Episodes

I am discussing with Yasha Chatab, based in Jakarta, about everyday life in Jakarta. We also talk about government encouragements for people to travel more. Bali announced ¨Love Bali ¨campaign to entice travellers to visit The island of Gods. Does this approach work?

Interview with Filip Boyen, CEO, Forbes Travel Guide. – Breaking down what Forbes Travel Guide do. ( Inspections, Classifications and Service standards) – What are the needs of high end travellers ( Boomers, Gen X, Gen Y, Gen Z are they really that different? – Challenges in the industry with hotel school graduates. How to attract, inspire and motivate the new generation talent. – Challenges with Concierge, out source or retain in-house. Pro active vs. Re-active. Concierge service at its bes...

We discuss with my guest Sehnaz Cehreli, authority and expert on the needs of the new generation travellers. They are socially responsible, believe in sustainability and living to experience the unique moment. What should the travel destinations and hotels do successfully market and serve the needs of the travellers.

Discussion with a recent hotel school graduates, how some interns perceive their time as trainees. Why is there some reluctancy and loss of passion to stay in the industry? How should we tackle this dilemma about the so called talent drain. Here is the link to the report mentioned, about the expectations and gaps between the employers and talent. https://www.yhsglobal.com/yhs-rankings

Hotel Talks is a monthly show co hosted with Abid Butt, a global leader in the hospitality industry. We discuss the burning topics that effect the global hospitality industry. In this segment our topics are on the Macro level; Geopolitical Elements, Demographics, Safety Security. We dig deep into Exponential Technology; Hyper Technology, Customer Journey and Service Delivery. We touch on topics such as; • Virtual Communities • Sharing Economy • Online Travel Agencies • Digitised Guest...

PHUKET: The narrow laneways and pastel-coloured shophouses of Phuket Old Town are usually bustling with Chinese tourists during the Lunar New Year holiday, but travel bans and local fears about coronavirus have largely emptied the streets this year. Just a handful of tourists, many wearing face masks, strolled through the area during daylight hours this week. In the evening, foot traffic increased a little under the glow of the red lanterns strung across the thoroughfare, but remained far below...

Happy New Year 2020. May this year be full of happiness, less stressful, more truthful with less false news. Jayanth Kolla Technology Trend Watcher joins me for a conversation about Technology evolution and predictions for 2020 and onwards. Jayanth is an oft-quoted industry leader whose viewpoints and analyst notes are regularly published in leading business publications including Mint, Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Fortune and Financial Times. He is my go-to expert on everything dealing with tec...

Greger and I are both live stream enthusiasts. We met couple of years in an online community to learn how to create live videos. We sharing some anecdotes how it was to first go live. Greger being a teacher and musician told me had a lot fun doing his first live streams. I on the other got hit with the ¨live video adrenaline monster¨. We are sharing tips and tricks how to create your own show, while having some fun.

Great Customer Service Experience in hotels are not enough anymore! The bold headline has some truth in it in the context of hotel marketing. We will have to be able to reach the fickle mobile driven customer looking to catch their attention, while the consider which hotel they will choose for their next stay. Video is the best way to tell stories and connect with a customer. But effective video marketing can be overwhelming task. Vilhelmiina Mähönen, Finnish by nationality and based out of Co...

We talked about the evolution of the travel aggregators aka. OTA that is a way of hotels t become ever so more visible online. Travellers find the websites useful as they can compare rates, reviews and availability of many different accommodation options at one glance, and book them quickly and easily in just a few clicks. The hotel can be usually listed free of charge, and add nice pictures, description, room rates etc. You can choose how many rooms you want to sell online. Many newly opened ho...

What happens to tourism businesses that do not listen to changes in travellers habits? Sadly we know the answer to that question, they collapse. The leading hotelier association in Spain are crying foul. Also there is a claim that Thomas Cook in this case ruined the booked trips when the news was announced. In this episode we talk about what believe is the probable reason. More importantly what tourism business can learn from this so they do not suffer the same destiny. We share some tips and tr...

CHUSOK. We were celebrating September full moon aka the Harvest Moon. The celebration was our modest version of Chusok compared to the traditional Korean Thanksgiving celebrated over 3 days in Korea. The tradition calls for visit to ancestral graves during the three-day holiday September 13 – 15. Festive occasions, such as Chusok, demonstrate the importance of family to Korean society. Family members, usually from the paternal line, get together to prepare food, honor their ancestors, and cheris...

