A Lifetime of Education | with Peter Ricci

The Modern Hotelier #55: A Lifetime of Education | with Peter Ricci === David Millili [00:01:30]: Steve, who do we have on the program today? Steve Carran [00:01:33]: Yeah, David. Today, we have, Peter Ricci, clinical professor and director of hospitality management programs At Florida Atlantic University, Peter is a hospitality leader with 30 plus years of experience in the tourism industry and academia. During the past 15 years, Peter has focused on developing the hospitality and tourism management program at Florida Atlantic University. Welcome to the show, Peter. Peter Ricci [00:01:59]: Hey. Thank you, guys. It's nice to be here. David Millili [00:02:02]: Great. So, Peter, we're gonna go through Three sections. We're gonna go through, get to know you a little bit better, talk about your career, and then get into the industry. So sound good? Peter Ricci [00:02:12]: Absolutely. Go ahead. David Millili [00:02:13]: Alright. So what was the worst job you ever had? Peter Ricci [00:02:17]: Worst job I ever had, 6 months at Delta Airlines being a computer programmer trainee. Not the airline, the job. David Millili [00:02:25]: Got it. Are you a morning or a night person? Peter Ricci [00:02:28]: Oh, definitely night person. I I thrive in the casino or nightclub business. David Millili [00:02:34]: Alright. Good. So If you had to delete all the apps from your phone except 3, what 3 apps are you gonna keep on your phone? Peter Ricci [00:02:41]: Bank of America go because I need to know exactly how much is in the checking since I'm not good with money saving. Duncan, because I gotta have my tea every day. Am, I guess, duo because I need my work email. David Millili [00:02:55]: Got it. Alright. What's the emoji used the most? Peter Ricci [00:03:00]: Happy face. Happy face. I'm a happy guy. David Millili [00:03:03]: Where's your favorite place to go on vacation? Peter Ricci [00:03:06]: Any anywhere there's a casino. David Millili [00:03:09]: Got it. So if you had your own talk show, who would your 1st guest be? They can be dead or alive, your 1st guest. Peter Ricci [00:03:17]: Oh my goodness. Well, I've always wanted to meet her because I'm a kid of the eighties, so I'd have to say Madonna. David Millili [00:03:23]: Wow. That's a good one. So here we go. If you had a time machine And you could go into the future or back into the past. Which way are you going and what year are you going to? Peter Ricci [00:03:35]: 1985, the best year I ever had on the planet. I don't know why I turned 20, but everything was together that year. I loved it. David Millili [00:03:44]: Yeah. The eighties were great. Steve Carran [00:03:46]: I have that same thing with 1996. I've never heard anybody else have that, but I'm this is an Peter Ricci [00:03:53]: everything was fantastic in my memory in that year. Steve Carran [00:03:56]: Awesome. Awesome. Well, that was great. So now we're gonna get to learn about you a little bit more, kind of what makes you tick. So Where did you grow up? Peter Ricci [00:04:04]: I moved to Florida when I was 12 years old from New York. And, really, I've been rarely back to New York all these years. And I lived in the southeast the rest of my life. So I'm 58, so the whole rest of the time been in the southeast. Part of my job took me all over Florida, so I've been lucky. I've lived in every almost every corner of Florida that exists. Steve Carran [00:04:25]: Wow. How did growing up in New York and then moving to Florida when you were 12, How did that kinda shape into who you are today? Peter Ricci [00:04:32]: You know, people still tell me I have a very New York attitude in terms of high pace, get things done immediately. I've never lost that. I I attribute that to elementary school and maybe my my early upbringing. When I moved here, I was in the 7th grade, and I remember that 1st year, the English teacher worked on getting rid of my New York accent. That's all I remember from that year. But my pace, people still tell me, oh, are you from New York? But you don't sound it. So I guess there's a certain pace in New York, but I don't go back much. I just never lost it, whatever that is. David Millili [00:05:09]: Yeah. They're deaf they're definitely people are just trying People are trying to get in and out of places so quick because it's so difficult to get into Manhattan or Brooklyn or Queens. But anyway, so that's that's good. So you graduated from Florida with a bachelor's In sociology and a master's in tourism and commercial recreation, how did you know that you wanted to get into tourism, hospitality? What kinda led you to that decision? Peter Ricci [00:05:31]: You know, I started in high school in fine dining. I worked all through 14 to 21 pretty much in food and beverage and catering banquets. On campus, I worked for Aramark. So it was always a part of me. I wanted to go to law school. I read a book that you could be a hospitality lawyer. It was one of the career silos in the travel book that I read. And then I absolutely hated law school. Peter Ricci [00:05:55]: So I wound up right back in, Gainesville to do my master's. And the closest thing they had to hospitality was recreational studies. So you know, all through my early years, it should have been evident, but it wasn't. I mean, my part time job was in a travel agency if I wasn't working at Aramark. I interned for the airlines. Everything I did was tourism. And what I like now all this time later is that I approach the business from a very tourism perspective. Hotels happen to be my favorite part of my career, but I look at tour operators and wholesalers and technology apps in distribution systems and the whole enchilada, I call it. Peter Ricci [00:06:37]: So I I approach the business very differently from someone who's just been in hotels and and and whatnot. But I guess you could say my whole life. I do remember a person coming to the