Claudia Infante
So reality is that, you know, we can only advance technology and information and data so far as we can actually deliver it when it comes time to the service. Otherwise, we’re just collecting digital bread breadcrumbs, and we’re never gonna make anything out of them.
Sebastien Leitner
Welcome back to The Turndown. Today, we dive deep into the world of hospitality data with Claudia Infante, chief data officer at Margaritaville. We explore the challenges of data security, the shift in data collection, and why personalized guest experiences are key. But what happens when even the most detailed guest profiles lead to a major service failure. Claudia has amazing examples, so I invite you to discover her stories. Don’t forget to subscribe so you don’t miss what’s next.
Claudia, it’s a pleasure to have you on the program. Welcome to the turndown. Thank you for coming here today.
Claudia Infante
Thank you. Thank you for inviting me. I wanna kick off the podcast, the recording again with our standard question, which is what is keeping you up at night these days? Ay yay. What’s keeping me up at night? I think what keeps everybody up at night, anyone in technology, anyone in in digital transformation.
Right? Security is probably a big a big one for me. You know, the more and more we start threading technology platforms and and solutions that, you know, although we’re very careful in in in kind of doing the vetting of the process and and everything and the vendors, the reality is is you you open more doors and more doors and more doors for your data to be compromised, your security to be compromised, your, you know, your your, systems to be exposed. And and in our case, you know, we we’ve had a a really great history of being very careful, and and our our guests trust us with their data. And so, as chief data officer, that that is probably the one thing that I I I am always always kinda thinking about.
Sebastien Leitner
So safekeeping and the next possible Making sure that we’re safekeeping our data and that we are following every every possible, protocol for protection of our guests’ privacy and, obviously, the data the security of our data, and our partners. I’ve spoken to hoteliers in various locations who have started to tell me we’re collecting less data because we are afraid of safekeeping that data. Is that is that happening?
Claudia Infante
Same thing. Yeah. You know, one of the things that I think we all got a little too happy about was, you know, when we were able to collect data, we just kinda went on and, you know, grabbed everything we could. And and and I think we all, you know, we all went on that route. And over the last few years, just kinda seeing how how much exposure there is really every time that you collect a a new field or a new information of of data or a new, you know, a new drop. Every time you do that, you take on more and more responsibility for your guests’ data, as well as for your company.
Right? It’s it’s a lot of exposure.
Sebastien Leitner
So so I think we have to be more we are at least, very responsible in in what we collect, and and the question we always ask is why? If someone says, oh, I wanna collect the color the hair color of this person, then you’re like, why?
Claudia Infante
What exactly is it that you’re going to be doing with that data? Because I think knowing something about someone has nothing to do with you actually improving their experience. And so for us, really, that is kind of the measure is if it’s not going to improve that person’s experience while they’re with us, then there’s no reason for us to collect that data. More importantly though, there’s only so much you can do in a day, especially in hotels. Right? And and I don’t know how many of your listeners work in hotels, in the actual hotel world, every day, day in and day out.
If you’ve ever been in front office or in F and B or in operations or in housekeeping, which, by the way, I’ve done all of those, it’s you you don’t check your email. You you’re not really looking at reports. Your your guests are there, and you need to be taking care of your guests. So so data that you are not able to somehow filter through all those filters and put it in front of your agents so that they can actually take care of the guests based on that data is data that’s sitting somewhere collecting dust and being a liability. So for us really is how much time and and resources can you actually dedicate to a single point of data that is actually going to create, an effect that that is favorable to that guest. So that’s kind of the filter that we have to go through, when when we’re collecting data for for anything that we’re doing.
That’s amazing. I mean, that’s a that’s a great comment because we’re firefighting. We are servicing. We’re we’re taking care of guest check ins and checkouts. And at the same time, we’re supposed to leverage all this data. And Oh, yeah.
Oh, and by the way, you know, I want your your audience to think about, you know, how many of you guys are fully staffed? Nobody.
Sebastien Leitner
Right? We’re all short everywhere. Like, those days where you, you know, were able to spare a person just to do something specific, it’s no longer. We are we are now a, an industry of generalists. Right?
Claudia Infante
We all have to know how to do everything because we don’t have the luxury of of sitting back and go, oh, yeah. Yeah. That’s that’s somebody’s job. It’s not anymore. Like, we are all just kinda waiting to see, you know, where we’re gonna be needing more resources and ready to jump in. So, those days of, you know, of all of us kinda thinking, oh, this is my job, are no longer.
But I I mean, we you and I are probably not noble travelers. Right? Because we are so, you know, trained. Right. I’m leaving in about an hour. I’m heading to the airport.
I’m staying tonight at a reputable North American hotel company. I have received the email already. They said, here, download the application. Use this link to check-in. I will do all of these things. And you and I may not be the regular guest.
