Full Transcript for Simone Puorto Has Been Abducted, and Only Hospitality Can Bring Him Home

figure out. 00:02:52.000 --> 00:02:54.400 But I think hospitality in its purest form, right? 00:02:54.479 --> 00:03:04.479 And I'm I'm talking as someone who has lived through virtually any job in the traditional hospitality industry, may it be bell desk, front office, you know, housekeeping, etc. 00:03:04.639 --> 00:03:04.879 etc. 00:03:05.280 --> 00:03:12.960 Is the art of creating an emotion inside a human being through delivery of said goods and services with the hope that that person just has a good time. 00:03:13.120 --> 00:03:14.319 That's as simple as that to me. 00:03:14.560 --> 00:03:16.159 Let me check if they got it. 00:03:21.439 --> 00:03:27.599 So I probably they want to know a little more about what you would define as because you're talking about an emotion, right? 00:03:27.759 --> 00:03:29.919 And this exchange between two humans. 00:03:30.000 --> 00:03:32.879 So that concept can be alien to aliens. 00:03:33.199 --> 00:03:37.039 So how would you define this as this quote-unquote human experience? 00:03:37.439 --> 00:03:42.240 So so when aliens arrive on the planet, there are two ways to greet them. 00:03:42.719 --> 00:03:50.240 There's one way, which is to greet them warm, generously, uh kind of in a reception environment, right? 00:03:50.400 --> 00:03:51.439 Greeting them that way. 00:03:51.840 --> 00:03:59.120 There's another way to greet them, which is with tactile missiles and anything else that you want to have that might just blow them up. 00:03:59.360 --> 00:04:04.800 So when we really look at hospitality, from my perspective, it is that generous welcome. 00:04:04.960 --> 00:04:06.719 And primarily for strangers. 00:04:06.879 --> 00:04:12.240 When you look at hospitality, you look at the fact of who you're greeting, who you're meeting, how are you doing that? 00:04:12.479 --> 00:04:22.000 If you take the commerce out of the equation, then it really is no different than welcoming people into your own home and saying, What am I going to do with my guests? 00:04:22.160 --> 00:04:30.800 How am I gonna go ahead and be generous and be welcoming and be able to show them the generous nature of our of our planet? 00:04:31.040 --> 00:04:39.040 So to me that's really, really important is to I think you need to take the the e commerce out of it and really look at how do you welcome people? 00:04:39.839 --> 00:04:41.199 So or aliens. 00:04:41.439 --> 00:04:43.120 Or exactly, or both. 00:04:43.279 --> 00:04:46.879 Uh so why does hospitality exist? 00:04:47.040 --> 00:04:48.639 Because that's that's a big question, right? 00:04:48.800 --> 00:04:53.600 Because does it have like a social purpose or like an evolutionary purpose? 00:04:53.680 --> 00:05:01.920 Because right now it's I think it's for a lot of people working in the industry, it's like only transactions, but there's so much more to that. 00:05:03.360 --> 00:05:09.759 The hospitality industry exists primarily to go ahead and deliver experiences and engagements. 00:05:10.000 --> 00:05:19.360 There is the transactional nature of the hospitality industry, which is primarily around business and people having to go to different areas for work, uh, for meetings, etc. 00:05:19.600 --> 00:05:30.319 But when you really delve into the hospitality industry, it really is focused on that experience, and people are trying ever harder to gain that experience. 00:05:30.480 --> 00:05:55.600 And if you go ahead and offer a unique engagement model, whether it's the type of hotel that you have, or whether it's the type of people that work for you that offer up a true generous reception and an engagement level that is better than anyone else's, then that hospitality industry will begin to thrive because people want to go ahead and engage with what you have to offer. 00:05:55.920 --> 00:05:57.600 I think they do have a uh question. 00:05:58.000 --> 00:05:58.639 Let me check. 00:06:03.680 --> 00:06:08.720 So I'm still learning the language, uh, so I could I could get work on words wrong. 00:06:10.240 --> 00:06:17.680 So, what they want to know is why would humans open their doors to someone who can potentially harm them? 00:06:18.560 --> 00:06:19.040 That's a good one. 00:06:19.360 --> 00:06:20.240 That's a fun one, yeah. 00:06:20.399 --> 00:06:23.120 See, I I think it's more of a ritual, right? 00:06:23.439 --> 00:06:30.399 So if you look at different hospitality rituals, there is um ritual in the Bedouin world, right? 00:06:30.480 --> 00:06:37.680 So the the people who live in in the desert or is historically lived in the desert in the Middle East and in the Sahara region. 00:06:37.839 --> 00:06:47.040 And there is a rule amongst Bedouin hospitality that you shall take a guest in, but you shall not conduct business with this person until three days or three moons have passed. 00:06:47.199 --> 00:06:50.240 That is one law of hospitality in that part of the world, right? 00:06:50.399 --> 00:07:00.720 There is an in in I don't know if it's Hindu, there's an in Indian, for lack of better word, in Indian saying that a a guest is equivalent to a god, right? 00:07:00.959 --> 00:07:07.439 So you're you're experiencing a godlike presence through the gift of hospitality. 00:07:07.680 --> 00:07:14.879 And then speaking of the gift, it's um there's a book I I forgot by by who it is, and it is it's literally called The Gift. 00:07:15.040 --> 00:07:16.720 I think Mouse M-A-U-S-S. 00:07:17.680 --> 00:07:21.360 And he describes now that you talk about transactions, right? 00:07:21.519 --> 00:07:22.560 Or is it you alan? 00:07:22.639 --> 00:07:24.480 You said it's it's it's a transaction. 00:07:24.720 --> 00:07:27.120 Hospitality in itself is a transaction, right? 00:07:27.279 --> 00:07:32.240 I'm ex I'm exchanging an emotion and I give it to someone. 00:07:32.399 --> 00:07:41.439 However, it will always be an emotional transaction, meaning that the person receiving it will feel an obligation to return that favor or that gift through the host. 00:07:41.519

