Enrique Calderón Fernández
It has been a very good years. The last three years are very good years for the hotel business in Mexico. And looks like it’s getting even better because I would say that twenty twenty four, we have elections in Mexico. We have elections in United States, and there was certain, climate phenomenon within the summer. But after November two thousand twenty four, the numbers and the demand that we see from North American travelers to Mexico is even better than two thousand twenty four, two thousand twenty three, two thousand twenty two. So it it’s very promising that two thousand twenty five could be a hell of a year.
Sebastien Leitner
Ever wondered how hotel group manages two hundred properties and seventeen thousand employees? Stick around for the latest episode of the turndown as I sit down with Enrique Calderon, chief operating officer of Grupo Posadas. He’ll reveal the secret to their incredible employee retention even when under other hospitality businesses are struggling in this area. Plus, he’ll share a bold prediction about the future of travel to Mexico. Trust me. What he says could completely change your travel plans. I can’t wait for you to get to know Enrique.
Welcome, Enrique, to the program. Welcome to the turndown. It’s a pleasure to, welcome you today. Thank you for joining us. And, yeah, we kick off this podcast typically with our question, that’s been, used in all of our recordings, which is what is keeping you up at night these days?
Enrique Calderón Fernández
Hi, Sebastian. It’s a pleasure to be here with you and and talking about what is really a passion for me, that is hospitality. And, of course, talking about what keeps me awake at night, I will say that several things when when you have grown grown up kids and, mortgage to pay. But with what really I mean, always keep me thinking at night is it’s always about the employees and the rotation and how you can develop your people. Basically, is that what what I keep thinking, like, every night? How you can attract the new generations? How you can motivate them to to become, passionate about hospitality and motivated to stay in in a hotel business for a complete career and stay years and years doing this, business that is very passionate for athlete I mean, for everybody.
Sebastien Leitner
That’s a beautiful, introduction, making hospitality attractive for the next generation. Now we we have to do a little bit of introduction, to the audience. You are currently the v vice president of operations, at Posadas Hotel Group. Is that correct?
Enrique Calderón Fernández
That’s correct. It’s the COO. I’m in charge of the hotel business of the company, which is, there are two businesses. It’s vacation club business and loyalty programs. And the other highlight is the managing company, which we we operate the hotels that has our own brands.
Sebastien Leitner
Beautiful. How many hotels in total? How many rooms?
Enrique Calderón Fernández
Well, Pozas is the largest, company in Mexico. We have two hundred hotels, more than thirty thousand rooms, seventy thou seventeen thousand employees, and we have presence in more than six destinations in Mexico and Dominican Republic, which we are just about to open our second hotels in the Caribbean.
Sebastien Leitner
Those are mind blowing numbers. That’s fantastic. Seventeen thousand employees.
Enrique Calderón Fernández
That’s right. And I would say that that is the big asset of the company. It’s what, everybody everything is is supported by seventeen thousand employees team.
Sebastien Leitner
And you must be spending a lot of time and energy recruiting and hiring and training those seventeen thousand hotel, hotel employees.
Enrique Calderón Fernández
Well, yes. Pretty much is, I think, is the I mean, we we we have the, commercialization is one important and relevant part of the hotel business because we need the guests are keeping coming and coming, and we need revenues to to maintain the business. But once, once you have the people, the flow of people coming to your hotels, The power of your own staff is very, very important. So we we have been growing very fast in the last fifteen years. And right now, I mean, we have thirty projects about to be open in the next two years.
So that’s what, we need to create a lot of our own people to be part of the new teams that will be working and putting an operation the new hotels that we’re gonna be opening. So what is very important is the the culture that we create, which, would stay a part of the traditional hotel culture that in the early seventies, early early eighties, for example, where the the big chef used to be like a the diva that he was, like, preaching everybody and and not treating correctly. It was more like a army, you know, where the generals were, those top guys try to to managing a business.
And right now, it’s it’s it’s a different culture. It’s a culture that we try that everybody works, on on a fair conditions with a fair salary, and we’re trying that the people that start that works for Posadas stay, I mean, longer years. And they continue growing from the initial part that probably you can get into hotel and and work in the kitchen as a I mean, cleaning the kitchens, and then you can start doing some practice in kitchens and learning from the cooks and finally become a cook, then become a chef, and then become a head chef.