Sebastien Leitner
Right? Yeah. I mean, that that’s that that should out that should be the, one of the cardinal c one of the cardinal sins that I think we commit sometimes as enterprises or as executives and brands is that we think we are our customer, and we’re not. Right?
Claudia Infante
We are not. We we get exposed to all of the back end of everything that we are working with. So in the same token that for for hotels and and and experiences, quite honestly, it’s difficult for us to be impressed. It’s not because we are snobs. It’s because we see it from the back end. Right?
It’s you’re going to Disney. Right? And I don’t know if I’m sure you have, but I go on a Disney right now. I can think is I I think about is, you know, I wonder how it’s in the back. Like, you know, what’s the engine that’s driving this? How many people are looking at these right now?
Because that’s your operational background coming through and Mhmm. As as a as an experience, as a guest. You want to experience it from, you know, the wonder of you don’t see what happened, but you’re no longer doing that. You’re you’re we’re we’ve been spoiled.
Sebastien Leitner
Right? So that’s not necessarily the lens that we can now judge our experiences through. Now we have to be almost, incredibly self critical. So every time that we go through someone else’s process of doing something, we have to think about how does this reflect on their organization or on the way that they’re they’re organizing my experience because we we we see it that way, but we’re not our customers. Our customers, our guests, most of the times are just trying to navigate the myriad of things they have to do. They, they are trying to find the easiest way to get to us.
They are looking for us to solve their problems, not not for them to be, you know, the the guinea pigs. Right?
Claudia Infante
And more importantly, they’re spending and and and it might be different. Right? It’s it’s different when you travel, and we all know this. It’s different when you travel on a corporate card and on on your expense account. You’re a lot less concerned with what happens. You just need a room and a shower and a desk that you can sit in your hotel and work.
When you’re spending your hard hard earned money and you’re bringing your family and you’re bringing your kids and you’re bringing your spouse or the people that that that are, you know, that matter in your life, everything is important. And so now it’s no longer about how easy is it. It’s how meaningful is it, how relevant is it, how timely is it, How convenient is it?
Sebastien Leitner
Right? Can it actually make my life and my family’s life better? And how is it going to make me feel by me spending this money?
Claudia Infante
Right? Will I be happy? Will I be happy? Absolutely. Absolutely.
Sebastien Leitner
And and, you know, it’s it’s, I always quote, Maya Angelou. Right?
Claudia Infante
And and people will forget what you said and what you did, but they will never forget the way you made them feel. And and and that that is to me, that that should be kind of the rule that we follow is, does this make me feel good as a customer and as a and as a company? Do I offer services in applications and technology that make that guest feel good about about engaging with us?
Sebastien Leitner
I wanna take a step back before we continue because we dove straight into it, which is fantastic. For the audience that is not familiar, and that’s very difficult because you work for a very, very well known brand, at least in North America, but we do have international listeners. So for the ones that are not familiar with Margaritaville, how would you describe this brand? How would you describe your company?
Claudia Infante
Well, Margaritaville is a, it’s a company that was born out of a song that was written in nineteen seventy seven by Jimmy Buffett. And this song basically describes the need for someone to get away, to escape, to go somewhere and forget about all the craziness that goes on in the world. And, you know, to quote the song, to waste away in Margaritaville. Right? And so it doesn’t mean that it’s all wasting away, but it means that there that we all need a place to escape. We all need a place to go and have fun and forget all the other stuff that we are, you know, dealing with on a day in and day out basis.
And that’s what we try to do as a company. We our core value and our core purpose is to create and deliver fun and escapism.
Sebastien Leitner
So how we do that? We do it in different ways. We are a very, diversified company. So we are primarily a licensing and franchising company, And so we offer experiences across a myriad of hospitality solutions, whether it’s hotels, where we have, you know, four, five different types of six different types of ways that you can sleep or, you know, lay your head, whether it’s in a hotel, a resort, a boutique little hotel. We have some some camp and RV, resorts, and we also have some, you know, some, vacation rental and and and then some beach villas, you know, somewhere in the most beautiful beaches in America. So there’s many different ways to to enjoy a lodging experience at Margaritaville.
We also have a cruise line. So we have two cruise ships that go, you know, from from the Port of Palm Beach or the Port of Tampa, and they take different routes and different different itineraries. We have, about thirty seven different concepts in restaurants. So you may not even be that it know that it’s a Margarita Villa, and you’re eating in one of our restaurants. So we have about about thirty seven of those different concepts, both on stand alone and the ones that are in the hotels. We have a full line of consumer products, so everything from, you know, shoes and flip flops all the way to chairs and, you know, and RVs and, you know, boats and all kinds of stuff that we that we put our name and our brand on.
