In a hotel in Budapest, I saw something that really impressed me, both personally and professionally.
It's a special corner in the breakfast room, which is all about local flavors.
All of us who have been in tourism for a long time know very well how it works in practice and we should not fool ourselves. It is clear that local producers often cannot keep up with the pace of large hotel chains. Sometimes it would be due to quantity, sometimes to transportation or those strict papers and standards dictated by laws and corporations, and let's face it, the price often dictates the story.
It is difficult to expect every piece of food on the buffet to be homemade because the operational logic of large systems simply demands something else.
However, to single out a corner, clearly mark it and give it importance is something else entirely. Just imagine that table on which our beautiful, mature cheeses, that real honey or dried meat that smells of tradition and a homely hearth are found. When you offer your guest those small jars of homemade forest fruit jams or a box with carefully selected teas made from Herzegovinian or mountain herbs, you are telling them a story about yourself.
With this gesture, you clearly tell your guest, but also the entire community, that you appreciate the climate in which you work.
This is what would make the difference from the very first morning when a guest gets up and goes to breakfast, between a mere overnight stay and a true experience of the destination.
Maybe this could be a good homework assignment for our hoteliers as well. To turn the story and wishes into a concrete concept.