Considerations in Working with Hotels PDF

CONSIDERATIONS IN WORKING WITH HOTELS Todd, Maria. Handbook of Medical Tourism Program Development. © 2012 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC Source: Deloitte Center for Health MEDICAL TOURISM PROGRAMS THAT DON’T HAVE OWN SERVICED APARTMENT FACILITIES HOSPITAL AND HOTEL ALLIANCE The b...

CONSIDERATIONS IN WORKING WITH HOTELS Todd, Maria. Handbook of Medical Tourism Program Development. © 2012 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC Source: Deloitte Center for Health MEDICAL TOURISM PROGRAMS THAT DON’T HAVE OWN SERVICED APARTMENT FACILITIES HOSPITAL AND HOTEL ALLIANCE The boom in medical tourism is encouraging hospitals and hoteliers to strike alliances with each other. Higher costs and lower availability at hotels are not good things for medical tourism program operators Must collaborate with hotels, and deal with hotel room rates, resort fee waivers, booking incentives and overall negotiation THE ROLE OF HOTEL INDUSTRY IN MEDICAL & WELLNESS TOURISM https://www.magazine.medicaltourism.com/article/the-role-of-hotel-industry-in-medical-wellness-tourism WHY HOTEL ACCOMMODATIONS ARE A CRUCIAL PART OF THE MEDICAL TOURISM AND WELLNESS INDUSTRY? Hotel/lodging industry partnership is one small, yet critical piece of the development of several segments of the tourism industry. A case in point, the U.S. timeshare industry that commenced nearly 30 years ago (Randall S., Upchurch & Kurt Gruber) only realized widespread success when major hotel chains, such as Marriott and Hilton partnered with firms in the segment. With their experience in brand development, customer loyalty, and significant resources including real estate brokers, large investors, and innovative mixed projects’ the industry’s evolution reached its status today. MAYO CLINIC’S COMMUNITY APPROACH TO OVERALL PATIENT EXPERIENCE AND HEALTHCARE DELIVERY Obviously, patients and families traveling to receive healthcare have many needs. Some are tangibles, such as efficient transportation, lodging, foodservice, shopping, and tourist activities. The intangibles, the cornerstone of the hotel industry culture, encompass the experience during pre-departure, encounter, and post-departure. A well-balanced medical/wellness tourism destination must address almost all of the tangibles and intangibles. The lodging industry can position itself to make its services available to medical/wellness tourists through: 1) supply of accommodations, 2) convenient and efficient business models, and 3) innovative design, amenities, and services. SUPPLY Hospitals and healthcare facilities need one another more than ever before. Cost pressures force hospitals to discharge patients in a timely fashion to hotels or homes nearby; demand for hospitality services within hospitals compel healthcare facilities to act more like hotels; and hotel companies see opportunities in building hotels near healthcare facilities. The interplay of these attractions makes a perfect marriage. Hotel industry’s appetite for building hotels near hospitals is further fueled by optimizing occupancy and financing needs: OCCUPANCY Hotels near healthcare facilities achieved higher occupancy. Developers are more interested to build hotels near hospitals to create a recession proof facility (Bruce Serlen, Hotel Business, 02/07/09, vol. 18, no.3) FINANCING: In a flat economy, both banks and hospitals are appropriately interested in financing such projects. One of the few niches where new properties continue to get built is the hospital- adjacent hotel market. Developers of these hotels can pitch financiers on their built-in customer base and, in many cases, make side agreements with lodging-starved hospitals that may procure assets such as free parking or below-market-cost land.” http://www.travelweekly.com/Travel-News/Hotel-News/Hospital-adjacent-hotels-get-built-amid-development-standstill/ CONVENIENT AND EFFICIENT BUSINESS MODELS Lodging operators and healthcare facilities could integrate in at least in three ways. First, the most common model in the U.S. in which hotels and hospitals arrange memorandum of understanding (MoUs) to collaborate, sometimes in the form of providing discounted rates, transportation, concierge services, etc. Second, hotels and hospitals are housed together in the same building. Either the hospital devotes a few stories to patient/family rooms (University of Michigan’s Med Inn, Bumrungrad International Hospital of Thailand) or a major hotel allocates a floor or two to a wellness/medical care facility (Shilla Hotel, Seoul, South Korea). Third, hotel and hospital build a mixed project under the same ownership. These facilities are strategically situated to accommodate the hotel’s patient needs, the needs of their families, and needs of transient guests (Grand Resort Bad Ragaz, Switzerland). INNOVATIVE DESIGN, AMENITIES, AND SERVICES While developers may rush to build hospital-adjacent hotels, we have not