, has developed an island that is called CocoCay. Cruises arrive there, the passengers disembark for the day, nobody stays there at night, and everyone goes back on the ship.

It’s a clever business model because all the money that is spent on that island goes straight back to the cruise line. There is no escaping the cruise line entertainment or food. It’s a great way to make sure that all the spending stays within the company.

Another type of cruise that has gained in popularity is river cruises. You might have seen these boats. They look quite different. Rather than the very high ships, they are flatter. They have large windows on the side, when people lie in bed, they can see the shoreline go past. It’s a really popular model in Europe and is now developing in other continents around the world.

When we think about how cruise lines make money, particularly the mass cruises like, Royal Caribbean, a lot of it actually doesn’t come from the price you pay for your room. A lot of it comes from other activities and most importantly, the casino. Because the ship is in international waters, casinos can operate freely on board. That’s one of the biggest money generators for the company as well as retail, food, and beverages. You can think of it as a modern version of the riverboats that went down the Mississippi that also had casinos on them.

Technology has transformed the way we travel. If we think about it, we use technology from the moment we leave until the moment we return. When you think about what inspires you to travel, many of us will say it’s because of Facebook or Instagram. We will think of these destination accounts, such as beautiful destinations that show inspiring photographs of places we’d love to travel to.
Once we’ve been inspired, we have to plan our trip. We might use the airline or travel agent apps, but also apps such as TripIt, that provide all that information in one clear package so that we know where we’re going and where need to be. When we book for the best price, we might use price comparison websites like Trivago. This is a very interesting model because a price comparison website doesn’t book a room for you. It only gives you price comparisons. You have to click on the company you want to book with.
So, how does Trivago make money? Well, every time you click, it receives a commission from the person that completes your booking. After returning from the trip, we might leave a review. Travel reviews are incredibly important because they have a great influence on future travelers.
TripAdvisor is by far the largest travel review app and has recently moved into providing travel bookings. Technology surrounds the whole wheel of travel, as we call it, and is with us almost every step of the way. The way technology has transformed the travel industry means that there are now more professional opportunities for people that we didn’t see in the past. For example, how Instagram influences our travel decisions. There are influencers there that get paid for posting certain photos, ads, and videos about properties and destinations.
Google Guides is also a great way for people to review and influence other people’s traveling. Another area where technology has helped people in developing their own business ideas and becoming a part of a community is reviews. Google Local Guides is an excellent example of how people leave reviews that influence where other people go. And that might lead to professional opportunities down the line. Someone might hire you based on the reviews you have written.

One of the biggest challenges for a service and hospitality business is intangibility. Another is disappearing inventory – if you don’t sell it tonight, it’s gone.

More importantly, you want your customers to dream about staying onboard your cruise and coming to your hotel. With social media and electronic marketing tools, you can actually cost-effectively reach more customers.

But, there’s an overabundance of information. How do you get your information across? When does the consumer use their cell phone? When are they on their desktop? When is the best time to reach them? When are they dreaming? When do they make decisions?

For example, March. January, February, March are the heavy booking times for summer cruises. That’s the time to promote and reach your customers. You can do this through traditional advertising too!

Carnival Cruise Line is involved with many TV shows. They use the old love boat method where consumers see a mini-series happening on a cruise ship. As a result, they get the desire to travel.

Many cruise lines still heavily rely on travel agents. Why?

Because the market penetration of cruise lines in the United States is 13%. Only 13% of the population has taken a cruise. Globally it’s 2% – only 2% of the global population has taken a cruise. In China, it’s only 1%. There is a lot that needs to be done in those markets to build awareness. In many cases, travel agents are still the best way to reach customers. But then if you look at airlines, nobody goes to a travel agent to book a flight.

Customers often use distribution channels, like Expedia and Kayak, which consolidate all the information from various websites. The distribution challenge for airlines is to make sure that if you check through Kayak, the best rate for a flight is on your own site.