And then if you’re, you know, tired of buying and traveling and doing all of that stuff, you can go back and retire in Margaritaville and and and live in a home that lives in, in Latitude, which is our our, our fifty five and better community. So Margaritaville really is, I think, the epitome of the lifestyle brand. It’s a it’s a lifestyle that that, sings songs about entertainment, about fun, about family, about escaping, the daily grind, and and finding that place where you can where you can kinda recharge your batteries. So That’s amazing. I’m sold. Is there any geographic focus?
Is it mostly leisure? Like, help me understand. We have a little bit of everything. We’re we’re mainly spread throughout the the southeast as you could ex as you could expect. Right?
Claudia Infante
We have, I think, nine different locations in in Florida. So, obviously, a lot a lot of the concentration is here. But we’re also expanding to the west. So we have some properties in Missouri. We have a property in Louisiana. We have a property in, we we have some properties coming up in Texas.
We have a couple of them in Texas, actually. We have a few in in, in in California. So so we’re slowly making our ways in pioneering pioneering west, towards, towards the the Pacific Coast. But there’s, I mean, there’s a little bit of everything for everyone. So, you know, now that you know, you will see Margaritaville everywhere, and you you won’t be able to get away, from us. But, you know, Caribbean and and kinda Southeast is is our is our prominent region.
Sebastien Leitner
And when you’re not on podcast, what do you do at Margaritaville? I’m the chief data officer, by by appointment, which, you know, means that our our CEO said, you. You need to take care of that. And so and so that’s that’s kinda what I do is I take care of, everything that that is kinda coming through, the pipeline of data in technology and market video bills. So I’ve been around for about seven and a half years with the brand. And, really, my job was to come in and help Margaritaville set up the infrastructure needed to be a hospitality brand.
Right?
Claudia Infante
And and it was kind of when the beginning, of of the hotel started. And so everything from, platforms like, you know, CRS and CRM and, our loyalty pro platforms, all of the technology that is central to the brand is is done through through my amazing team, really. I’m I’m just a talking head. They they really are the the ones that deserve the credit for all the stuff that we’re doing. And then on the on the side of the corporate side, my job really is to kind of identify strategies and solutions that can help us kinda, you know, move to the next level. And so, everything from, you know, having, again, having data that makes sense and that helps us make decisions, as well as understanding kinda where those, you know, keep you up at night, places are.
Sebastien Leitner
So a little bit of a little bit of a dual world. I have an eleven year old son, and he’s starting to get interest. Sebastian, what do you do?
Claudia Infante
He calls me dad, but what do you do? And I was like, well, I work for a tech company. You know, it’s a it’s a PMS, etcetera. So what’s a PMS? So, you know, you go down that rabbit hole of explaining because there’s a lot of follow-up questions.
Sebastien Leitner
And I caught myself explaining to my eleven year old, and I shouldn’t have done that. But I caught myself saying, well, it’s it’s ultimately a guest database. And as I was saying that, right, and sort of it and I was trying to explain to him that hundred years ago, we used to have, you know, offices behind the guest reception that was basically maintaining guest profiles about travelers and their, you know, addresses and what they liked and what they disliked, etcetera. And, you know, hospitality hasn’t changed that much when you think about it. No. It hasn’t.
Right?
Claudia Infante
Like, we had hotels a hundred years ago. Right? Like, if you’re if you look at and then there’s books about this. The Ritz Carlton’s or the Ritz Yeah. With this world, etcetera, and what they did at that time and how they managed operations, etcetera. It’s still being taught in school to a certain extent.
Yeah. It’s true. Is there I mean, when you think of a guest database, right, and you’re, you know, basically, this is a nerd out question where I’m going with this. What has changed?
Sebastien Leitner
What has changed in the guest data side of things? Correct. The proliferation of technology across the population, right, and and and people at large, I think, is it has been exponential, especially in the last twenty years. So with that expansion of technology and access, I think the the the main change of of data and technology has been the speed at which we have to act and the speed at which we have to react when something is available or is happening. And so I think the guest expectations and the and the consumer expectations have changed to where back in the day, you would expect someone in a store to work in that same store for thirty years. Right?
Claudia Infante
The entirety of their career. And if you were a regular at that store, they would ex you would expect them to know you. That’s no longer the case. So now you expect that person behind the counter to know you even if they just started working in that store two weeks ago. Because now they have your data, and now they know that you’re a regular. Now you know and every time you leave a bread crumb behind Yeah.
Every time you make a purchase, every time your credit card is swiped, every time you give them your loyalty number, they are supposed to know that you are there and who you are and what they’re doing because they have systems that are doing all of that calculation for you. So I think we have become also a lot less forgiving about the availability of that data and the ability for consume for for, people in service to actually be using that solution. And I I give this example a lot.