house when I was a teenager that was trying to do door to door sales for a travel agency school. And they even had a vinyl, like, 45 record that you could listen to all the career path. And, I almost did it, but I didn't do it. But I so I guess my whole life. Steve Carran [00:07:06]: That's awesome. So One thing that I found when I was researching with you is you have a lot of certifications. And one thing that I was kind of shocked about was most of them are up to date and they're still active. So I understand you're in education, but why do you keep furthering yourself and getting these certifications and advancing your education, even though that's kind of what you do on a day to day basis? Peter Ricci [00:07:31]: Yeah, that's a great question. You know, and if you, if you find one that's not up to date, let me know because I'll fix that. And I'm doing one right now, the certified mentality manager, which is the brand new one from the combination of American Hotel Lodging Educational Institute slashed National Restaurant Association. They're kinda 1 now. But I took it upon myself that if I was going to venture into academia, I wasn't going to become a person who just sat back and lost touch with the industry. So I am involved in hotels every day, every week from here, I go to the diplomat in Hollywood to have a meeting with 1 of my alums who's the revenue director. Any if you don't stay current, as soon as I let's put it this way. As soon as I see a student or a colleague or a hotel owner look at me like an academic, I'll shoot myself. Peter Ricci [00:08:25]: And not literally for those of you watching, but I just I wanna be an active industry street guy who gets it. I don't wanna be siloed in some academic campus. My whole pathway into academia was kinda weird anyway. I never planned to be an academic. So that's kind of why I stay up on them. And, you know, there's plenty that I've looked at that I haven't pursued that I was about to, but I really do the ones that I think have the most impact on the industry for the next 50 years. So technology mixed in with revenue and consumer decision. That's really important to me. Peter Ricci [00:09:02]: The future of hotel management in a time where we are raising labor rates like never before, and we have to understand how we're gonna make flow through for profitability. So anything in there with efficiencies yet maintaining guest service. So funny thing for you, Steve. 1 student asked me one time, are those really things or did your cat run over your keyboard? I love that. Every time I meet someone, I tell them that story because it just tickled me. I said, no. They're real stuff. You know? Steve Carran [00:09:32]: I thought about reading all the qualifications, but I just I went against it. It would have taken too long. Peter Ricci [00:09:37]: Well, you know, another funny thing is, like, we're in the we're in the, point in history where a bachelor's degree is not really a requirement anymore for success of any kind. And not that it ever was, but it had come the high school degree of the seventies and eighties. At one point where most of my students felt it was a must to get a bachelor's. That's not the case anymore. You can load up with certifications and lifelong education and training on your topical zones, and maybe you don't need an MBA or a bachelor's or maybe you do want 1, but I just like them because it's a new way of learning. Steve Carran [00:10:14]: Absolutely. Well, that was great. Now we're gonna get into your career, kinda how you ended up where you are today. And, we share another commonality as we both were dishwashers, and that was, I believe your 1st job at the age of 14, you were a dishwasher? Peter Ricci [00:10:27]: Yes. I was a dishwasher. Yes. And, I got the job because I wanted money to go on the high school trip to Spain. And my dad said no, and I wanted to go roller skating twice a week. And he said once, and I said, okay, hey. Screw you. I'm gonna go get a job. Peter Ricci [00:10:42]: So I got a job, and I wound up loving it. It was in fine dining, and, you know, I've just never never left. And it's funny. One of my students the past year and she was in, a nontypical undergrad, probably in her forties. She asked me if I took the dishwasher job because I had bad grades. And I said, what? And she said, well, were you doing something wrong? Because I don't even like to wash dishes at home. And I said, no. That was the job they permitted me to get as a teenager. Peter Ricci [00:11:18]: It was either that or busser. And I quickly moved to be a busser, which to this day was one of the most exciting promotions I ever had because it was quite a bit more money, and I didn't have to go home smelling like soap all the time. But the the discipline I got from working in food and beverage am balanced in time with with homework and trying to maintain grades that would get me into University of Florida. You know, you learn a lot, and I would do it all over again. I, I just posted something last week on LinkedIn. There's some bill proposed. What it is, but there's some proposed bill in Florida to permit 16 year olds to work in roofing. And I said, well, where where are we with hiring 16 10 year olds in the hospitality business. Peter Ricci [00:12:04]: We need them back. I see too many owners that shy away from it for whatever reason. And I think that's a disservice to work ethic and time management skills and just interacting with people. Steve Carran [00:12:18]: We are on the exact same page. I love that. So after college, you were an adjunct instructor, and you also were at Forbes Hamilton management company for 11 years. How did working in the management company and being a hospitality professor give you a different perspective on the industry. Peter Ricci [00:12:37]: Well, you know, it's weird. I came out of grad school. I had planned to go to law school. So coming out of grad school, I didn't know what I was gonna do. I had 3 job offers. 