HOW THE NEXT GENERATION OF TRAVELERS ARE CHANGING HOTEL DEMAND

Implement these Insights to Achieve 100%+ RevPAR Index

or accept a slow erosion of topline revenue

Executive Summary

When you go to hotel conferences or talk to hotel owners, the main focus is typically hotel supply. What is in the pipeline? What are the new flags? What trendy amenity is attracting guests? All valid & important. This is what owners can control to drive demand, right?

We see things a little differently because there is a massive shift in the guest’s power. What if we focused on the guests' changing needs? Not just the rooms, common areas, and amenities, but how they are interacting with our asset, flag, and brand before, during and after their stay. How would that change the investment, design and operational conversation?

The change in demand has slowly dripped into the hotel industry starting with the Internet, then

with mobile phones, and has broken through with

the advent of COVID. As Millennials and Gen X

become a larger part of travel demand each year,

demand is shifting further to a custom-made,

review-based, social media driven experience.

As Bill Gates (a major LP in Four Seasons)

once said, "We always overestimate the

change that will occur in the next two years

and underestimate the change that will

occur in the next ten." This is particularly

true in the hospitality industry, where the

expectations and behaviors of travelers are

evolving rapidly.

We’ve written this paper to share our ideas

on how guest demand is changing. Why?

Because hotels face a unique day-to-day

challenge - the nightly nature of demand.

And if you are not addressing the changes

in demand, you’ll likely find yourself losing

to the competition. If not now, then into a

slow drip, low-margin future.

How are you attracting and generating demand from the next generation of travelers to bolster your hotel’s margins?