Sebastien Leitner
So I stay in this I I I used to travel a lot, especially back in my days at Hack Rock. Very international was was a lot more, often. And so I stayed with this particular brand who was very well known, and I I had a a loyalty program or they had a loyalty program that I was a a member of for many, many years. Platinum level?
Claudia Infante
You were traveling? I was I was I was the Jesus Christ of that loyalty program. I I travel a lot. So so it was, like, the seventy fifth time that I had stayed with them that year. So it you know, like, it was it was a it was a thing. And so I arrived at the at the hotel.
This is international, but I arrived at this hotel, and they’re like, oh, well, miss Enjante, you have stayed with us for this is your seventy fifth stay and your, you know, two hundred and sixteenth night or whatever. Like, I had stayed a lot with these people. So we have upgraded you to the penthouse in the hotel. I was like, woah. I’m a I mean, I’m impressed. Thank you so much.
And, of course, grateful and the whole thing. So I go up to my room, and I walk in. Beautiful room. Beautiful absolutely beautiful suite. And so I walk in, and there’s a little basket in the desk that has a handwritten note by the GM thanking me for my loyalty, thanking me for staying with them for seventy five times that year and, you know, two hundred and eighty something nights, whatever. And then the basket, I look at it, and it has a bottle of white wine with two glasses.
It has a little bowl of chocolate, a little bowl of almonds, and a little bowl with three with three, like, large raspberries. And I sat there for, like, I don’t know. I I am not kidding you. I sat there for, like, twenty minutes thinking about how I felt about the basket. And the reason that I did that is because never have I ever, ever, ever, ever have I ever ordered white wine ever. I don’t drink white wine, period.
Actually, I don’t have I don’t drink wine, really.
Sebastien Leitner
So never have I ever. Right? I don’t like chocolate. That that’s that’s well stated in my profile. Don’t give me anything chocolate. It’s a waste of your dollars on me.
Like, I’m not a chocolate person. More importantly, I’m allergic to almonds. And they know that. They should know that because I have made a note on every CRM that I’ve ever I mean, Delta knows. You know what I mean?
Claudia Infante
Like like, everybody else knows. So and so I ended up having three wonderful raspberries all by myself because, by the way, the the the basket had two glasses. And I’m like, don’t you know I’m just here myself for one night? Like, you know, like, I I’m on business. Whatever. Supposed to have somebody join you.
Who knows? Right? Yeah. For for a glass of wine that I wasn’t gonna drink and one raspberry because I already had had the other two. And so and so I was I and I always say to people, you know, if you have gone back on my profile and look at the things that I order, that I typically eat or that I typically order, and you had left me a little basket with two cold beers and a bag of Doritos, I would have been the happiest customer and, like, I would have been loyal for the rest of my life to that brand.
Sebastien Leitner
Right? And so and so the fact that they had all my data, that they had all of my transactions, that they know, by the way, what my preferences are, because I have I gave them zero party data, personally said I’m allergic to almonds. It it means nothing. Right?
Claudia Infante
If if when you’re delivering that service, you’re not paying attention to the notes. You’re not paying attention to what the data’s telling you. So at the end of the day, loyalty, service, delivery of all of that comes back down to the human being that’s looking at that or comes back to the person that’s putting together that that service. If he was a robot, I mean, the robot may have actually caught the fact that I was allergic to almonds and go, oops. And and the almonds and then probably decided. Nope.
No almonds. I probably would have decided, right, based on AI and and the and the likelihood of me getting into anaphylactic shock and going, oh, this is not liability. I’m not gonna do this. So so reality is that, you know, we can only advance technology and information and data so far as we can actually deliver it when it comes time to the service. Otherwise, we’re just we’re just collecting digital bread breadcrumbs, and and and we’re never gonna make anything out of them. You are traveling right now.
I’m sure you’ve recently traveled or at least the last twelve months.
Sebastien Leitner
I was very impressed recently. I don’t know if it started about a year ago. Collaboration between the airlines and, a government institution in the US allows you for facial boarding and facial Right. Facial recognition. Yeah. Right?
Claudia Infante
Like, when I and I’m about three hours, I’m heading to the airport or my plane leaves in three hours. But, when I pass through US customs, I no longer show my passport. I have a camera that looks at me, and the system determines whether I’m eligible to travel or not. Right. When I board the plane, there’s a camera that captures my face, and they know what who I am. And I’m I’m basically passing through the gate.
That’s an amazing experience. Right? Like, I’m I’m I’m okay to for government systems to track my biometric information. I feel safe, I feel secure, and it’s convenient. I guess my I think everything we deliver, everything and, again, this goes back to when you deliver something based on the data that you collect, you have to be able to deliver in a timely and relevant bay basis. Otherwise, you’re just invading people’s privacy.