yet designed a brand that is optimal for medical/wellness tourism travelers. Many challenging issues remain that need further research. The most important of these are, building modifications, amenities modification, and service modifications. Read : Trading Hospital Rooms for Hotel Suites https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/20/realestate/commercial/hospitals- hotels.html  Building modifications: The lodging industry has not yet developed an efficient room design that can fully satisfy the needs of patients, business and leisure travelers. A hotel room resembling a hospital-room is, undoubtedly, less appealing to business or leisure customers yet must thoroughly accommodate ADA requirements by both removing architectural barriers, such as accessibility to all services including pool, sauna, etc., and providing auxiliary aids and telecommunication devises. Such an efficient design remains to be seen. Furthermore, entrances to facilities and guest movement within the property must be designed appropriately that are convenient for all target customers’ needs. Amenities modification: What are the most desirable amenities that patients must have? To my knowledge there is no valid data that considers the needs of all types of guests as well as customer preferences. Logically the following amenities seem smart, but are they? AMENITIES Adjustable beds Nurse call systems Wi-Fi Bedside controls Individualized TVs Hot bath Individually controlled air Bathroom amenities suitable for the needs of recovering patients Family needs, such as microwave, refrigerator, washing machines, etc. SERVICE MODIFICATIONS: Hotels are one of the most important touch points in a patient encounter phase. To provide seamless services to all types of guests and particularly traveling patients, hotels must consider the following Quick check-in process (e.g., at the airport) Efficient concierge Translators First aid training Prescription delivery Coordinators 24-hour room service Shopping services Shuttle services All-inclusive pricing Nursing and dietitian staff SUBSTANTIAL INVESTMENT IN STAFF TRAINING AND RECRUITMENT ACTIVITIES What characteristics are needed to model performance? What credentials are necessary? What services are a must have? Challenges: community engagement and partnerships, large financing requirements, management systems, distribution channels, legal issues, marketing and branding, standardization, and measurements/benchmarking. All these challenges provide many opportunities to all parties involved, which we hope to witness as other industries have achieved before us. SECOND-TIER CITY CONSIDERATIONS The best chance of finding favorable rates and availability are in second-tier cities (STCs). Second-tier cities are hard to define because they can move as they are redefined by market and economic structure rather than by size. They are generally distinct from large urban metropolises, and are spatially distinct, rather than suburbs of larger metropolitan areas. This is something to think about when considering hospitals and medical spas for health travel network. WHAT SECOND-TIER CITIES ARE Second-tier cities possess a specialized set of activities (paralleling the cluster concept in economic development), and trade-oriented industries (wealth generation), both of which take root (through attraction and growth) in those communities. STCs have comparatively strong growth characteristics in terms of both population and employment. As opportunities to add hospitals and other suppliers to your provider network are sought, government views expansion into their market quite favorably on a number of fronts if they are ready for that expansion and can accommodate clients and take good care of them, bringing honor and economic development to the community STCs will have many of the characteristics that meet the needs of health travelers who are not going for the electricity of the downtown touristic inclusions, while offering a mix of advantages that make them highly competitive with the largest locations. The STC will have what the large cities have, and have more of it (responsive government, labor growth), enough of it (transportation infrastructure, financial services), and less of it (congestion, hotel accommodation costs) in a mix that makes them especially attractive. The fundamental value proposition of STCs in placing your health travel clients is the right size at the right cost. REVPAR—WATCH OUT FOR “ANCILLARY” FEES Room rates are far from the only factor to consider when cutting deals with hotels. Hotels focus on RevPAR= revenue per available room Increasingly, add-on fees, sometimes called “resort fees,” for everything from parking to use of the fitness center and even maid service, are being added to hotel bills. RevPar is the strongest indicator of hotel profitability Industrywide, hotels are following what the airlines are doing in terms of fees. Depending on the nature of booking and