Priceless Opportunities

This is an edited version of an article I wrote for the July issue of Strictly Business magazine:

Recently, our family had the good fortune of sharing a wonderful dinner with some friends who have a beautiful house on Cumberland Head in Plattsburgh.  It was a gorgeous evening with the clouds shaded hues that ranged from bright orange to pink in contrast with the dark, blue water of Lake Champlain.   From our location, Clinton Community College, the former Champlain Hotel, looked majestic sitting on top of the hill on the other side of the lake from Valcour Island.  

Our gracious hosts grilled some sesame-encrusted tuna and served it with a nutty, Caribbean style rice and some blanched green beans in seasoned garlic butter sauce.  With our meal, we enjoyed a glass of a full bodied, Lodi Zinfandel and spent some time sharing stories of our history, travels and children’s follies.  To paraphrase the popular MasterCard commercial, Groceries - $40.00; Cookbooks - $40.00; bottle of wine - $18.00; a memorable evening – Priceless.

Why am I sharing this experience?  Because there is a price that we are willing to pay for memorable experiences and this fuels a major driver to our economy.  In New York State, the hospitality industry generates of $50.9 Billion in direct revenues.  It employs over 650,000 workers and pays over $26.4 Billion in salaries.   It is estimated that over $3.2 Billion in State and $3.5 Billion in local taxes are generated from this industry.  According to a NY Department of Labor report releases in 2008, the tourism industry accounted for 4.9% of local jobs in the North Country and 12.8% and 15.4% of the employment in Essex and Hamilton Counties respectively.   Similar ratios of what the hospitality industry contributes to the economy can be found in many other locales.

From an entrepreneur’s perspective, the attraction to the food and beverage, accommodation and recreation industries is very appealing.  The reason behind this is that many prospective small business owners believe that they have the culinary talents or they have built accommodations in a beautiful setting that any visitor would appreciate.  They may have detailed knowledge in their favorite recreational hobby and think they can be a guide or run a retail store selling and renting the supplies visiting enthusiasts need.   The thought of profiting from doing something we love in a beautiful setting is a very enticing draw to self employment in the tourism, hospitality and recreational industries.

Unfortunately, these industries also tend to have some very high failure rates.   There is much more to running a successful business than knowing how to cook, make up a room or providing recreational support. Successful business models require significant planning to develop effective pricing strategies, detailed market and competitive analyses and focused advertising strategies.  

Adding to the difficulty of successfully operating tourism related businesses is the fact that many of the experiences can be effected by unpredictable variables such as the weather, natural disaster, human disasters (oil spill) and even disease outbreaks (Alaska lost a huge chunk of visitor traffic with the SARS epidemic in 2003).   Tourists also tend to travel in groups, bringing different personalities, abilities and interests; many would agree with Jerry Seinfeld’s sentiment that, “There is no such thing as fun for the whole family.”

Despite these challenges, the opportunity remains for businesses to prosper from the wealth of hospitality and recreational opportunities in this country. The key to developing a plan that leads to sustainable success is to remain focused on creating exceptional guest experiences. Looking at some of the more successful restaurants, lodges and outfitters in the travel industry, there tends to be a bit more to success than just providing quality.  It takes some talent and thought to develop something that provides the intangible value to make a guest experience special.  

I can think of no person who best embodies the core to success in the hospitality industry than the great Walt Disney. There are certainly theme parks with better amusement rides, hotels with more comfortable accommodations and restaurants with higher quality food than what you can get at Disneyland and Disneyworld.   Still, the vision and imagination of Mr. Disney created a brand that revolves around delivering memorable family experiences. 

Walt Disney once said, “The era we are living in today is a dream of coming true.”   For small business owners, opportunity has no boundaries for those who can imagine ways to provide guests with priceless and indelible memories.