The hotel yellow brick road is less scary than it used to be.

Dorothy and Toto would have had a much easier time finding the Great Wizard, today, than they did forty years ago. Poor Dorothy didn't have the benefit of the Global Positioning Satellite System, Mapquest, or the Internet. Her trip was beset by lions, good and bad witches, and hoards of flying monkeys…pretty scary.

Searching for a success in the good ole hotel days was very much like finding the Land of Oz. If one had the luck to meet a good witch to provide directions, and the good fortune to pick up some protective travel companions along the way, the Great Wiz was still pretty elusive for many hoteliers.I read an article recently suggesting that today's hoteliers are not as hospitality oriented and are not as service-focused as they once were. The author went on to say that hoteliers are too focused on internal issues, such as staffing, ineffective marketing programs, too focused on non-service issues; that many hoteliers are distraught and in disarray.

I guess Stephen Covey (author of the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People) was right; some people can look at the same situation yet view it very differently. In this writer's opinion, our industry today is a more focused towards guest satisfaction and guest retention than ever before during the past thirty years. This is a wonderful time to be in the hotel industry.

When the industry discovered the wonders of new technology, the new technology changed the industry. In years past, we knew little about our guests and we didn't have any way of collecting or storing guest information, even if we had thought of it. Service was completely superficial. We simply hoped people would like our hotel, amenities, and wanted to return.

Today, hotels maintain data bases to improve their knowledge for what people want in amenities, services, and even what type of facilities are most desirable. Good service isn't dying, my friend; in actuality it has never been more actively sought. Does anyone remember the good ole days when the industry discovered water beds? I was with Holiday Inns when it was mandated to have ten water bed rooms in every hotel. The effort failed, of course and it sounds so silly today, but we later found that no one had even asked guests if that's what they wanted. It was a shot fired in the dark. But we are no longer in the dark.

Today, hotel companies are concentrating on finding data to make their brands successful.

The great young minds in this business today spend more time and money on research and development than we ever dreamed possible in the past. These people are more educated and focused on guest service than ever before. We know more about our guests and what motivates their decision to choose a place to stay.

Oh, we still stumble on occasion; in our eagerness to make our products number one, our technology sometimes leaps ahead of our desire for great service and common senses. Frankly, I'm not crazy about the thought of kiosks, instead of people at our front desks. But, maybe it will beat long check-in lines. I don't know many people who are in-love with voice-mail, but it does beat busy signals or phones ringing for endless minutes. As with all revolutionary tools, the Internet included, tools have a tendency to be over-used and overdone; until they are totally understood.

I, too, am concerned about some of the abuses of new technology and their sometimes negative affect on our industry, but progress tends to be much like the bunny-hop, three steps forward and one step back. But, ever forward does it go. Companies like Signature, which provide great sales and service training programs and the abundance of educational information, available on the Internet in email newsletters and blogs, all contribute to more knowledgeable and better informed hotel people. Better informed people make better customer-focused decisions.

You may find that the yellow brick road is still bumpy and littered with lions and wicked witches, but our determination to find the great Oz, led by the new breed of talented hoteliers, will prevail. Our industry's sense for good service is very much alive and well. We've weathered 911, poor economies, and terrorist acts to get where we are, but we are still on the yellow brick road; the Land of Oz is ahead.

Contact:

Neil Salerno, CHME, CHA

Hotel Marketing Coach

www.hotelmarketingcoach.com.

NeilS@hotelmarketingcoach.com