The real enemy of the hospitality industry, which is a sector of occupancy, labour and energy costs, is ourselves, and unless we change our thinking about the industry’s fragmentation and keep up with trends, we are headed into big trouble, said South African franchising heavyweight Ben Filmalter yesterday, Wednesday, 24 February 2010.
Filmalter, who opened the first Mugg & Bean coffee shop in Cape Town’s V&A Waterfront in late 1996, was addressing a franchising breakfast session yesterday morning in Fairlands, Johannesburg.
“This is a very difficult industry that needs dreams, tenacity, common sense and resolute leadership,†Filmalter said, adding that one has to believe and be fully committed in this business if one wants to make it big.