business volume, and how much it’s worth to the hotel, these fees can be negotiated out WHAT ELSE IS TO WATCH OUT FOR? Guard against any new fees that could crop up after a booking is arranged. Contract provisions should protect you from fees being added on later, upon guest arrival. Once the contract is signed, stay on top of how the hotel implements that contract. Sometimes the contracts are handed over to reservations people who don’t necessarily read them to see what concessions are in there. Follow up or client satisfaction ratings will drop to damaging levels. Keeping an eye on fees has become a necessary part of the negotiating process. For example, clients who drive to a particular medical tourism destination could be assessed an unexpected $25 daily parking fee. Once they have arrived, your leverage has essentially disappeared. Nobody is going to start looking for a new hotel room under the stress of impending medical care. You never know what the next money-grabbing gimmick will be, so you really have to stay ahead of the game. Tell the hotel that no hidden fees must be tacked on to the room rate. When we give people a price for the room, it must be that price! KEEPING THE TERMS OF THE NEGOTIATED RATES IS THE KEY Creative long-term negotiating tactics for favorable rates will be important, along with traveler compliance to keep costs under control. When ADR goes haywire, negotiated rates are used by hoteliers to lock in volume business commitments. Inquire if the companies that your clients work for have already negotiated savings with certain brands, which can save you and your client money and help their employer meet volume commitments. Companies forfeit a lot of savings when employees book outside preferred agreements and channels and end up paying consumer rates. POINTERS ON HOW TO NEGOTIATE Egencia, a division of Expedia that publishes a Travel Forecast and Annual Hotel Negotiability Index, suggests the following recommendations for how travel managers and facilitators can get the best value from hotels depending on market conditions: ❖Negotiating with three- to four-star hotels is likely to be easier than with hotels in the luxury category, when luxury category hotels are “in the money.” ❖Encourage travelers to book hotels that offer free amenities such as Internet, shuttle service, breakfast, and evening events ❖Negotiations with specific hotels will yield better results than chain-wide negotiations, particularly for business concerns without a high volume or average daily spend. ❖Consider independent hotels. Without costly loyalty programs to subsidize, these properties may offer better rates and amenities. ❖Negotiate last-room availability clauses. This means that properties must offer negotiated rates even if only one room type is available, resulting in lower ADR throughout the year ADR - ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION SAFETY FIRST Always walk your hotels with the same attention to detail as you walk through your hospitals and clinics. Your clients expect you to be the expert and match up their preferences with the best choice for them, their pocketbook, their comfort, their safety, and their culture. The pretty pictures might not show everything as it is without staging and re-touching. Consider their safety as physically challenged travelers. One rule: Do NOT offer a hotel property where the handicap access room is above the third floor. The reason: most fire trucks equipped with a ladder apparatus can usually only reach the third floor. ❑If the guest requires assistance and alternative egress, or escape, elevators are typically automatically programmed to descend to the ground level and stop upon activation of the fire alarm enunciator panel. That means that any disabled client trapped above may truly be trapped. Let that not happen on your watch. COMFORT OF MORBIDLY OBESE CLIENTS ❑They may come for gastric bypass and other weight loss surgeries. They will need larger furniture pre- and postoperatively. ❑Once they have had surgery, and their abdominal muscles have been cut, even if only laparascopically, they may need to steady themselves as they arise from chairs, beds, or in and out of bathtubs. Make sure you know what furniture arrangements will be in the rooms they are assigned, and spare them embarrassment and possible injury if they lean on something that may give way underneath them. FURNITURE ARRANGEMENTS Make sure you know what will be furniture in the rooms they are assigned, and spare them embarrassment and possible injury if they lean on something that may give way underneath them. DETAILS ON ALL INGREDIENTS Check with the kitchen staff to ensure that they are able to provide details on all ingredients, as hidden sugars of any kind will be devastating to gastric bypass patients (even in yogurts, juices, teas, and soups such as carrot purees, etc.) SHUTTLE VEHICLE Check the shuttle vehicle that may be used to collect them from the airport