HOTEL OPERATIONS FIVE WAYS TO SCALE

BY PANOS LOUPASIS, MARKET MANAGING DIRECTOR FOR TÜRKIYE, THE MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA, WYNDHAM HOTELS & RESORTS

Build your dream team

Always try to recruit based on your organisation’s core values and unique selling points. For example, if you have built your business on bespoke customer service, focus on hiring personable candidates with a keen eye for attention to detail. If, on the other hand, value is your priority, look for individuals with experience delivering streamlined, efficient operations.

Ultimately, scaling is all about trusting others, so you’ll need to be confident in your team’s ability to help realise your vision.

Work strategically

When it comes to scaling a business – especially in the hospitality sector –an ad hoc approach is rarely the most conducive to success. Instead, devise a concrete roadmap that you and your team can refer to over the longer term.

Even though you are scaling an existing business, it sometimes helps to view expansion as the ‘launch’ of your brand. From here, ensure that your roadmap contains elements such as marketing, growing your network of customers and building brand loyalty.

Try starting with your goals before working your way back. Clearly articulating what it is you want to achieve at the outset will increase your chances of creating a practical plan of action.

Embrace innovation

Innovation is the lifeblood of the modern hospitality industry. From the optimisation of your social media channels and website to the implementation of AI-powered back-ofhouse tools, always be on the lookout for solutions with the potential to give you a competitive edge.

But keep in mind that innovation is not limited to the realm of technology. Now more than ever, guests are looking for brands that reflect their values and positively impact their surrounding communities and ecosystems, so build environmental, social and governance (ESG) policies into your operations as early as possible. Doing so should enable your team to work flexibly and respond to the needs of your customers within a clear framework.

What’s more, you don’t necessarily have to start from scratch. Organic growth is great, but it may also make sense to consider whether your goals could be achieved through mergers and acquisitions. Remember, there are no right or wrong approaches to expansion; it all depends on your organisational priorities and vision.

Track your progress

If you succeed in integrating these four steps into your business, the odds are you’ll start to see your brand’s operations scale up. However, it’s vital you don’t allow complacency to set in.

Continue to monitor your performance against clear and measurable success criteria. Not only will this offer tangible proof that your efforts are bearing fruit, but it will also provide valuable insights into what’s working and what isn’t.

This proactive approach to growth will enable you to identify the measures that are returning the highest dividends and tweak your tactics as you progress. Keep in mind that scaling hotel operations is a journey, not a destination. However, it’s important to understand whether you’re moving forwards or backwards.

At Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, our mission is to make travel possible for all, and that means continuously expanding our pipeline to ensure that wherever travellers go, there is a Wyndham hotel to meet their needs.

These are just some of the strategies that have helped us become the largest franchiser of hotels in the world and, with 68 hotels and more than 12,000 rooms, one of the biggest providers of mid-scale accommodation in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.