1996
Credit : iStock / Ron Bailey
Contributed by Chip Conley , head of global hospitality and strategy , airbnb , san franCisCo
“ Local and personal .”
These two words have been primary ingredients in the disruption recipe that boutique hoteliers and the home-sharing movement have offered to their growing segment of guests .
From the 1960s to the ’ 80s , as the middle class started traveling more often , predictability and ubiquity were primary needs . But boutique hotels were an early indicator more than 30 years ago that a more experienced guest population was looking for a more experience-centric offering . Home-sharing has taken that trend of “ local and personal ” a few steps further and made it global as well . “ Living like a local ” is a positive byproduct of being a home-sharing guest and because the relationship with a host is so personal , they ’ re able to tailor the experience to meet your needs .
There are more and more digital nomads — not two-day Hilton road warriors but more like two-week Ace Hotel habitués . The more that travelers blend business and leisure into “ bleisure ” trips , the more they seek suggestions for personal , off-the-beatentrack experiences . In business traveler preference surveys , “ discovery ” now ranks higher than “ indulgence .” And in this age of social media , it ’ s cooler to share on Facebook the discovery of an intimate restaurant on an alley than the thread count of your sheets . Today ’ s hotel revenue managers are data scientists and sleuths who can help both identify psychographically perfect guests and keep track of their evolving needs so that you can deliver on those needs more adeptly . Machine learning means that the more a customer buys , the better the company can deliver on their unique needs . Many other industries have developed personalization algorithms , but hotels are woefully behind on this trend . This will become increasingly important as travelers see their accommodations provider as a “ lifestyle curator ” who doesn ’ t just provide a place to sleep but also a perfectly suitable itinerary of activities .
Creating a residential-feel-
The more that travelers blend business and leisure into “ bleisure ” trips , the more they seek suggestions for personal , off-thebeaten-track experiences .
— Chip Conley
Dancing with the Devil
In 1996 , Microsoft created Expedia . com , and ever since the hotel industry has struggled with a case of co-dependency as savvy price-comparison technology and aggressive advertising shaved precious points off RevPAR . In 2012 , six hotel companies launched Room Key , a metasearch engine that has been relegated to wallflower status as focus shifts to loyalty programs and members-only pricing . OTAs , despite Europe ’ s attempts to kill rate-parity clauses , are introducing their own such programs — there ’ s Expedia , again — and metasearches like Kayak . The beat goes on .
September 2016 hotelsmag . com 33