Linchi Kwok, Ph.D.

When the pandemic hit, the hospitality and tourism (H&T) industry immediately responded to the crisis with furloughs and layoffs. It did not take long for the industry to realize that it must deal with the labor shortage challenge. In fact, the labor shortage challenge is not new to the H&T industry, but the “Great Resignation” during the pandemic has worsened the situation.     In one of my recent publications in the   Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management ,   I presented three propositions about the labor shortage issue facing the H&T industry. The paper aims to initiate a conversation between our industry leaders and administrators/professors in academic programs with some collaboration ideas. The following are some key ideas.     The three questions being discussed   Will the worsening labor shortage challenge facing the H&T industry improve in the short term?   How can industry professionals and academic leaders/profe...

  By mid-June, the U.S. stocks had fallen 22%, and bonds were down 11% from the beginning of 2022 ( Zweig, 2022 ). Stocks officially entered the bear market territory. On top of that, the Federal Reserve raised interest rates by 0.75 percentage points in June, with the inflation rate around 9%. Nothing is encouraging people to spend more on “unnecessary” leisure activities.     Consumer sentiment is low   U.S. consumer sentiment plunged to 50.2 from 58.4 in May ( Golle, 2022 ). Such a record-low sentiment also comes with 40-year high inflation at 8.6%. Compared to the 46% of respondents who attributed their negative views to persistent price pressures, only 13% expected their incomes would rise more than inflation, which was also the lowest share in almost a decade.     Regarding leisure activities, travel conversations on Twitter decreased 75% from April to May ( Pitrelli, 2022 ). Meanwhile, half of the discussions about gas prices and travel were negative...

More hotel chains adopted the asset-light strategies even before the pandemic. For example, Marriott had transitioned from a real estate firm into an asset-light hotel management company decades ago. In 2017, Hyatt began selling off its $1.5 billion real estate in a three-year plan ( Kwok, 2017 ).        Asset-recycling vs. asset-light strategy   Hyatt adopted a more traditional asset-recycling strategy before 2017 when the company owned and managed many Hyatt Hotels in the market. The company’s growth was tied to the real estate market. Hyatt would buy properties when the price was low and sell them when the price was high.     Under the asset-light strategy, Hyatt would hold onto large cash flows instead of assets. Hyatt could invest the additional cash flows from the sales of its assets in technology, customer loyalty, and product development, the essential areas to grow today’s lodging business. Additionally, large cash flows would also allow ...

Airbnb rolled out a new “split-stay” booking feature in May in response to consumers’ shifting demand for post-pandemic travel. Will Airbnb’s new booking feature become a game-changer in the lodging industry?   How does Airbnb’s new split-stay feature work?     Airbnb will allow travelers planning a trip of one week or longer to divide their stays between two different homes ( Pohle, 2022 ). This new feature is particularly useful when a home has limited availability for one long-term stay or when a traveler wants to try different homes during one stay. Using such a new feature, travelers will generally see about 40% more listings in a search.      Why is there a need for such a new booking option?     Airbnb took the lead in responding to the evolving travel behaviors. For example, flexible work promotes the “bleisure” (business + leisure) trend in the workforce, where travelers blend work with vacation for a longer stay. Then, the work-from-home...