Sebastien Leitner
Right? Yeah. So the and you said it perfectly right. It’s I feel safe, you know, with these people collecting all of my biometric information because I know that I don’t have to stop. I can I can leave my house instead of having to leave three and a half, four hours before your flight so that you can be there for, I don’t know, ninety minutes or two hours just ambling the gate waiting to see when you’re gonna get on the plane?
Claudia Infante
They obviously have made it easier for you to arrive a little bit later, not, you know, not have to worry about, you know, all the papers in your hand and all the things that you have to carry with with you so that you can get through the gate. So because it’s giving you that level of convenience and that level of, timeliness, it also, I think, is maybe turning off a little bit of your alarms of, oh, these people know who I am and they know what I’m doing. Right? The other thing that happens is that we have become a lot more tolerant with with our face living in different places, which that wasn’t the case before.
Sebastien Leitner
Right? Like, before, when someone was taking a photo, you’re like, woah. Woah. Why are you taking a photo of me?
Claudia Infante
Like, what what’s going on? And now we’re just we’re just become so, almost numb to the amount of content and video that is captured everywhere. I mean, I I hate to say it, but I go to my gym and there there isn’t a time when I go to my gym that I’m not in somebody’s background, you know, while they’re doing their exercises and get and looking better, I’m in the background, like, just eating a a chip cookie or something. Right? Like, you know, I’m like, dude, I come here to hide so I can eat my cookies here, but never mind. No.
I’m kidding. But but but it it is you become kind of, like, just a prop in other people’s lives.
Sebastien Leitner
Right? And and so everybody now is capturing so much information through their video and their cameras that it’s almost inevitable. I mean, unless you’re walking around with a paper bag in your head, there’s no way that you’re not gonna appear somewhere. So whether that is useful to deliver an experience that is more comfortable and more expedient and efficient, then then that that makes it valuable for us, especially when you travel, you know, for for a work for a living. Like, you know, some of us travel, you know, every week. And so it’s it’s yeah.
You’re right. It’s it’s valuable in that sense. Well, let’s imagine, and I I’m curious. This is an honest question. Is this an experience that we should work towards in hospitality?
Claudia Infante
There are brands that are primed for that type of experience, and there are brands that are aren’t. Okay. I think brands that are highly transactional, you know, if you’re traveling for business and you’re able to check into the hotel, the the facial recognition system recognizes who you are, checks you, and sends a sends a text message to to your phone with your phone number with your room number and your key on it, and you can walk in and and basically serve yourself. If that works and that is actually efficient, it works great. And and and sure, it helps you do all of that. I think for brands like Margaux Vidal that are highly engaging brands, that are that are brands that, in our case, we pride ourselves in leading with our hearts, not with the screen.
We want to welcome you with a smile. We want to know how your day was, and that we mean it from the heart.
Sebastien Leitner
What can we possibly do to make your day better, to be hospitable, to be welcoming, and to be warm and candid? And I don’t think you can do that with a facial recognition solution. Our guests, still today spend, you know, like, our average phone call in the in the hotel, call center is about nineteen minutes long because our guests want to know One nine?
Claudia Infante
Nineteen one nine. While other properties or other brands are three or four minutes. Right? It’s it’s in and out. For us, it isn’t. It’s oh, and so if I sit by the pool, will there be someone to bring me drinks?
Oh, and by the way, can I get the cabana that’s too down from the the waterfall because my kids like the that’s the kind of brand that we are? So I think the most important part of understanding technology and what technology you need to put in your in your business is understanding what your customers are looking for. And and what can we do from a brand perspective and from a technology perspective to make that experience better, not necessarily faster, not necessarily, touchless. A lot of our guests still like to be recognized when they walk in. A lot of our guests walk in the hotel and they hug the the bell mind because they’ve been coming, you know, for fifteen years, and and they’re like, oh, hi. And, you know, it’s it’s a different kind of brand.
Sebastien Leitner
So the one thing that I think it’s important when you’re when you’re looking at technology solutions is understanding what your brand is and is supposed to deliver so that your guests are, they they know that they arrived, and they they feel they feel like they arrived where they expected. So is in your particular case, it’s less about leveraging the technology to streamline the operations. It’s what do you use technology for? Let me ask you this. We have a very solid kind of, infrastructure of technology that allows, I think, for all of our hotels to, to be efficient and to and to be connected. Right?
Claudia Infante
They they again, we have a CRM. We have a lot of those things, loyalty program, that allow our guests to to feel recognized when they walk in. The rest of the technology, platforms that we have in our hotels are mostly derived and and dedicated to take care of those kind of, how do I say these, tasks that take time but don’t really improve on the on the on the experience and free up the time of our agents and our guest service agents and our servers and how our housekeepers so that they can take care of the guests, so that they can dedicate that little extra minute. Like automation. Right? If you automate, for example, your your housekeeping systems, right, where you you are basically if you’re the the the supervisor and you’re supervising a room and you can punch the the supervision code on the phone, and then the phone immediately lets the the front desk know that that room is is vacant and available.
