For Hotel CEOs, Understanding the Magic Behind Branding Has Never Been More Crucial
Photo Credit: At the NYU International Hospitality Industry Investment Conference, chief executives and officers from hotel companies including Wyndham, Hilton, Best Western, IHG, and Four Seasons spoke about the value of branding. Skift
Skift Take
The biggest news from last week’s hospitality conferences was that there wasn’t much news. But where there was, it all had to do with a single theme: branding. Here’s why.
Last week, many of the big players in hospitality converged in New York City to make huge investment deals and hobnob with their colleagues. And when companies weren’t focused on cutting deals, their CEOs were talking about a lot of things — the Zika virus, terrorism, Airbnb, the rise of nationalism, and the TSA, to name a few.
But one thing that seemed to be top of mind for nearly all CEOs was this: branding. At a time when hotel companies are buying each other for millions (or billions as is the case with Marriott’s pending acquisition of Starwood), and others, like Wyndham, are engaging in massive global branding efforts, one thing is for sure: There are a lot of hotel brands out there, all of which are competing for guests.
And the number of brands seems to be growing. Last week, Trump Hotels announced that it would soon debut a brand-new, as-yet un-named lifestyle hotel brand that, rather tellingly, will not bear the Trump name. When Marriott’s Starwood deal closes,
