HOTEL LEADERS GATHER WITH “ FRENEMIES ” AIRBNB AND EXPEDIA TO DISCUSS HOW TO BEST MANAGE AND SUCCEED IN AN EVER-EVOLVING CUSTOMER ACQUISITION AND RETENTION ENVIRONMENT .
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By JEFF WEINSTEIN , EDITOR IN CHIEF
HOTEL LEADERS GATHER WITH “ FRENEMIES ” AIRBNB AND EXPEDIA TO DISCUSS HOW TO BEST MANAGE AND SUCCEED IN AN EVER-EVOLVING CUSTOMER ACQUISITION AND RETENTION ENVIRONMENT .
From digital applications to old-fashioned personal service interactions , there are so many new ways to market and operate hotels to please increasingly fickle guests . On January 23 , as the Americas Lodging Investment Summit was convening at the JW Marriott LA Live , The Wall Street Journal sponsored a HOTELS roundtable discussion focused on the topical and timely ways hoteliers can drive business and engender loyalty in an increasingly crowded and disrupted marketplace .
Among the big takeaways : Understand the context in which people are traveling to best meet their needs ; connect and react more directly to provide more value ; and , after 90 minutes of conversation often focused on the best technology-based practices , it simply came back to offering an outstanding product with genuine and personal service . “ The Holy Grail will always be people serving people ,” Hilton ’ s Jim Holthouser concluded .
HOTELS : WHAT HAVE SHARING ECONOMY
SERVICES ( AIRBNB AND THE LIKE ) TAUGHT YOU ABOUT YOUR HOTEL BUSINESS ?
Stephanie Linnartz : For me , the biggest takeaway is PEOPLE WANT AUTHEN- TIC , LOCAL EXPERIENCES . So what can we do in the context of a hotel ? It really depends on what the guest experience is , which means there ’ s a place for all these different brands ... There ’ s an aspect of the social part that millennials love and hotels can really build upon . For example , at Marriott we ’ ve complemented some of the
May 2017 hotelsmag . com 19