Make your story the destination

the Future of HospitalityWonderful. I like that abundance. It's it's a very strong word. A lot of meaning. I've heard a lot of depth. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. After New Zealand, I I I like that that move. I mean, to the other side of the world. What make you made you go to New Zealand? What made you decide to go to New Zealand? Well, the honest story is that I

Bart Hilgersdon't necessarily can remember a strong motivation other than it needs to be English by by language, obviously, because it's Dutch and English that... Those are the language that I that I speak. And I wanted to be as far away as possible from my house, from my home because of... That was already the period that was a very difficult situation at home. So I just wanted to be as far away as possible. And, yeah, there's no point on... No no no place in the world which is more further away because then you get you get closer again if you go further away. So... And and I, yeah, I made it there, and that that was just amazing. And, yeah, I was there for six months, and that re... I really indulged myself with that level of hospitality.

Bart HilgersAnd just just one little thing that I remember. So, actually, the hotel still exists. They did a major refurbishment of millions of of dollars and just reopened. But I remember there was the f and b director. She was explaining me why the carpet, the chairs, so the fabric on the chairs, as well as the the napkins, they were all in these, how do you say that, Scottish print with the green with the red ones. Exactly. And so when I was preparing the tables for dinner, the the red line from the fabric of the carpet needed to go price precisely into the details of the chair, into the red line of the napkin on the table. And literally, with a with a ruler, she was checking me if it was well enough.

Bart HilgersAnd I I remember one day I asked her, hey. Why am I doing this? Because it's so so so perfect. She said, well, probably Bart understand that 99 out of a 100 people might not even notice. They don't care. But that one person that does notice, you make his day. And that's what hospitality is about. Right? It's just all in the very, very most smallest details that you make a difference to a guest's memory of an experience that they will tell the rest of their lives.

the Future of HospitalityTrue. That's it. Well spoken. So so true. That's how I experienced when I started years and years and years ago. So... Yeah. And not noticing the 1%, but I think that more people don't notice that they are noticing it, if you know what I mean. If Sure. Yeah. That's... Okay. Fast forward to today. What is Bart doing today? I mentioned your your company, stars.co,not.com,.co. Independent hotels, you tell stories or you turn their story into a valuable business. Go ahead.

Bart HilgersSo, yeah, the tagline is translating stories to strategies. So, yes, one big step forward to today, but just some little details to get to today. So when the restaurant of my parents needed to close permanently, I was, I think, in hotel school, 23 years old. And up to today, and I'm turning 40 actually this summer, up to today, I've always wondered, what if I already knew back then what I know today with my current experience in the industry. Would I have been able to help them and to overcome their bankruptcy bankruptcy and to help them to to thrive and excel and proceed with their business. But simply, I've never had the opportunity because I was still in school, and I was too young to to actually help them.

Bart HilgersAnd, actually, the name of my parents' restaurant in Dutch, translated to restaurant six stars. So that's a dialect translation of my my own company's name.

the Future of HospitalityThat's Sorry for interrupting. Do you know why they called it the six stars?

Bart HilgersDo you know that? Too. For sure. So there is actually... The shield of Gauda, the city, is a big red shield with six golden stars in the sign of the city. Gauda is known from centuries ago as a very important point for for trade because it connects multiple rivers. So that was... That... That's where... That's why the city of Gauda was built. And the museum, actually, the restaurant was housed in was showing art from those centuries that the Dutch were ruling the world with the VOC. Right? So all these ingredients from all over the world were brought into The Netherlands, and the the painters from that time were making these these still lives with the beautiful ingredients on there. And that was actually the story of my parents of willing to create the menu with the ingredients that were showcased on the paintings hanging one floor up of their restaurants. Oh, wow.

Bart HilgersYeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I see what you mean. On-site at the restaurants, basically. What a great idea. What what a good what a great idea to do that. I I think so too. And this was pre social media, pre Internet, actually. This was a beautiful idea. And one thing... One one lesson I learned from that period is, okay. If you open a restaurant or a hotel, you can try to deliver a guest what you think your guest want, or you can also go to a restaurant where the chef is creating their most beautiful signature dishes, and you eat what the chef is making instead of the chef is making what you want.

