Advisors offer Hospitality consulting services to help hospitality businesses improve operations, boost customer satisfaction, and achieve better financial results. Consulting can take many forms, and in this article, you will learn about different types of hospitality consulting and why they are so valuable.

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What is Hospitality Consulting?

Hospitality consulting provides actionable and practical advice that helps business leaders in the hospitality industry improve their business performance. A hospitality consultant may offer expert advice on maximizing success in businesses ranging from hotels and resorts, to restaurants, cafes, and bars.

Ultimately, hospitality consultancy aims to help hospitality companies improve their operations’ quality and efficiency, develop effective strategies, boost revenue generation and profitability, and enhance the guest experience.

A hospitality consultancy firm may specialize in advising specific types of hospitality businesses, such as hotels, or may focus on a specific area, such as marketing or technology. Some firms have consultants who specialize in almost every area of operations, allowing them to provide valuable advice to businesses on multiple fronts.

Why is Hospitality Consulting Important?

Hospitality consulting is important, because the hospitality industry is extremely competitive and expert advice can go a long way towards providing an edge over rivals and assisting restaurants, hotels and other hospitality businesses with the numerous challenges they face when attracting customers.

A company offering hospitality consulting services will be able to draw from extensive knowledge and experience to evaluate a hospitality business’s performance and provide actionable advice, such as changes that can be made to improve service, or new strategies that can be used to attract more guests.

By acquiring the help of a hospitality consultant, those operating in the hospitality sector can more easily identify areas where they are going wrong, or areas where improvements can be made. Consultants often have unique and innovative ideas and can provide a much-needed outside perspective on business operations.

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The Different Types of Hospitality Consultants

Consultants will often specialize in different disciplines, providing hospitality consulting services covering their area of expertise. Some of the most common examples of hospitality consultant types are:

  • Financial consultants, who will provide advice and assistance related to company finances and financial performance.
  • Marketing consultants, who will help with market research, identifying a target audience and designing advertising campaigns and marketing strategies. Their hospitality consulting aims to build brand awareness and generate business.
  • Revenue management consultants, who will analyze business data, assist with forecasting and help to implement strategies that are intended to optimize pricing and maximize the amount of revenue and profit made.
  • Technology consultants, who will assist with implementing new technology and optimizing the use of existing tech.
  • Management consultants, who will work directly with senior leaders. Their hospitality consulting services are often focused on implementing change initiatives and developing strategies for business growth.
  • Operations consultants, who will work with businesses to improve core operations. For instance, in a restaurant, they may advise on changes to the menu, while for a hotel, they may advise on how services can be improved.
  • Events consultants, who will help to plan and oversee events, including conferences and conventions.

Video: What Does a Hospitality Consultant Do?

10 Key Benefits Associated With Hiring a Hospitality Consultant

Why should you consider hospitality consulting services? In the sections that follow, you can explore the key benefits:

1. Improve Strategic Planning

Strategic planning involves identifying a direction of travel for a business, aligning business objectives, establishing areas of priority, and allocating resources appropriately. Those who specialize in hospitality consulting can assist you by helping to create a long-term strategy for achieving business objectives.

The best strategic planners will have significant experience and understand how to create a plan, mitigate risk and ensure individual departments are all working towards shared goals. Consultants can work closely with those in hospitality management, ensuring that strategies are sensible and address weaknesses in the business.

2. Enhance Customer Service Quality

Customer service is absolutely critical in the hospitality industry, and a hospitality consultant with expertise in this area can be invaluable. Their hospitality consulting efforts can help hotels, restaurants, bars, nightclubs, and other similar businesses evaluate the current state of customer service and find areas for improvement.

Hospitality consulting experts specializing in customer service will research customer expectations, assess staff performance, and help you design new strategies. They may also assist with providing training and offer guidance to employees so the guest experience is improved and customer lifetime value is maximized.

3. Boost Relationships and Culture

One of the most underrated benefits associated with hospitality consulting is related to the possible improvements in staff relationships. A hospitality consultant will be able to work with different departments in a hospitality business, understand the dynamics, and help workers develop a greater bond and sense of community.

Much like consultants can assist with customer service, they can also help staff to improve interactions, resolve conflicts more effectively, and pull together in the same direction to achieve shared goals. This ultimately results in a more positive company culture and can even positively impact staff retention rates.

4. Optimize Marketing Activities

Hospitality consulting has the potential to greatly enhance your marketing activities. Hospitality consultants specializing in marketing can work with a business to conduct market research, identify the most appropriate target audiences, create a cohesive marketing strategy, and implement that strategy through hospitality marketing campaigns.

Consultants can help businesses develop their brand, use social media effectively, and manage their online reputation effectively. These consultants will also be in tune with the latest trends and have an understanding of how to include these trends within a marketing campaign to generate more business.

5. Increase Operational Efficiency

A hospitality consultant is able to come into your business and dispassionately assess the strengths and weaknesses of current operations. They can provide an outside perspective and help hospitality businesses understand what they are doing right and wrong and where efficiency improvements can be gained.

Ultimately, hospitality consulting can help businesses boost productivity and reduce costs, resulting in better financial outcomes. In particular, skilled consultants can be useful for identifying areas where efforts and money are being wasted, or where your business is failing to compete with rivals.

