144 – TMG Hospitality Trailblazers: Joseph Grieco

Suite Spot: A Hotel Marketing Podcast

Check out the latest TMG Hospitality Trailblazers episode featuring the Executive Vice President of Development at Gibson Hospitality Ventures, Joseph Grieco!

This episode takes a deeper look into the Gibson Hospitality Ventures brand culture, hotel portfolio, and company initiatives that are setting the stage for more organizational success.

Get an inside perspective on topics such as:

• The Explosive Growth of Gibson Hospitality Ventures
• How Gibson is Combating Industry Staffing Challenges
• Leveraging Guest Feedback to Influence Hotel Profitability
• The Importance of a Strong Hotel Digital Presence

Tune in now!

Episode Transcript
Our podcast is produced as an audio resource. Transcripts are generated using speech recognition software and human editing and may contain errors. Before republishing quotes, we ask that you reference the audio.

Ryan Embree:
Welcome to Suite Spot, where hoteliers check-in, and we check out what’s trending in hotel marketing. I’m your host, Ryan Embree. Hello everyone. Welcome to another episode of The Suite Spot. This is your host, Ryan Embree. Thank you so much for joining us today. We have a fantastic episode for you today continuing our TMG Hospitality Trailblazers series. If this is your 1st, 5th, or 15th episode in this series, it’s all about the people and management companies that are pushing and moving our industry forward, the industry that we love so much. We’ve got a great example and guest with me to share his story and the management company that is recognized as an industry leader. We’re gonna talk a lot about that today, but let me bring him in. Without further ado, Joe Grieco, executive VP of Development at Gibson Hospitality Ventures. Joe, thank you so much for joining me on the Suite Spot.

Joseph Grieco :
Thank you, Ryan. It’s a pleasure to be here. I love listening to your podcast and all the other guests you’ve had on in the past. And, quite an honor to be here with you. Thank you.

Ryan Embree:
Absolutely. And we’re really excited to talk about Gibson Hospitality Ventures. You guys have a lot of exciting things happening right now at your organization, but before we get into that too much, we love to start these episodes with just a little bit of hospitality background, the journey that led you to Gibson Hospitality Ventures and your experience so far.

Joseph Grieco :
Sure, so I actually started on the food and beverage side. Grew up in a big Italian family where everything was always centered around the dining table. So the restaurant industry was always a passion of mine growing up and started as a dishwasher in the kitchen. Quickly learned that I wasn’t cut out for the back of the house, enjoyed the front of the house a lot more. So I went off and worked my way around to bartending, serving, managing various restaurants. My first kind of crossover position was doing room service for a Hilton in downtown Knoxville. And it was a lot of fun. Had a blast down there, worked with a great group of people. But from there I realized the restaurant industry was always a passion of mine. And I met a gentleman when I was at the hotel restaurant program and the two of us went and opened a restaurant in downtown Knoxville back in 2002. I was 24 years old and very young, but we went off and, and started our first venture down there. So had a great time. The restaurant was called Pasta Trio. We were there for about seven, eight years in downtown Knoxville. But I had a baby on the way and kind of realized that having a restaurant and a baby wasn’t gonna work out too well for me long term. So at the time, I was working commercial real estate and business brokerage focused on hotels and restaurants. That was in 08′ or 09′ when the market started to collapse. So I had a side job working for the Knoxville Marriott as a bartender and working in banquets as a banquet captain, and knew they were looking for a food and beverage manager. So I got back into the hotel side on, in the food and Beverage department, spent a few years working for the big box hotels around Knoxville Holiday Inn and Marriott, as a food and beverage director. And then one of my former general managers called me up and asked me to take on a general manager position for a bank foreclosed property in Sevierville, Tennessee that Gibson Hotel had been asked to manage. And knowing Mr. Gibson’s reputation and knowing the company, it was almost a no brainer for me.To come and work for an organization of this was just such a great opportunity, especially to take a GM role with just my past F&B experience, and to be able to learn more about the industry. So it was a grueling year, getting that property back on its feet. It was a bank foreclosed property that, that needed a lot of work. So I got to be very hands-on, on all aspects of the hotel. We had to rebuild its online reputation. We had deferred maintenance, we had tons of problems throughout the property. So it was a very successful year though. And the, the hotel, the bank was able to take the hotel and resell it. And I was promoted to take over at one of our flagship properties, the Spring Hill Suites in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, where I was GM for. I was there for about nine months before they started piling some other stuff on top of me. I took on some regional operation roles and started overseeing some other hotels we had in the market while I was still the GM at the Spring Hill. And then from there, Mr. Gibson asked me to, uh, to come and join his corporate office team as a regional. Uh, so IO over the next few years, I, I grew from my regional position to vice president of operations. And eventually, back in 2015, Mr. Gibson gave me my first opportunity to oversee the construction of our new Fairfield in Inn in Johnson City, Tennessee. And I kind of caught the bug from there. It was, uh, my first taste of hotel development, new construction, and I, I really enjoyed it. And we did, uh, that hotel has been extremely successful for us. So since then I’ve worked on, uh, about 18 new construction projects with our company. Uh, some of them in-house projects, some of them third party managed developments. We’ve done a, a brand conversion, uh, converting an old Fairfield, uh, gen one hotel to a La Quinta. We’ve done renovations. So a lot of different stuff working here. It’s, it’s been a, a great experience. Currently, I’ve got four hotels that we’re overseeing construction on, four renovations, getting ready to start towards the end of the year. We’re kind of in that same boat with everybody else with the, uh, the renovation influx that’s coming for everyone right now. And then we’ve got a very robust pipeline with, uh, several more hotels due to start in the next six months. So, uh, very excited about the growth in front of us. Yeah.