Bart HilgersAnd that... That's a that's a very critical other way of thinking if you open a concept or if you open a hotel. And me, myself, I focus... That's why I focus on independent hotels and independent hotel brands because they have such a unique story to tell. And that's the reason why people are booking your property or they they book a table at your restaurant because they wanna eat at your place. They wanna sleep in your hotel instead of just for facilitating a room with a bed and a shower because you need to be there by coincidence. And that's what I mean, and that's also what you were already saying what's so important to me. So a hotel or a restaurant could be the destination itself more than just the place to be in the city where it is because you have other reasons to be in that city. Yeah. And that's something with the Michelin stars. Right? So the third star you you acquire, if the Michelin star critics, they they think your restaurant is valuable enough valuable enough to plan your trip with the main reason of having dinner in your restaurant.

Bart HilgersAnd that's something I would say that also a hotel should be able to to manage. And funny enough, Michelin has... I think the last year or the year before, they started with their hotel keys now, so they're also trying to do the same thing with with hotels. But but that just qualifies in my opinion that these hotels have a greater story to tell other than this copy paste hotel just for having a room and and a breakfast. And that's what I like so much, and that's what I'm trying to achieve. And then coming back to your question of fast forward to today and what I'm doing with with six stars. So there's a lot of people that have this romantic dream of opening a hotel. Right? And the majority of them are very successful in that, and that's great.

Bart HilgersAnd then they have this beautiful romantic idea of a concept, and these... They create a brand, and and then they open a hotel with a beautiful room... With with beautiful rooms and and a restaurant and a wellness and everything. But you cannot just open the door, sit back, and wait for the right guest to find your to find your hotel and to book your hotel. So what I'm trying to do with six stars is translating that story to a commercial strategy, not just by creating a brand and putting your hotel on on an OTA, for instance, or creating your own website. No. Just by defining...

Bart HilgersAnd it's starting to become a meme for myself as well. So finding the right guest for the right time, for the right price, for the right product, and I come back later to what I mean with product, through the right channel instead of a one size fits all strategy. It's not just opening your doors, as I said before. You need to very well understand what type of traveler is a potential guest, and that guest needs to respect and and appreciate your concept, your story, your service, your product. And that's way more complex than, for instance, if you... So my background is sales. I've worked for the big brands in in the past.

Bart HilgersAnd what I experienced during working for these big chains is that the complexity of selling or or doing sales for a hotel is that it's way different than for a commodity. Yeah. Let me give you a short example. Because a hotel is actually a business plan and a business plan and a business plan and a business plan and a business plan. Right? So every hotel room type, every category requires a different approach to a different guest type. A meeting room is booked by other people than people that use your wellness facilities. So you need to define very, very well in detail who is gonna book what and who's gonna appreciate what I'm trying to deliver in the experience world. Yeah. Requires a lot of research and homework on your side.

Bart HilgersA lot. Yeah. And it... It's so complex. But... And then let me just give you an example of what I wanted to say before. So let's say there's a potential for the corporate travelers, right, for your hotel because you're, like, in the city of a... City center of a of a of a back... Big destination, and the midweek requires corporate individual guests. Yeah. One corporate guest isn't the other corporate guest. Right? So you have expats. You have bankers. You have nomads nowadays. You have lawyers. You have all these different people that book through different channels, that have different budgets, that have different booking paces. And if you don't try to focus specifically on their needs, to find that product market fit of your experience in your independent hotel with the need of this individual traveler, then it doesn't work. So then you contract a company, and you talk to a travel manager, and then you say, okay.

Bart HilgersI can give you, I don't know, a €150 if you give me back 500 room nights for a year. That's how it works. Okay? Perfect. And as a sales manager, you did a great job because you signed a good deal for 500 room nights. Yeah. And then in September, October, November, and this client only booked, let's say, a 100 room nights. Wow. That's a problem because you you signed... You contracted 500. 500. You cannot just send the invoice for the remaining 400 they didn't book because the contract is just based on actually a fake promise. And if you say, hey. I cannot give you the same rate anymore because you didn't give me what you promised, then they said, okay. Bye. I go to your competition.

