Are hotel guests getting more difficult these days?

Many hoteliers buy into the illusion that guests are increasingly rude and difficult, reinforcing these stereotypes to frontline customer service staff

Instead, hospitality leaders should be training their frontline staff to better understand and empathize with guests, to reflect on the challenges and stresses of travel itself, and to prepare them to change the mood of those they encounter.

Key takeaways

• When employees encounter difficult guests, be supportive, but also remind them that we are all emotional creatures living in a physical world;
• While it's OK to vent, teach them to avoid rumination, which psychology tells us is a negative habit of replaying bad experiences in our minds, reliving them each time we retell them;
• Always remind employees of the wide range of human personalities. For every truly disagreeable guest they encounter, they are likely to encounter a particularly nice, friendly guest.

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