Breakfast Briefing - The latest hospitality news
Quote of the Week
"Those who give too much attention to trifling things become generally incapable of great ones"
François de La Rochefoucauld
Tweet of the Week
Story of the Week
Dining-on-demand:
Restaurants under pressure to serve up speed and convenience as ordering in and eating out soars
New research from Barclaycard has revealed that busy Brits are demanding faster service and more convenient ways to pay when eating out and ordering takeaways for delivery. Some key points from the research included:
- Busy lifestyles drive more people to eat out or order food in rather than cook – now a weekly occurrence for three in 10 (30 per cent) UK adults
- Time-pressed diners prioritise quick service in restaurants and when ordering takeaways to their door (37 per cent), making this more important than menu choice (33 per cent) and value (21 per cent)
- New technology holds the key to keeping up with customers’ need for speed, as diners call for bill-splitting apps and ways to make paying quicker and easier
News of the Week
House of Commons chefs win gold and bronze medals in World Culinary Olympics
House of Commons chefs Matt Jones (Sous Chef) and Andrew Ditchfield (Head of Pastry) competed as a part of the senior English Culinary Team at this year’s 2016 World Culinary Olympics in Germany, taking away gold and bronze medals. The Culinary Olympics, held every four years, see more than 2,000 professional chefs compete in 30 national and 20 junior teams over the course of four days. This year’s competition took place from 23-26 October in Erfurt, Germany.
As part of the English Team, the House of Commons chefs participated in two categories within the Olympics. The team won gold in the Restaurant of Nations category, coming ahead of 14 other national teams in this part of the competition. They were also awarded bronze in the international buffet, coming away with an overall silver medal for the competition and placing 16th in the world. Andrew is the resident head Pastry Chef in the House of Commons and manages a team of five chefs responsible for all pastry items across a range of restaurants and event venues in the House of Commons. This includes afternoon teas available to the public as an optional addition to tours of Parliament. Matt works as the Sous Chef for several House of Commons restaurants, as well as for private receptions and dinners hosted in House of Commons venues. This includes pop up dining events which allow members of the public to dine in restaurants usually open only to MPs and their guests, the next of which, on 9 November 2016, has sold out. eHotelier Hospitality News
8 tech trends travel marketers need to embrace: Technology is evolving at a rapid-fire pace. That’s why it’s important to take a step back and look at the bigger, mid- and long-term picture. And these days, long-term can sometimes be only three years away — or 2020Learn more Next-generation property management systems: Is now the right time to upgrade?: A next-generation property management system streamlines operations across the organization and provides better management controls. Learn moreWyndham expands rewards program to cover 17,000 vacation condos and homes: Wyndham Rewards unveiled plans to expand its program across Wyndham Worldwide, starting with the immediate addition of more than 17,000 condos and homes to the program’s nearly 8,000 hotel redemption portfolio.Read moreThe four booking behaviours driving travellers: Together with independent research firm Ipsos, TripAdvisor asked 36,000 travellers how they plan and book their vacations – and discovered four booking behaviour trends and six distinct traveller personas.Find out more here IHG launches hotel virtual reality service in China: Virtual Reality is at the leading edge of technology today and has captured the imagination of consumers globally. IHG is the first international hotel group in China to provide guests with this innovative, in-room digital experience.Read more here