Bart HilgersRight? Try to translate that to commodity sales. So if you go to a supermarket and you go to the cashier and you say, hey. I love this bar of chocolate so much. I promise you, I come back every single day to buy another bar, and that's why I want I want you to give me a discount. They think you're crazy. Of course. Yeah. Right. This is actually corporate sales for a hotel. Okay. And if you don't know this, if you don't don't speak this language in this specific segment of business, then you cannot deliver on your experience promise of your product of your hotel. And that's what I'm trying to do. Right? So translating the the story of of of an independent hotel owner to a measurable, agile, holistic, and sustainable strategy to measure your performance on what works, what doesn't work.

Bart HilgersBecause nowadays... And and that's something that... Yeah. That that... That's actually what what what drives me every day to work with my with my clients is that as an... And that's actually a paradox. Yeah. There's a big dependency for independent hotels. It doesn't make sense, but independent hotels are very much dependent on OTAs, on big corporate chains, hotel chains with massive loyalty programs that you do not have as an independent. Also, dependency on owners, real estate owners that expect green numbers on their spreadsheet. Right? That sometimes with the sale of the property, there's high expectations, but maybe in real life, it's so hard and so tough to live up to as the hotel manager because simply it's not realistic.

Bart HilgersAnd then you're chasing... You're you're fighting all these battles, which is so difficult. Right? So you're very dependent even though you're an independent hotel.

the Future of HospitalityI love how you how you describe this. That's... I... You you you triggered something in my... How do you... Can you give me an example of this particular aspect that I think is so remarkable because I haven't heard this before, independent hotels are really dependent on various factors. In your strategy, can you give me example, a real life example of what you did? Or maybe I'm going too fast, but I think this is the right moment maybe to dig into that.

Bart HilgersAll good. Yeah. Happy to. And that's actually work in progress. So... And it and it come... It's the repeating situation over and over again that, like I said, there is this romantic idea of creating this beautiful hotel. And there is so often... And I think that also comes to the point where if you look at the the commercial domain of hospitality, you have sales, you have marketing, there's revenue management, there's as well operations part of the commercial strategy as well. Finance is crucial to be aligned. I've worked for all these bigger hotel companies, and I think all these individual divisions within the commercial domain are underappreciated because they all work in... On their own islands, I always like to call it. Right? And so a sales manager is only as good as the conversion that he can show in his monthly results.

Bart HilgersBut if you break down the barrier of... From that story, creating the milestones for the company and then translating that to very specific KPIs making... Of of each KPI making not just sales or not just marketing or not just revenue responsible for that KPI, but making them jointly responsible for that KPI by having a joint action plan instead of instead of having all these separate buckets. And and I had this experience myself working for the big brands, so I was only as good as the money I brought into, well, on the contract, but not in the materialization of the contract. Right? So and if the numbers weren't green, then I had to find another job. Right? Because I I I didn't do what I was hired for.

Bart HilgersAnd just one little sidestep of... As an example. If I land a 500 room night contract in the same example and the first guest checks in, let's say, a Monday morning, and the guest of this contract, of this company checks in, and the receptionist of the hotel is not having the best day. He or she is grumpy. And happens. They give a bad experience to to this very first guest of this 500 room contract. It's crude. Yeah. I I... I've lost 499 room nights, and I Just because it wasn't do anything about it myself. Yeah. Yeah. So you need to make an... And that's why I call it a holistic strategy, and it's not very spiritual. It's it's holistic because you need to include every little piece of the puzzle in that strategy by making every team member aware of how crucial it is to deliver on the expectation that sales, marketing, and revenue delivers.

Bart HilgersYou need to simply... It's a cliche, but that's why it's true. You need to walk the talk. And we can sell we can sell fairy tales, and I can sell any hotel being the most amazing hotel in the world. But as soon as the guest checks in and it's not delivered Mhmm. I'm screwed. Yeah. True. And that's also why the dependency on, for instance, OTAs, I remember because I've been in many meetings with them, what makes an OTA so strong is having this long list of of hotels where the the the the people... The person that is searching for a hotel is comparing apples with apples. So all these little blocks of of hotel profiles need to look exactly the same because that's easy to compare them. Right? Yeah. And then the algorithm is a little bit influencing as well. However, as an independent hotel, you wanna stand out. You wanna be different. You wanna...