--> 00:07:49.680 So maybe that's why we invented the the monetary transaction within hospitality to not feel obliged to return that favor in its natural sense. 00:07:50.160 --> 00:07:50.879 That's a good one. 00:07:51.279 --> 00:07:52.160 That's a very good one. 00:07:52.319 --> 00:07:58.160 So we just add this this financial transaction layer on it so it's it can be repeatable and nobody feels hurt. 00:07:58.399 --> 00:07:59.360 Nobody feels hurt, right? 00:07:59.439 --> 00:08:01.199 Yeah, that's really that's really interesting. 00:08:01.680 --> 00:08:08.959 So when you enter that environment, there is a then you go from hospitality to service, right? 00:08:09.439 --> 00:08:10.480 Theoretically. 00:08:10.800 --> 00:08:17.600 And when you when you look at the hospitality to service, the service entity becomes almost anything, right? 00:08:17.759 --> 00:08:27.360 Whether it's offering food and drink, whether it's offering somebody a ride at your theme park, whether it's offering tickets to a baseball game or something like that. 00:08:27.600 --> 00:08:36.799 And so that in itself becomes a service side of the business, but still you're dealing with that transaction where at the end of the day, I like that. 00:08:36.960 --> 00:08:43.840 That person doesn't feel guilty for not having to commit themselves to deliver something that maybe they're not ready to give. 00:08:44.240 --> 00:08:50.080 So and uh what do you think is the the the power relationship between the guest and the host? 00:08:50.240 --> 00:08:52.159 Who actually uh holds the power? 00:08:53.200 --> 00:08:58.480 In a perfect environment, a perfect world, uh that relationship should be almost equal. 00:08:59.279 --> 00:09:05.440 Because of the fact that there needs to be a level of respect between the guest and the the provider of the service. 00:09:06.240 --> 00:09:14.399 Uh however, we've gotten to a point where the guest holds most of the power because of the fact that they have a voice. 00:09:14.639 --> 00:09:22.240 A voice that far exceeds what they have internally during the event, during the uh stay at the property or whatever. 00:09:22.399 --> 00:09:26.480 Now they have an external voice, and that external voice You mean like uh writing reviews? 00:09:26.799 --> 00:09:29.360 Or just social or anything like that, right? 00:09:29.600 --> 00:09:38.480 So from an alien's perspective, they have a better chance to go ahead and you know, why are we gonna fear them? 00:09:38.559 --> 00:09:39.600 We're probably not gonna fear them. 00:09:39.679 --> 00:09:46.720 The only time we might fear them is if they talk about us in a begrudgingly manner after a stay or after that world. 00:09:46.879 --> 00:09:58.799 So as I said, in a perfect world it should be equal because of the fact that to me, hospitality and service is about building a relationship, it's not about a a full transaction. 00:09:59.039 --> 00:10:07.440 It's not like buying a sweater, but at the same time, I think the tables have

been turned a little bit in the favor of the guest because there is that element of the unknown. 00:10:07.519 --> 00:10:09.840 We're not sure exactly what they're going to say. 00:10:10.159 --> 00:10:16.799 They may say the the the trip was wonderful, but they may say something completely different outside the four walls, right? 00:10:17.039 --> 00:10:17.360 Yeah. 00:10:17.519 --> 00:10:22.000 Okay, I think this is probably something very hard to grasp for an alien. 00:10:22.639 --> 00:10:24.240 Yeah, it would be crazy hard. 00:10:24.799 --> 00:10:27.519 Maybe the aliens can only speak the truth, right? 00:10:27.759 --> 00:10:29.120 Well, let's let's let's ask them. 00:10:29.360 --> 00:10:31.200 Do you all you only speak the truth? 00:10:36.320 --> 00:10:45.840 Apparently I think what he said is how can someone who is never right, who is rarely right, always be right, right? 00:10:47.840 --> 00:10:48.240 Yeah. 00:10:48.559 --> 00:10:50.480 We mean the the guest is always right. 00:10:50.559 --> 00:10:53.440 It's this it's this famous, this famous hospitality saying. 00:10:53.519 --> 00:11:01.679 So I just imagine that an alien being being on that side of the of the spectrum and saying, well, this guy just ripped my hotel apart, although I tried my level best, right? 00:11:01.759 --> 00:11:07.120 Just because this person has an unfair leverage, how can it be right and and wrong at the same time? 00:11:07.279 --> 00:11:08.159 But yeah, interesting. 00:11:08.399 --> 00:11:09.519 That's very interesting. 