Tasked with finding applications for the WiT community from French philosophy, D’EDGE’s CEO Pierre Charles Grob brought up the importance of education, team work and collaboration at WiT’s Virtual Around the World Summit.
You can or create experience. You must undergo it. – Albert Camus What have you learnt from this experience? What can hoteliers learn from this experience?
The importance of a support team, he quickly pointed out. He said this 
crisis taught him to “appreciate the importance of [having] good people around”. As for hoteliers, Grob said cash management is something that needs to be grasped, always but even more so in such times. He said it was critical for them to “understand their costs”.
All of humanity’s problems stem from man’s inability to sit quietly in a room alone. – Blaise Pascal
What have you thought about in terms of the industry, and how we can all act to save jobs?
Education is something the industry needs to think more about and invest in, says Grob. He said people are eager to learn, so it is about making learning accessible to all and to make it easy to adopt. The lockdown may have helped since it has pushed many facets of our lives online – be it shopping for groceries to having meetings so this might be the time when online learning takes off.
Change your life today. Don’t gamble on the future, act now, without delay. – Simone de Beauvoir
What must independent hoteliers act on now to change their destiny?
It is “super important” now for all hotels – not just independents – to focus on serving their clients and to be more productive in different areas of the business. “It’s time for hotels to understand the need to equip themselves with technology and tools that will enable them to serve their clients well”.
And what about the issue of the wholesale rates dilemma? Is this a problem that will be made worse by this crisis? Is there resolve within the industry to collectively work on this problem?
Grob said now is not a time to be picky about who you work with. “You should be working with everyone and making sure that you fill your hotels. After that, you look at optimization and that is definitely one thing the hotels need to do. More than ever, they need to know how to apply the best rates on their websites and direct channels.”
Don’t walk in front of me, I may not follow. Don’t walk behind me, I may not lead. Walk beside me, just be my friend. – Albert Camus
How should independent hoteliers unite to become a bigger and better force post Covid19?
Hoteliers should definitely be pulling together during this time and Grob feels that Asia is doing Just that and setting good examples. He highlighted Hong Kong’s Heritage Tourism Board that is comprised of independent hoteliers who have banded together to promote Hong Kong. He said it is about sharing best practices and finding the right partners for support.
Individually, hotels also need to look at ways to reinvent themselves to survive, he added.
How many things we held yesterday as articles of faith which today we tell as fables. – Michel de Montaigne
What are some old beliefs about hospitality – the weaknesses exposed by the crisis – do we need to throw out for a better tomorrow?
Grob said the biggest throwaway for him would be mass tourism. “It is about time that we respect cities and local areas. We need to preserve them. I think that is our responsibility to not go for mass tourism just for more money”. He said it won’t be a good experience if locals leave when the tourists come.
“It is really something we need to think about to ensure when people go to a city or an area, they enjoy it more and not have to just put up with mass tourism,” he added.
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