And, I mean, there’s there’s a beautiful stories from our employees in Dosalas, how they have been growing. And right now, we have people that starts in at the front desk, and now they’re running their own hotel. There are general managers, people in sales that now are doing general managers, and also people from food and beverage that are general man managers as well. So I have the pleasure to work with a lot of people that have been in POSAD for more than fifteen years average.
Sebastien Leitner
That is amazing. Congratulations. That’s quite the accomplishment. Hospitality as an industry is not known, at least internationally, for having great retention for, you know there’s typically a lot of changes. Now what fascinated me, when we sort of rewind the clock in the last four or five years, the world was watching Mexico while you stayed open during COVID. Right? Well, you were the almost the only place where tourism was happening. You were the only place we in North America could escape to either from the cold or from, you know, travel restrictions. And we watched hotel performance over the years increase and, you know, occupancies being very high, rates increasing. It must have been a few good, very good years. Is that correct from your perspective?
Enrique Calderón Fernández
That’s correct. I will say I I I would only add that they were great years after the pandemic, but after a terrible year. We were in twenty twenty, we closed, the hotels for more than two months and a half. Well, during that period, we were, maintaining ninety percent of the entire staff stay. We were working on a reduced periods of two weeks, so everybody were paying half, working half, but, it was a very good way to keep everybody on board because there was no other jobs that they will get at least because, there was no job for waiters or maids or nobody.
So we maintain everybody. We create different parts of different tasks, where they can be working to make the hotels more productive in order to reopen the hotels with a very soft occupancy. And we were doing a lot of, we maintained some hotels that they were attending people that would they were working in, in certain activities like, the petroleum industry that they need to be at the hotels because that was the only option. And we were donating, room nights for doctors that they were working in a COVID hospital. So they were staying at hotels in order to not visit their houses, avoiding the contamination to their families.
So we were doing everything that, and we and that was a good time to test our protocols, and we were establishing certain protocols. We established, insurance for all the guests that they will be doing baby steps, starting to travel in from their houses to I mean, to very close hotels, and then we’ll be traveling maybe a two hours flight, five hours flight. And and that was very positive because the whole operation was very smooth, and I’m very proud to say that not even the guests, not even the employees get contaminated. We were having, like, a very soft cases in the company.
And, of course, when we finally start opening, I can say that by September of twenty twenty, we start receiving more and more visitors, and twenty twenty one was a very successful year. I might say that Mexico was open, and I cannot say that that was a trophy for anybody. I would say that probably somebody forgot to close the door. They just leave it open because they were too busy, you know, too busy working in something else. But that gives the opportunity to people to start, listening and hearing that Mexico was open, and everybody was having such a great time, and there was protocols, and there was certain restrictions. But still, there was a there was a great opportunity to explore and have the chance to, to have some fun, to have some sun.
So more people start coming and coming and coming again. And and something that was really amazing is that people that they used to travel in cruise ships, and so they they never had the the opportunity to to really travel to Mexico. They were traveling within Mexico on a cruise ship. They had the opportunity to finally stay in a hotel in Mexico, spend the night in a hotel in Mexico, and really get immersed on the culture and and see the warmth of the hospitality. So everybody was very happy. And those, cruise ship lovers, they will start coming and coming again. Even when the cruise ship business start opening business as usual, there’s still people that, really love to travel to to Mexico. So so that was a great opportunity.
And, of course, those were leisure travelers, the business travelers, which are also very important in Mexico. They worked a little soft. So the cities that they have no such attractive cultural places, they were not as benefit as the resort destination or the colonial destinations. No. Like Oaxaca, San Miguel de Allende, the Queretaro Guadalajara, etcetera. Those destinations were very benefit benefited about the, people looking for different experiences and destinations. Even Mexico City blows away in in the amount of visitors that they were staying. And that’s something that still is happening, that a lot of people are, living for four weeks and in and more in our destinations.