00:11:09.679 --> 00:11:11.360 Okay, we move to part two. 00:11:16.320 --> 00:11:20.639 And they wanna know more about the human experience. 00:11:20.879 --> 00:11:24.879 Um, what do you think makes someone feel welcome? 00:11:25.039 --> 00:11:28.399 Do you think uh we can identify the essential ingredients? 00:11:28.639 --> 00:11:30.879 I think that that's that depends on the person itself, right? 00:11:30.960 --> 00:11:34.320 That there might be a person who is highly focused on objects, right? 00:11:34.399 --> 00:11:35.200 Materialistic things. 00:11:35.279 --> 00:11:36.080 That might be the pillow. 00:11:36.320 --> 00:11:37.360 You mean from a guest perspective? 00:11:37.519 --> 00:11:38.320 From a guest perspective. 00:11:38.399 --> 00:11:38.799 Okay, right. 00:11:38.960 --> 00:11:49.519 So that that person really values tangible objects, it values the the comfortability of the bed, the the security of the room, the experience at the lobby, the decor. 00:11:49.679 --> 00:11:51.840 And then there's a person who's experience driven. 00:11:52.000 --> 00:12:03.039 To them, that might be the conversation that they have with the concierge that recommends that incredible cigar bar that nobody has access to in in Copenhagen. 00:12:03.840 --> 00:12:04.639 Doesn't exist. 00:12:04.799 --> 00:12:05.840 We yet to find it. 00:12:06.080 --> 00:12:09.600 And there's a multitude of emotions that people respond to, right? 00:12:09.679 --> 00:12:13.919 And I think

to find, to answer your question, I think to find that trigger, that is the art of hospitality. 00:12:14.159 --> 00:12:15.519 Yeah, but how do you do that? 00:12:15.679 --> 00:12:27.279 Because it seems like it's very like to Alan's point, you may not know exactly what the guest is thinking all the time, or maybe you know it just a couple of days later on a uh trip advisor review. 00:12:27.360 --> 00:12:28.320 So how do you do that? 00:12:28.559 --> 00:12:33.519 Well, I think the only way is through personal interaction, and and that is probably something that we have lost. 00:12:33.679 --> 00:12:43.600 We have lost because of our need to add more screens, to add more solutions, to add more technology to that otherwise very human and very simple and very honest guest journey. 00:12:43.679 --> 00:12:51.519 We have taken away the one element that historically makes any conversation, any type of encounter valuable, and that's what we're doing right now. 00:12:51.600 --> 00:12:54.080 We're sitting across from each other in more or less comfortable chairs. 00:12:54.320 --> 00:12:57.200 I'm not in a comfortable position, remember, I'm abducted, huh? 00:12:57.279 --> 00:12:57.759 But true, that. 00:12:58.000 --> 00:12:59.600 I mean your holograph, you look very nice. 00:12:59.679 --> 00:13:05.440 It looks about the same as the hotel lobby chairs in your spaceship up there. 00:13:05.600 --> 00:13:06.960 But this human connection, right? 00:13:07.039 --> 00:13:13.919 Looking in each other's eyes, having having the chance to not be able to look away, and I see this as a privilege, right? 00:13:14.240 --> 00:13:19.759 To really be able to look someone deep in the eyes, to show empathy, to feel, I think it's almost instinctive. 00:13:19.840 --> 00:13:22.240 And if anything, maybe that's something we could get back. 00:13:22.559 --> 00:13:26.960 So I'm gonna be make it as simplistic as humanly possible for an alien. 00:13:28.159 --> 00:13:29.840 It is about a smile. 00:13:30.000 --> 00:13:30.399 Right. 00:13:30.639 --> 00:13:37.759 I think we have lost that point of looking at somebody and receiving a smile. 00:13:37.919 --> 00:13:48.240 Now, an alien might not know what a smile is, but over time they will understand that a smile is something that is generous, that is um honest, that is open. 00:13:48.720 --> 00:13:52.159 And to me, that is the initial engagement. 00:13:52.559 --> 00:13:56.879 If I get somebody that smiles at me, I'm gonna smile back. 00:13:57.120 --> 00:14:01.360 And you've already built that tangible relationship with that person immediately. 00:14:02.480 --> 00:14:10.720 But do you think that to a certain extent you accept some level of this smile being artificial, like the the the staff can be trained? 00:14:10.879 --> 00:14:14.240 Because I I'm pretty sure the aliens will not get the concept of a smile, right? 00:14:14.320 --> 00:14:16.960 Or what it means even culturally for us. 00:14:17.360 --> 00:14:25.360 So can you train somebody to

be smiley and still make it, you know, worthwhile or not totally artificial? 00:14:25.759 --> 00:14:26.080 No. 00:14:26.639 --> 00:14:26.799 Okay. 00:14:27.919 --> 00:14:29.039 I don't think you can. 00:14:29.440 --> 00:14:37.840 I I think you can train people to have the capability to engage, but I think you can see through a fake smile. 00:14:38.159 --> 00:14:50.799 I think you really understand that somebody has been put through a very programmatic kind of response where they said you need to go ahead and do this and do that and do this and smile at this sentence. 00:14:50.879 --> 00:14:54.159 And I think people see through that very, very quickly. 00:14:54.320 --> 00:14:57.440 I think you understand a genuine smile versus a fake one. 00:14:57.759 --> 00:14:58.480 They do have a question. 