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2020 – an exceptional year

2020 was many things. But most of all it was incredibly challenging with many unexpected twists and turns. It was a long 12 months (felt like 112) for all of us and now the year is finally coming to an end. Let’s take this opportunity to rewind and relive it one more time.

January – 2020 will be legen… wait for it …dary!

Busy as ever we started the new year with a bang. January was an epic month, we won the HotelTechAwards (times four), we welcomed six new employees, and the preparations for ITB Berlin were in full swing. Those were the days when Corona was a beer brand, nothing more.

February – Just Like A Fairy Tale

February was mind-blowing! Our sales bell? On fire. Some days at the office it felt like we were constantly surrounded by a particularly lively herd of cows. Ding, ding! On top of that came the website relaunch planned for the ITB. We finished it in the nick of time! Right on the dot for … them to cancel the ITB. Suddenly, Corona was no longer just beer.

March – A fairy tale turned horror movie

Remember in The Lion King, when Timon tells Simba that “you’ve got to put your past behind you”? I could not agree more. March felt like I got whacked over the head and it hurt. A lot. My team and I suddenly found ourselves stuck on an endless scary rollercoaster ride. Myself sitting in the first cart, not knowing if we were moving forward or backward. I could count the number of hours I slept the first days following the lockdown on the fingers of one hand. But then the most beautiful thing happened. Like a scene from a movie, the whole team stepped up and showed me that they were there for me, always. We came up with a bed management solution to help hospitals to better manage their capacity. The Customer Success Team took amazing care of our clients and their requests. And the marketing team launched the medikit and teamkit website. And it all happened completely out of home office. A horror movie for sure, but with a happy ending. 😉

April – Even the tidiest hotel loves good spring-clean

April was all about cleaning. I don’t think I’ve ever washed my hands as many times as I have in April. Who would have thought that hotels would one day use high-tech sanitizer spray machine-guns in their ads? From our side, it was all about supporting our clients the best we could. Therefore, we prepared several templates and useful content such as hygiene checklists, cleaning processes and lots more for direct download in hotelkit.  

May – Never cast a clout till May is out

All things seemed possible in May but the Austrian government kindly reminded us not to be too quick to shuck the winter woollies before the chilly days of May were over. The curve flattened, everyone’s mood brightened and so did the hotelkit statistics. Like the rest of the world, we discovered Zoom and quickly launched our first Webinar on hygiene in hotels with a record attendance of over 1,000 participants.

June – I can’t breathe

In a true awful 2020 manner, June saw abominable injustice happen again, in the streets of Minneapolis. Soon after, the Black Lives Matter movement had become global. A jarring reminder to focus on what really matters most, especially in the hospitality industry – equality, diversity and inclusion.

July & August – Summer, sun and travel restrictions

The summer months seemed to melt into one long period of uncertainty mixed with sunshine and the promise of better days. Due to various travel restrictions, leisure tourism in Austria was thriving. While things still didn’t look so rosy for city hotels, we were all just hoping for the best.

September – ‘My Life Cannot Depend On Success’

Being a tennis fan myself, September was the end of a long wait for the Austrian tennis community. I came to realize that, as Thiem so nicely puts it, life cannot depend on success alone. Don’t rush processes, good things take time.

October – but no Oktoberfest

Let’s be honest, this wasn’t a surprise for anybody but unfortunately, we had to postpone our traditional trip to the Oktoberfest. Nothing is better than a picnic, they say. Therefore, we went for a little party in the park instead. If there is one statistic the hotelkit team did not achieve this year, it is the amount of beer drunk in October. From a business perspective, the harvest month is renowned for being one of the busiest. Well, 2020 staying true to itself, it felt really quiet throughout the month. Our customers had adapted to the new standards and everything seemed to go well. But we all knew… the time to take a deep breath has not yet come. 

November – An unpleasant déjà vu

November somewhat kicked us back to March. A second lockdown, hotels closed or only allowed to welcome business guests again. And we’re all trying not to freak out all over again, trying to make the best of it. As we knew there could and probably would be another lockdown, it at least didn’t catch us by surprise this time.

December – Let’s get off the roller coaster

Now it’s December and we’re not ending the year by showing you impressive numbers, as usual. To be honest, we’re just glad the year will be over soon and we have high hopes for a better 2021. The one thing we’re thankful for this year … that’s definitely our clients and all hoteliers out there! Without you all, we wouldn’t be here. So, please pat yourselves on your back and know that we are truly and deeply thankful for your continuous interest, your trust and loyalty. We wish and we hope that we will be richly rewarded for this year’s lows in next year’s amazing highs!

Julia is specialized in webdesign but also likes to write blog articles from time to time.

About the author

Julia Stiefsohn

Enjoys giving websites an attractive look, this blog also bears her creative handwriting, at least in part. Speaking of handwriting: every now and then, when she’s in the flow, she also writes.

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