or to transfer them to your hospital or clinic. Stepping into many vans without a stepstool or ladder, or stairs into a minibus-- ascend or descend stairs of any kind, like knee patients, hip patients, back patients, and those with fresh postoperative wound sites. CASE: REPORT: MEDICAL TOURISM – CHINESE PATIENTS PROLIFERATE INTERNATIONALLY https://www.lek.com/sites/default/files/insights/pdf-attachments/Medical- Tourism_Healthcare-Business-International-Com_Nov-2015_0.pdf China’s medical tourists tend to be cash rich, paying out-of-pocket either from their own resources or pooling financial support from family members. Private health insurance cover is still limited to a fraction of the population, and only a handful benefit from insurance coverage that is valid internationally for nonemergency care. The majority are still from Tier 1 cities such as Shanghai (22m population), Beijing (12m), and Guangzhou (11m) where incomes are significantly than the national average, and wealth tends to concentrate. There is also, however, increasing demand from patients in lower tier cities, such as Hangzhou (pop. 6m), Tianjin (pop. 11m) and Wuhan (pop. 10m), where availability of good quality healthcare can be even more limited than in Tier 1 urban areas. China’s southern provinces in particular have contributed a good share of cross-border patients arriving in private clinics in Hong Kong and Macau, which benefit from very easy access and a shared language. WUHAN WAS A TYPICAL 2ND-TIER CHINESE CITY BEFORE THE VIRUS BY CHU WU FEBRUARY 09, 2020 01:14 AM Less international doesn’t mean Wuhan is less modern. The city just hadn't registered with many people outside China, unlike the first-tier cities — Beijing (population 21.54 million) or Shanghai (24.24 million) By area, it is more than twice the size of Shanghai and eight times bigger than Hong Kong Today’s Wuhan consists of three boroughs — Wuchang, Hankou and Hanyang — merged by the Kuomintang government when it moved its capital from Guangzhou in 1927. TRANSPORTATION HUB The borough of Hankou was slightly different because it had foreign concessions, or land leased to the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Russia and Japan from the late 19th century to the early 20th century. Wuhan has, historically, always served as a transportation hub. Besides the busy waterways, most of China’s major train routes go through the city, as does the fast- developing, high-speed train network. Millions of Wuhan residents commute by bicycle, and the city was the first in China to set aside bike lanes. TOM MURPHY, A FORMER MAYOR OF PITTSBURGH Pittsburgh --Wuhan’s sister city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, has witnessed striking changes in Wuhan through his dozens of visits between 1996 and 2019. “[People] might have an impression that this is a more agricultural town or something like that, because of how this virus has moved from an animal market to the people,” but that’s not true, Murphy said. “I saw Wuhan go from a very industrial and polluted city to a very modern one,” said Murphy, who visited Wuhan just six months ago.  LIVABILITY' FACTOR An urban development expert, Murphy said Chinese city planning focused more on “housing people and creating workplaces” instead of “livability,” or the notion that a city is an environment where people go to enjoy themselves. But over the years, Wuhan has evolved, with lush parks now lining the riverbanks in many areas. “The waterfront or riverfront you see in a lot of cities in the U.S., Pittsburgh included, which was (at) one time a very industrial waterfront, is all being converted into parks,” said Murphy, who added he was delighted to see Wuhan embrace the trend. People, particularly older people, get up early in the morning to do tai chi, guangchang wu (public dancing) or other forms of exercise in public parks. IT’S A GREAT SENSE OF COMMUNITY (MURPHY) Creating places where that can happen is really important to a community Not far from the parks in Hankou, there is Wuhan Tiandi, a wooded, mixed-used commercial and residential district modeled after Shanghai’s Xintiandi, which was one of the first urban neighborhoods in China developed around historic buildings. In Wuhan Tiandi, some of the buildings are old and repurposed, others are recreations of traditional buildings, and the project, completed in 2009, includes the first air-conditioned outdoor food street in China, according to promotional materials. INTERNATIONAL HUB Yet Wuhan and its attractions remain largely unknown to foreign tourists. Most tourists, as former Pittsburgh Mayor Murphy pointed out, just pass through as it is the endpoint of the Three Gorges Dam cruise tour. The city’s rich history colors the student experience. CASE QUESTIONS Where do medical tourists of Wuhan come from? Do patients enjoy health coverage plans? What do you think has made Wuhan a 2nd-tier city? What are its characteristics to be a labeled a 2nd-tier city?