00:14:58.639 --> 00:14:59.039 Wait. 00:15:04.159 --> 00:15:07.440 So they're asking if well they they probably have a solution for that. 00:15:07.600 --> 00:15:11.519 They they can build the technology to detect face minds, uh face minds. 00:15:11.600 --> 00:15:16.720 So yeah, and uh that will be interesting if we can get uh one of the devices probably will help us. 00:15:17.120 --> 00:15:20.480 Okay, uh, let's move to part number three. 00:15:23.360 --> 00:15:27.440 I'm pretty sure the people around them they have no idea what what the hell is going on. 00:15:28.879 --> 00:15:34.559 Uh anyway, uh the third one, the third part is about the business of hospitality. 00:15:34.720 --> 00:15:38.240 And when do you think hospitality became uh become a business? 00:15:38.320 --> 00:15:43.039 Because up until this point is it's like a mutual right, a ritual of hospitality. 00:15:43.200 --> 00:15:45.679 But when when do you think it it became a transaction? 00:15:45.759 --> 00:15:50.320 It was like with uh with taverns, it was like religious, with pilgrimage. 00:15:50.559 --> 00:16:02.000 Yeah, I do believe that that pilgrimage in its most natural form is probably the the earliest transaction, the earliest transaction that that can be associated with with business hospitality. 00:16:02.960 --> 00:16:04.240 As there was just a human need. 00:16:04.320 --> 00:16:14.720 There was a human need to provide shelter, a human need to provide food, and if you do it under under the religious umbrella of an of an uh of a pilgrimage, then that in itself can be a very pure form. 00:16:14.799 --> 00:16:21.759 Although business, although there's a monetary transaction, or maybe not even a monetary transaction, but uh a goods and services transaction. 00:16:22.000 --> 00:16:36.639 Three three and a half years ago, I I walked the Compostella de Santiago, all the way from the the north of France, and then I took the the outer route on the on the coastal line down to Santiago de Compostella, something like 500, 600 something kilometers. 00:16:36.799 --> 00:16:51.360 And one of the most impressive or memorable experiences I made was well besides the the characters and the people that you

meet on the on the camino, on the path, is the simple hospitality that comes with walking that path. 00:16:51.519 --> 00:17:02.799 So you get a pilgrimage pass, um, which allows you to well pretty much check in to any religious institution, may it be a monastery, may that be a church that has been converted to a to a bed and breakfast. 00:17:03.120 --> 00:17:04.640 Well, that's that's exaggerated. 00:17:04.720 --> 00:17:10.240 It's pretty much just a bed, and there's 20 other stinky feet pilgrims sleeping in that hall or not. 00:17:10.400 --> 00:17:11.839 So it's not glamorous, right? 00:17:12.000 --> 00:17:17.599 But it is so memorable because you walk for 20, 20 miles on a really, really good day, right? 00:17:17.839 --> 00:17:22.799 10 miles on a bad day, you burn 8,000, 10,000 calories on that path. 00:17:22.960 --> 00:17:24.640 You just come home, or you come home. 00:17:24.720 --> 00:17:26.480 See, I I use a very emotional word there. 00:17:26.559 --> 00:17:33.359 You come to this place, you don't know what it is, but you feel instantly at home because the first thing that those people do is they give you half a liter of wine that helps out. 00:17:33.519 --> 00:17:34.400 Oh no, without. 00:17:34.559 --> 00:17:34.799 Yes. 00:17:34.960 --> 00:17:36.160 And they give you some bread. 00:17:36.240 --> 00:17:36.400 Okay. 00:17:36.559 --> 00:17:38.480 So this is the the sacral leg, right? 00:17:38.559 --> 00:17:40.400 And then they give you food, whatever is available. 00:17:40.480 --> 00:17:46.799 They give you some soup, some some very nourishing food to help you rest, to help you recover from that path. 00:17:46.960 --> 00:17:52.400 And the conversations I had on on those tables in the monasteries are incredibly honest. 00:17:52.559 --> 00:17:56.640 And I think back to your point, Alan, when can a smile be faked? 00:17:56.720 --> 00:18:04.559 I I think absolutely not, because you can judge in in second one when that person sits across from you at the table eating the same meals, your equals, right? 00:18:04.720 --> 00:18:08.960 He or she might, you know, come from a different direction of life, but in that moment you're equal. 00:18:09.119 --> 00:18:17.279 And when when your eyes meet, when your looks meet, you can see through a lot of things that we learned as humanity or as society to hide. 00:18:17.359 --> 00:18:18.880 Because of whatever reason, right? 00:18:18.960 --> 00:18:21.440 That's that's personal, or up to every individual itself. 00:18:21.519 --> 00:18:27.519 And if hospitality can bring that out and keep that in its heart, although transactional, right? 00:18:28.000 --> 00:18:29.680 I think that's something that we should never lose. 00:18:29.759 --> 00:18:32.720 And maybe something aliens could learn from us in that matter. 00:18:32.960 --> 00:18:44.720 But do you think because you were, I'm pretty sure you were bringing something to the table of that conversation, and that you were pretty much willingly to talk to people and have that kind of experience, right? 