Hotelier June 2022

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
ROSANNA CAIRA
Editor & Publisher
AMY BOSTOCK
Managing Editor
NICOLE DI TOMASSO
Assistant Editor
COURTNEY JENKINS
Art Director
JENNIFER O'NEILL
Design Assistant
WENDY GILCHRIST
Director of Business Development
ELEANOR SANTOS
Account Manager
KIMONE CLUNIS
Sales & Marketing Assistant/
Events Co-ordinator
DANNA SMITH
Administrative Assistant
DANIELA PRICOIU
Accounting Services
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ADVISORY BOARD
Andrew Weir, Destination Toronto; Anne Larcade, Sequel
Hotels & Resorts; Anthony Cohen, Cresent Hotels — Global
Edge Investments; Bonnie Strome, Hyatt Hotels; Christiane
Germain, Germain Hotels; David McMillan, Axis Hospitality
International; Don Cleary, Marriott Hotels; Geoffrey Allan,
Project Capital Management Hotels; Hani Roustom, Friday
Harbour Resort; Heather McCrory, Accor; Laura Baxter, Co-Star
Reetu Gupta, Easton's Hotels; Ryan Killeen, The Annex Hotel
Ryan Murray, The Pillar + Post Hotel; Stephen Renard, Renard
International Hospitality & Search Consultants
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The following letters reference the
editorial in the April/May issue called
Investing in Human Capital
The issue of labour shortages in our industry is not
something we can turn around quickly and the root
problem comes down to an overarching lack of “infrastructure.”
By this I’m speaking of infrastructure in a broader context. Yes,
transportation infrastructure is a huge problem and has been for
many years. If we can’t provide a reasonable manner for people
to get to work, we’ll be constrained forever. The last thing we
need are a multitude of government employees trying to
re-invent the wheel and listening to the cry of NIMBY-ism as it
relates to development. We need look no further than how long
it has taken to get the Eglinton Line in place. Major cities in
Europe have dealt with this a long time ago. Money into efficient
transportation infrastructure is an investment.
But housing is also an issue of infrastructure. You can’t attract
employees to work in our industry in the core or almost anywhere
else in the GTA unless they can find housing. When they lost their
jobs at the outset of the pandemic, they also lost their housing
and now they can’t get back in. Then ask the developers how long
it takes to get approvals in place to develop new residential. The
timelines from the people that I have spoken to would suggest this
a long-term issue. Compensation structures have to change, but
realistic solutions to create places that industry people can live
and a means to realistically get to work are as big an issue.
~ DAVID LARONE,Special advisor, Valuation & Advisory
Services, CBRE Hotels | CBRE Limited
In 2005, as CEO of the IH&RA (International Hotel and
Restaurant Association), we identified the shortage of 12
to 15 million workers in our industry and formed a committee to
tackle the issue with six major Geneva-based international
organizations. We assembled labour unions, employers,
immigration, tourism, educators, hotel chains, restaurant groups
and developed a plan. Since then the industry has ceased to
interact globally. That is irresponsible and unsustainable.
~ DAVID MCMILLAN, Axis Hospitality
[Labour shortages] will be the issue for the foreseeable
future and returning customer demand will only serve to
bring this into focus. I predict that wise, forward-thinking
investors will see an absolute need to bring investment dollars to
both the physical assets and talent resources in order to secure
a more competitive position in operational performance. It
would not surprise me to see clever investors including talent
within their PIPs, investments that could competitively improve
operational performance of an asset for years. Smart management
teams will also continue to dig hard into key antecedents
of talent attraction and retention efforts. There are definitely
huge opportunities for industry / academic partnerships here.
The actions that brought us to this labour shortage, not caused
but compounded by the pandemic, will not be useful tools in
moving us out of it.
~ WILLIAM MURRAY, Assistant Professor, School of
Hospitality, Food & Tourism Management, University of Guelph
hoteliermagazine.com JUNE 2022 | 3