Sebastien Leitner
That’s amazing. The story about, cruise ships, they certainly didn’t have a good reputation during COVID. Right? Nobody could actually go on a cruise ship. But, it’s fantastic to hear that you’ve been able to convert long time cruise passengers to stay in hotels again, and, that that’s amazing. Now after COVID or once that COVID was finished, the world started being faced with higher levels of inflation. That must have happened to you as well. The cost of living, the the, suddenly, there was a lot of people that were spending money, and, of course, prices went up. Did you notice the same?
Enrique Calderón Fernández
Yes. Pretty much. And, actually, we we have a new president in Mexico. He was boosting the minimum wages, trying to to I would say it like, those the minimum wages in Mexico were way behind inflation. So there was a need to recover that, far behind effect in terms of economics. So that provoked an increment on the payroll, on the minimum wages people of the I mean, on on and percentage that goes from fifteen to twenty percent, like, every year. So the entire payroll started growing from twenty percent of the entire expense grows to thirty five percent of the entire expense of a hotel. So that was, affecting the margins.
And as well, the cost of food and utilities, it was on a two digit scroll, like, I mean, at least from twenty one, twenty two, twenty three, twenty four. It seems like, the inflation and, and the cost of the hotels in twenty twenty four was, like, six percent against twenty twenty three, but that was the first year that we see that the inflation rate was start decreasing. That also was affecting the margins of the hotel, but there was a lot of opportunity to recover on the rates and resort destinations and made cities in Mexico. So that helped us to recover a lot of the productivity.
Certain hotels are still suffering. They haven’t recovered the level of margins that we used to have in two thousand and nineteen. But as a company, since twenty twenty one, we were reaching better numbers than two thousand nineteen. So we check the figures in terms of revenues. In two thousand twenty four, we were nineteen percent above two thousand nineteen in real terms. So we’re growing above the inflation, which is very positive. We’re still working in productivity, not in a way that we’re cutting jobs or we’re cutting amenities for the guests.
I mean, we’re doing a lot of strategies that goes in the cost reduction of better efficiency in the way that we manage everything that has to do with the food cost, the way that we take care of how we can be more productive in the kitchens, in the restaurants, with the menus, and with the guest preferences, and everything that has to do with electricity settings and water consumption savings. So that’s pretty much what we’re doing. And I can say that we are being growing one, two, or three points of margin in two thousand twenty three, twenty four, twenty five. So we are in much, much better position.
I would say that, it has been a very good year. So last three years, a very good year for the hotel business in Mexico. Mexico. And looks like it’s it’s, it’s getting even better because, I would say that twenty twenty four, we have elections in Mexico. We have elections in United States, and there was certain, climate phenomenons in within the summer. But after November two thousand twenty four, the numbers and the demand that we see from North American travelers to Mexico is even better than two thousand twenty four, two thousand twenty three, two thousand twenty two. So it it’s a very promising that two thousand twenty five could be a hell of a year, and and we believe that probably the people from United States, they feel confident that with mister Trump, the economy is gonna be okay. So they start traveling as they used to travel after the pandemic. So so it’s it’s looks very, very promising this year.
Sebastien Leitner
That’s so impressive. And we see similar data points, when we look at our own or properties using carpets December and especially January, but December already, the spike of booking volumes was tremendous. It was almost like a tab was opened, and it went up five, ten percent month month over month. And it was everyone was scratching their head. Where is it coming from? Is it a new destination? Is it new places? Is it a new source market? No. It was the same. Everything was the same. Right? It was north going south. It was, you know, international travel. It was domestic travel. It’s it was just suddenly, you know, something unblocked almost.
Enrique Calderón Fernández
That’s right. That’s right. Exactly. Like like in a video game when you pass one step to the other, and you get more powers and more tools and more weapons, well, something like that.
Sebastien Leitner
Alright. Productivity. You mentioned that is a big focus for you. Right? Inflation is up. You’re keeping your staff, levels as is. Food cost is up. But you’re focusing on making your teams and your operations more productive. I would love to dive into how you’re accomplishing this, and what areas you’re focusing on.