00:18:45.200 --> 00:18:51.039 And on the other side, you had people that were very welcoming, so it was like a match made in Avon. 00:18:51.200 --> 00:19:05.440 But do you think that we can be sometime, especially with newer generation of guests, and we had this conversation a few times, that are maybe less under they understand a little less the dynamics of traveling and the dynamics of being with other people? 00:19:05.680 --> 00:19:14.160 Do you think that the relationship could be different in the sense that the guest could be more closed down or maybe doesn't even know how to react? 00:19:14.480 --> 00:19:16.240 It it has already, Simone. 00:19:16.400 --> 00:19:19.359 It I mean look at the look at the purest form of entertainment. 00:19:19.440 --> 00:19:26.319 That's a bunch of cavemen sitting around a fire in whatever language there was back in the BC 1000s, sharing a story. 00:19:31.279 --> 00:19:36.640 And people cheer, people find each other's story great, they eat, they sleep, they move on with life, right? 00:19:36.799 --> 00:19:38.480 Nothing has changed in hospitality. 00:19:38.559 --> 00:19:46.160 That still is that exchange of emotions, that honest exchange of ideas, and whatever you bring to the table, that is the core of hospitality. 00:19:46.319 --> 00:19:47.359 Now look at the new generation. 00:19:47.519 --> 00:19:57.680 The new generation grows up with social media, they grow up with this perception of travel, being this glamorous backpacker that travels to Southeast Asia, does a bunch of YouTube shorts and makes a bunch of money. 00:19:57.920 --> 00:20:01.519 Core of traveling has already been sucked out of this concept. 00:20:01.680 --> 00:20:16.400 Now these people are being exposed to various other commercial elements that really collaterals that that take out, if not purposefully destroy, the true meaning of hospitality and switch it out with commerce. 00:20:16.799 --> 00:20:17.440 This is interesting. 00:20:17.519 --> 00:20:22.000 I was reading something about the fact that basically we do not have hobbies anymore. 00:20:22.240 --> 00:20:27.279 Because the hobby was something that you just did for fun, but uh it was basically behind closed walls. 00:20:27.359 --> 00:20:28.799 Nobody knew about that, right? 00:20:28.960 --> 00:20:31.599 And uh you had joy just doing the thing. 00:20:31.759 --> 00:20:44.160 And now everything that it's a hobby, but it's not transactional in a way, you know, you cannot talk about it on TikTok, or maybe you cannot do a a live stream on Twitch, it's it's almost seen as like unnecessary, you know. 00:20:44.319 --> 00:20:57.759 And I think to your point, travel is changing in that direction that the travel is not the travel itself, it's the moment you can actually share on a social media whatever you've done, and that creates a pretty bizarre version of travel. 00:20:58.880 --> 00:21:02.960 So when was the last time you went traveling and didn't take a

picture? 00:21:03.359 --> 00:21:04.559 Oh Jesus Christ. 00:21:04.880 --> 00:21:12.559 I I can only remember once because uh uh I went with a friend and he didn't know how to use a camera, and so we came back and all the photos were blurred. 00:21:12.640 --> 00:21:14.000 Uh so that was in Vienna. 00:21:14.079 --> 00:21:16.160 I know I was there, but I don't have proof. 00:21:16.480 --> 00:21:18.960 Well, and that's the thing, proof, right? 00:21:19.200 --> 00:21:25.759 We've gotten to a world now where people have to prove what they've done and what they've experienced for some reason. 00:21:26.640 --> 00:21:28.240 I've now traveled. 00:21:28.319 --> 00:21:33.759 Uh, when my wife and I travel, we make an effort not to take pictures. 00:21:35.359 --> 00:21:44.240 So we will go ahead and we will talk about our experiences and we will laugh about what we thought was funny and we will commiserate about things that were not. 00:21:44.400 --> 00:21:50.640 But at the same time, it's the connection of yourself with the environment that you visited. 00:21:50.960 --> 00:22:08.160 Right now, I don't think we have a true connection when we travel because it is nothing more than taking as many pictures as humanly possible, posting them on the social sites that we want to, letting people or or proving to people that we were there and then going through that process over and over and over again. 00:22:08.480 --> 00:22:21.759 So I would challenge people and the aliens not to document their experiences in a manner that doesn't require them to memorize or really understand what the trip was all about. 00:22:22.079 --> 00:22:23.599 Let me check what they think about that. 00:22:30.079 --> 00:22:33.279 Yeah they they say they don't take pictures everything is classified. 00:22:34.640 --> 00:22:35.599 Okay, to your point. 00:22:35.839 --> 00:22:38.400 Oh you can be a great alien alien. 00:22:38.559 --> 00:22:39.039 Perfect. 00:22:39.359 --> 00:22:43.119 Okay so guest versus customer. 00:22:43.359 --> 00:22:48.640 I think we are the only industry uh which doesn't call the customers customers. 00:22:48.720 --> 00:22:49.759 We call them guests. 00:22:50.960 --> 00:22:52.400 Although they give us money. 00:22:53.039 --> 00:22:53.440 Yes. 00:22:53.680 --> 00:22:56.559 Or something else to your point or something else in return. 00:22:56.960 --> 00:22:59.680 Help me understand the alien the alien request. 00:23:00.720 --> 00:24:03.680 Why let me check with uh with the big guy no better it was the accent yeah yeah yeah sorry but I and I got lost in translations so this is from Nebula 5 so it's uh yeah reception it's a little more it's like uh it's a South Midwest kind of idea mid mid mid nebula Jesus Christ what is a question again guest guest versus customer I think it's just it just feels better right it's it it's all about emotions as as soon as I as soon as I call them call them customers I I take out that giving aspect I take out that selfless aspect that it in in core

