Transforming To Stay Relevant

The emergence of aspirational and younger customers and the need for fluidity in spaces has led to rethink in design and placing the community at the core of hotel experiences.

- Deepali Nandwani

The future of global hotel chains will increasingly be driven by the convergence of a highly competitive landscape marked by a digital explosion of information and the aspirational new customer seeking out unique experiences.

In order to survive, hotel chains will not just have to incorporate big data insights. They will also have to provide personalized services, continuously develop the brand through signature experiences, utilize collaboration and open innovation to maintain an edge in technology and service, and through total revenue management, generate ancillary revenues while maximizing guest spend.

This, sometimes, involves a complete overhaul — not just in terms of amenities and experiences within hotels, but even re-branding hotels and redesigning them to keep up with changing guests’ needs and contemporary times.

As Brendan Richard from the University of Central Florida, in his research paper called Hotel Chains: survival strategies for dynamic future, writes, “Guests are becoming more diverse, both demographically and in their expectations. Globally, an exploding middle class will necessitate brand restructuring to accommodate a more diverse customer base. Millennials, already a significant percentage of the global workforce are, more so than previous generations, social beings that crave instant satisfaction, exploration, and smart spending according to an Ernst & Young report.”

Transforming brand strategy