Ryan Embree:
Well, we’re gonna talk about that explosive growth in a moment. But, you know, just to get back to your story, and I think this is a great piece of advice for young hotel professionals right now, is to listen to Joe’s story. And I’m sure you could attest now, Joe, with that year that you were, you, that general manager and the challenges that you had, probably one of the biggest learning opportunities I would imagine, and taught you a lot, especially even where you are today with development. I mean, that is not right now with construction timelines, everything that you have to get through, I’m sure there’s a lot of challenges within that, but just that year probably just taught you a lot about kind of pushing through. And for those young professionals out there that get an opportunity like that, it might seem like, man, why are they putting me in this, this property over here? But that is such an opportunity for you to learn and could serve you way, way down the line in your career. Joe, would you agree with that?

Joseph Grieco:
Oh, a hundred percent. The things I learned, I mean, the, the things I learned during that year, overseeing that property and, and all of the fact that you just had to touch every piece of the hotel. If you go into a, a brand new Marriott property or Hilton property that was built in the last three years and doesn’t have any issues, you’re never gonna understand all the different components that go into making that the asset, the operation, uh, everything a success there. So, and it’s served me really well on the development side. So coming up in operations, I, I use that knowledge every day in the new hotels that we open. Uh, I go into a project thinking about why and how we’re gonna use certain things when we’re building them, and whether or not we have the most efficient layout in some areas, it, does this make sense for where we are putting the offices or how we’re setting up the laundry system? What are the challenges that that hourly associate’s gonna be facing two, three years from now because of the decisions that we make now? So, you know, seeing that and being there firsthand and seeing other people’s mistakes and, and what they did wrong and being able to learn from those, it’s very important step in any young hotelier’s growth. So I would say take those, uh, disaster hotels, take on some of those challenges. It’s, it’s a lot of hard work, but it’s worth it in the end for, for what you learn from that experience.

Ryan Embree:
Absolutely. And, and here you sit again with a portfolio of over 30 hotels. You know, Gibson has seen some explosive growth over the last decade to its journey to, to where it is today, one of the top hotel management companies in our industry. What do you, what do you attribute your team’s success to? Joe? I know you’ve been with the organization for a while, and how and why has that allowed it to grow so rapidly in a time where, you know, not a lot of management companies have had this type of explosive growth that Gibson’s been able to enjoy?