hospitalities is embedded you know I I give I create memories I I provide just feels better than saying I sell and and maybe if if if we're looking at or if the aliens look at the way that hospitality has evolved or not over the past 20 years maybe it's a way of compensating compensating for our lack of hospitality. 00:24:04.000 --> 00:24:37.519 In day-to-day life look look if you if you you brought up taverns right I come from a from a tiny village aliens don't listen right don't don't come there although I guess they've already been there looking at the people in that village probably um there there's a bunch of taverns right with within Germany it was oh you you're from originally from from Italy um there's travel used to be normal right it used to take two weeks to go to the next village and that could be a trade or there could be a mission there could be a message that you had to deliver there was no name for those people they weren't called guests when they checked into a tavern they were also not called clients they were called travelers. 00:24:37.680 --> 00:24:51.039 So maybe in itself we created that term to compensate for something that does not longer exist and back to our original point the aliens maybe that's to pacify ourselves our own guilt to not being able to provide that original service anymore. 00:24:51.359 --> 00:25:07.279 So it's like a ritualization of something we now lack maybe maybe we give all types of names to we I mean look at the stream we call them viewers we call them the the people that utilize solutions we call them users right what does that word mean? 00:25:07.359 --> 00:25:39.920 It means nothing to us other than a classification that makes a transaction easier there's a customer there's a seller there's a consumer there's a producer there's a listener and then there's a abducted podcast host right look there is something they they don't get and this is because again they're trying to find a business model right and uh they don't get the the the main concept of luxury and the the main question they asked me this was one of the first ones was why some experiences are worth 50 euros and some others are 5,000 euros. 00:25:40.160 --> 00:25:59.440 So can you explain the concept of luxury and hospitality to aliens to me luxury is exceeding my expectations so luxury in its truest form is something that is to me a way that I can be enveloped in in kind of that experience. 00:25:59.599 --> 00:26:29.359 So luxury from a material perspective is very easy to describe we go ahead and we we have beautiful carpets we have beautiful pillows we have a beautiful environment we maybe it's been designed by an architect that is fabulous as as as is renowned or known but that's material stuff and luxury we get it people line up around the around the block for Louis Vuitton bags for some reason but that to me is is people see that as luxury. 00:26:29.519 --> 00:26:39.680 The luxury hotel industry or hospitality industry from my perspective is more about exceeding my expectations so let me give you a real world example. 00:26:39.920 --> 00:26:54.799 I stayed at a hotel I don't know if earlier this year and when I went back to my room to call it an evening there was an amenity sitting there but the amenity was actually a cloth that I could clean my glasses with. 00:26:55.119 --> 00:27:22.720 So what they noticed was that obviously I wear glasses but this would be lovely to have for me to to carry around because I'm constantly cleaning my glasses but it was branded by their hotel name and it created an experience of exceeding my expectations by doing something that was very foreign to me right it doesn't happen very often I usually look at an amenity as a bottle of wine and a fruit plate. 00:27:22.960 --> 00:27:33.200 But they went that step beyond to say okay they've delved into who I am as a human being and they've exceeded my expectations luxury should not be a price point. 00:27:33.519 --> 00:27:39.279 Luxury should be an expectation and then exceeding those expectations when you're offering lodging. 00:27:39.599 --> 00:27:40.160 Love it. 00:27:40.480 --> 00:27:53.839 Okay we move to part four and that is that is probably you know you're the best people to to to answer this because uh they want to know more about the technology side of things. 00:27:54.000 --> 00:27:54.319 Right. 00:27:54.559 --> 00:28:03.039 And hospitality and technology what problem or problems do you think technology is supposed to solve in our industry? 00:28:04.480 --> 00:28:10.240 Because looking from the outside and I probably we'll cut it down sometimes we're adding some problems with technology. 