1 was for Marriott, 1 was with Disney, and 1 was with an incentive travel company that did meetings and and conferences at sea. So, of course, at 23, I took that one because it was more fun and that led to a job at the Convention and Visitors Bureau of Miami where I stayed for a couple years, probably 3 or 4 years. And while I was at the CVV, everybody was telling me, oh, you're so lucky. Peter Ricci [00:13:11]: You never suffered managing hotels. You got right into the glamorous world of a destination marketing in group. And I'm like, what are you talking about? So for me, mister I like challenges, I took that as I need to go work in a hotel. So back in Gainesville where I went to school, Forbes Hamilton was building the 1st new luxury hotel in Gainesville that they had had. And, I was opening DOS, and I became the GM, I think, before we opened or yeah. I guess right before we opened. And I wound up loving the hotel business. And the guy who runs Forbes Hamilton, I worked for them on and off for a decade. Peter Ricci [00:13:48]: You know, wasn't always steady was whenever Tom had a project. He's an accountant by nature, and his original business partner was a sales and marketing guy. So the 2 of them together, I have both sides of that skill set, and I would gravitate to his business partner one day. I'd gravitate to Tom the other day, but I learned the management company side, which still fascinates me. And I had a chat yesterday with Chris Russell who's a CEO of Spire Hotels, sells. And we agree on this totally that the young professional coming into the business or the career switcher should really think about management companies just for the fact that you learn all the brand standards of so many brands. You know I have long term friends 30 years at 1 brand, and they've worked multiple brands. I mean, Marietta is, what, 31 brands now? But there's nothing like one day you're picking up a Ramada, the next day you have a Sheridan, then you have a Wyndham. Peter Ricci [00:14:47]: There's just something about that that I thrived on. I liked learning a little bit about all these companies. David Millili [00:14:54]: That's great. So for almost 18 years, you know, soon to be 20, You've been at Florida Atlantic University. What got you there and what keeps you there? And it's you know, you obviously, you said you're focused on education, but you diversify. But what what's kept you there, and and and what do you love about Peter Ricci [00:15:12]: it? Definitely the people. You know, FAU has some amazing people throughout the entire institution. Students, faculty, staff, leadership, president, you name it. We we just have amazing people. Our dean in the College of Business lets us be super entrepreneurial. I'm a super entrepreneurial type of person. And if I was held into a box or something, I would just blow the box walls down. It's just not gonna work. Peter Ricci [00:15:37]: So, you know, back to Steve's point, because I had a master's degree young, I was never given the credit until I was mid thirties for having that degree. I was just a kid who worked a lot. That's normal. Right? So I'm working one day at the Convention and Visitors Bureau, and they got a call for an adjunct teacher, which is what we call part time teachers in in academia. And I was the only one then who had a master's that could teach destination marketing. So they threw me into a class at Nova University, which is now Nova Southeastern, and it we're all hotel general managers that decided to take the plunge to do their bachelor's. So I'm 24, and I'm surrounded by all males who were guys that are GMs. I'm like, holy crap. Peter Ricci [00:16:23]: But I knew the textbook, and they knew the real world. And that got me sparked on teaching, so I taught part time my whole career. In around 2000, I was managing a a beautiful Crowne Plaza in Orlando, and University of Central Florida was getting ready to embark on becoming the Rosen College and Harris Rosen was getting ready to donate money. So the dean reached out and said, you know, have you ever considered doing your doctorate? You like to teach. And I said, no, not really. We had a couple of chats. Said, lo and behold, I gave up my hotel career and went back to school. It was just before 40. Peter Ricci [00:17:02]: And I finished my EDD, my doctorate in education leadership. I was at UCF teaching for 4 years, but I went right back to hotels because I'm like, I'm only 40. I've got a lot of energy left. And, ironically, life led me back took academia here because FAU had an opening. My parents were down here and they were approaching their eighties. And I said, alright. I'll come for a couple years. And like you said, it's been about 16, 17 years already. Peter Ricci [00:17:32]: But it it's the people, and it's the environment. I mean, South Florida, we are hospitality. We've got casinos. We've got cruise line headquarters. Trust. We've got mom and pops. We've got the beaches. We've got everything. Peter Ricci [00:17:46]: So in Florida, I've lived here since I was 12. Hospitality and tourism's never, never not been our number one private employer. And sept when I was a kid, it was agriculture and we used to go neck and neck with oranges, you know? And then after the Disney years, that's it. So I look at young people that grow up here, and I'm like, you're gonna work in hospitality someday, some way. You might be an accountant at Royal Caribbean. You might be in architecture, a a culture developing hotels. You might do this. You might do that. Peter Ricci [00:18:20]: But it's a part of your world that you've grown up in. And we don't have state income tax, thanks to visitors. And we pay a lot less than we could pay even though cost of living here has gone up because of visitors. We pay less. And so it's it's in my DNA to be in this business. Steve Carran [00:18:38]: That's awesome. And just like you have quite a few certifications, One thing we found, you also have won quite a few awards as well. Is there 1 reward 1 award or one recognition you've got that, I guess, kinda stands above the rest that really means means something special to you. Peter Ricci [00:18:55]: Yeah. I always tell everybody, once you get to be a man of a certain age, start to get awards if you're in the same field. So I I'm very humbled by those and almost embarrassed, but the, I guess there's 1, there's 2 that I'm really, really proud of. 1 is the distinguished alumnus award I won from university of Florida because the College of Health and Human Performance, where we house tourism and hospitality there, really set me on a path for success. And I was an orientation leader. I did campus visits. So I've always had that leaning toward taking care of people loved Gainesville when I was there. So that award is very meaningful to me. Peter Ricci [00:19:37]: And then during COVID, we had a huge certificate that went global, and I won the South Florida Tourism Professional Year. And that humbled me so greatly because the people who have won it during my lifetime have all been people I would look up too has mentors and leaders. And it was, again, it kinda shocked me. It was a little embarrassing. But I I take it in tried now because I do love what I do. So I guess at some point that just comes with the turf, you know? Steve Carran [00:20:05]: And can you go a little bit deeper about Why you won that award during COVID because it's truly incredible about why you won it. Peter Ricci [00:20:12]: Well, it's just just kind of a fluke, and, you know, many people have heard this story. I mean, we have always done stuff in the community. I I have my own job email list, and I've done it as a a labor of love for 20 years now. And during COVID, all the employers started to reach out to us real early in January, February saying, hey. We're gonna have layoffs. Our are, you know, our occupancies dropped in March, etcetera, etcetera. So I went again entrepreneurial. We already had a certificate. Peter Ricci [00:20:44]: Get. I said, I'm going to put it online, and what do you think about offering it for free because there's going to be so many people out of work? Well, we don't you know, we're a university. We don't really do tuition free, and we don't really do online certificate creation in 3 weeks, but we did all that and I thought it would flood South Florida with a lot of, people that needed to do something. That was the biggest feedback is all of a sudden we've been yanked away from everything we know in a 40 to 50 hour work week and we're home. And so we filled the void and I did not have a LinkedIn account, but everybody kept asking me to have a LinkedIn account. So I don't like social media as a rule, so I created 1. And it spread like wildfire. I mean, in the end, we had, like, a 168 countries or something. Peter Ricci [00:21:35]: It's just it's just a blast. So now that outpouring of love from those people. I asked everybody for a 1 or $2 donation, and we wound up with so much money that now we have enough to give everybody a discount, like, as long as I'm alive, and we keep rebuilding the certificate every 2 years. Says, it's just fun. But, again, I created, like, another 40 hour a week job for myself. But that's you know? Steve Carran [00:22:02]: Well, that's That's absolutely incredible. So now we'll get into the part of the show where you get to give your thoughts about what's going on in the industry. So you mentioned Florida's tourism. Right? Last year in 2022, they welcomed 137,600,000 visitors, Which was an all time record. How do you see inflation impacting tourism, not only in Florida, but in the US over the next year? Peter Ricci [00:22:30]: You know, we're all, cautiously waiting for the ax to fall or whatever the saying is because you can only use credit cards and use up your savings and start to dip into your retirement for a period of time before your spouse or your significant other or your kids slap you and say stop that. So we're at a point now where, you know, they called it revenge travel. They called it post COVID travel, whatever. People still are enjoying travel. And the rates in hotels were so outlandish when we came out of COVID trying to make the money back quick and because the demand was there, they've subsided, but everything is higher. And a big chunk of that is labor and a big chunk of that is cost of goods. And that's not gonna roll backwards. So hotels are gonna be in in particular, focus on hotels. Peter Ricci [00:23:22]: They're gonna be in a predict predicament to not be able to deep discount when the next recession comes because it's either they're gonna go that strategy, which is always incorrect had proven not to work or they're gonna cut staff. So we're in a really weird state, and I do think travel will have issues next year. For us in Florida, the, silver lining is that the internationals are starting to come back. But don't think that internationally there's not inflation woes just like ours and wars and crises and climate change, you name it. You know? So, yeah, we, we will succeed because we are a great vibrant destination, but it's gonna be a bumpy road even for great vibrant destinations. Plain and simple. David Millili [00:24:12]: So you had a quote in the Sun Centennial around tipping. And so You had said some people will tip a dollar per drink as much as 5. When they're doing a round of drinks and more upscale, people feel obligated to do 10 to $20 Around the drinks. I always find myself, if I'm out and the tabs split and I look over, that I've already I've always tipped More because I was a waiter. I was a bus boy. I've been in hospitality. So I always feel like, yeah, everyone else is tipping 20. I'm tipping 25. David Millili [00:24:41]: Write someone's really great, I'm tipping 30 because