If a person books through Expedia, the airline may have to pay 10% to 20% to Expedia. The same goes for hotels. They may have to pay 10% to 20% per booking to booking.com, hotels.com, or Expedia. So you want these customers to book directly with you on the Marriott site or the American Airlines site.

But if you are a small or independent hotel, then you don’t have the marketing power. You don’t have the budget. So often, you may need Expedia to build awareness. It’s a trade-off. You may pay 20% for Expedia to get the booking, but if you don’t do that, you might get no business.

But slowly and by going through consortiums, like Leading Hotels of the World, you can get distribution power behind your brand. You’ll also get access to the consumer. With the exception of grocery stores, many of the hospitality services – car rentals, airlines, hotels, restaurants, are all booked electronically. You can generate demand by taking advantage of these platforms.

The hospitality industry is part of the service industry. That makes it challenging since it’s an intangible service, and it isn’t easy to know what to expect beforehand. Also, if you don’t sell the room, the seat, or the berth on a cruise ship before it departs—it’s gone.

These are companies that have a high fixed cost. To make money, you must first establish a specific level of use and demand. For airlines, it may be that to make money, 85% of seats on a given customer flight or a particular type of plane must sell at specific prices. The occupancy rate for cruise ships is 105%. That means there are more than two people in every berth and cabin.

New York City’s hotels are in high demand. The occupancy rate is now hovering around 90%. In the United States, the average occupancy—the percentage of occupied rooms each night—is roughly 65%.

Another variable is the average daily rate. For example, New York City hotel rooms can range from $300 to $500, depending on the market. It could cost around $300 for select service or lifestyle hotels. The average daily charge for a luxury hotel room might be $1,000.

The same is true for airlines and cruise ships. The cruise ship’s average charge per seat determines the average cost of a five-day cruise. All of these businesses are in the business of managing yield. It’s referred to as “yield management.” You want to maximize revenue from a purchase made by a hotel guest, airline passenger, or cruise passenger.

Some of these companies have revenue-generating opportunities when customers use their services. For instance, hotels may sell guests food and beverages, wifi, and spa treatments. Cruise lines sell additional services like retail, restaurants, excursions, and various other onboard activities. Airlines have some limitations. Food is available for purchase onboard, but the selection is minimal. Tax-free purchasing is sometimes available on international flights.

To summarize, when a customer buys a ticket, you want to maximize the yield per ticket. Once they’re on board, you’ll want to maximize the revenue. This is called ticket net yield, or yield, followed by an onboard spending yield.

In terms of hospitality services — hotels, airlines, cruises — Google is a significant power, simply because so many people start their planning at the search engine. As a result, you need to have Google Ads.

In other words, you need to pay to get your brand in front of searching customers.

For example, search “Times Square hotel” in Google and see what comes up. First off, search engine optimization (SEO) plays a part in which brands appear in the first few pages of results. But there are hotel companies that have paid to have their name at the very top. You have to pay for Google Ads to get your name out there.

Say you’re a Moxy Hotel, a Marriott brand targeted at Millennials. You want to make sure that when a consumer in this demographic searches for ‘Moxy Hotel New York City,’ you’re at the top of the first Google page.

The advantage of sites like TripAdvisor, Expedia, and Booking.com is that they can compare rates for several hotels.

If you go directly to the website for a Moxy location, you’re not comparing rates with other properties. There’s more information comparison — and maybe transparency — happening on Expedia, Kayak, etc., than at the hotel’s specific site. But it’s more costly. For example, if the customer books on Expedia, they could pay 10-20% more.

Simply put, hotel brands want consumers to visit their sites directly. How do they do this? For starters, they offer price matching. If you find a lower price than on their site, they’ll match it.

Hotel brands also say that you won’t collect loyalty points if you book through external channels like Expedia or Booking.com. Booking directly gives you loyalty points, and you’ll also get preferred treatment at the hotel.

