Industry changes create exciting opportunities
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According to the latest UNWTO World Tourism Barometer, international tourist arrivals reached a record 1.14 billion in 2014, an increase of 4.7 percent over the previous year. Hospitality will continue to be one of the most dynamic sectors in the world, predicted to support one in 10 jobs around the world by 2023. According to data from the World Travel & Tourism Council, the first three quarters of 2014 saw strong double-digit growth of arrivals in several markets in the Asia Pacific region — among them Japan, China’s Taiwan, South Korea, Sri Lanka and Myanmar.
While some of these markets are seasoned tourism destinations with excellent infrastructure, others only recently became accessible to the average traveler. Their growth and increased demand for talent mean greater opportunities for hospitality graduates.
Online booking and online travel agencies have been celebrated as the newest innovation in travel, reaching more than US$278 billion in bookings in 2013, according to The Economist. Hotels have struggled to address online peer reviews and comments, but in 2015 will reconsider their business models and the very meaning of hospitality in an effort to identify new customers, niches and areas of growth.
The recent shift in consumer behavior brought forth a younger, tech-savvy and cost-conscious clientele, demanding different services than traditional hotel companies offer. This led to the appearance of new brands such as citizenM Hotels, directly targeting this demographic, and made existing companies extend their brand portfolio as Marriott did with the creation of Moxy Hotels, a joint venture with Swedish furniture maker, IKEA.
The opening of the first Virgin Hotel in Chicago and National Geographic’s announcement about its launch of 26 boutique hotels add a fresh dynamic to the business. Both brands have developed new strategies and tailored their business models for today’s traveler.
For educators, these trends offer rich, real-world examples that our students may learn from; we must continue to consult with industry partners to ensure we incorporate all relevant and current innovations into our curriculum.
As hotel companies have become more active on social media, they seem to have found a preferred partner in Instagram. The enhanced photo sharing platform is widely popular — users often post images of their travels, be it the view from the window of the airplane, a dish at a fancy restaurant or a picture of their hotel room. This user-generated content may then be reposted on a hotel’s corporate page, generating visibility among other users.
Hotel companies have even begun to offer small services, such as free drinks or discounted spa treatments if guests use a suggested hashtag for their pictures, linking them automatically to the hotels’ online presence and utilizing clients as brand ambassadors.
The shared economy reached the hospitality industry with a bang in 2014: Airbnb generated 10 million overnight stays and reached 800,000 listings worldwide. The platform brings together locals who rent rooms and apartments to travelers looking for alternative accommodation. It was awarded Company of the Year 2014 by US business magazine, Inc. After pressure from the hospitality industry, initial regulatory and fiscal uncertainties have been mostly settled and the rules established across regions ensure fair competition between professional hoteliers and private parties offering accommodation.
The coming year sees the trend extending to cuisine, predicting a similar growth in popularity for peer-to-peer dining. The same concept applies; locals invite outside guests to their dinner tables to share home-cooked meals, creating a culinary experience.
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