Joseph Grieco:
Sure, sure. Um, well, number one, I mean, our, our, our staff and, and it’s, it’s a hundred percent comes down to the people that are out there every day taking care of our assets, taking care of our guests. Without them, we never would’ve been able to grow as quickly as we have in the past 10 years. And Mr. Gibson always insists on the importance that we’re always hiring the right people for the right position. You know, our, our corporate office is a prime example of that. Everyone who works in our corporate office, well, nearly everyone who works in our corporate office has worked in an hourly management position in hotels and restaurants. So they bring that past experience and those perspectives to their current positions. Kind of like we were talking about. Everything that I learned at the, the hotel that I spent a year at, you know, those, those experiences they have and those, those line level positions where they were in the field, uh, previously in their careers, it impacts them. No matter what discipline that is, whether they’re in accounting or human resources or revenue management, they have a little more empathy for the people that are on the front lines and, and understand what they’re going through. You know, we’re a small company. We’re not very top heavy. We try not to be overly demanding on, on, you know, our staff as far as paperwork and things like that. Uh, we want them to be out there taking care of the guests. We don’t want our GMs behind the desk sitting there doing forms and filling out Excel spreadsheets. If they’re not in front of our guests, then our hotels are not successful. And the way that we grow and the way that we continue to do other hotels is to run the hotels that we have successfully to operate great hotels for the those owners and to be able to give them good returns on their assets by having repeat customers and, you know, taking care of those guests that come in. You know, the old adage, take care of your, your employees, they’ll take care of your guests, they’ll take care of your, and your guests will come back. That’s, it’s, it’s as true today as ever. It’s, it’s the most important part. Uh, so, so really our staff is probably one of the most important reasons we’ve been able to grow as much as we have. And, you know, we have a very low turnover within our company, and we believe very strongly in succession planning and growth from within. So, you know, we have many success stories in our companies where, you know, I can, I can remember maintenance engineers that ended up being general managers in our company, uh, housekeepers that worked their way up to assistant executive and then executive, and then into a GM position. So that internal growth and that ability to retain staff and, and to have the people out there in the field to operate these properties, when we open them and when we take over new assets, you know, we love having a, a flying squad. Our, our group of people that go out for, uh, when we do an acquisition or a takeover and, you know, they’re, they’re experts in their field and they go out and they, they do great things. And it’s, it’s kind of a privilege for our team members out in the field to get to participate in those things. So they’re a huge part of our success, being able to, to take those employees from hourly positions to management. But as much as we’ve grown, you know, we still always maintain a very personal approach with our hotels and our staff and our owners. We love being out in the field with our hotels and helping our team and our, our operations team. We make sure our operations team is at the property every month no matter what. So at the end of the month, when the financials come out, our operations team gets to the property and does a full property review with our general manager and our, our, uh, management teams. We walk the properties, we review all your KPIs, you know, we go through the financials, we go through the guest service scores, we walk through the kitchen, we check the, you know, we check to make sure the hotel is being run properly, that it’s a, it’s clean, that there’s no deferred maintenance, that everything is being run the way it should be, the way we would expect it to be run if we were coming in as a guest. And that makes a huge difference too, in our success. And, you know, our, our owners see that. Our owners see that in their returns. They see it in the awards that we win for them. You know, whether it’s a torch bar bearer award, or a platinum award from Marriott. You know, it’s a, it’s a tribute to the, the properties that we run. But the other reason, and, and the other true, true inspiration for all our success would, I, I would definitely say would be Mr. Gibson. It’s just a little different when you work for a true leader like Mr. Gibson that has really a passion for the industry and, and drives our team to do better every day. You know, he has so much hospitality knowledge that he, that he shares with us all the time, and he’s just a great mentor for, for all the people around our office. And he makes us do better for our guests, our staff, our owners, our company. And, um, you know, working for a company like a, a company like this and an owner like Mr. Gibson, it allows us to be a little more flexible as a company. So, you know, we get to be a little choosy with who we work with. We’re not, we have grown explosively and we could probably be double the size that we are right now if we were willing to take on some hotels and some other opportunities that really just weren’t right for us as a company and didn’t fit with our culture. So that’s also one of the benefits of, of the way we’re able to growth. We’re able to focus in on strategic growth that, that makes the most sense, both for our company, uh, for those owners too. You know, we’ve had candid conversations with owners that wanted us to hi, wanted to hire us, but it didn’t make sense. The revenues weren’t there. The hotels couldn’t support a third party management with the systems that, that we bring in to, to run a hotel properly. Partners like TMG and the other services. So, you know, we’re very strategic. We don’t just want to be another company like the big guys out there that have 250 hotels and maybe they see them once a year. We, we wanna be very hands-on, and we want to grow and scale as, as our portfolio grows.

Ryan Embree:
Yeah, no, that’s a great point. Growth doesn’t necessarily equal strategic growth, right. And, and picking the right owners to work with, making sure that you can still instill that high touch culture that you’re talking about over there, Joe, to make sure that the projects that you are working on maintain the standard of your brand, which is super important and, and a trend that we see in a lot of these hospitality trailblazers that we interview here. And we can attest to the, to the success. ’cause you’ve got some really excited, you and your team have been really busy over there, Joe, ’cause you’ve got some exciting developments, new properties being, you know, just open. We’ve seen some press releases out there about some new properties being open, new partnerships, which I’m personally really excited about. Can you expand on some of these opportunities right now in the development side of Gibson?