Bart HilgersYeah. You wanna tell your story, but you simply cannot tell your full story Not on the OTA. The OTA. No. Because you need to be comparable with other hotels while you were trying to be unique. So the goal is of a strategy that we're designing with the clients is to make it a healthy business mix where the OTA is delivering those room nights, the last rooms to fill up your occupancy, to fill up the... To go to the 100% occupancy, to go for premium rates, where there's so many independent hotels having sixty, seventy, some... Sometimes even 80% of OTA business. Mhmm. Let's not even talk about the commission they pay on an annual basis. I know. Yeah. And and and that's what I'm trying to do every single day. And the the the fun part about my role as being an independent consultant is even though I try to be appreciated as part of the team as much as possible. I don't wanna be this this boring consultant coming in, writing a report, send an invoice, and and leave again. I want to be also part of the implementation of the strategy.

Bart HilgersSorry. I love... I've loved myself a little bit now where I was going to. Maybe you can help me. I can help you with that. We we were talking about the the the the

the Future of Hospitalityfact how you differentiate yourself from the the the static hotels that you find on the OTA website. It's all apples with apples and apples, and you would like to be an orange and a pear in one. That is what you do.

Bart HilgersYeah. Exactly. So the the the... That's... So that... Exactly. So that's what what... The the fun part of my job is to speak out loud and say, hey. What you guys are doing, it's maybe good for the short term gain of being competitive on pricing €5 cheaper than your competition and having that extra room nights sold. However, is it the right guest for the right time for the right product, etcetera, etcetera? And it's... And often often, it's not because the the the guests that book you through an OTA, they're... Well, the majority of them are price driven, and then they don't book you because you have this amazing concept and story to tell. Yeah.

Bart HilgersAnd that's nice for the short term. And also your your your shareholders and your investors, they also need to understand that. And instead of pushing you, hey. I want to have green numbers as soon as possible because I spend a lot of money on your project. No. They need to understand, and I always like to say or explain as well. It's like a good red wine. It takes time to ripe. Yeah. It takes time to become a good quality hotel brand, and you cannot you cannot expect from day one when... Once you open your hotel as an independent hotelier that you can be on top of all the OTA search lists. You cannot expect to be number one on Google search. You cannot expect to have all the guests that perfectly fit your need of your concept and your whatever. So you need to understand with every stakeholder involved in your organization from owners to housekeeping teams to understand that the only way to get there as being an independent brand is by delivering exceptional service.

the Future of HospitalityLet's dive into that. So that's what you do. You you tell their story and you translate that into a strategy. Can you draw a picture of your latest project? What did it look like? What is the story of the hotel in short? And how did you translate that?

Bart HilgersSure. Well, I'm happy to share something with with a project I'm actually currently on. Oh, perfect. It's called the usual hotel. So it's it's it's an amazing brand, and that was also what's... What what attracted me in person because the whole brand is built around sustainability. It's not like a company that exists already for ten, twelve, fifteen, fifty years, whatever. And then all of a sudden, they say, hey. We have to do something with sustainability because it's a hot topic. No. This whole company is built from the ground based on the foundation of sustainability and not just in the product or or or the the the details in the hotel, also in the people and culture department, how they how they treat people and staff.

Bart HilgersIt's also... And and that's what I'm now also trying to build as well in a commercial strategy to also make it Cultural values, you mean? That is Exactly. Right. Exactly. So we have now a beautiful property in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, as well as one in Brussels in Belgium. Also, one property acquired in in in Italy opening end of next year.

the Future of HospitalitySo there is actually quite a Where Italy? Where in Italy is that? Can you In Florence. In Florence. In Florence. What kind of hotel is that?

Bart HilgersIt's a city... So that's also part of the sustainability story they are they are telling. So because I love Florence, so that's why I'm asking. Yeah. Me too. And so it's it needs to be close to a train station. So also sustainable travel to those hotels are possible. Right? So it's in the city center. I think it's around a 100 a 100 bedrooms. And now we are in the process of designing the hotel as well as, okay, what type of travelers, what type of guests do fit the market, but as well, what type of travelers and guests do fit our proposition or our brand and the story that we have to tell. Right? And therefore, we are... For the corporate business, for instance, we are aiming on nomads and expats because they're traveling a lot, and they are free as a bird. They are working remote. So that's a perfect specific niche that we try to to focus on. And so the hotel's been open, and was in touch with with the CEO who I know from from back in the days.