00:28:10.799 --> 00:28:41.680 Not sometimes we do we definitely do and and we did now I sound like every other keynote on the planet that the past 12 to 24 months but uh we kind of mess up with technology in hospitality not not from a provider point of view but from its its general purpose point of view right we created more distance between that human interaction through screens through interfaces or lack thereof through disconnected silos data and and our immense urge to collect data to collect data for collecting purposes. 00:28:41.839 --> 00:28:55.119 We haven't really until until recently and until we we dive into the possibilities of AI and now with with the gentic AI that that enhances or that 10 enhances tenfold our ability to really make sense of that data. 00:28:55.359 --> 00:28:57.759 What we did over the past years was unnecessary. 00:28:57.920 --> 00:29:21.200 It was unnecessary unnecessary in the sense that we put such a burden on the consumer on the guest on the traveler by being so self-absorbed in our own standard operating procedures of collecting as much data and turning that data into currency or a business opportunity for our alien friends and therefore completely discounting that guest journey because we simply don't have the time any longer. 00:29:21.359 --> 00:29:31.119 We

don't care any longer because we're measured by technology driven KPIs that we created ourselves in order to justify the implementation of said products. 00:29:31.680 --> 00:29:49.440 So let me give you an example I'm standing in front of a desk or in in in I'm standing in the line as as always at at the at the reception and um it's the same scene that happens I'm waiting I'm standing in line I come to the desk and this gentleman who's at the desk checks me in within two minutes. 00:29:49.599 --> 00:30:11.519 Not even a how are you here's your key where's your credit card get out of my way there's the elevator not that one that one goodbye next yeah in his he didn't even ask me for my name right in this book or in his book he has scored a 10 out of 10 why because someone decided that there's a KPI if you complete a check in under two minutes you get I don't know you get a golden star. 00:30:12.240 --> 00:30:24.720 Jesus Christ in my world that was a complete miss because I feel discounted I feel like number 744 out of 1000 that this guy has processed today be like a piece of meat. 00:30:25.039 --> 00:31:17.599 So how can the same the same scene create such two different experiences with each other within two two people that have a vis-a-vis conversation and that is only possible through complete disconnect and I think technology has played a big part in manifesting that disconnect wait uh do you have a question that was the same guy then yeah yeah it's the it's the question guy um look uh they want to know look like if you're so smart and you're talking about this very human element of hospitality how you you got to the point that you're basically looking at tech KPIs instead of human APIs was it something that just came with time it was abrupt it it's more abrupt than it ever has been if that's actually a statement. 00:31:17.920 --> 00:31:41.119 I think in the past ten years profitability has become a KPI that matters most and that management companies that run hotels or owners that own hotels they're really looking at the profitability margin and so if they can get things done quicker faster cheaper but let me stop you for a second because you think the margins went down and they needed to balance it out or the margins they wanted the margins up. 00:31:41.359 --> 00:31:42.160 So it's greed. 00:31:42.400 --> 00:31:45.039 Of course it is why wouldn't it be right? 00:31:45.839 --> 00:32:04.640 It's no different than here's a great example went to downtown Copenhagen the other day and it was not different than any other downtown right there was a Burger King there was a HM there was the same things that I see in my little town in northern Ontario so where's that differentiating experience? 00:32:04.799 --> 00:32:11.440 What happened was all of those big corporations said ah we can make more money by doing more stores in more cities. 00:32:11.680 --> 00:32:18.720 So when you really look at it from a hotel perspective they're still measured on how much money they're going to make. 00:32:18.960 --> 00:32:25.440 When you look at luxury hotels they make money by delivering exceptional service. 00:32:25.759 --> 00:32:33.920 So they might look at different KPIs versus a different type of market segment but at the end of the day everybody wants to make more money. 00:32:34.240 --> 00:32:46.000 When you talk about technology and this is one of the things that irks me a great deal we became a cashless society right who suffered for being cashless in our world housekeepers. 00:32:46.400 --> 00:32:47.599 Because of the tips? 00:32:47.920 --> 00:32:49.519 They don't get tips anymore. 00:32:49.759 --> 00:33:00.400 There are companies out there that said they have things that are QR code that you'll go ahead and scan and give your housekeeper a tip but as human beings we're not scanning that because that takes time. 00:33:00.720 --> 00:33:05.279 So the easiest way used to be was to take five dollars out of your pocket and leave it in the room. 00:33:05.359 --> 00:33:05.599 Yeah. 00:33:05.839 --> 00:33:07.279 But now we have no money. 