How You Make People Feel - Bashar Wali - Defining Hospitality #001

What do you remember most about a hotel experience? For some, it may be the furnishings or fabulous architecture. But for Bashar Wali, Founder & CEO of Practice Hospitality and This Assembly, it’s about the moments of real human interaction and connection that matter most. 

In this episode, Bashar Wali joins Dan Ryan to talk about what hospitality means to him, ways we can improve diversity throughout the industry, & the future of hospitality. Check out some takeaways from this episode below:

• “Fundamentally the difference between the service industry, which is what you deliver, versus the hospitality industry is the following: hospitality is how you make people feel.”
• Authenticity is more than just having an unapologetic point of view, it comes from a place of being yourself. 
• Hospitality is not just about luxury, it comes from believing that you are there to make someone’s life better for more than just one moment in time.
• The new definition of luxury is ultra personalization. Understand the wants and needs of the customer, and utilize available technology to serve those needs. 
• You can’t train on culture & community, but you can build it by showing your employees that they treated as more than just part of the team
• Don’t treat guests differently based on market segment or source of business - treat them as an opportunity to win over a new customer.
• Diversity in hospitality is one sided - while the lowest levels have tremendous diversity, leadership has far less. To improve this, we can do a better job of encouraging & creating opportunities for underrepresented groups. It’s a lot more than just talk, and it can take generations to fix.
• The future of hospitality is in sustainability & utilizing big data to optimize human experiences. As our society breaks down binary barriers, hospitality has an opportunity to be at the center of it all.
• Don’t think of technology as cutting on cost, but to remove friction from human interactions
• Every new customer, every new person you talk to, is an opportunity to see the world through their eyes & understand their wants and needs.
• “Never turn down a meeting, because you’ll never know what you will learn.” - Bashar

Quote of the Show:

“People ask me why I got into this business. Where I grew up, there's a saying that goes, ‘When a stranger shows up at your door, feed him for three days before you ask him who he is, where he's from, where he's going to. Because by then, he'll either be strong enough to tell you, or you'll be such good friends it won't matter.’ That is hospitality.”  ~ Bashar Wali

Links: 

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/basharwali/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/basharwali
• Websites:  
  • https://practicehospitality.com/
  • https://thisassembly.com/
  • https://linktr.ee/waliworld
  • https://basharwali.com/
  • Hotelier.life

Shout Outs: 

10:24 - The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman

11:36 - Danny Meyer - Union Square Hospitality Group - “The Hospitality Quotient”

26:09 - Bill Kimpton’s Core Principles

26:38 - Joie de Vivre / Chip Conley

38:27 - Damon Lawerence, Homage Suite 

41:03 - Independent Lodging Congress

51:32 - MaidBots

55:39 - Simon Sinek, Start With Why

Ways to Tune In: 

• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0A2XOJvb6mGqEPYJ5bilPX
• Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/defining-hospitality-podcast/id1573596386
• Google Podcasts: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZGVmaW5pbmdob3NwaXRhbGl0eS5saXZlL2ZlZWQueG1s
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j31mN1dIGhg