PROFILE
the right person for the right hotel need ,” adds Bomar , 42 . “ With all the first-party data that ’ s available to hotel suppliers , you can really steer your acquisition media toward new customers or specific customers that you want to stay in your hotel .”
Bomar , who joined Google in 2017 , comes from a hospitality background including seven years with Hilton , ultimately as vice president of digital acquisition and brand marketing .
“ I loved it , I loved being there ,” he says . “ Working on the supplier side and working at Hilton really has helped me in this role . Google genuinely tries hard to be a real business driver and not just a media or a technology partner . Google tries to help solve a business need , and having first-hand knowledge of what that business need looks like in the hotel space , I think , has really helped me here when I work with , say , IHG and some of the other hotel partners . I understand more of the nuances than if I hadn ’ t spent time on the hotel side of things .”
The middle of three sons , Bomar got into digital early on . He started as a marketing associate for AltaVista , followed by time at Travelocity ( where he discovered a taste for travel ) before going on to work for Hilton .
“ Dustin has in-depth knowledge of the travel industry and has an ability to see the points of view of the stakeholders in the ecosystem ,” says Google ’ s Jennifer
GOOGLE GENUINELY TRIES HARD TO BE A REAL BUSINESS DRIVER
AND NOT JUST A MEDIA OR A TECHNOLOGY PARTNER .
Bomar speaking on behalf of Google at the Florida Governor ' s Conference on Tourism .
Wesley , industry director for travel . “ This has made him invaluable in many conversations with our partners large and small . He has a sharp wit and a great ability to improv in the moment . He would make a great talk show host .
“ I think of him as a catalyst for thoughtful , smart evolution . He thinks strategically about how travel partners can embrace digital and ensure they are meeting the customer expectations of a seamless , frictionless , real-time experience ,” Wesley adds .
LOOKING FORWARD Hotel companies have long been seen as being unwilling to invest in technology — and for not doing it quickly enough when new technology comes to market .
“ Google is very good about getting things out there quickly and evolving quickly ,” Bomar says . “ I think generally , it ’ s fair to say that hotels , especially on property , have a harder time being quick , but that comes with the burden of in some cases having thousands of physical assets that are franchised-owned . And you may have a hard time getting a franchise owner to invest capital in that property if you have no idea what the upside is going to look like .”
One prediction he ’ s willing to make about the future of digital : “ It used to be when you talked about customer acquisition with Google , you ’ d have a list of millions and millions of keywords and you would be getting very granular on them . But more and more , as audience capabilities improve , you don ’ t have to focus on keywords as much ,” Bomar says . “ It ’ s much more about the intent , and there are plenty of ways to identify intent and use the keyword as kind of the platform for getting in front of the right person . You can kind of set the guard rails and let AI take over . And then AI can use the massive reach that ’ s available on search and go get that right person .”
46 hotelsmag . com April 2019