6. Obtain Financial and Legal Assistance

Working closely with a hospitality consulting firm can allow you to better understand your financial position and make adjustments so that financial outcomes are more positive. Consultants can review company accounting information and identify areas where money is wasted, or the ROI is low.

Hospitality consultants can assist with everything from making strategic financial decisions, to managing taxes and obtaining external finance. Many consultants can also provide valuable legal assistance, helping with compliance matters. This then ensures unexpected fines or other financial penalties do not hit your business.

7. Adapt to the Latest Trends in Hospitality

Hospitality consulting can make it much easier for businesses to adapt to the latest hospitality trends. Having an outside voice can be extremely valuable here, because you can naturally become stuck in your ways and fall into a pattern of relying on what has always worked for you in the past.

A good hospitality consultant will be able to help you understand emerging trends and make adjustments to continually meet the evolving expectations of guests. This can include assisting with implementing new hospitality technology and ensuring you keep pace with your competitive set.

8. Make Your Business More Sustainable

Issues of sustainability and environmental responsibility have emerged as a key competitive differentiator recently, with more and more customers willing to penalize businesses that do not behave ethically. For many hospitality businesses, sustainable practices require significant transition and hospitality consulting can help.

Specifically, a hospitality consultant can help your business to improve in areas like waste management and energy transition. In restaurants, it can also help to source ingredients locally and provide vegetarian and vegan options. You are unlikely to lose customers by behaving more sustainably, but you could gain some.

9. Acquire Valuable Tech Support

Whether it is the use of computer systems, the introduction of AI technology, or the implementation of robotics, hospitality companies have a lot of technology-related issues to consider, and it can be difficult to employ people with the necessary expertise to assist with these issues on a full-time basis.

Some hospitality consultants are experts in specific technology areas, like software or machinery. These consultants can help you to introduce the technology in question and can assist you with learning how to make good use of it.

Video: The Future of Hospitality: How AI is Changing the Game!

10. Improve Revenue Management

Finally, hospitality consulting can help you improve the quality and effectiveness of your revenue management efforts. A hospitality consultant can assist with analyzing existing data, providing wider market data, and creating forecasts for demand. They will also understand the unique features of revenue management in the hospitality industry.

As a result, consultants can provide support when devising the best pricing strategies and using the right distribution channels to maximize earnings. They will also be aware of the most up-to-date trends, ensuring your hospitality business can compete effectively with rivals.

Reasons to Seek Out Hospitality Consulting Services

Equipped with an understanding of the potential benefits of hospitality consulting, it is worth taking some time to understand the many possible reasons why you should consider seeking out the services of a hospitality consultant.

Suppose you are looking to bring new energy into a business, or push on to achieve serious business growth. In that case, a consultant can help you find the areas of opportunity and the weaknesses you need to address.

You might want to work with a consultant if you are trying to implement technology you are not familiar with, or if new legislation is introduced and you want to ensure you are in full compliance with it.

Companies that want to reach a new target audience may wish to work with a hospitality consultant to pinpoint the best ways to approach this and to understand the true value of doing so. Similarly, it can be sensible to seek out consulting services if you want to use a new marketing channel or need help with reputation management.

Furthermore, hospitality consulting can be essential when a new restaurant, cafe, hotel, bar, or similar business prepares for opening or a transition, such as a change of ownership. Other common reasons to seek consulting services include design overhauls, re-branding, and alterations to core operations and strategy.

How to Choose a Hospitality Consulting Partner

When you first begin to search for hospitality consulting services, you are likely to find many options, so it is important to take the necessary steps to find the best fit for your business.

  • Consider Your Business Type and Size: Some hospitality consulting firms specialize in working with certain businesses or sizes. Choose a partner with experience working with similar companies.
  • Be Clear on Your Needs and Budget: Your choice of hospitality consultant may vary based on whether you need long-term or short-term help. You also need to consider your budget and what different consultants charge.
  • Research Past Successes and Reputation: Reputable hospitality consulting professionals will be happy to share past success stories. You should also carry out independent research and check reviews and other customer feedback.

Benefits of Revenue Management Consulting

Revenue management is an area of specialization for many hospitality consulting professionals. Working with a consultant of this kind can help your business develop growth strategies, improve financial performance and understand the most up-to-date revenue management trends.

In the “Revenue Management Consulting; Benefits of Hiring a Consultant” article, you will find details about what a revenue management consultant can offer and learn about the key benefits of consulting.

How Can a Hotel Marketing Company Help?

Another major area where hospitality consulting services can help your business is the field of marketing. A good marketing company can offer advice on how to develop your marketing strategy, position your brand, make the most of digital marketing channels, and manage your online reviews and reputation.

In the “How Can a Hotel Marketing Company Boost Your Hotel’s Revenue?” article, you will find a complete breakdown of the various ways marketing companies can assist you, and you can learn about the benefits of outsourcing.

Hospitality consulting can help businesses improve operations and boost overall business outcomes. A hospitality consultant will use their expertise and experience to provide support and assistance, often focusing on specific areas, such as marketing, revenue management, or the use of technology.

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This article is written by:

Martijn Barten

Hi, I am Martijn Barten, founder of Revfine.com. With 20 years of experience in the hospitality industry, I specialize in optimizing revenue by combining revenue management with marketing strategies. I have successfully developed, implemented, and managed revenue management and marketing strategies for individual properties and multi-property portfolios.