Enrique Calderón Fernández
Well, let let me start, I mean, in several parts. Let me call it in pieces. First of all, what we we need to do is try to boost our revenues in a way that we can have better margins. No? If we can be able to create new experiences and certain activities that can increment the value of the experience that the people at the hotel will will experience, that is a very positive for everything. So part of the staff is working in in a way that how them can be able to create better experiences in a way that, in our culture, what we do is that, we try to to be part of the of the story of our guests in a way that we can influence that period of their lives that they can remember forever.
So when we have people that stay at the hotel, we try always to find out if they’re celebrating something, if they have certain special people that that are part of their lives. And and we can surprise them in a way that maybe we can have ways that find a photograph of their favorite pet and put it in a frame, next to their beds. When they come at night, they see this kind of surprises, they feel awesome. So once we have that connection with our guests, we try always to expand what they they’re able to experience at the hotel.
So we have certain products that I mean, we can customize a great experience at the spa. We can do special dinners. We can do a photograph session for them. We can, do, like, a, like, a romantic setup in the in in the room with champagne and some, chocolate strawberries and all weekends or present doing much and much things. No? Special meal. We have a cook in Cancun that he can do the frame in a dish. The frame of the couple like a like like a photograph, but he throws everything with chocolate. So if you put in a in a in a plate and they they do chocolate, they do certain messaging, other windows in the room with, that has to do with the experience with the moment that you like that you’re looking for.
And and we try to to do a lot of with that experience that we create around, we we do a lot of upselling that helps to the hotel to have extra revenues in a way that the people feels very amazed of what they have, of the experience of what they are having. We’re able to get, more upgraded experiences that becomes an ancillary revenue that helps to give us some productivity.
Some things that we’re trying is we train, for example, the waiters in a way that they can generate when you are dining at the restaurant, how you can have a different details that canning has the menu that you’re, enjoying in the way that they can, again, understand what is the type of the meal that you’re having. You’re celebrating something. You have, a special taste and for special things so we can customize some of the dish some of the dishes that that the people are doing, and we can make it more special. And they can, make you to having such a great time.
So so probably the the check will be higher because you are having such a great time. It’s not like just going, eating, that’s it. It’s like having an experience where you if you like the entrance and the main courses and the the, the cocktails as well the wines, desserts, and everything that goes can can be a a better a better meal for you, but but it’s it’s based on the experience and the way that the waiters can be more, I would say, like, a consultant because they can sell more, but they can but that is only according of what your experience. And and that is a lot of training, but the people is willing to do it because they are doing much, much better.
No? You I mean, our upselling program at the front desk is always very, very successful because it’s not only that you pay this little to get this much about in a room, is that the upgrade comes with some experience and freebies that enhance the experience that if you move from a regular room to a suite, this suite will come with champagne, with flowers, with fruit baskets. And, so that create a whole experience. It’s not like just having a better room.
And on the other hand, we do a lot of training with the people in terms of sustainability, you know, how we can save water, electricity, in a way that we are very conscious about the consumption of those, resources. And what we try to create is a culture that our employees take to their houses and learn with their families and teach their families to make a better way of living and to, do a small contributions to save the planet.
And we also work trying to attract the local communities in a way that they can be supplies for the botanical. There’s a very nice story in Canfoon that we found a a small Mayan, community where they they do is bracelets, and they do it by hand. So what we, what we agree with them is that we will buy bracelets, and they put a small gem that has a chip. It looks like a a wood, piece with the logo of the hotel, but the other thing is hand laid. And that chip opens your room, and you can swim within so you can be in the resort wearing a very nice bracelet that you can take as a souvenir. But we’re benefiting this Mayan community, giving them work and doing something that is, that is very nice for for the guests. So we’re we’re getting less cost. We’re doing more productivity. We’re making conscious of the people that, but we have to be to take care about the planet and saving our resources. We save money, but we also help the planet to to maintain and survive.
Sebastien Leitner
I love that. And I I love how you’re leveraging your existing team. You’re training them to upsell and which ultimately leads to, you know, higher revenues, of course. And I’m sure that the, the staff enjoys what they’re doing. Right? They see the success. They see the additional revenue that is being created. Maybe you’re incentivizing them, but I’m sure if they are successful, they will be promoted. They will be recognized by their leaders and their managers.