I feel like I wanna encourage them to keep doing what they're doing. So what do you what do you think is a general kind of rule of thumb when it comes around, you know, tipped me? Peter Ricci [00:24:52]: Well, you know, it's funny you asked this because I have, kind of a a bipartisan view on this. Being a tipped employee. Most of my life, I've always given the best service possible and it did improve my tips. So I've always been like you a better tipper. Right? So I think the needle has moved away from the seventies and eighties where 10% was the minimum up to about team and a good tip should be 20, 22%. But I hear this term now tip inflation where the consumers are tired of it because technology has provided at the tip of their fingers, a tip requirement or request at every point of contact with anybody. And so when you're at Panera and you're placing your order, there's a message, do you wanna tip? When you're at the gas station checking out, I got one the other day at a shall asking if I wanted to tip the counter attendant at the shell. So out of habit, we used to just tip. Peter Ricci [00:25:51]: Well, even the the numerical slider has been changed to 2022, 24. And if you don't see the tiny little word custom to go in and custom, so you don't wanna stand there as a consumer and bumble and hit custom and they know you're doing it or it's a weird time. So I think employers, this is one of our macro level issues, have shifted to the service staff the ability to earn more and keep them paying less, and it's an ongoing battle that I don't like. You know? I was at a Carrabba's restaurant last week, and the GM told me that he's now at $9 an hour minimum for all servers, and all servers are tipped. And that slowly crept up from $3, $4, $5. It's taking an impact, which means all of us are going to pay more. And when does it break out? And there's an argument. I don't know. Peter Ricci [00:26:46]: But to your point, David, I always tip better than most everybody else because it's been in my nature. But if I have poor service, I bring it up. If I have great service, I also bring it up. I encourage my students not to only complain, but if they have a complaining mentality, they better also write nice letters when they get great service. So I encourage them to do both. And just today, I went to McDonald's to get my morning iced tea, and I gave the great attendant that's always there in the morning her $25 gift card for the holiday. She was like, died. And I'm like, you deserve it. Peter Ricci [00:27:21]: You're always the best in the morning, and what does it cost me, $25 a year to say, hey. I appreciate you? So I've just always been that kind of person. It's in our nature in the business. But shifting the responsibility of care, trying to put more tips on your service people. I don't buy that business model. I don't like it at all. David Millili [00:27:42]: It's really tough because I what you know, when I've I've get asked, like, where's the best place you've ever received service? And Being a hotelier, you would think I would I'd have some fancy, oh, I was at this resort. I was in Europe. And I say, oh, the Dunkin' Donuts outside of Penn Station, The women that worked there knew when I wasn't there. They knew what I drank. They would ask me, oh, you've been you've been traveling. We haven't seen you. They had my drink ready, and it was like, I'm buying a, you know, $3 iced coffee, and I'm getting better service than spending $300 a night at a hotel where the the front desk just says, you know, Checking in, you're like, well, what else would I be doing here? But, anyway Peter Ricci [00:28:19]: You know? David Millili [00:28:20]: That's yeah. Good point. Peter Ricci [00:28:21]: I gotta grab this. Hold on. Okay. Because you'll appreciate this. And to that same point, here's my 2 gift cards for Dunkin'. They're already written out. The, the Dunkin' by my house, when I pull in, it's either I'm an iced tea junkie, so it's either McDonald's or Dunkin', whichever line's shorter. When I pull into the Dunkin', I'll say, hey. Peter Ricci [00:28:42]: Can Peter, what's up? We got it. They know from my voice on the on the poorly working speaker. To me, that's service. Right? That's not that's not luxury hotel. That's a Dunkin'. But if they do it right, I'm gonna reward them because lord knows they could use it, and they and they appreciate it, you know? David Millili [00:29:02]: And those are the people we, I think, not fail, but I mean, those are the type of people that you wanna pull into because you wouldn't consider Dunkin' Donuts hospitality or McDonald's, but those are the people that we gotta pull in that just love their job, love being with people. Peter Ricci [00:29:17]: I consider them a big part of our overarching business. And when I was a GM, I always tried to, I would say, do you like your job? How much are you making? Have you ever considered working in a hotel? I'm not here to poach you, but keep an open mind. Here's my business card. Always, always, always. And you know, because many of them don't even think about hospitality as a career. Most humans don't think of it as a career. It's just usually thought of as a stopping point to something else or a job. But we are a definite place for a career, period. Peter Ricci [00:29:50]: You know? Steve Carran [00:29:50]: Absolutely. That was great. So I'm excited about this one being on the technology side. But in October, you wrote an article called The New Era of Hotel integrating cutting edge technologies with core marketing principles. So what will the impact of these emerging technologies like virtual reality, Artificial intelligence. What impact are those gonna have on hotels? Peter Ricci [00:30:14]: You know, the the impact will be the savvy tech people who get the specific environment of those brands or those guests, whatever that is. Because to me, I am not technology averse. I'm almost 