Joseph Grieco:
Sure. Be happy to. So, so in the past, our portfolio’s been predominantly select and extended stay products. We do have some have had some full service products in the past and still do. And, and Mr. Gibson and I always kind of had a passion for those bigger, uh, full service, uh, hotels, restaurants, the food and beverage operations that go along with them. So that’s where our focus is right now on our growth is on the full service side. Uh, don’t get me wrong, we’ve always had a robust pipeline of select and extended state properties, and we still do. We, uh, but we’ve been recently working on a lot of really exciting projects. We have a new partnership we’re working on with Sports Illustrated Hotels and Resorts. We’re working on several new Compass by Margaritaville locations. We have a couple of deals that we’re partnering with Travel and Leisure on right now through our relationships with Margaritaville and Sports Illustrated. And we’re also starting to work with some more boutique and soft brand hotels we hope in the future. So that’s definitely a trajectory that we feel our company needs to take. And it’s really a, a passion for me and Mr. Gibson. It’s, it’s what we enjoy and we love doing. So Sports Illustrated has been really exciting for us. It’s been a a lot of fun working with those guys and getting to work on a new and emerging brand that has, uh, so much potential, especially in today’s market where clients are really seeking more experiential, stays, more adventure, something a little different than you get from the typical Hilton and Marriott hotels. So the potential for a brand like that, we feel is, is limitless. Um, you know, they have, they, they’re backed with so much history and legacy. They have, uh, tons of potential verticals that you can explore with the brand that, that has that experiential piece to it, whether it’s, you know, resorts or beach clubs or, you know, uh, uh, ski retreats. But what we’re real, we’ve been really most excited about and, and see the most, uh, potential in is on the Sports Illustrated University hotel model. And that’s what we’ve been working really strongly at. We’re we’re located here in Knoxville, where we’ve got our Tennessee balls right down the road in Neland Stadium. So, you know, we we’re working with Travel and Leisure and, uh, the Sports Illustrated group, and we’ve been very honored to be able to collaborate on the new Sports Illustrated that’s being developed down at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. That’ll be the first sports illustrated in the country. There’s one currently down in Capa, uh, in the Dominican Republic. So, but this’ll be, uh, along with the university model, and it’s, it’s part of a large mixed use campus that includes condos and timeshares, the hotel, some restaurants, and retail and entertainment. So that’s been a very, very exciting project to work on. And, um, just that being able to have that collaboration with the Travel and Leisure team and Sports Illustrated, it’s, um, it’s just been incredible. And this is just the first one, but with all the potential on these projects, we see a lot of, uh, a lot of great future in, in the, the other developments that can come from this in, in, in different markets that, that we’re in already and markets we’ve been looking to get into for some time.

Ryan Embree:
Oh, I can imagine. I mean, you’re, you’re talking to someone that as a kid would, would wait for that Sports Illustrated, uh, magazine to come through. So as soon as I saw that Sports Illustrated press release come through that newsfeed, I’ve, I’m right on board. And what a place to start in Tuscaloosa. I don’t know if those Tennessee Vol fans are, are excited about that, but, uh, you know, hopefully we see a lot of expansion there, but really exciting projects on that end. But let’s get into location, you guys, Gibson as a massive footprint in the southeast, specifically Tennessee, where you’re located, where your corporate headquarters are in, in Knoxville. What do you like about this market and where do you see opportunity?

