Tipping the scales: Around 70% of hotel guests don’t tip their housekeeper – a depressing number, but one that also re-sparks a debate about exactly whose job it is to maintain decent wages for staff: the system or the consumer? As a Tweeter in this Chicago Tribune story pointed out: “Nobody tips in Europe (unless the service is exceptional) because nobody needs to.” So, should tipping be institutionalized? According to Shane C. Blum, an an associate professor of hospitality and retail management, the answer is yes. “If hotels really wanted to institutionalize tipping, they could do it through electronic checkouts, or an app, or the TV, with a question like, ‘Would you like to leave a tip for your housekeeper?’” Blum said. “We live in a tipping society. Even sandwich shops do that now. Why shouldn’t hotels do it?” And indeed, why not? —Chloe Riley
Do boycotts work? George Clooney’s call in March to boycott the Dorchester Collection over a decision by its owner, the ultrarich sultan of Brunei, to enforce sharia law around LGBT citizens, was picked up by celebrities around the world and resulted in protests and multiple businesses canceling events at the nine-property brand. But Paula Gerber, a human rights law professor at Morash University in Australia writing in The Conversation, offers some insight into the timing of the sultan’s decision and what might really be behind it: a diversion from the drop in oil prices that is triggering economic problems in nation of 430,000. Gerber talks about why a boycott is unlikely to have any impact – and some steps that actually could. —Barbara Bohn
Google keeps coming: Revinate’s fourth annual Global Hotel Reputation Benchmark Report suggest there may be a bit of online hotel review fatigue among guests and that Google is now the leading source of such reviews. Although the number of reviews is still growing year over year, overall global review volume growth decelerated in 2018. The number of reviews grew by only 8%, compared to 27% growth in 2017. And while three sites are responsible for 84% of all reviews, Google has emerged as the new leader accounting for more than 30 million reviews. Slowly, it appears Google has the potential to dominate over other OTAs with both its emerging booking tools and now as a review aggregator. —Jeff Weinstein
Influencers: ‘A necessary evil’: While I occasionally roll my eyes at how seriously online “influencers” are taken (and, ahem, how seriously they take themselves), I’m still fascinated by how the most successful ones work and how they can make it work. This recent article from NewCity offers some insight how influencers are perceived, how they operate (“I loathe the term,” one influencer says) and how PR companies work with them to maximize the impact of a marketing campaign. —BB
Hungry for bots: In January, a fleet of 25 delivery robots descended on George Mason University’s campus in Fairfax, Virginia. At first it wasn’t clear how the students would react or use the bots but now some of that data has emerged. In the two months since the robots arrived at the school, an extra 1,500 breakfast orders have been delivered autonomously, according to a company that manages food services for the university and works closely with the robots. The research shows that up to 88% of college students skip breakfast, primarily because of lack of time, but that that number is starting to turn around with these kinds of bots. The takeaway for hotels? Bots aren’t just cutesy showpieces but rather, could be filling a real need. —CR
Need to define A.I.: Artificial intelligence (A.I.) is increasingly being employed to plan travel as well as resolve pain points experienced along the journey. We hear about hotel companies employing versions of the technology more and more. But an event by the Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International included some speed voting on hot button issues, including, AI, revealing some uncertainties about the technology. When asked if their company had a clear definition and vision for AI, 77% said ‘no.’ The biggest barrier to AI in their organization: unclear definition and strategy (47%); funding (25%); lack of AI skills (17%); ability to manage the data (5%); concerns about job impact (4%); and ethical concerns or perceived risk (2%). Is the hotel industry lagging again on the tech front? Seems leadership needs to do their homework here. —JW