Enrique Calderón Fernández
Yes. That’s right. And they also have a commission of everything that they upsell. So they have another extra benefit that is very good for them.
Sebastien Leitner
I have a hotelier friend in Cancun who told me once I was staying at an all inclusive hotel who told me, Sebastian, you have to order a wine from the wine list. And I’m like, what do you mean? It’s like, well, the staff gets extra paid, and it’s better if you order a bottle of wine from the wine list and then you give them tips. It is a greater recognition for them. And I’ve done it since then when I stay at an all inclusive resort. I order a bottle of wine when I’m staying there with my wife and with friends, and we get a very different experience. We get a very different service. They’re very attentive, and it’s fantastic. And and I think that they like it too. I hope so. Anyway
Enrique Calderón Fernández
Yes. Of course. Because, I mean, you help them, but at the same time, you also give you, because the wine in the all inclusive, the wine from the list is not that expensive like in a like in a resort restaurant outside that you can see. I mean, in Cancun or or any other destination. So for this little, you can have this big of I mean, you great meal and share the one that you like, or even you can have a bottle of tequila if that is the case. No?
Sebastien Leitner
That’s absolutely correct. You mentioned that you had a fantastic year and you’re expanding. You’re developing twenty nine new properties, which is amazing. I’m curious. How do you determine where you’re putting these properties?
Enrique Calderón Fernández
Well, basically, I mean, our development team is working every year with a road map that our, market intelligence team gives them the information. So we test all the places in Mexico City that shows a possibility of growth. We have information of the economics. We have information of about the industry that is growing in certain cities, the statistics of, number of travelers, air seats, and then for each individual destinations, resort destinations. We also have, information about what is the land available to make hotels, what is the average rate, the historical data for destinations such as Cancun. But not only for big resorts, all inclusive resorts, or, groups and conventions resorts. We also have four, economy class hotels, four business class hotels.
So that give us the opportunity that when the development team are talking with investors, family offices, financial trolls. They have the information, depends on where you wanna invest or the type of the hotel or the the amount of money that you want to invest, though. It’s funny to say that, sometimes you find people that has the land, but they don’t have any money. There’s people that they have money, but they don’t want to develop. And there is people that they want to develop. They know how to develop, but they don’t have money and they don’t have land. So if you’re able to put those three together in agreement, a new hotel will be will be coming.
No? Either because the people with money buy and hire the people that is a real estate developer, something like that. But sometimes they those those three entities, they don’t know each other. So if you have the information and you can make the connection and you can present, like, a business plan, they will be more enthusiastic to start a new project in a new destination. So and there’s people for any older destinations. So we have been successful finding that people. And because the coverage that we have in Mexico, we have a lot of of points when we can, extract the data for each individual destination because we have hotels there.
Sebastien Leitner
Are there any places you would not open a property? Are there any like, you’re mostly in the Caribbean and Mexico at this moment in time. Correct?
Enrique Calderón Fernández
That’s correct.
Sebastien Leitner
Are there places that you would would you go into Europe, into Spain, into Portugal, for instance?
Enrique Calderón Fernández
Well, we will love to be in Spain and Portugal. We will not love to have hotels in countries that they have a political crisis such as Haiti or I mean, we are in Dominican Republic, but not on the others part of the island. On the other side. We were in Cuba. We used to have two hotels. It’s too complicated. We don’t want to go back to Cuba. We were in Brazil, Chile, and Argentina, and that was a very nice operation. But there are no synergies of what we’re doing in Mexico.
So everything that has to do, to have commercial synergies, it will be a great opportunity for us. That’s what we’re doing in in the Caribbean. In the Caribbean, it’s like what we’re doing in Cancun or Los Cabos. No? It’s the same clientele, and and our commercialization team can promote those markets as well. Maybe Costa Rica, maybe Colombia, no, and all the car those Caribbean islands, no, probably Puerto Rico, maybe Miami.
