What on earth is happening at the new Radisson? One day we are told by the management of the hotel that it will not be opening until just before Christmas. The following day the owners of the hotel come out and refuted this claim, insisting that the hotel will be open in the first week of November.
Apparently the construction team are working overtime to ensure the hotel is finished for handover in October and the owners, headed by Ted Clucas, are insistent that the hotel will open in November. It appears that the statement from the hotel's sales and marketing director, Lisa Stewart, was not agreed with the owners and not surprisingly they are furious that the hotel management announced a change in opening date without their approval.
However, it does beg the question who is actually running the hotel? Normally hotel owners who have signed over the management to another company, do not get involved in the day to day management of the business. Surely the team at the coal face, headed by General Manager Jonathan Huglin, are in the best position to judge when they will be ready to open their doors to paying guests. If this PR cock-up is an example of the relationship twixt owner and manager, then good luck to the team when the hotel does get going!
Radisson - who's in charge?
Think Strawberries - the secret to creating a service culture
There's a seven letter word that is that heart of everything we do in this industry. S E R V I C E.
The fact is that here in Jersey, as with so many destinations in Europe, we're not very good at it. There are many theories on why this is the case. Some argue that it's just not in the European character to smile, look our guests in the eye and satisfy their every need. Others complain that the poor pay does not attract the right calibre of people.
I think it's about leadership. If you have a strong, capable owner/manager who can inspire his or her team then you are more than 50% of the way to achieving your goal. This week I came across a guy who understood all about service and leadership. His name was James Levinson and for several years he ran the New York Plaza and turned it from a loss-making hotel into a hugely successful and profitable enterprise.
How did he achieve this? Well, you can read how. In 1973 at the end of his tenure as CEO of the Plaza, he gave a speech to the American Marketing Association. This hilarious speech describes how he turned the 1400 employees in the hotel into a highly motivated sales team using a programme called 'Think Strawberries'. His approach was to make every single member of staff, from the laundry to the front desk to think and act as if they were hosting a guest in their own home. Over the year's Levinson's approach has been used as a basis for many hospitality businesses training programmes.
I urge you read it - click here to see a transcript. I defy you not to find an idea that you can use in your own business to improve your service standards. Good luck!
Jersey Festivals & Events - are we investing wisely?
Today heralds one of the biggest annual events of the year - The Jersey International Air Display. This magnificent spectacle is one of the last free air shows in Europe and features an extraordinary range of aircraft. It is probably the biggest event of the year in Jersey -watched by more people than even the Battle of Flowers and is now so popular that hotels can virtually guarantee to be full on the back of it.
The show costs almost £250,000 to stage and yesterday the organiser of the event, Mike Higgins, announced that there is a £20,000 shortfall in funding this year. Jersey Tourism put in £100,000 towards the event - a big chunk of their £640,000 event budget. It raises the question as to where the rest of the money goes and how wisely it is invested.
Reading the 2006 Visitor Survey, only 1% of visitors stated that the main purpose of their visit was to attend a festival or event. Even when you take secondary purposes into account, it only rises to 6%. The specific question is asked in the survey: 'Was you decision to visit Jersey influenced at all by a wish to attend any festival or event?' Only 1 person in 8 stated that it was - and this figure must be heavily skewed by The Battle of Flowers & the Air Display
Roughly a third of Tourism's event budget goes to support these two main events. So that leaves around £400k for all the rest - from Walking Weeks to Food Festivals, sports events to Jersey Live. There must be over 50 taking place throughout the year. So how many visitors participate in these events and do they really encourage more visitors to the island? Once again the visitor survey suggests very few - only 8% in 2006 indicated that they had attend a festival or event during their stay.
With further budget cuts in the pipeline, Jersey Tourism are going to have to withdraw support for more small-scale events and focus their attention on the big wins. This makes sense as it is the major events that help put Jersey on the map and attract more visitors. Whilst it's nice to have all the others, their pulling power simply does not justify the investment.
In my opinion we need something big in April or May - but what? There have been plenty of ideas in the past focusing on our maritime heritage, the arts or some big sports event. What about bringing a leg of the Red Bull Air Race here? Perfect for St Aubin's Bay. If you've got an idea why not post a comment here?