Finally, in some cases, inventory — not the desired rooms — shows up in search results of external booking sites. Instead of offering a garden or ocean view, these could be on a lower level, windowless, or facing a busy highway.

Ultimately, hotel brands show a preference for consumers who book directly on their site. Having your hospitality brand at the top of Google search results means you’re more likely to have direct bookings.

Suggested Image (if needed): https://unsplash.com/photos/cwr02zo0gP8

Professor Richie Karaburun is originally from Turkey and is currently a Clinical Assistant Professor at New York University’s School of Professional Studies Center of Hospitality.

Professor Karaburun has been in the hospitality industry about 25 years. He started as a management trainee in Los Angeles, then climbed up the ranks. When he left the company, he was the Vice President of Product Development and Contracting.

He was then recruited to be a president of Gulliver’s Travel, which was one of the largest wholesale travel business at the time. After they sold the company, Professor Karaburun joined The Radius, which was one of the largest corporate travel companies at the time.

Here, says Professor Karaburun, “I had my entrepreneurial ideas come up and we founded a company called Roomer Travel. And we raised money. Roomer was an online travel agency similar to Stop Hub.”

Currently, Karaburun is studying marketing and consumer behavior. His research interest is all about social connectedness and its impact on consumer behavior.

He is considered to be a hospitality guru. After 25 years in different aspects of hospitality, he is now proud to teach at NYU Tisch Center of Hospitality, predominantly business development, entrepreneurship, and hospitality marketing.

In this course, you will learn about entrepreneurship and innovation: what does it take to be an entrepreneur? You will also learn whether you are a true entrepreneur.

You will explore hospitality industry disruptors such as Airbnb, and what it takes to create a company from an idea. You will learn how to draft a proper business plan, get funding, hire a team, and manage the team.

Finally, you’ll examine how to create value for the industry you are in, and how you can plan an exit strategy for your business.

Entrepreneur is a French word taken from entreprendre, which means “adventurer” or “one who undertakes.” Entrepreneurs look for and recognize opportunities. They also take an enormous amount of risk to move on to these opportunities and create value for their industries.
An entrepreneur is a risk-taker because success is rarely guaranteed. But, as Edison says: “I didn’t fall a thousand times. I learned many new things.”
Entrepreneurs try to solve problems in either the product or service industry. Products are more tangible items, whereas services are more like hotel, legal, and financial services. #
Lauren Grench details her journey into entrepreneurship, and what it means to blend all these services into a cohesive, memorable experience:
“So LLG is an event management and design firm that specializes in luxury destination weddings. We plan and design luxury destination weddings. That encompasses planning the guest experience. It also includes all the budgeting, vendor negotiations, and contract negotiations.
“Anything with destination planning means complex logistics, [which means] understanding international law, international relations, socioeconomics, understanding what’s going on within our political atmosphere with all the different countries that we’re working with.”
According to Grench, the customer experience defines the industry.
“Hospitality is at the epicenter of event management. You need phenomenal customer relations. You need to make sure that your guest experience is also just as important as your client experience and your vendor experience and your venue experience.”
Each of these areas is vital to the success of any event. Optimizing customer service, customer relations, and the guest experience is about getting them all to work together and ensure the proper execution of the event.
“A common thread for entrepreneurs is that they tend to be really creative, innovative individuals,” Grench says. “They’re always looking after something new, something that would solve an existing problem for the industry. This could be a hospitality industry, financial industry, even a regular taxi industry just like Uber did.”

Shirley Lu, Revenue Analyst for The Standard Hotel explains what makes The Standard different and how they generate their revenue.

“As a revenue analyst, what we do is optimize the revenues that come into the hotels to make sure that we are performing the best and reaping in the most revenues that we can,” explains Shirley Lu. “A lot of that has to do with research and pushing our sales team to prospect new clients or continue their relationship with their current clients.”