Joseph Grieco:
Sure. Well, you know, this really goes back to being a hands-on company, but it’s, it’s definitely worked in our favor. You know, we love the Southeast and, uh, there’s nothing quite like southern hospitality. I’m originally from New York, but I’ve been in Knoxville since 1990 and I love it here. I’m raising my family here, and no plans on moving anytime soon. But, um, you know, many of the markets that we’re in and, and the markets in the Southeast have just seen tremendous growth in the last 10 years. And it’s been wonderful to be able to be a part of that growth and to be able to add more hotels into these markets, you know, as, as they grow, we grow. Pigeon Forge is a prime example. Um, Mr. Gibson was one of the first hoteliers to see the potential to bring a branded product like a Marriott into the Pigeon Forge market that was saturated with just mom and pops and independent hotels for the most part. So back 15 years ago, he had to go and convince Marriott that their product would work in this kind of market. And now if you look around, it’s just exploded. You know, every every brand is is up there already with, you know, more to come and even ones that, that we’re still developing there. So, you know, our residents in, in Pigeon Forge actually won opening Hotel of the Year from Marriott last year. So, you know, for us, it’s important that we’re in these markets, so we recognize who’s coming to the market and we give them what they want. We don’t, don’t try and educate our consumer. We give the consumers what they want, especially in these leisure markets, whether that’s the beach entry pool and the, the bubblers and the splash pad to, to create more of a resort experience for the kids. You know, making sure that we’ve got one of the best in class, uh, complimentary breakfasts that go along with our products in the select service markets. And just making sure that we have hotels that just continue to wow guests that way when they do come back, you know, they’re, they’re repeat customers. They’re always, when they come back to the Pigeon Forge market, we know that they’re gonna, they’re gonna come back and they’re gonna stay at our Spring Hill or our Residence Inn that’s up in that location. But for us, it’s much easier to do that and to recognize those customers right here in our own backyard than it is for us to go to Colorado or Texas. I mean, sure, we have the ability and, and we have, in the past, we’ve had third party management comp contracts in Texas and other other states that were probably a bit too far for us at the time, and we hadn’t really scaled up enough to be able to manage those hotel properly, but we recognized that and we had a candid conversation with the owner. We helped ’em find a company that was more apt to run that asset for them. And, you know, it was, it was the right decision for everyone at the time. Like I said before, we’re not looking to grow in ways that doesn’t make sense for our company, but now as we look to the future, and we we’re looking for other opportunities and we continue to expand beyond the southeast, you know, Mr. Gibson’s bought a small plane that the company has the ability to use, which is, has definitely helped us out a lot. It’s a, it’s a huge time saver for our team to be able to get a property that used to take a six hour drive, and now we can be there in about two hours. It makes a huge difference in, in our team’s ability to, to get outside and a little further from where we normally operate. And, you know, ultimately, ultimately though, this is our home and, and we know these markets and we’re gonna continue to expand, uh, you know, we’re moving towards, uh, further into the Midwest and the the Northeast, but we’re gonna do it strategically like we’ve done our other growth. We don’t wanna just jump off the handle and go open a hotel in California for the fun of it, because it’s just not worth it for us. It, it doesn’t make any sense for us to operate on a three hour times zone difference in a, a market we are just not as familiar with.

Ryan Embree:
Yeah, no, it all comes back to that strategic growth that we were talking about. And, you know, it sounds like you have some incredible white glove service with your mem your, your staff and onsite team members, so it doesn’t make sense to take a property that’s, again, led to the success and it’s actually been recognized. You know, you, Gibson Hospitality has earned numerous recognitions almost every brand on, on your website I’m seeing, but including being that four time winner of Marriott’s prestigious Partnership Circle Award, what do these recognitions mean to you, and how have you been able to leverage them to grow Gibson as a top tier hospitality management company? Well,

Joseph Grieco:
It’s really been amazing, um, especially the Partnership Circle award. That one, that one really means a lot to us. And to win it four times now is just a testament to the teams at our hotels and to our corporate office staff and, and just how much hard work our, our teams really do put into running these assets. But really, I mean, ultimately, we don’t run hotels to win awards. We try to run great hotels, and everyone on our team is on the same page when it comes to that. We take care of our guests, we take care of our assets, we make sure that we have the best product in the market. We make sure that we’re the top in our competitive set, and then if something’s broken, we fix it or we replace it as soon as possible. And we believe in the importance of empowering our staff to solve problems and take care of those guests. A big part of this just goes to our hands-on approach in running hotels and hiring the right people. You know, we expect our GMs to run hotels like they own that property. You know, they have to have that entrepreneurial spirit and the desire to see the hotel and, and the team succeed on every level. So, yes, it’s, it’s, it’s amazing to see our company win these awards and, and, uh, you know, to be recognized by companies like Marriott for Partnership Circle Award or with, uh, platinum and, and Gold Circle Award winning hotels with the Torch bearer awards that we have. But also, it’s amazing to see the internal recognitions. You know, we have, uh, staff within our, our company that routinely wins local awards in the market, like our Polly Awards here in Knoxville with the Greater Knoxville Hotel Association. Just to be able to hire and to, to grow these employees and to see their, uh, career expand and to see them win these awards and be part of the hotels winning these awards. It’s just a tremendous experience for us. And it’s also great for our reputation, you know, it, it definitely does help our, our reputation as a, a natural reaction to seeing us win these awards and the accolades at the Marriott conferences, and to see our name up on the big screen. But really our reputation is more from the way we operate our hotels for our owners and, uh, you know, how we pride ourselves on taking care of those assets and running the best in class products.

