Building business with better services
This past month has been taken up with continuing to add new facilities and activities to the resort. We now offer a mile-long Sporting Clays course on the northern end of the property, overlooking our lakes.
Mountain bikes are now available for hire and these will share the gentle or challenging hiking trails currently in use. Guests wishing to hike or ride will be given a map and compass, and will find their way by orienteering.
Currently, we are working with Ralph Lauren Polo to provide our new staff uniforms. Being understated and classical, yet elegant, Polo fits the profile of our guests perfectly.
On the US industry front, it is felt that graduating students are not appropriately versed and suitably qualified to handle the positions for which they are applying. Realising that lecturers are falling behind in their understanding of an ever-changing industry, the Johnson & Wales Hotel School is sending them out into the field to partake in "externships".
Talking of competitive marketplaces, Joe Pine, author of The Experience Economy, has agreed to come and make two presentations to all my staff.
I was fortunate enough to meet and hear Joe speak at a conference recently, and he is undoubtedly a leader in understanding that all business is changing, and goods and services are no longer enough.
Why doesn't this surprise me? A recent Hilton Hotels survey shows that nearly 50% of all US leisure travellers take work on holiday in the form of laptops, cell phones and pagers. Are you suitably equipped with data ports, chargers and secretarial services?
The top five destinations in the USA, booked through the global distribution system and the Internet, are Las Vegas, Orlando, New York, New Orleans and, happily for us, Atlanta. In fact, in terms of average length of stay, Atlanta leads the way, with 4.3 nights.
The majority of these travellers are on business, yet opportunities abound and leisure travellers are starting to learn about the diversity of Georgia and what it has to offer as a holiday destination.
Given that 65% of our business mix is corporate, meetings also present opportunities to bring the delegates back with their families, and already we have seen our leisure business gather momentum through referral. Long may it last. n
EUAN McGLASHAN is general manager of the Barnsley Inn &Golf Resort, north of Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Next diary from Euan McGlashan: 22 March