That kind of efficiency, I think, is more important because then it allows our supervisors to spend more time making sure that everything is right. They don’t have to write it in a board, Go back down to the to the front office, you know, to the to the housekeeping desk and make sure that they’re punching in the numbers. Our POS and PMS solutions are are connected to to the PMS so that we always know when the guest is and and where they need to go and and what services they potentially may need.
Sebastien Leitner
Right? We we have solutions that are, capable of checking our inventory so that we always have plenty of towels, that we always have plenty of, you know, shampoo and toiletries and things so that our guests are are always taken care of. So, you know, it’s it’s more about those types of services than it is than it is the AI recognition, and we have some AI solutions. We’re testing one in our call center, for example, because we have very long telephone calls. So, you know, the more that we can learn about the the most frequent guest, questions, the more our AI learns to to answer those. So so things like that are the things that are that we’re interested in deploying and and making sure that our our guests are also taking advantage of those and and favoring from from not having to wait on hold until somebody answers the phones, but someone can quickly answer your your call or or answer your questions.
Yeah. Yeah. Amazing. Is there anything in your well, is there anything that tech should do that it doesn’t do right now for you?
Claudia Infante
Anything that tech should do that it doesn’t do right now? Be more explicit. In in what sense? Well Technology for hospitality? Yeah. Exactly.
Right? Like Okay. When you think of your sort of tech stack that you use, your CRS or CRM, you mentioned a few systems already that you’re sort of overseeing. What’s missing right now? What would make it amazing? If you go back to, like, every panel or every keynote that I’ve ever done in the last five years, you’ll you’ll find my same, bitching point.
Okay. Let’s go. My same bitching point. Can we please please please work on interfaces and connectivity? It’s it’s the one thing.
Sebastien Leitner
Right? PNS solutions are still the core of the operations in a hotel. We’ve tried to put it in the in the CRM. We’ve tried to put it in the CRS. We’ve tried to put it on the cloud. We tried to put it in everywhere else.
Not true. PMS is where it’s at. Okay. And so and, I mean, this is the first time I talked to you guys at CloudBeds, but, you and I, I’m sure, have friends every other PMS solution because we’ve been around for so long, and we all know each other. And we’re like a, you know, big family reunion minus a potato salad. Right?
Claudia Infante
Like, we all know each other. And my question is always the same, is I get it that you guys can always work together because you compete in your competitors, and I get all of that. But why make it so damn hard, man? Like like, really? We have to work, and we have to jump through hoops to try to get solutions to work together. And so, you know, I I Different systems.
Right? So PMS Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it’s it’s unless you go unless you go vertical and you go with the same solution all all across, you’re you’re, you know, you’re pulling and tugging and and having to and having to change your your kind of your solutions as they go.
That that’s all that’s been on my list forever. And I and I just think that at one point, we had a really great kind of effort that was being driven by HTNG and, you know, and some of that kinda next generation team of people that were trying to standardize how we connect, and and they were doing the OTA and the HTNG and all of those things. And then and then something happened, and it kinda broke away. And and now it’s there, but not really, and nobody wants to talk about it. And I don’t know. I just think it’s time.
It’s time that we all kind of learn to coexist and learn to and learn to be more, nimble and maybe maybe realize that we all have a piece of this in this amazing industry in our hands, and that the more we try to squeeze, the more it’s kinda it’s, you know, kinda seeping through our fingers. So, I wish I wish more more solutions would, integrate easier. I was working on an announcement this morning. We announced our partnership with Sabre CRS, our integration with how it’s Congratulations. Thank you. Thank you.
Sebastien Leitner
And I caught myself as I was reviewing the LinkedIn post thinking of, hey, this is a connection and partnership where you don’t have to maintain spreadsheets, where we do mapping automatically. On the fly. Yeah. On the fly. Right?
Claudia Infante
And you basically select which room types do you want to publish, which rate plans do you wanna publish, and you do that from within the application. And you don’t have to maintain a mapping table. And I was like, how is it twenty twenty five and this is still news? Are you just giving up and you’re just giving up the spreadsheet? Right. How is it twenty twenty five and this is still news?
And so I I didn’t post this, like, the fact that no more spreadsheets, but you you have a point. Right? Like, we we still have to overcome some boundaries that exist between technology Yeah. That will make it easier for hotels to access their own information.
Sebastien Leitner
You know, I’m sure you’ve I’m sure you’ve heard and you’ve read the this whole, there’s obviously a whole revolution going on with, within that new book, Unreasonable Hospitality. That it goes all about, you know, the the little details that you can take care of, right, to to make someone’s life easier. And while some of it is, you know, in the book, some of it is true, and I’m sure you can make it happen if you like, in his case. Right?