Ryan Embree:
Yeah, I like, I like what you said there, Joe, about, you know, we don’t run hotels to win awards. You know, you run hotels and then hopefully get recognized by awards and that kind of be the thing that tells you that you’re doing a good job, right? Hearing guests, giving you online reviews, hearing things on social media, uh, praising, and then hopefully those awards come really, really cool. And I’m sure it helps with staffing as well, right? I mean, we’re all competitive people in the world. Staff wants to work with the best. So if you’re out there winning awards, you know, I’m sure that you’re gonna win that candidate too. That and, and saying, Hey, I wanna be on, I wanna be on this team. So, but you know, outside of that, like you said, Gibson does a lot, it has an entire section dedicated to its website, to social responsibility and all the incredible causes, organizations that your team supports. Can you share any inspiring stories and maybe why this was a priority for your or organization and Mr. Gibson?

Joseph Grieco:
Sure. Uh, yeah, this, this definitely comes from the top down. This is, uh, this is, uh, um, Mr. Gibson has always been a very strong supporter of a lot of the causes in the organizations that you’re referring to. You know, I’d say most importantly, one of the, the ones that I wanna point out would probably be his work with the Tennessee Hospitality Association and the Education Foundation, something that we’re all very proud of, uh, and an incredible program, uh, providing scholarships. I think, if I remember correctly, I think they gave away about a million dollars last year in scholarships to hospitality, uh, uh, emerging Hospitality Talent. Um, you know, our team loves to participate in the ProStart event that we do here in Tennessee. That’s a, uh, a hospitality event where, uh, students from local high schools come in and put together restaurant concepts and do culinary events. And we have all of our corporate staff loves to go over there and judge the competitions and work with the, the young high school students that are looking to get into careers in hospitality. You know, it’s just something that’s very close to our heart and something that’s very important to us. And it’s also, you know, it’s, it’s our future. These are the people that are gonna be working for, for us down the road. They’re gonna be the people that we’re judging at these competitions that are in high school now, two or three years from now are gonna be working at our front desk or doing our breakfast service or, you know, bartending in our hotels. So, you know, it’s important that we give them the best leg up that we can right now, especially in going into this industry as we face so many challenging time from, uh, staffing and other issues that are coming up. So we feel supporting the, the young hoteliers and the people that are interested in, in this profession is very, very important to us. Additionally, we, we like to get out and participate with local charities. Our corporate office does quarterly, uh, charity events with, uh, you know, second Harvest Food Bank or going out to clean up, you know, local nature parks and things like that. Um, we just feel it’s very important that we give back to our community. And we, we also instill that in our hotels, you know, whether it’s, you know, Fairfield and their partnership with, uh, habitat for Humanity and encouraging our teams at our Fairfield to, to follow along with what the brand’s direction is and how important it is to support those organizations. Or, you know, our early adoption of programs like Clean the World that, you know, we implemented back when they were first emerging back in 2012. And, you know, we saw the potential to take, you know, unused, uh, bars of soap and things like that and, and have it be recycled and upcycled to, uh, third world countries where it could benefit and help people. So we just all feel it’s important that we give back, but really that, that stems a lot from the top down and Mr. Gibson’s commitment to, uh, the community and to, uh, furthering education and, and the young hoteliers that are emerging. So,

Ryan Embree:
Yeah, no, absolutely. I mean, we got a whole, whole series dedicated to, you know, hospitality Campus crawl, where we go to these hospitality campuses and talk to administrators about, you know, the next, uh, generation of hotel professionals. Right? And, you know, this is something that’s very important to them is, is feeling a part of something, you know, seeing your organization be involved in charitable causes, so they feel like they’re doing, they feel a part of something that, so definitely ahead of the trend there. And, and I’m sure again, it’s, it definitely helping with staffing when you’re talking, uh, to young professionals about the opportunities that you have to contribute to really important causes like that. So thank you, Joe, to you and your team for doing that. You mentioned, you alluded to it earlier, travel Media Group, proud, proud partner of Gibson Hospitality Ventures for quite a while. And, you know, since the beginning, you know, we really recognized the importance and priority that you put to having a strong online presence and reputation. Something that, obviously as a hotel marketing podcast, we preach all the time, right, of having a really strong digital impression. Why is having that strategic digital marketing so critical for hotel management companies today and connecting with owners, investors, and guests?

