Hotel foodservice operations find room for culinary innovation
BY RON RUGGLESS
Players in the hospitality segment have been reaching for programs to distinguish themselves from competitors as traffic slips at casinos and high-end hotels that traditionally have had the most significant foodservice presence.
With the hotel-occupancy outlook dim for the rest of
year and into 2010, hotels and casinos are adopting a range
of strategies to deal with the fall-off in traffic.
Casinos are offering a wider variety of food options in
food-court areas, typically priced as a value compared with
traditional sit-down restaurants.
Hotel chefs also are becoming the leaders in providing
locally sourced menus and even, in the case of the Fairmont
Hotel chain, growing herbs and housing bees for honey on
the property.
Both hotels and casinos are taking advantage of real
estate devoted to bar waiting areas by offering signature
cocktails and a wider menu of nonalcoholic “mocktails.”
More travelers are expressing wellness concerns, and
hotel chefs are creating menus to appeal to their health
consciousness.
Westin Hotels, a division of Starwood Hotels & Resorts
of White Plains, N.Y., is taking advantage of what researchers at Technomic, the research firm, call the “comfort
meets contemporary” breakfast category.
Westin in 2007 teamed up with SuperFoods Partners
LLC, owners of the SuperFoodsRx brand, to create a menu focused on health-enhancing, antioxidant-rich foods. The program was put in place at Westin’s North American restaurants in 2008 and has since expanded to the entire chain.
The hotel chefs create such signature dishes such as
banana-oatmeal brûlée, green-tea-infused salmon and
molten dark-chocolate cake.
The SuperFoodsRx greenleaf logo is featured at the bottom of the menu. It signifies that it has been approved by
SuperFoodsRx’s team of nutritionists and doctors and that
the menu contains nutritionally significant amounts of one
or more of the program’s recommended foods, such as
avocados, spinach, tomatoes, some spices, beans, berries,
green tea and broccoli.
“The SuperFoodsRx concept integrates seamlessly with
Westin’s continuing efforts to enliven the mind, body and
spirit,” says Dr. Steven Pratt, author of “SuperFoods Rx:
The 14 SuperFoods That Will Change Your Life” and
founder of the company.
A Westin spokeswoman quoted one hotel manager as
saying, “The SuperFoods selection during breakfast is one
of the fastest-moving items. Guests find the concept
unique, which sets us apart from other hotels in terms of
breakfast and in-room dining experience.”
In the first quarter of this year, Westin and other Starwood hotels worldwide reported that revenue per available
room, or “revpar,” the most general measure of business
health, was down 31. 6 percent compared to the first quarter
of 2008. Revpar at Starwood’s hotels in North America
decreased 31. 2 percent in the same period.
The outlook for a bounce in hotel and casino
business is cloudy at best, and the bleak first
half of 2009 is likely to continue the rest of the
year, researchers say.
“By almost any measure, 2009 has been an extraordinarily challenging year. A weak economy
combined with unemployment levels not seen in
more than 25 years have been a gut shot to the
hotel industry,” says Bobby Bowers, senior vice
president of operations for Smith Travel Research
in Hendersonvillle, Tenn., in a report at mid-year.
Year-to-date numbers as of May indicated
that rooms sold at hotels declined 9 percent in
the top 25 markets, and just less than 8 percent
in 136 smaller U.S. markets, Smith Travel says.
Unfortunately for occupancy rates going forward,
the research firm found that room supply increased more than 3 percent in both the top 25 markets and
all other markets. “The combination of weak demand and
above-long-term-trend supply growth pushed occupancy
down nearly 12 percent in the top 25 and almost 11 percent
elsewhere,” Bowers says.
For the rest of the year and beyond, Bowers says, “our
belief is that demand will begin to stabilize [or get ‘less
worse’] in the second half of 2009, but continued supply
growth, particularly in larger metro areas, will result in flat
to declining occupancy.”
He says hotels will be under continued pressure from
discounting and a shortage of premium-rate, corporate
group business and conventions.
“Stealing share will be the order of the day,” Bowers
says. “Unlike the 2001-2002 downturn, we expect a more
protracted recovery tied to improvement in the job market
and overall economic growth.” ■
Westin Hotels has upgraded its breakfast offerings with health-focused
“SuperFoods,” creating dishes like salmon Benedict, pictured above.
rruggles@nrn.com
HOTEL CHAINS RANKED BY U.S. SYSTEMWIDE SALES
LATEST- PREC.-YEAR YEAR
RANK RANK
CHAIN
FISCAL
YEAR-END
U.S. SYSTEMWIDE FOODSERVICE SALES*
(BY FISCAL YEAR, IN MILLIONS)
LATEST PRECEDING PRIOR
1
2
3
1
2
3
Westin Hotels & Resorts
Harrah’s
Double Tree, Club & Guest
Suites hotels
TOTALS:
Dec. ’08
Dec. ’08
$396.0
279.0
$398.5
277.0
$375.0
275.0
Dec. ’08
238.0
$913.0
239.5
$915.0
222.0
$872.0
*Actual results, estimates or projections
Source: NRN research
HOTEL CHAINS RANKED BY GROWTH IN U.S. SYSTEMWIDE SALES
(Year-to-year percentage change)
LATEST- PREC.-YEAR YEAR
RANK RANK
CHAIN
FISCAL
YEAR-END
LATEST*
VS.
PRECEDING
PRECEDING*
VS.
PRIOR
1
2
3
1
Harrah’s
Double Tree, Club & Guest
Suites hotels
Westin Hotels & Resorts
AVERAGE:
Dec. ’08
0.72%
0.73%
2
2
Dec. ’08
Dec. ’08
-0.63
-0.63
-0.18%
7. 88
6. 27
4.96%
*Actual results, estimates or projections
Source: NRN research
HOTEL CHAINS RANKED BY NUMBER OF U.S. UNITS
LATEST- PREC.-YEAR YEAR
RANK RANK
1
1
2
3
2
3
CHAIN
Double Tree, Club & Guest
Suites hotels
Westin Hotels & Resorts
Harrah’s
TOTALS:
FISCAL
YEAR- YEAR-END NUMBER OF UNITS*
END LATEST PRECEDING PRIOR
Dec. ’08
Dec. ’08
Dec. ’08
160
86
16
262
160
86
15
261
158
83
15
256
*Actual results, estimates or projections Source: NRN research
Note: For hotels, unit numbers denote individual hotels, not constituent restaurant outlets.
HOTEL CHAINS RANKED BY GROWTH IN NUMBER OF U.S. UNITS
(Year-to-year percentage change)
LATEST- PREC.-
YEAR YEAR
RANK RANK CHAIN
FISCAL
YEAR-END
LATEST*
VS.
PRECEDING
PRECEDING*
VS.
PRIOR
1
2
3
2
Harrah’s
Double Tree, Club & Guest
Suites hotels
Westin Hotels & Resorts
AVERAGE:
Dec. ’08
6.67%
0.00%
3
1
Dec. ’08
Dec. ’08
0.00
0.00
2.22%
1. 27
3. 61
1.63%
*Actual results, estimates or projections Source: NRN research
Note: For hotels, unit numbers denote individual hotels, not constituent restaurant outlets.