Bart HilgersAnd I told him, hey. I love your concept, but maybe can I ask you how how does your commercial strategy work? I'm just very curious to understand. And he said, well, we're we're having this great spin off because we're new to the market, but we do have a need of trying to be more specific in what type of niches can we tap into and how would that be... How could that be implemented in the structure of our business. And let's say... That's what made me say, hey. If you want me to help you, then let's go. So what we're trying to do there is indeed translating that story of sustainability travel, of inclusiveness, of everybody is more than welcome into how does that story correlates with those specific niches for those specific new markets they wanna tap into.

Bart HilgersAnd and and also what kind of language does travel manager speaks in the in the example I just gave you before. Mhmm. And that's something very important too. Right? So Yep. Also from an owner's perspective, an operational perspective, we are always so good in having this guest journey. Right? So what... How does a guest book us, and how do they need to feel when they check out, and every little step in between. But there's one very important thing oftenly forgotten is we also have clients. And the travel manager we talk to or the event agency we talk to or the travel management company booking for all these bigger corporate companies, they might not even ever walk into your hotel, but they contract you to bring their guests to you.

Bart HilgersSo even though they are not the guest, you also need to have a client journey alongside of your guest journey making sure that. So, basically, the first thing you... They teach you when you go to hotel school is a hotel doesn't have clients. We only have guests. Yeah. True. Except for commercial people because they will also work with clients. You work with clients and they work... Yeah. That's absolutely right. Yeah. And if you... So that's also something you need to understand how they walk, talk, and act because then you can speak their language and deliver them contracts in the way that correlates to their needs and making sure they'll be able to book. So what we're doing right now, we are implementing all these different channels that the company didn't have before, like GDS, global distribution system. Right? The main quite old channel where airlines and hotels are being booked through by all these massive corporate companies around the world.

Bart HilgersWe are tapping into all these various markets. We started to work together with local partners as well to to create this community of other service providers in those destinations that are having the same sustainability green label to, yeah, to to to to to grow your reach instead of just just plug and play on on on the OTAs.

the Future of HospitalityDo you already implement or work with AI or other advanced technologies? Or can you give us an example?

Bart HilgersSo, yeah, there is something so so so special going on in terms of AI in our market, and that's actually two things. There is going on quite a big disruption or more like a revolution, a one stop... Step smaller with AI in hospitality, which is automating processes in reservations, in guest service, in the chatbots during guest stay, also for upselling, etcetera. That's that's that's growing a lot. And that's... I think that's a no brainer for hotels to tap into. Obviously, that is... Can be quite an expensive investment, though, but it should deliver because it should help you save time for your team members on property to give more service one on one Agreed. In a very authentic way to to your guests.

Bart HilgersThe other part of AI that's going to disrupt the market quite strongly, and there's already the first signs of that, is something us as hoteliers, not even the big chains, are able to control, which is the way that people book hotels. So stepping away from the traditional book... OTA or or Google searches, there's no talks that... And I'm also trying it myself already for my own travel is talking to this chatbot, becoming your personal assistant, knowing you very well, probably even know they know you better than your own mother knows you. And and you can just ask them, hey. Can you give me a short list of three hotels? Because then and then I need to be there and there.

Bart HilgersAnd this and this and this is important, and this is my budget. And, oh, by the way, I wanna go there by by train. And and I also want to have a table booking for the Thursday night because I need to have dinner. Yep.

the Future of HospitalityYep. And there's... There you go. You don't

Bart Hilgersdon't have the people... You don't have your your future guest searching all these long lists of all these profiles, pick and choose, and filtering and selecting. No. It's... And and that's where the opportunity comes back for independent hotels to compete again with the big chains even though it's gonna be difficult, though, but is to find that niche of your traveler, of those guests that appreciate your product, your story, your promise in experience. And and that's something I think we want to control, but we cannot control. And that's the behavior of the guest booking you and finding you. I like that idea of that AI. I'm glad I asked you this question. That AI

the Future of Hospitalitycould be the trigger for independent hotels to put them back into the picture. Because people are looking for something that is, I mean, that that that matches their desires, their their wishes, and instead of indeed just see what price, what rate, what hotel offers, instead, hey, this is what I want, what can you offer? And that is where independent hotels a lot of times can stand out. So, yeah, it's a challenge. It's a good challenge. My biggest tip for this to any hotelier is

