In most hotels that I have handled, it is very common to have the UK and the US as one of the top feeder markets. Usually, these hotels would want to target international feeder markets as this would increase their global reach. Also, almost always, international feeder markets would yield a higher average rate, farther lead days and even longer length of stays.
What baffles me to this day, is the lack of concern of some hotels that barely any of their front line staff can speak English. For those who can speak English, the level is mostly basic, even if the post they hold is a managerial level.
I remember a call from a sales person who informed me that they received a call from one of their corporate clients and complained about one of my hotels. It was a big group for the hotel and it was on the final stage of preparation. Apparently, the organizer had been trying to get in touch with the hotel for weeks asking for a banquet menu. The main hotel contact assigned to assist the group was barely able to speak English and worse was not able to understand full conversations in English. Even though the client already signed the contract, they almost went to another hotel due to this very sad encounter.
Another hotel that I handled wanted to implement new sales strategies. During the meeting, I explained what I wanted to recommend and the hotel was very interested. I summarized what we talked about in an email. When I received their feedback, I struggled for quite a while as I was not able to decipher their response. The person had a totally different interpretation of what I had sent and I had to call the hotel and explain again what I meant in the email.
Hotels need to understand that they are not only catering to the local market. It is not enough that they have equipped themselves with the latest technologies to be on par with veteran hotels. They also need to have the proper staff who will be able to perform the services with utmost care. Hotels can regularly conduct English workshop sessions to help their staff learn the language and improve themselves. English is the universal language and to be able to sustain your global reach, hotels need to have staff that are articulate in order to effectively send the proper message. To succeed in the business and to successfully apply a revenue management culture, hotels need to be customer-centric. But how will you be able to do so if you literally cannot understand your customers? If this has not affected your online reputation yet, I guarantee that it soon will.
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