60, but I have no problem with technology. So think about the people who are gonna be using your hotel that are 50 years younger than I am. They're gonna be so tech savvy that if we don't move the business forward in technology, we're gonna fail. And we've always been a very stagnant business to change. Now, having said that, I'm very cautious about owners who just buy the bells and whistles. They might purchase software or use apps that don't apply to their environment, but they really felt that they were sexy and fun. Peter Ricci [00:31:05]: That's not how to do it. The the way to do it is to get a tech guy like you, Steve, bring you in, understand our culture, and then see how we can make the experience better with the infusion of technology. And if we reduce full time equivalents, FTEs, along the way, fantastic. But the goal shouldn't be I'm gonna use technology to immediately cut 20% of my staff. And that's how a lot of people think off the top. So instead, I flip it and say, okay. What would make your experienced better. You know, I've been on some cruises lately where the the apps on the ships have been outstanding, and they really make my experience better. Peter Ricci [00:31:47]: And then I've been on others where they have a full plate on your phone, and you really don't need all those. So it's just gotta be smart technology and meeting the guest where the guest is. You know, you go high end luxury that might have an older demographic. It might be a different type of new technology that works there first. But that cruise line or hotel or restaurant might have 10 other brands in their portfolio where different technology will work. You can't roll out 1 to the whole thing. And that's that's problematic when you have a big chain like Darden. Think about Darden Restaurants. Peter Ricci [00:32:24]: I mean, they've got the super end of Capitol Grill and Eddie Veaz, and then they've got Olive Garden. Well, an Olive Garden guest is gonna be looking for different stuff than an Eddie Veaz guest. You know? Eddie Veaz paying about $150 a head, Olive Garden paying may be 17 to $24 ahead somewhere in there. So I look at technology to be an assistant to my provision of experience, not just for bells and whistles. And the guy I cowrote that with is an amazing guy. He's got a bachelor's in computer computer science, a master's in hospitality IT, and then his doctoral focus is on technology with consumer behavior in mentality. So that's his whole focus of life is using technology in the right way to enhance guests. You know, I would say enhance guests to spend money, but it's not about money. Peter Ricci [00:33:19]: You gotta make them happy. They're happy they'll spend money. And, you know, happy comes from the staff treating them well and the technology working and being what they want. So, yeah, it's an interesting time to be alive. You know, I wish I was I were 18 again. I'd start all over in hospitality. I'd do something different. I love casinos because I think they use technology in fantastic ways for loyalty programs and player tracking and spend, but it would still be hospitality. Peter Ricci [00:33:48]: I wish somebody had smacked me when I was 20 and just said, don't go to law school. Just keep doing what you're doing. I wouldn't have lost a year and a half, but that's okay. David Millili [00:33:56]: Yeah. You you appreciate it more now. That's alright. Peter Ricci [00:33:58]: Tell me. It's half the semester was all it took to get me out of that crap. David Millili [00:34:04]: So we could say for the last couple years, this year included the industry as a whole, labor shortage has been an issue. And we've there's been a lot of talk about how do you attract people to hospitality, how do you you've touched on it several times. How do you get people to understand that it is a career? So what do you see next year in 2024? Outside of the staffing and labor shortage, what issues do you see or what Highlights do you see that you think will be coming into next year? Peter Ricci [00:34:33]: Well, the on the positive side, I think the sexy and the happy are back. I see people a little happy to be back in the hospitality business and the sexiness is back about travel. We lost that for a while, definitely. One of the knee jerk reactions that I think industry had to do was to raise entry level wages after COVID just to get people in the door. But what happened there were, you know, don't forget, we interacted with almost a 100,000 of them through our certificates. So we heard stories on the macro level. The 60 to $100,000 person was not brought back right away. What were brought back were the baristas, the servers, the front desk agents at a higher price point. Peter Ricci [00:35:19]: So a lot of people in the industry now in these frontline positions came for the dollar amount, and they're giving it a try. As soon as guests are irate or give them a challenge, they bail out of the industry. So I think for the negative for next year is that the turnover has to be focused on. So more training, more engagement and more fact that that we're a career path. And in the higher ed space that I work in, were all down in enrollments when it comes to hospitality. Luckily, we bounced fairly well in South Florida to be at at 80% of where we were, but we were on a trajectory of growth for all 16 years. So if every program in the country is down 1% to 50%. Think about that impact on the workplace. Peter Ricci [00:36:12]: So we're gonna have to look at certificates and high schoolers and other people and get them excited about the business. So the pro is that things are good. You can come in now. I I will not tolerate anybody telling me we're a low paying field anymore. We pay just as well entry level as you're gonna find somewhere else almost in every case. And what's even better right now is you can move up more rapidly because of the space that exists from the