"There's quite a lot of condescension in the industry about cruises," says Bjorn Hanson, a veteran hospitality researcher and consultant. Perhaps for the first time, though, hotels and resorts on dry land have to fight microbial infestations with the persistence of a tired cruise director. Ben Gottlieb of Geolo Capital - a private equity investment firm that owns a dozen hotel properties - has been one of the most ardent subscribers of HotelAVE's cruise-centric rejiggering. The long term outlookDrawing on plays from the cruise industry book addresses a short and medium term problem. In other words, we may not see cartoon octopi telling us what to do, but avatars that replace face to face service are here to stay.

Source: The Standard July 30, 2020 19:18 UTC