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TAMPA BAY • FEBRUARY 23-24 2026

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Where to . . . What Now? Waxing Philosophical About the Future

What is sure right now, though, is that 2013, as far as the economists are concerned, does not bode well for the United States, or Europe for that matter. The dollar is in trouble (what’s new there), and the Euro’s demise, in many circles, is now openly spoken of as a fait accomplishment.

And 2014 is just around the corner.

Are we to believe this and, if so, what shall we do? Can we do anything? Do we do nothing and let “nature” and the “markets” run their course?

The population is increasing at an alarming rate and I can’t help but wonder if the Good Earth will be able to produce enough food to sustain all of us.

Have we taken advantage of Mother Earth? Have we, to put it bluntly, raped Mother Earth? As far as the Greenies, the man-caused Global Warmers, and Al Gore are concerned, that’s exactly what we have done: we have raped, and continue to rape, Mother Earth.

Hmm. That’s a lot to ponder for the end of 2013 and the beginning of 2014. Heavy stuff!

I think I’ll leave all those thoughts to you, the reader.

We are slowly recovering from a recession (depression?) that essentially we brought on ourselves.

Is it possible we have learned nothing from it? We seem to be repeating the same failed policies of the past to correct the problem, with the same failed past results.

Take the hotel business, for example, we overbuilt the hotel market and paid the price for doing so; and still are, for that matter, with little end in sight.

For a while some people did make a lot of money, but in the end most had to declare bankruptcy, or sell at a distressed price.

The BIG PROBLEM, as I see it, is that many in our business ignored or misjudged the short term as well as the long term business cycle. I suspect, in most cases, due to ignorance, to make a quick profit, to be more competitive or just plain “damn the competition, more hotels ahead!” Whatever the reason, the crash happened, and left too many dying in the falling building dust.

If we have another good economic run, are we fated to repeat the same mistakes?

YES!

Why? Because we, as business managers, developers, investors, and owners are always ready to ride the next bull market in hopes the bears will hibernate for a long, long time. After all, profits are to be made NOW, so it’s time to grab the bulls by the horns and keep them around as long as possible.

And if, for some reason, the bears come out of hibernation en mass, we can always blame “nature,” or government, or the weather, or this or that happeningnever ourselvesand, who knows, it may well be our time to ask the government to bail us out!

Sound familiar?

Chances are, if we built and managed for the long haul, we would have our ups and downs, but not nearly as high as Everest or as deep as the Mariana’s Trench. In other words, if we really paid attention to what we do and did it right, we would be far ahead of the game, and very little to worry about. We live and act too much in the “I want (deserve) it NOW” generation, and not enough in the long-term realistic generation.

The economy sucks right now, that’s true, and the unemployment rate, the government figures as well as the real figures, are quite high, but those that really want to work, are.

Consistent and steady growth over the long-haul will always beat out the instant profiteers. Also, those that manage to actually work for an organization that’s in business for the long-haul, have more dedicated and happier employees.

Any resolutions ahead?


 

 

Alan Campbell
Alan Campbellhttp://hmsco1.wix.com/hmsco1
ALAN is a highly accomplished, results oriented Hotelier with many years of experience in developing and delivering strategies and implementing solid organizational cultures that addresses the needs of the customer, colleagues, owners, community and industry. He has been in Las Vegas for over 30 years and has worked for the major strip hotels. Alan has spent some time in California, Los Angeles where he worked for the Radisson and Sheraton hotels. He considers the hospitality industry the best job in the world – it is the only place that both king’s and Paupers will visit you. Alan is also a featured contributor for Ehotelier.com, the “Global Hotelier’s Community.”

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