turnover. So I see it as a very good thing, but it's a little daunting if you think there's 50 or 100 or 200000 fewer people coming out of hospitality schools when we already had a labor shortage historically. You know? We've always had a problem and struggle to find good labor. Peter Ricci [00:37:00]: So I don't know. You know, maybe Steve has an app for that. Steve Carran [00:37:05]: Not yet. Not yet. So you kinda touched on this a little bit, but I I'd like to go deeper. And you also wrote an article that you know, talking about how we need to inspire the next generation of hoteliers By using instrumental tactics, what are the best ways we can inspire this next generation? Peter Ricci [00:37:24]: You know, it's funny. I'm glad you brought up hoteliers because of all my time in this business, the hotel part was my favorite for multiple reasons. It's very family like. You're welcoming people to your big house, and it's often like running a big city. So the way I try to fires students. And this is one of the reasons we're a business school model of hospitality school is that it doesn't matter what your interest is. If it's HR, if it's accounting, if it's marketing, if it's finance, all those pieces go into the hotel business. So if I can engage you to be happy with your chosen major or discipline or if you're non college student, your interest area and then show you how that works in the hotel space, I think we can inspire a lot of people because it's very rewarding to welcome people to your house all the time. Peter Ricci [00:38:21]: You know, there's always aunts and uncles that drive you crazy, just like the guests. You know but overall, it's a feeling that you don't get in other businesses. And the variety of activity every day appeals to the newer generation. They're very short term in their focus, and they like project based work. And they like achievement results where they get their medal or they get, you know, $100 bonus, whatever it is. So there's a lot of opportunity within hotels to promote to the future generation excitement. But, you know, what I've done now is when we came out of COVID. We went from about 1300 students to 400. Peter Ricci [00:39:05]: So my heart was in my throat, right? We're back up to about 9:50 this semester, and I think we'll kind of stagnate it about 1,000, but that's okay. But we still lost 300. So what I do now within the 1,000 is I purposefully every day focus on the ones that really show me genuine interest and care for guests, then I pull them in, and I take the extra time to find them the right spot. That's what I've been doing. So, you know, so my job is very fun in that, you know, one day, I'm consulting with a hotel owner because they're going into budget. The next day like, today, I'm going to the diplomat to meet the new general manager enter and see one of my alum who's only been out 8 years and already a very high level revenue guy at Hilton. So I like the success stories, then I try to get them back into the classroom because they don't wanna see a 58 year old dude. They wanna see someone who's 25, 27, just graduated, hopefully has a TikTok account, you know? They wanna be influencers. Peter Ricci [00:40:07]: They wanna work project based. I don't blame them. And and you can do that with structure. And then there's always gonna be that that one sector that wants to work with the guest every day and loves it. I had a, server at seasons 52 yesterday, one of the Darden brands. 14 years with the same store, won the server of the year for the whole company, couldn't be fresher and happier in her job. I would have thought it was her first week after training. Just so delightful. Peter Ricci [00:40:38]: So why would you pull someone like that away if that's what she gels on? I said, what gels for you? She said, I don't have to do scheduling. I have regular, so I make great money, and I only work the 4 shifts a week that I want. And I'm like, more power to you. Right? So so, you know, you don't have to be the GM or the regional. You can have a perfect life in this business if you just match up who I say you do you, which I stole from Stacy Ritter, who's the the the CEO of Visit Lauderdale. She says it all the time. And I'm like, you're right, Stacey. You do you because our business permits you to do you. Peter Ricci [00:41:17]: I like that. Steve Carran [00:41:18]: I love that. That's awesome. So our producer, John, has been kinda behind the scenes this whole time listening. He has the 1 final question for you before we head out, Peter. Peter Ricci [00:41:29]: Hope he's not the toughie. Jon Bumhoffer [00:41:32]: We'll we'll see. One thing, like, from your last answer that you were Getting to that I heard from what you said was the flexibility piece that I don't think a lot of people sell into it sell in like, try to sell to future employees. And for me, I used to be a banquet manager in food and beverage at a hotel. I would and I got started doing that because I played in a band, and I toured couple weeks at a time. And this job let me do that and come back, and they were excited to have me, and I was excited to come back. I mean, I always tell people if you're looking for something like that where you can do what you want and still work a job that you like, like, that's a good option. I'm curious what you have to say about the flexibility and how we kind of Package that and let people know about it so, like, it can be a big benefit to their life. Peter Ricci [00:42:18]: It's so funny because we're taken as a business that's 247 open all the time as a negative. And it frustrates the crap out of me because I'm like, I have students who are on call banquet setup guys and ladies in Boca. They make great money. They pick the shifts they want, and they go to school. And when they have finals, they pick and do. And the hotels, if you're good at it, the hotels will always want you on that team, so you're