In Europe, I would not say that we will be, like, ready to be in any part of Europe. But, certain countries that we’re we’re doing synergies in terms like, for example, in Spain, there’s a lot of sun and sea destinations. No? If we will be great to manage all inclusive properties there, I’m sure we will be doing great. No? Brands for that we have, like Live Aqua, we will be, ready to open a Live Aqua in Madrid. I’m sure that it will be very successful. And E Visa, I will say that it will be a great destination for that brand. Dubai and Asia, China, I I don’t think so that we will be considering to going over.
Sebastien Leitner
And then from a product perspective, your portfolio is fairly broad as well. You have luxury, you have business hotels, you have almost economy hotels. Right? If you if you look at sort of your portfolio of I’m curious how you strategize your commercialization. You spoke a little bit about, you know, commercialization of all inclusive hotels. I guess, how do you structure your your strategy for each of these sort of segments, if you will?
Enrique Calderón Fernández
Well, you mentioned quite right. I mean, it’s segments. Segments is is is the best way to do it because, I mean, when you have in in terms of business travelers, I will say that, for a corporations like Ford Motor Company. They have people traveling all over Mexico, and they have people from all over the world traveling to Mexico. There’s a lot of facilities from Ford in Mexico that attracts those travelers. So we have a I would say that it’s it’s a global negotiation because, applies for all the four employees that travels to Mexico. But we have different rates or different necessities that they have.
So whenever in Mexico is a four facility, there’s a Posadas Hotel. It could be a Fiesta Americana, which is a full size hotel, or Fiesta Inn, which is a business class, or one hotel, which is a economy economy class hotel. So with that said, I mean, we have a a strong relationship with probably the from the global five hundred companies, we have people that is traveling to Mexico, and we have agreements with them all over Mexico. So we are very strong in the corporate travel segment.
We have, we are we have a preferred vendor from the main consortia, like, such as CWT, American Express, and all those consortia. So we cover pretty much all the business partners secondly. For groups, incentives, conventions, weddings, gatherings. We have a very strong team in Mexico that covers Latin America, and we have a strong team in United States with more than twenty people that covers all over North American market and as well the European market that has groups that comes to Mexico City. Twenty percent of all our businesses groups is my business.
And the interesting one is the leisure market. No? We we work with tour operators, travel agents, and certain wholesalers, like, from United States, Canada, Europe, South America. And we also have agreements with, you know, the OTAs, the Expedia’s bookings of this world. The regional OTA such as Zespegar. We work with them. And we have our own channels, I mean, or web page that we create a brand that is called Fiesta Americana Traveldi, where all the hotels are concentrated, and you can book by experience, by destination, by brand, and you can buy, I mean, even air ticket plus the hotel or hotel, airline ticket, and car rental in in the same portal in in a one stop shop.
And we have an alliance with Amadeus where we have all the technology for them with our web pages. And, also, we have several alliances with several providers and digital marketing agencies for United States, for Mexico, and and Europe. Depends on the market. We track with different strategies on the digital work. And we for and that channel can generate almost thirty five percent from all our bookings to our hotels. They come from our web page.
And we also have our loyalty program, which is Fiesta Rewards, which have our vacation programs. That is Fiesta American Vacation Club. So we have some part of, kind of a, like, a prize club membership and kind of like a timeshare type of membership law. So we’d all we we have those loyalty programs, which is that what we call Fiesta rewards and Fiesta American Vacation, where we generate the loyalty for either our business travelers and our leisure travelers.
Sebastien Leitner
That’s amazing. I mean, it sounds to me you are everywhere you need to be in order to maximize your opportunity. You have thirty thousand rooms to sell. Right? So you have a bit of inventory, which is fantastic. I’m curious, in your opinion, what is changing? What is some of the maybe one or two trends that you are seeing? Right? You know, a lot of people predicted at some point that the OTAs would going to get rid of wholesalers or package, you know, travel agencies or traditional travel agencies. That has not happened. Wholesalers are still there. OTAs are still there. But I’m curious. What is one or maybe one or two trends that you’re seeing of changes that are happening when it comes to the commercialization of your properties?