Bart Hilgersmake sure that you create a lot of content where you tell your story. See. As that. And it can be in so many details, in so many niches, the the the the packages that you create for added value, describe them in the way because the traditional advertising search models, yeah, they might be over soon. And then you want to be picked up by that AI product because you are telling that same repetitive story over and over again on all these various different channels and websites and blogs and everything. And then if if if it's easy for AI to find you,

the Future of Hospitalityit will be a bigger chance that these guests will book you. Content is the keyword here. Content, organic, authentic content that that matches your property.

Bart HilgersAnd therefore, you need to know... You need to have a full story backed by the promise that you deliver in your experience on property, having your guest reviews, proving that you deliver on that promise, on that story, appreciating you. And and then the cycle is going to work for you. Yeah. And

the Future of Hospitalityyou are telling the stories for for these independent hotels. We covered a lot of topics. How can independent hotels... Because I can only imagine when people listen to this podcast or a manager of... Or owners of independent hotels, when they listen to this or they see one of the clips, they wanna find you. Where they can... Where can they find you? Because you will be a good addition to to put them back into the picture.

Bart HilgersWell, thank you for asking. Well, talking about technology, I'm I'm very humble to say that the biggest channel I find my reach is is on LinkedIn. I'm not necessarily mentioning my own company name that much because I want to be

the Future of HospitalityI mean, I'm

Bart Hilgersa person, and I'm independent and an individual. So Yep. LinkedIn is for sure the way to find me on on my name. Yeah. The the... There is there is one thing, though, is that the the... On a annual basis, I work with one, two, max three clients Yeah. In total because, like I said before, I want to be part of the process and not just writing a plan

the Future of Hospitalityand then say goodbye and thank you. Yeah. You wanna be start of... Part of the the whole development that you that you put in there from beginning to the end. Totally understand it because that's your little... That that's your thing that you that you offer. True. And what I did start, though, is

Bart Hilgersis also by... And I think also... That's also how we got in touch through LinkedIn. And, again, thank you for that, is because I do started to share my thoughts and beliefs more and more in some some specific LinkedIn posts. Uh-huh. Hopefully, to, yeah, inspire a little bit of other people that might feel the same thing and struggle with with the same, yeah, with the same challenges that we that we covered before.

the Future of HospitalityWonderful. So people can find you on LinkedIn or or online, but it's Bart Hilgers. It's very easy. We will... We'll make sure we put your name, of course, on the on the website as well with this podcast. One last question or more maybe like more an advice that you can give to people, young people maybe who want to start a career in the hospitality industry. I would love to hear from you. I mean, what do you think maybe from your own experience?

Bart HilgersMy best advice would would be... And it's starting to become a cliche over and over again, but it's to read a book. And the book is called start with why from Simon Sinek. It's it's a no brainer for every entrepreneur to read it, by the way. This is what changed my life and made me quit my job at a big chain hotel company to start my own consultancy. It's just... And I think this is also the essence of everybody's story before they open a hotel. Ask yourself, what is the most awesome hotel stay I've ever ever experienced myself? What kind of experience do I want to give my guests when they check out or check-in or check out?

Bart HilgersAnd what makes what makes me tickle? What makes me come out of bed every day feeling excited? And and what is what is my purpose to what I want to change even if it's small on a daily basis of your guests. And I think if you have written that story very strongly, then the only other thing you should do is never ever ever... How do you say this? Never ever ever dilute on your own story. So don't go for the short term Stay true. Stay authentic. And don't make a concession at all in

the Future of Hospitalitycutting costs because of horrible situation, whatever, because guests will experience this, guests will feel it, and you will force... Feel sorry for it for the rest of your life. I fully agree. The smallest details can have the biggest impact, and that is exactly what you say. Oh, Bart, thank you so much for sharing your thoughts. I mean, you just... I think you just covered the whole essence of hospitality, in my opinion. Thank you for that. Well, that was me, Andre. Thank you so much. I I appreciate Maybe we should have a follow-up at some point. Thank you for being on the show.

Bart HilgersIt was a pleasure. Thank you.