Hotels are here to stay amid rise in home-sharing options
Technological advances, coupled with increased accessibility in terms of cost and availability have re-shaped people’s behavior – including how we conduct business. Once-ubiquitous industries have either gone the way of the dinosaurs or find their dominance diminished by the great digital disruption.
As the much talked-about generation of millennials make up a growing share of the workforce – and consequently the market – industries have evolved in ways that cater to their specific needs and tastes.
Traditional taxi services around the world have been upended by Transport Network Companies such as Uberand Grab. Cellular service providers can no longer count on consumer calls and texts for business growth, but on mobile data and Internet services. Restaurants don’t just have to produce delicious meals, but also photogenic ones.
On the hotel front, the largest “hotelier” in the world in terms of number of rooms on offer is no longer any of the marquee brands. It is a company called Airbnb that was started by two roommates who, in 2007,put out an online ad for bedspace in their San Francisco apartment to help them meet rent.
For travel-happy young professionals who want to see the world on a comparatively tight budget, this has enabled them to travel at a fraction of what a 4-star hotel stay would have cost. It also suits their need for a unique and authentic local experience by giving them the feel of living in a real house or apartment.
One might be led into thinking that the emergence of home-sharing networks is crippling hotel occupancy and revenues. On the contrary, studies in certain markets show periods of peak Airbnb occupancy show onlynegligible impacts ontraditional hotel occupancy for the same period.
This may be baffling to some, but as someone who has been working in the integrated resort industry for a good while now, this isn’t very surprising. Home sharing hasn’t eaten away at hotels’ coremarkets of business and luxury travelers. Rather, it has created a market all its own and is overall a boon for the global tourism industry.
While both essentially provide short-term accommodations for travelers, hotels provide a completely different experience to home stays. Hotels provide a certain standard of service, security, and safety that is so far unmatched by home sharing and remains a top priority for many customers. Home sharing clients value things such as “uniqueness” and “quirkiness,” while hotel clients generally prefer the assurance of the expected and waking up to a prepared buffet breakfast.
From my own experience, hotel occupancy remains high, despite the “condominium competition” being in close quarters with Resorts World Manila’s four hotel brands. In fact, demand exceeds our existing room supply in as much that we will be opening three more hotels within the property in 2018.
Our integrated resort’s proximity to Metro Manila airports makes us a prime location for travelers across all segments and the opening of Runway Manila, which directly links Newport estate with NAIA 3, makes our integrated resort and entertainment even more accessible to them. More than anything, I would attribute our hotels’ enduring appeal to the world-class Filipino service and hospitality that all guests can expect from each of them – from the value-for-money Remington Hotel to our all-suite Maxims Hotel. **** The author is chief operating officer of Resort World Manila. corporatecommunications@rwmanila.com.