Enrique Calderón Fernández
I would say that, there’s there’s two trends, and I would say that those trends are not from now. Maybe they they they have been many, many years, but the effect of those trends is what you can see right now. The travelers want, for certain type of travel, certain travelers, like the easy way. No? The fastest booking decision, the air the fastest checking, facility, the way that you can book your, your car rental, your airline ticket, your hotel.
But I will say that those are the kind of the let’s name it as, easy trips. No. If you go for a meeting to Chicago, you want to do a one stop, everything will be booked. You have your your app in your mobile phone, and you will have the ticket for the plane, for the hotel, for the car, for everything. No? Those kind of trips, I will say that it will be, digital a hundred percent. They don’t want to pass either by the front desk. I mean, in in those kind of trips, the experienced business traveler will be looking for those type of technology.
Nevertheless, they will be looking for certain experience during their trip that can customize the experience. I mean, a type of dinner, spa, gym, activities, if you want to rent a bike, something that can complement and it will be in the same tool, it would be fantastic for them.
But there are some other travelers that I will say that, they want to plan a vacation. And what happens is a very complex purchase. I would say that the people that is looking for the family vacation, they have the responsibility to find the best place, the best experience for the family, for each member of the family. No? I don’t know if you have been in that position, in that responsibility, but that’s a hell of a job.
Sebastien Leitner
That’s terrible. Terrible. And then and then my wife is still not happy.
Enrique Calderón Fernández
And I think that, you will you will like to have a people that explain everything and help you to make sure that you’re making the right decision. And that’s what that keeps alive, the travel agent, the concierge, the people that is at the the help desk. Those kind of tools are very powerful because sometimes when you travel and and and let me tell you about my personal experience. My family when I travel with my kids that there are no longer kids that are twenty two and twenty four, and my wife, we always surpassed the minimum wage of each individual suitcase.
So sometimes if I purchased the the wrong option in a ticket, so I will ended up paying, like, probably five hundred dollars at the checking because I was not making, the right decision when I purchased it, travel, no? The, when I purchased the ticket, sorry. And, and I think that, I mean, you need to go by hand and if you’re planning, I don’t know, maybe, your honeymoon, your anniversary, your birthday, your father’s birthday gathering, family reunion, There’s too many things that you need to know.
So, or if you start in the hiking vacation kind of trip, you’re gonna you wanna go camping, you wanna do a safari in Africa, you wanna do a culture trip in Europe, that is impossible to think that it’s gonna be an AI application that will make you everything set up for you in the right decision in the I mean, at the right price. I think we’re not there yet. So it will be those particular trends. The fastest way and and I travel to New York, like, every month, so I know how to do it. I don’t need help. I don’t wanna waste time. But the on the other hand, there’s the full experience when you involve more people that you will need to have. I mean, people that give you, the benefit of give you you know, take your hand and take you, like, step by step.
And once you get to the hotel, if you come to our resort, you would like to have a warm welcome for your entire family and people that will be there to give you, like, a fresh towel, a bottle of water, a cocktail, and take you and give you a tour about the hoteling and explain you all the benefits and all the amenities that they have. So each individual family member, they will be loving to, see that they there is a gym, there is a body area, there is a game arcade, there’s I mean, there’s, classes of the yoga classes of meditation. So everybody can, can have all the options. They will be feeling free of experience a resort or either the destination.
Sebastien Leitner
That’s amazing. I’m curious if, in your opinion, artificial intelligence, AI, will help that second use case or whether it still requires a personal touch.
Enrique Calderón Fernández
If a destination or a resort or airline, whatever, they work deeply in the processes, in all the options, in a way that a computer can be able to have all the information, to have multiple, interactions and and give you the right answer and sounds in a friendly voice, I would say that it might help you. But, ChatGPT will never be available to say that, Sebastian, I’ve been in Paris, and my favorite places are this one and this one and this one. And my favorite restaurant is this one because when you sit down in the upper floor, you have the view of this building and blah blah blah blah blah. Even if that chap GbT is telling you, you won’t believe it.