00:33:07.599 --> 00:33:24.000 So very true technology took us to a point where we're a cashless society and it actually had a detrimental impact on hundreds of thousands of people globally millions of people globally that rely on tipping as to supplement their wages. 00:33:24.240 --> 00:33:28.640 And to me housekeepers are the bedrock of a hotel. 00:33:28.960 --> 00:33:40.319 So it's not only technology that sits within the operations itself it's external technology that drives change that may have a detrimental impact on people that manage or run the business. 00:33:40.799 --> 00:33:45.200 Now that you mentioned tips I think you're you're absolutely right I I completely agree with you. 00:33:45.279 --> 00:33:53.279 And if if you look at the opposite side of that spectrum on the one hand we lack the ability to tip the people with currency that we really want to tip. 00:33:53.359 --> 00:34:21.679 So yesterday there was a guy called Pierre at the bar Pierre if you're listening to this he did a phenomenal job there just wasn't a tip line don't say it out loud uh they they could uh abduct him to uh sorry for the secrets of of bars he talks too much they won't they won't abduct him it's fine a great guy right but there was no there was no way of tipping him right because of what Ellen said right there was just one line signed to your room yes or no all right so I asked him hey how can I tip you only in cash well I don't have cash I haven't had cash in a million years do you take Alipay? 00:34:21.760 --> 00:34:47.199 No but on the other side of that spectrum as well tipping has been commoditized and it has found its way into virtually every vertical not only within the hospitality industry but I'm supposed to tip my Starbucks barista I'm supposed to tip the guy who helps me pick the HMN shirt I'm supposed to tip everyone right there was no that's very Mr Pink of you you remember

the opening of Reservoir dogs good movie I should watch a great movie. 00:34:47.840 --> 00:35:07.920 Aliens that that's a that's a 10 out of 10 oh yeah yeah yeah please do but I think people are fed up with tipping being weaponized against the consumer and it's it's used as a as a method to you know compensate for whatever happened during covert corporate greed etc etc so there's two sides of that spectrum and none of which will play out in the in the guests' favor. 00:35:10.079 --> 00:35:33.119 Okay and we move to the last question and of course you know they they still don't know if they are they will be friendly or not with us you know depends on how this goes so let's say in the case of total human extermination do you think with one week or not well I think it's mutual at this point at this point we're helping each other. 00:35:33.440 --> 00:35:44.719 But uh so the the last question for them is uh can hospitality exist without humans like a fully autonomous hotel will still be hospitality business or something else? 00:35:45.039 --> 00:35:46.320 No that's a lodging business. 00:35:46.480 --> 00:36:18.960 It's a lodging business to me to me when I look at that it really is more along the lines of a transaction a true a true transaction so I I said years ago when this became something that may occur that we need as an industry to develop its own market segment right because it can't be a hospitality business it's it's not dissimilar to a management company owning 20 Airbnbs all within a single and single property. 00:36:19.199 --> 00:36:46.000 We don't look at that as the hospitality business we look at that as as as an Airbnb which in itself has defined their own market segment so I do think that if we get to a point where some hotel company buys a 250 room property and implements technology to the nth degree and they outsource their housekeeping their security and other elements of their business then that is nothing more than a structure where you're purchasing a place to sleep. 00:36:46.639 --> 00:36:48.639 Debbie do you want to add something to that? 00:36:49.039 --> 00:36:53.280 No I I I fully agree hospitality is will become a commodity without humans. 00:36:53.440 --> 00:36:57.039 Humans have and always will make the experience exceptional. 00:36:57.280 --> 00:37:11.039 To some extent that doesn't have to be materialistic it can be that smile that you mentioned before it can be that towel that you got for your glasses or it can be whatever delta you look for within the expectation versus delivery model. 00:37:11.119 --> 00:37:17.280 And the bigger that delta the higher the the satisfaction and the the higher this experience and it has to be human. 00:37:17.679 --> 00:38:28.480 Aliens are you happy with that yes so thank you very much we get to live in that one step closer to coming back to my to my planet so David Alan thank you so much for my for joining on my shenanigans uh and uh so we started by explaining to the aliens what hospitality means and is welcoming a stranger but baby maybe this is the twist hospitality begins when we stop treating someone as a stranger so I'm one step closer to coming back to my beloved planet or maybe I will just move here it's not that bad and uh we see you again with episode two but that was awesome many