Claudia Infante
He did all these amazing restaurants with a lot of people in them and Sure. Sure. All of that is good. How do you kind of, translate that into the industry as a whole? I think it’s really interesting. It would be really interesting to see, you know, how how some companies could adapt to message about being hospitable and being, kind of, you know I don’t wanna say less selfish because that that’s not necessarily it.
It’s more about how do we advance together as opposed to, you know, how do we how do we make the most out of the the industry that we have. Something else that is happening, and and I think it’s it’s it’s important that we all understand, especially as veterans, and and I I again, if you go back to every other conference, I say the same thing every time. I look around the room in all the conferences that we attend, and I see all my friends and all my friends that have been my friends for twenty years, twenty plus years. Dude, we are getting old, and we are all kind of on our way out. Where are the new people? Where are the the the pioneers that are going to take our place?
Sebastien Leitner
You were recently honored with the hospitality technology lifetime achievement award. Wow. That’s a mouthful. I had to actually read that off to make sure that I’m getting You have to read it. The the important piece in here is what is the thing that you’re most proud of?
Claudia Infante
I’m proud of a lot of things. I I think that, you know, the the fact that I am a brown girl from Mexico that was born and raised in a really small town with a really large family and very little growing up, the fact that I I somehow, you know, made that amazing list of people that were, nominated to to this award and that somehow I was selected, to me, obviously, I’m I’m super proud of that. I will preamble that, however, with like I said in in my in my post and in my speech that I didn’t get there alone. And and and I would never ever ever have been able to get there had it not been for the support of hundreds of people that that whether they knew it or didn’t helped me get there. And that goes to everyone that ever gave me a chance, that ever, you know, again, picked up my kids because I couldn’t get there on time, or that, you know, bought me lunch because I had no money, whatever it was.
Sebastien Leitner
Right? The all of those little miniature decisions and micro decisions throughout someone’s life ultimately make up for your for your lifetime, whatever that is. So so for me to be recognized for the work that I’ve been done really is an opportunity to recognize all of those that have been in my life and that have helped me get there. So that is what I’m most proud of is the fact that that I think I have such a network of people that have supported me throughout many, many good and bad times. And then I think I I still kind of can go and knock on their door and go, hey. I really need help, and and and they’ll come through.
That’s what I’m most proud of. That’s amazing. And then in in in terms of projects, you know, I I’ve been part of a lot of big projects that required a lot of resources. I’ve been a part of big projects that had no resources, and I’m proud of each one of them. You know?
Claudia Infante
Every single one, even the ones that failed miserably, either got me there or taught me a lesson. Right? I I did learn very early what not to do. So, a lot of what I do know now, really is due to to all of the failures that that that I’ve had in in in in my career as well. So, you know, Margaritaville Parks is probably at the top of my list in in projects that I’ve been very proud of, but I’m mostly grateful. More than proud, I’m grateful.
You talked about the fact that you’re looking for the next generation that will take, you know, charge of, you know, when we retire, when we are no longer there, and you don’t see them yet. We we we had a really bad incident happening, COVID. It it pushed a lot of people away from hospitality. We got bad reputation as an industry.
Sebastien Leitner
Right? Yep. How do we get people back into this industry and and and share the love that you, that we, right, have for this industry? How do we how do we make that happen?
Claudia Infante
Yeah. I that’s that’s, I think, probably my concern, right, is is that I think we’ve somehow lost, we’ve lost the joy somewhere along this path. We’ve lost the joy of being of service, and and the passion that some of us have for this industry is all around at least for me, it’s all around being of service. It’s being able to to make somebody’s day better. Right? And so and so how do we get back to that?
I think he I think it’s it’s it’s multi multipronged. I don’t think it’s one silver bullet. I think one of the things that we have to do, is is get involved in in the universities and the programs, the hospitality programs that are around the country, and and kind of transfer and transmit the the again, this joy and this passion for service to to this younger, younger generation of of people who are coming out of school with a very warped idea of what making it means.
Sebastien Leitner
Right? I think the exposure that we have right now to easy money and quick and quick fame is not relevant. Right?
Claudia Infante
In in service and and in industry, you have to work. You you have to get there. You have to put in the hours. You have to put in the time. You have to put in the passion and the and the effort. And and I think we have diluted that so much with, again, the the the the quick fame stories that we have that is almost, you know and my kids say it.
It’s like, why why would I do that? That takes too long. Like, why why would I wanna do that? And and you have to kinda be able to answer the question with because it’s worth doing. But how do you do that without having some data points to help? Right?
And so the data, unfortunately, is not helping us.