Some of the job is managing distribution channels, making sure that we’re restricting what segments we need, to enable the highest-producing segments to come in. Overall, Shirley explains that it’s a mix of distribution channel management, analyzing data, and researching what new business we can potentially get for the two properties.

Starting with the Standard High Line building, it’s a book shape elevated on top of the High Line. “With the book shape and the floor-to-ceiling windows, I think it is those elevated floor-to-ceiling windows that add value to our product,” explains Shirley. “When people are staying in the property itself, it feels much more spacious with those window features. And having the views of the river and the city, also lets the natural sunlight in, definitely adding to the experience of the Standard High Line.”

As part of that, we are very keen on trying to contribute back to the community. “With every reservation, we give guests the option to donate $2 to the High Line to help maintain and preserve what it gives to the community and tourism. I think that’s a great initiative that we continue to do daily,” says Shirley.

Now, moving upwards into our top of the Standard venue and our Le Bain venue, Shirley explains that they are two very different venues. Top of the Standard is an elegant space for people who enjoy cocktails in a less party scene environment. We also offer sunset service to our guests, where they can watch the sun go down across the Hudson River and enjoy a cocktail up there as well. It is a much calmer, more elevated, and elegant scene.

Then, you move over to Le Bain, and you’ll hear the pumping music, the beat of the bass from our DJs, and just a wild time. So definitely, the two venues are managed differently and we try to keep them separate. But that allows for us as a hotel company to allow different clientele to come and join us all under one roof but under different venues.

So for our Le Bain, we often have guest DJs coming in. And we like the crowd to be diverse. That’s something we strive to do, is to allow as many different people to come in as possible, explains Shirley. We have the rooftops as well, where it is, again, very much a different scene from Le Bain on the 18th floor, where you have the pool, the whirlpool, that is now open for the season. Then, on the top floor, you have the open-air rooftop and views of the city all over both venues. It’s a very unique space. It continues to be the center of attention for a lot of nightlife in the city.

Then moving down to our ground floor venues, we have the beer garden, which has a lot of different activities. I think of it as an adult playground. You have giant Connect Four, ping-pong, foosball, and you have your beer. It is a very cool space as well. And then we have our highly acclaimed restaurants like the Standard Grill. We just have our chef, Rocco Forte, spearing that and bringing us to get the recognition that we strive to have.

The Plaza is the outdoor space leading into the lobby and that venue we couple internally with our Living Room, which is the indoor area where we often have a guest DJ come in, just to liven up the scene as well. Shirley mentions those two spaces, the Living Room and the Plaza work together in terms of staffing and as a venue itself.

The Plaza is a multi-purposeful space. And that is the space that we use for our art installations and different installations because it has an outdoor component. That is a space we like to allow guests to still experience the joys of the outdoor weather while still being under the High Line and in the shade of the High Line. It’s a very unique space, and we’ve been able to do so much with it already.

Speaking generally to food and beverage and how it relates to our hotel rooms aspect of the industry-so food and beverage is often separate from our hotel operations. Shirley explains most hotels outsource food and beverage because there’s more experience to be had from those who’ve already done food and beverage in the restaurant industry versus having the hotel operate both hotel rooms and food and beverage. Food and beverage generally don’t do well to bring in revenues for a hotel property. That influences the decision for a hotel to outsource food and beverage.

For us, we are completely operated, both food and beverage and hotels, under one company, The Standard. So we don’t outsource. “We are strong in the food and beverage industry for a hotel company. And we take pride in that,” explains Shirley. “So, while most hotels are losing money on the food and beverage side, we tend to generate revenues on that side.”

Shirly says she doesn’t do much with the food and beverage. Her role is specific to selling the rooms of the hotel. However, sometimes they will package rooms’ specials with food and beverage credits or food and beverage experiences to sell both components together. That’s how she interacts with the food and beverage departments. Otherwise, it is pretty separate within our property and most of the hotel properties.