The two-day 2024 NoVacancy Expo at ICC Sydney was a well-attended event which inspired the Veridia team. We hope you enjoyed the summits as much as we did! We’ve compiled our team’s key insights in this article, so you can benefit from what we learned.
The Small Hotelier Summit on day one kicked off with practical tips from Kelley Rigby of Letts Group. Her advice on leaning into the constraints of being a small business especially resonated. She said, “If a guest walks away feeling good, you’ve done your job.” She suggested that relationships and connections are the currency of small businesses, and personalisation is the way to build guest loyalty. After all, as a small business owner, you’re in control, so you can do things differently – and personally.
Over in the more informal setting of the Hotel Technology Demos, Felicity Thomlinson of Typsy took us through how online learning can be integrated into hotel training programs, with personal anecdotes from Amanda Cottome of Ovolo Group, and Kay Goodman and Tracy Everest of Accor. From that chat, we learned that hospitality workers often prefer microlearning ‘bites’ that they can access in their own time, sometimes even on the train to work. The Typsy team also advised those starting a blended learning program to begin with role-relevant content, so learners can put their training into practice at once.
The Design Talks Summit also yielded some helpful insights into how hoteliers in heritage buildings can adapt, reuse, and take design inspiration from their location’s history and structure. Sioux Clark of Multiplicity offered the opinion that heritage design doesn’t always have to be the expensive choice – reusing parts of an original building can turn out to be cost effective!
On day two, the key focus of NoVacancy’s summits was looking ahead. Whether it was preparing for sustainability legislation, shifts in tourism demand, or the use of AI in the accommodation industry, the presenters emphasised being on the front foot for 2025.
At the Hotel Leaders’ Summit, Christopher Warren of WISE Sustainability presented the unique opinion that hoteliers who embrace sustainability reporting now, with specific detail and timely data, can stand out in the Australian market. He noted that most of the accommodation industry isn’t environmentally friendly, creating a competitive advantage for those who act early.
At the Revenue & Distribution Summit, panel member Lachlan Harris of La Vie Hotels & Resorts shared a key insight: “Value adding has a lower cost than creating an entirely new offer, so it can be more profitable.” In the same panel, Nicola McGlinchey of Marriott Sydney shared her practical advice on optimising customer segmentation, channel mix, and geo-sourcing to help level out troughs in demand. Covering an impressive range of hotel types and experiences, this panel also offered the perspective that a long stay with incremental revenue streams can be more profitable than a shorter stay with a higher room rate.
"Look for the genius loci"
"Find the worst seat in the restaurant and design it out"
"Create spaces for people to make their own memories in."
On the design side of things, the standout panelist from day two of the Design Talks Summit was Tracey Wiles of Woods-Bagot, who conveyed her expertise on using spaces to enhance the guest experience. Speaking thoughtfully on a range of questions, Tracey shared gold nuggets such as:
- “The more rigorous you are, the more creative you can be”
- “Look for the genius loci”
- “Find the worst seat in the restaurant and design it out” and
- “Create spaces for people to make their own memories in.”
The final flourish of day two came from the Hotel Leaders’ Summit, where Alexander Alt of Oracle guided a panel of leaders in predicting the next five years for Australian accommodation. Their consensus was for cautious optimism in 2025, as the pressure on household discretionary spend will impact mid-market hotels. The panel also emphasised the need to give competent employees creative license and advised that AI usage should always have a sense check from a real human.
Overall, NoVacancy 2024 provided the stage for a range of experts with hospitality experience across the globe – well worth the time for a hotelier who’s ready to learn!