not gonna lose your job. When I was in college, I was a trip director for Merits, is one of my other hospitality jobs that the light bulb didn't go on that I should be in the business. Right? And I would go do projects. Peter Ricci [00:42:55]: I'd go to Nevis for 3 days and do registration. I'd go to the to Atlantis and help with the check-in. Those were all jobs that I could do. And one of my trip direct her friends. That's all she did is made her own schedule because her husband had the benefits and her husband had the more structured schedule and she could be the trip director. Well, the students then want flexibility. I tell them, look at casinos that are 20 fourseven. You're a night owl. Peter Ricci [00:43:23]: What do you do in working at Bank of America? No offense to Bank of America, but they're not open at night. You know, I wanna smack them. I have a student right now. She's working at a place that's ends only. It's like a little, alligator tour kind of thing. And she she doesn't wanna work weekends because she has a kid. I'm like, hello. You know? There's plenty of other places open Monday through Friday. Peter Ricci [00:43:47]: So, yeah, John, you you're spot on. You just have to prove yourself that you're a good employee. And then we need people so much. We want the good employees. We'll work with you. Now granted, that doesn't mean you can come to me. I had you know, sometimes I'll get a student who comes with a printout. I can work Mondays 1 to 4, Wednesday 6 AM to 9, then I have to volunteer. Peter Ricci [00:44:10]: I mean, that doesn't work started business either. But you prove yourself to me, I'm always gonna let you come back, and I'm always gonna work with you because we're open. You know? Jon Bumhoffer [00:44:19]: And that was that was my experience too is, like, when I was there, it wasn't like when I was back, like, I was not touring and I would be back, it would be if if somebody need if I need to pick up a shift or they need me to come in, I'm ready to do it. I was just gone for 2 weeks, so I'm like, I I wanna be a part of it and help it succeed. And they Never said don't come back. And I actually got promoted. I continued to get promoted. Like, so Peter Ricci [00:44:40]: That also shows good leadership ship in that property from the GM and HR director that they had that kind of culture. Because I have all too many GMs. They're like, oh, students. I don't want stood it. And like, what are you talking about? You know, meanwhile, they have 35% open positions. So so, you know, and I'll leave you with this. One of the things that baffles me, you know, I put, thankfully for Andrea on my team, we post probably 1 to 3 1,000 jobs a week for free for employers. And we have a faithful email list. Peter Ricci [00:45:12]: Anybody can opt into it from anywhere over the world. The one thing I dread is when I go to a hotel and they're like, god. We have such a need. And then I look and they haven't posted their jobs in a year. So it's both ways, my friend. You know? Yeah. It's both ways. You gotta be out, you gotta be vibrant, and you gotta have a culture of I want people to work in this business. David Millili [00:45:32]: Well, Peter, that does it for another episode of The Modern Hotelier. This is the part where you get to let people know How they can find out more about FAU, how they can get in touch with you, so plug away, Peter. Peter Ricci [00:45:44]: So, you know, just look me up on LinkedIn, Peter Ritchie, r I c c I. Hi. I'll connect you. We have a certificate that we update every 2 years at FAU. It's a $199, but we have so many donations, we give everybody debuts discounts. So it's 149 until we run out of money. And, hopefully, while I'm alive, we won't run out of money. So, come back. Peter Ricci [00:46:06]: The one starting in March is awesome. Some. We have 30 separate videos. I interviewed the president of Region 7 Seas. I hope to interview Christine Duffy from Carnival in February. So there's interviews with leaders. There's sessions on AI and what people are doing with it, sessions on menu design. It's just a little taste of many different things to keep you engaged with the industry and see what's going on today. Peter Ricci [00:46:31]: And if any of you can recommend a tech person for an interview, I'd love a tech company showcase, either a PMS or an app or something fun to do a 1 on 1 interview in there. Said, I can't thank you guys enough for letting us get the word out. Come work in hospitality. Don't be shy. It's it's definitely a great place. David Millili [00:46:50]: That does it for another episode of the Modern Natalia. We look forward to seeing or talking to you soon. Thank you so much. Peter Ricci [00:46:57]: Thank you, guys. StayFlexi [00:46:58]: Welcome to today's episode. We're thrilled to introduce you to StayFlexi, an innovative platform revolutionizing the hospitality industry. Backed by Y Combinator, StayFlexy is a modern all in one PMS platform. Leveraging the power of AI, it's transforming how hotels operate, maximizing efficiency, And boosting sales for unsold rooms. Already, over 2,000 properties worldwide have made the switch to StayFlexy, experiencing the difference it makes. And here's the best part. Exclusively for our listeners, Stay Flexi is offering an incredible lifetime deal at just $149 per month. That's an astounding 80% discount. StayFlexi [00:47:36]: Don't miss this opportunity to elevate your hotel's performance with Stay Flexi. Stay tuned for more details. David Millili [00:47:42]: You made it to the end of Steve Carran [00:47:43]: the Modern Hotelier. Thanks for listening. The Modern Hotelier is produced by Make More Media. Make sure to like and subscribe if you're watching on YouTube or Follow wherever you get your podcast. If you know of a guest or sponsor that would be a good fit, feel free to email us at hello at the modern hotelier .com. Thanks, and have a great day.