But it’s a people that is that that is a connoisseur and they have their own experience and and and is a great storyteller, it will give you a different a different flavor of the purchase. So I hope, we still be able to learn and and have communication with the humans and learn about the human experience in real life. No. I think that’s something that the AI it will take take long time, take longer to to have that experience from a person. Maybe Char Gbitti can give you that. This, those are the top ten places that you have to visit in Paris. But maybe you cannot be able to experience, like, if Char Gbitti will I mean, it will have the experience to enjoy Paris as a Parisian. We’ll see. I can’t cannot assure that, but that’s something that personally I would like not to start missing when I when I’m planning my trips.
Sebastien Leitner
Before we wrap up, I I wanna talk a little bit about the future and and especially sort of what what gets you more excited about. So, I mean, looking forwards, what when you think of the hotel industry as a whole, what gets you excited about the future?
Enrique Calderón Fernández
Well, it get me excited, the way that something that is amazing is that the attractions and the possibility of see amazing things. No? One thing that it’s, this, Star Wars hotel in Orlando, I mean, blow me away. No? Because when I was a kid, I will never imagine that I will be, I mean, that I will be able to see it. No? And and I see some people that I can’t that I have stayed there, and and they they’re crazy about. Something that is also amazing is, the way that we can more people is traveling and more and more and more people is is, can afford to travel. No. That is that is great.
I believe that tourism is the only thing that pacify the world because it’s the only way that you can travel to Israel and really understand the culture and the people there. No. Not by the president of Israel. It’s by the people that lives in Israel, and you have the opportunity to interact with. So that is amazing.
And I think in in in my work, something that and I’m gonna talk about AI is that artificial intelligence, it can help to do, a prediction of how the guest that is arriving at the hotel, if you don’t have all the information about Sebastian that is arriving to Cancun with AI, you can have a guest of what Sebastian might be according the, common patterns that they have with so much several and several guests that I have stayed at the hotel. So it will be amazing to have information that will be very powerful to select the music at your room, the type of lighting that you like, the type of flowers you like, the type of fruit you like, the type of beverage you you really enjoy the most, and give you the best welcome in a hotel that you never stayed, you never know anybody there, but it will be like they will be expecting you and they will be knowing you for many, many years. So have that powerful of, I mean, the powerful of that information really makes me very passionate about that, how we can create, I mean, the best day ever without not having the all the data for all your guests. That that is amazing.
Sebastien Leitner
Enrique, I’m curious what your next well, maybe there’s two questions in here. What is your next destination you’re traveling to, and what is your favorite destination you’re traveling to?
Enrique Calderón Fernández
My next destination is today. I’m taking a six PM flight from Guadalajara to Merida, Yucatan, which I love Merida, but I might confess that my favorite destination is Paris. If I have the chance to travel and I get a free ticket and somebody will say that I’m gonna give you a free ticket, and your your life is about to end, like, in two months. So you have to use it where you wanna go. I will go to Paris.
Sebastien Leitner
Enrique, that’s a beautiful way of wrapping up this, recording. Thank you so much for your time. Really appreciate your sharing your insights, your experience, your story. Thank you for joining the program today.
Enrique Calderón Fernández
Oh, thank you so much, Sebastian. You’re, it was great talking to you. Thank you for the questions, and thank you for the opportunity. And and I hope I’ll be able to host you in one of our hotels and and give you a tour in the hotel and experience everything with you. So anytime anytime you wanna call, it will be great to have you here in one of the hotels in Pozat.
Sebastien Leitner
My pleasure. And we’ll have a French, wine glass, with that and speak about Paris, which would be fantastic.
That brings us to the end of yet another episode of The Turn Down. Huge thanks for all of you for listening. We hope you enjoyed the conversation. Of course, this podcast wouldn’t be possible without the amazing team behind the scenes. A massive shout out to the producers, Palak Kahheiro, Linda Pejai, Lana Cook, Ricky Sherman, and Eilifakuhasen for the incredible research and preproduction work always keeping us on track. To Paulo Sanchez, thank you for your stellar audio editing and for making us sound so good. And finally, thank you to Ying Liu for her organizational talents and keeping the season on schedule literally. Remember to subscribe wherever you get your podcast and follow us for updates and bonus content. Until then, take care and stay curious.