Joseph Grieco:
Well, I mean, as you know, with most owners and investors, just to, to be blunt, it’s, it’s usually about top line revenue and, and bottom line profit. And so it’s always important that we find a digital strategy that works both for the property and that the ownership group will sign off on. So, uh, not all hotels have the same budget to work with, and, uh, not all digital marketing spend is the same across all of our different hotels. And when you operate a variety of extended stay, select and full service properties, not all strategies can be the same. So it’s important that we craft solutions for each property individual, and we work with the owners and the investors in those hotels to determine what their priorities are and explain to them, you know, the, the benefits of using partners like yourself or the disadvantages if they choose to go a different direction and not spend those dollars. So, you know, obviously today everyone’s booking online through the various channels, but all those same people aren’t just looking at your presence in one place. They’re, they may start on brand.com or hotels.com, but they’re gonna look at your social media presence, they’re gonna look at your reviews across the web, and it’s important that you, you showcase and tell a story of what your hotel has to offer. But it’s also important that that message is consistent across all your channels in order to be successful. You know, at Gibson, we really appreciate our partnership with Travel Media Group to help manage that online reputation on a daily basis. You know, we look at our guest feedback and what our guests are saying about us and our competitors, and that gives us a competitive advantage over a lot of the other management companies out there having partnerships with teams like, like yours. And it’s also important that we work with the brands to funnel more traffic through brand.com, through various promotions and through our online and digital media strategy. So, you know, when you look at the spend that companies like Expedia and hotels.com have to try and get you to, to book your property on their site and take their piece of the pie, it’s important that we’re very strategic with how we spend our dollars. We know we can’t compete with them, but if we are doing the right things and we’re being strategic about how we spend our money, we can definitely push that traffic more toward the direct channels and, and help improve overall bottom line, uh, for those owners and investors. And that’s where we see the true return, you know, being able to, to take care of those assets and to continue to maintain highly profitable hotels for our owners. So that way down the road, they, when when they’re ready to build the next one, we’re the first people that they call. So, you know, very important to us that, like any hotel organization, all those gears need to be running in, in Synchrony. They, they all rely on each other. So if we don’t have the, the correct digital marketing presence and the correct team working on our, our digital marketing, then our revenues are gonna fall. Our profits are gonna fall, our owners aren’t gonna be happy with us, and it’s just a cascading effect from there. So

Ryan Embree:
Certainly a snowball effect, and you know, it, it is about effectively telling your story online, right? For as much effort as we put on the operation side and, you know, service and, and, and experiences that we’re trying to create and memorable experiences that we’re trying to create for our guests, if for some reason that’s not perceived online, that can get lost. And that’s a scary thought for a lot of hotels of putting so much effort and energy to the onsite operations in that story. Just not being told. Can’t wait to see and hear the story being told with those, those Sports illustrated hotels. I’m sure you won’t have to search very hard for some good social media content. So let me know when those are up. We’ll, we’ll make sure to give it a follow. Now, one of the lines from Gibson’s Mission online reads, fostering Professional Growth for our team members. We talked about it on this episode, we talked about it in past episodes. Uh, it’s kind of a, every other news article seems about hospitalized, talking about this staffing shortage, uh, and labor shortage we have in hospitality right now. What creative ways have you been able to combat in this headwind and use the words of your mission for recruiting and retention? Uh,

