• Global groups,
As expectations mount, consumers are putting pressure on global hotel groups to innovate and set themselves apart, writes Catherine Chetwynd
Keeping pace with a competitive, constantly changing industry is a struggle for hoteliers. Customer experience continues to be paramount, as does a relationship with the location guests visit – ‘it’s Tuesday, it must be Rome’ no longer washes, if it ever did.
As a result, some brands host talks or demonstrations by local talent, or drinks or food tasting, or engage with nearby activities or buy locally grown food.
Buying local also hits sustainability criteria, something younger guests are particularly gripped with. This includes restaurants that promote vegetarian and vegan options, and hotels that use LED lighting or smart light bulbs and heating to save energy. And according to a report on hospitality trends by Revfine, “there are also decisions to be made about using more sustainable materials for things like towels and bed sheets”. In response Accor last year launched Greet, a community-based, environmentally aware and socially responsible economy brand.
Hotels generally, and bedrooms specifically, are getting smarter, thanks to the ‘Internet of Things’ allowing guests to control heating or air conditioning from their phone or turn on the TV by voice command to a smart speaker. In some cases, smart rooms automatically adjust the brightness of light bulbs or temperature of a radiator to maintain optimal conditions, turning down both when guests are not in the room.
Going through the gears
Mood Room was launched as a trial in NH Collection Madrid Eurobuilding last year by NH Hotel Group as the ‘room of the future’ and allows guests to customise lighting, music, curtains and temperature.
Hilton is rolling out Connected Room technology across the US, enabling guests to control in-room services via the Hilton Honors app; Marriott is developing smart rooms and even a shower door that allows guests to record thoughts while under the water, overcoming the perennial problem of having good ideas only when you can’t write them down; and Accor’s #360ROOM allows guests to design their room. All this reflects the important role of personalisation.
Once again the sharing economy raises its head as traditional hotel operators enter this space. Marriott International and Hostmaker have launched home-sharing platform Tribute Portfolio Homes, and Hyatt’s Oasis and Accor’s onefinestay also fit this model.
But, as Bjorn Hanson (professor at NY’S Tisch Center for Hospitality & Tourism) recently pointed out in Hotels magazine, it is challenging for groups to find a model that works in the sharing economy.
Hotel groups are diversifying and Managing Director of Katara Hospitality Switzerland, Bruno H. Schöpfer, is unequivocal about that need: “If you do not diversify, the first crisis to hit will put you out of business. The more diversified your business is, the better,” he states in EHL’S Lausanne Report.
IHG is intent on broadening its portfolio. It has 16 brands, most recently adding Avid, which delivers “the basics at a fair price” and upscale Voco, a soft brand. The group is also emphasising luxury through Kimpton, Regent and Six Senses, the latter acquired early last year. IHG increased in size by 4.7% from January to September last year.
Meanwhile, Yotel has expanded from its initial Yotel Air brand to Yotel City hotels and Yotel Pad serviced apartments. “We now have three diverse offerings that provide accommodation for every reason people travel,” says SVP of Brand, Jo Berrington. In the past 12 months, the group has doubled in size to 14 properties, with another seven opening in 2020.
Last year, Accor launched Tribe, which provides affordable high-quality accommodation; and luxury lifestyle brand The House of Originals, in partnership with SBE, which aims to create a community.
In fact, for Accor, lifestyle brands are the way forward, with Mama Shelter, Tribe, Jo and Joe, Hyde and 25hours to show for it. Diversification comes in the form of Wojo co-working spaces.
The soft touch
Meanwhile, soft brands are on the up – generally using the word ‘collection’ to signal the genre – allowing large groups to offer a quirky, independent face and giving those properties worldwide representation; chains also gain distribution overseas more quickly, especially in Europe, where independent properties outweigh groups.
Last year, 85% of new sign-ups to Best Western fell into this category, sailing under names such as BW Collection, BW Signature Collection and Sure Hotel Collection by Best Western. Marriott has The Luxury Collection, EDITION, Autograph Collection, Design
Hotels and Tribute Portfolio; Radisson’s Lifestyle Collection was formerly Quorvus; Curio and Tapestry Collection are Hilton’s entries. In fact, Skift research showed that growth in soft brand rooms for Hilton, Marriott, Choice, Hyatt and IHG has on average been significantly higher than that of the companies’ overall portfolio, suggesting there is also a financial imperative.
Through all this activity, corporate customers have focused on making their global hotel spend more cost-effective. “Comprehensive cost-saving analysis helps corporates manage their budgets through tailored reporting, clearly showing spend, as well as highlighting where there is the opportunity for personal and company benefits and added-value across the Accor portfolio,” says Director of Corporate Sales & TMC Partners UKI, Jonathan Pettifer.
“Primary volume destinations are still subject to the detailed RFP and granular negotiation process, which is then typically supplemented with a global dynamic discount programme in secondary destinations.”
Pettifer continues: “Our partnership with corporate travel managers is changing. To
Soft brands are on the up – generally using the word ‘collection’ to signal the genre – allowing large groups to offer a quirky, independent face and giving those properties worldwide representation”
support their need for deeper insights and to demonstrate our value in the relationship, we have developed a range of analytics and tools to monitor distribution channels, rate types and measure achieved savings, and explore potential savings and efficiencies.
“We are also mindful that sustainability is part of the selection process for corporates, along with price, location and brands. Accor is passionate about sustainable development as part of our Planet21 commitment. For example, in 2019 Accor saved 110,000 meals in partnership with food waste app Too
Good To Go,” says Pettifer.
In an ever-changing world, it is essential for hoteliers to learn on the hoof. Survival of the fittest is a myth; in Darwin’s understanding of natural selection, it was not the biggest and the strongest players that survived change, but rather it's the most adaptable – and hoteliers are embracing that.