This month, IoH Youth Council member, Rishabh Vaish AIH, reviews ‘Business Trends in Practice: The 25+ Trends that are Redefining Organizations’ by Bernard Marr.
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Bernard Marr’s ‘Business Trends in Practice: The 25+ Trends That Are Redefining Organizations’ is far more than a dry list of disruptive forces; for those of us in the hotel industry, it is a crucial field guide to securing our future relevance. Given that hospitality is an industry uniquely vulnerable to both technological shifts and changing consumer values, Marr’s methodical breakdown of mega-trends offers a vital blueprint for every General Manager, owner, and brand executive.
The book’s immediate value lies in its laser focus on rethinking what businesses offer, which is precisely where hotels live or die, in the guest experience. Marr’s deep dive into consumer trends like hyper-personalisation is directly applicable to our check-in and loyalty strategies. He stresses the move toward Immersive Experiences, validating the industry’s shift away from just selling a room to selling a curated, memorable stay.
For me, the standout takeaway is the emphasis on Conscious Consumption. The data Marr presents makes it clear: sustainability, local sourcing, and ethical operations are no longer optional extras but core drivers of booking decisions, dictating how we must design our properties and manage our waste streams to attract the modern traveller.
The section on rethinking how businesses are run is equally valuable to the considerations for a General Manager. The hospitality sector faces perennial staffing challenges, and Marr’s analysis of technological trends, specifically AI, process automation, and the Internet of Things (IoT), provides solutions for augmenting, not replacing, our human teams. Implementing smart room technologies, automating reservation management via AI, and streamlining back-of-house operations with process automation techniques are presented not as futuristic dreams but as achievable practices used by forward-thinking companies today.
Furthermore, the discussion on talent and organisational structure is critical. As we rely on distributed corporate teams and flexible staffing models, Marr’s insights on Flatter, More Agile Organisations provide a roadmap for managing complex operations across multiple properties without succumbing to bureaucratic lag.
Marr successfully cuts through the technical jargon, presenting each of the 25+ trends with clear real-world examples that allow us to immediately translate theory into property-level strategy.
This book is a must-read for hoteliers at all levels; Senior professionals who are already leading the industry can learn to adopt and evolve the designs to bring future-proof experiences that leverage technology while staying true to the human-centric nature of hospitality. While young professionals can grow in the industry with this new mindset, where these mega trends can be part of the blueprints of the path that they will be paving for the future of the industry.
This review and rating are the opinion of the reviewer.
5 stars = Exceptional not to be missed | 4.5 stars = Essential read | 4 stars =Very good | 3 stars = Good | 2 stars = Poor | 1 star = Very poor
This book fits into the Business & Leadership pillars under the IoH’s Five Pillars of Learning, an approach to continuing professional development based on the five core areas of hospitality management.
Record your CPD Hours: This book forms part of a member’s CPD hours. You can log your CPD hours here.
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