Joseph Grieco:
Sure. Um, I wouldn’t say it’s really creative, unfortunately, but I mean, it’s, it’s, it’s getting back to the basics and the most important thing that you have to deal with in today’s market with, with the staffing shortages and everything that we’re facing. The, so I would say the most important thing for us when it comes to dealing with the current staff shortage has to be our staff retention. Uh, it’s been critical for us to be able to deal with the current situation with the labor market for us having a very low turnover ratio and being able to, to promote those staff members from within to continue to encourage them to grow their career and to grow their career within the Gibson organization. That’s really been the key for us. Back when I was at gm, I used to always say that the, the best employees that you have are gonna be the ones that your other employees bring to your staff, uh, because they’re not gonna bring somebody on who’s gonna bring the whole team down. You know, they’re gonna want staff members that are gonna be there to work just as hard as they are and to, to make sure that the job gets done on time. So, you know, really that staff retention, utilizing your internal staff and their networks to continue to grow your staff is very important. But promoting from within, that’s, that’s really always been a, a huge key for us when it comes to dealing with the shortages that we have in the industry and being able to maintain solid management and leadership teams. You know, unfortunately, the hourly staff, there’s, there’s turnover there like anywhere else, and you’re gonna have it. But if you can retain your management staff and your key team members and your leadership team and keep that culture alive at your hotel and be able to, to have people who are able to train the new people coming in and teach them properly on the way to, to do things, too often we turn over staff and we just throw people into the wolves and don’t provide enough training to them. You know, we feel as an organization that it’s very important that our team gets the proper training. You know, that staff member’s a lot more likely to stay if they have comfort and are acclimated with the position they’re in before you stick ’em out there on a four to 11 shift by themselves with no help and a hundred check-ins.

Ryan Embree:
So, right. Well, you know, and, and more, more likely to also come back, you know, there’s a lot of staff members out there that might jump at the opportunity to go to another hotel, but if you gave them the proper foundation and training, there’s an, there’s a chance that they might come back to you and serve you better in their next time around. You know, those Boomerang employees that we talk about all the time and, and you got a lot of stuff working for you over there, right? You’ve got opportunity with a lot of stuff in the development pipeline, and you got already a lot of stories of people, you know, even like yourself, Joe, that have started one place and ended up, you know, you were talking about all those corporate members, you know, starting at the line level or on property and making their way somewhere else. Showing and illustrating a path to growth is gonna be absolutely crucial right now during this. And it seems like you guys have done a great job of that. I would also say the social media side of things, just like guests are gonna be trying to hear that story and figure out what it’s like on your property. I’ve talked about it on this podcast, this younger generation. They’re doing the same thing on looking on the employee side. What, what does a day in the life look for me? Look at this fantastic pool look, they’re recognizing some of their staff members on social media. That could be me in a couple months if, if, if I do my job right? So these are all ways that I think, you know, obviously you’ve been able to leverage, but, uh, a lot of hoteliers to be on the lookout for, you know, and, and, and make sure that, first of all, if you, if you had an organization, you’ve got those stories in, in place and you’re sharing them with your employees, but if you’re also a hotel employee, you know, ask for the opportunity. See what, get to know that senior leadership team and their hospitality journey. How did they get to where they were? And if they came up through the org, the same organization that certainly says something and, and should tell you something there. So, covered a lot of ground on this episode. Joe, thank you so much. We know you got, you’re very, very busy over there with all these projects you got that you’re juggling. So thank you again for taking the time. Any final thoughts before we wrap up today? I

Joseph Grieco:
Would just say, you know, we’re, we’re, we’re very grateful for our partnership for you with, with you guys at Travel Media Group and, um, you know, we’re very excited about some continued organic growth that we’re gonna have here at Gibson Hotels. Um, you know, very selective growth as we talked about as we earlier. But, you know, we definitely feel that, uh, working with the right teams, the right owners, the right investors, the right brands, uh, you know, we’re, you’re gonna see some incredible growth from, from Gibson Hotels in the next, uh, in the next few years within the full service, the boutique soft and experiential brands. Uh, look forward to talking to you in the future about some other opportunities that we have and, and the, the additional growth we have coming at Gibson Hotels.

Ryan Embree:
Yeah, we’re excited. All, all eyes are on over there and you know, it, it’s a very reciprocal feeling. You know, we love working with, uh, hotel managements like Gibson Hospitality Ventures that see just such a strategic and amazing growth and being part of their story, right? Our success is your success and vice versa. So we’re really excited for what you have cooking over there, uh, at Gibson Hospitality Ventures. We’ll continue to keep an eye on and hopefully, uh, you know, I can visit one of these new properties here soon and maybe we’ll be doing an episode from one of these, uh, sports Illustrated universities. Uh, fingers crossed. So thank you so much. That was great. Look forward to it. Alright. Look forward to it. Well, thank you so much for Joe, uh, for jumping on the Suite Spot. Thank you all for listening and we will talk to you next time. Alright, thank you Ryan. To join our loyalty program, be sure to subscribe and give us a five star reading on iTunes. Suite Spot is produced by Travel Media Group. Our editor is Brandon Bell with Cover Art by Bary Gordon. I’m your host, Ryan Embree, and we hope you enjoyed your stay.