Sebastien Leitner
Right? We are an industry that is falling behind on inequality, is falling behind on pay, is falling behind on, you know, on service, is falling behind on a lot of things. So I think as an industry, we have we really have to look at what we have to offer new people because, you know what, hospitality degrees can also go work in health care, and they pay better. They can also go work in finance, and they pay better. They can go work on insurance, and they pay better. They you know what I mean?
Claudia Infante
Like, there’s so many other industries that that pay better, that have kind of attracted talent, even if it’s just through dollars, but that’s the only way that we can attract people to come and work for us unless unless you’re, you know, you’re kinda working because you love it, and then you you don’t need the money. But reality is none of us do. At the beginning of our careers, we all need to be we all need to be compensated. So I think that that that is one of those things. And then bringing the old, the old luxury or the old kind of glamour of being in in the hotel industry back, I don’t know. We’re gonna have to do something about that, whether it’s, you know, we we give ourselves, I don’t know, some makeup and and work done or something so we look better because we right now look, you know, like we have been run through.
And so people look at me like, why would I wanna do and and work and, you know, you’re you’re you’re only fifty and look at you.
Sebastien Leitner
So so maybe that’s something else that we need to do is is we need to to be a little bit nicer to ourselves and and and really kind of, you know, try to try to inject in people the the passion and and really the joy that it is to to be in the service industry. It may be a very personal question, but I’m curious. What made you join the industry?
Claudia Infante
Money. I, you know, I I’m an art major. I I went to school for art. I did not even think of hospitality, and and I I say I say it all the time. I’m from Mexico, born and raised. Right?
So I’m sure you’ve been to Mexico. I’m sure many of your listeners have been to Mexico. And so for us, service is a culture. Service is part of who we are. That’s that’s just how we are born and and kinda grown through the system. So hospitality was always part of my, DNA.
Right? And especially especially growing up in in Mexico. So, when I finished school, I realized that, to make it as an artist, I was probably gonna have to be a starving artist for a long time before I made it. And I had already been a starving student, a starving kid, a starving everything, so I was like, I can’t do that. So, at the time, one of my cousins actually said, hey. Come to come to Texas.
There’s there’s work over there for everybody. And so I did. Thankfully, my my mom had already, arranged for a, for a permanent resident card for me because I was a minor when she came to the US. And so I came to the Texas, to Dallas, and I started working at a Marriott there by the airport in banquets. And I I I I made good books, and and I, you know, and I was in banquets, and I was good at it. And I, you know, I have the kind of the personality, and I got good tips, and and people just kinda you know, I was naturally drawn to people.
And so and so that kinda started a a a career that I didn’t even know I wanted. And then Lexington Services, which was a independent agency that, that helped independent hotels make reservations, needed someone who, who could speak Spanish at a professional level. And so I got my first job in technology and in hospitality and you know, looking at Sabre and Amadeus and, system one and and, and and Apollo and looking at reservations that weren’t coming through and why was the data getting stuck and, you know, those matrix printed crate matrix printers that were, like, you know, three feet wide and looking for that one code and see what was lost in there. And somehow I got hooked on on this whole data thing that just it was amazing to look at to look at how it worked and and how it made things easier for for travelers.
Sebastien Leitner
So, yeah, it was it was kind of like a a a little bit of a just went in head first and never looked back. Thinking about, you know, the next generation, right, and and also sort of, you know, you thinking backwards, is there anything that you would do differently?
Claudia Infante
Do you have any recommendation to Claudia at the beginning of her career what she should do differently? Be less judgmental of yourself. I I I did that a lot. I, you know, I am my worst critic all the time. And that sometimes is what held me back from trying on that for that job or or or going and meeting that person and saying hello or, you know, just the the sheer kind of fear of not being good enough. And and it’s you know, you probably can’t see it.
Right? Because everybody thinks that because you’re up there or you want this thing or you’re sitting on that panel or you did that keynote, you got your entire life figure out, and and very few people really kind of realize that, you know, you’re you’re kinda having or struggling with the same things that everybody else does.
Sebastien Leitner
Right? So for me, I I I would have been I would have been much kinder and probably less afraid with myself, and and kind of, you know, acted a lot faster. Claudia, I don’t have a better way of wrapping this up. Thank you so much for, sharing your insights, your experience, your My pleasure. Always. Thank you for joining the program, and it’s been a absolute pleasure talking to you and retalking to you because we’ve met at some point.
We’ve decided. Likewise. I’m I’m just glad that we somehow remember each other. You know?
Claudia Infante
I’m sure we will not forget for now. So thank you. I I so appreciate you, giving me the opportunity to share just just, you know, my experience. And and I’m here. If if anybody wants to have a chat about how to get in here and be passionate about service, here we are.
Sebastien Leitner
That brings us to the end of yet another episode of the turndown. 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, Palok Kahereo, 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.
