With the advent of the new hotel "gig economy," disrupters like Vrbo, Airbnb and others have whittled away market share from traditional hoteliers across the globe.
Todd Soloway, head of the firm's Hotel + Hospitality Practice, recently spoke with Nick Fortuna from Today's Hotelier on the various strategies that hoteliers can employ to maintain their edge in an increasingly competitive and dynamic landscape.
Soloway notes that "Airbnb is going to have its share of the business no matter what.... The key is to compete on a number of fronts at the same time instead of doing one thing alone. You want to compete on price, the level of service and by providing your brand assurances – the comfort of knowing that a brand is standing behind this room, so you are guaranteed a certain level of quality that they cannot guarantee at Airbnb."
In the article, Soloway also suggests to focus on the experience and to promote loyalty programs, among other things.
"Loyalty programs are a big deal because if you build up your points, you get free room nights, and for the hotelier, once you get the customer in your system, the customer is more likely to use that system going forward."
Originally published by Todays Hotelier
The full article can be found here.
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