When I left the corporate hotelier job and started on my advisory services 6 years ago, one of the industry buzzwords was “personalisation” — it was everywhere. Somehow, over the years, it felt like our industry replaced personalisation with messaging, chatbots, voice, and then AI. But, in my humble opinion, none of these great new technologies replaced the purpose, they all exist to serve it… finding ways that technology can be used to create a personalised, data-driven, and high touch experien...

Loyalty is Dead Long Live Loyalty – was declared by Sales Force CEO Marc Benioff.Maybe the loyalty programs are the things of the past, but earned loyalty is the glue that keeps your customers and guests coming back time after time.There is a difference between guest satisfaction and guest loyalty- The ideas was that loyalty as a program is dead. Treated with respect, and when things don’t get right. Most important is the problem is fixed with no delay and and a small token is extended. (Exampl...

Whether you know it or not, you have a personal brand. Admit it you have at least once Googled your name, I confess, I check my google presence regularly. Reason is to see how my different online blog posts, podcasts, videos are found in the all mighty Google. I also check out my prospective business contacts to see how they present themselves and their personal brand on Linkedin and Google. The results are always interesting and tells something about the person. This podcast episode ¨Why your p...

Mediterranean represents one third of all tourism arrivals. Mediterranean region is also hitting the news headlines, regularly sadly focusing on terrorist attacks, economic crisis, political crisis and immigrant drowning. My guest Andrew Agius Muscat, General Secretary and Co – Founder of Mediterranean Tourism Foundation explains about his mission in life to organise events that will bring people together who are not directly related to tourism, but anyone interested in Mediterranean Tourism. T...

In the early fifties Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary where the first confirmed summiting of Mount Everest. 66 years later the peak has become so popular that there are lines of climbers waiting to reach the same peak. Climbers are taking risks while waiting, and this has not been without casualties even this year, during the wait to reach the famous peak. In 2018 a TV series ¨Memories of Al Hambra ¨ was produced for the Korean TV, and it became a hit worldwide. With the popularity of the TV s...

Why AI and digital transformation will impact the future of hotels What are the implications of digital transformation, technology, and artificial intelligence for hotels? The impact of big data and business analytics with technologies such as artificial intelligence have profound implications for hotel companies, individuals, and society. . On this episode, Sam-Erik Ruttmann and Lasse Rouhiainen explore these complicated and important issues. Lasse Rouhiainen is a best-selling author and inte...

Sharing my experience how I renewed inspiration to podcast. Sharing tips and tricks on developing content, podcast apps, and suggested app to promote your podcast in social media.

One of the hotel travel industry buzzwords was personalisation. I am sharing my experience and observations as an hotelier and hotel guest, where the great tech is taking over and replace the purpose they all exist to serve. Fly shame or #flygskam is the buzzword and a growing trend of traveling by rail. Has the climate activist Greta Thunberg made us feel guilty of flying or are we ready with our action combat climate change, Airlines in Sweden have felt the pinch with reduced bookings on dome...

Interview with Praveen Kanyadi, Co- Founder and VP of Products, SpotCues. Their mobile communication platform help industries like retail and hospitality to leverage mobile as a channel to engage the guest and personalise their experience. We are 8000km apart and have a blast of a conversation in this show. Praveen shares his views on hospitality trends for mobile. He also shares, what is true but almost no one agree with him on. Also a revelation about Gourmet food vs Street food. --- Send ...

Interview with Deniz Tekerek, Co-Founder, Portier Technologies. He explains ways how hotels are able to create the best guest experience for the luxury traveler. Their service puts the luxury service in the palms of hotel customer hand. Why is personalisation an over used word in hotels. I asked Deniz to tell me something that is true that almost nobody agrees with him on. What does the future look like say 10 years from now in his industry? --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/s...

Are you conceited or smart if you care about your personal brand? Consider your personal brand is your most important asset. In this episode I share some practical tips how to get started and how nurture your brand. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/sam-erik-hotel-mentor/message

I wondered sometime is social media a waste of my time. My conclusion was if I take a laser focus on my approach it will be rewarding. I share my strategy how I do it. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/sam-erik-hotel-mentor/message