Skift Take
In any industry, C-level perspectives deliver some pretty sharp, sometimes surprising insights on what's really going on. Best Western CEO David Kong's observations are just that.
Best Western CEO David Kong isn't afraid to speak his mind when it comes to fundamental issues impacting the overall travel and hospitality industry.
He even blogs about them on a regular basis. Kong has also served as chairman of the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AH&LA), as well as serving on the board of the U.S. Department of Commerce Travel and Tourism Advisory Board.
Under Kong's leadership, when he became Best Western's CEO in 2004, the company has transformed itself, and immersed itself heavily into expanding its international footprint, and innovating its digital and on-site guest experiences. Most recently, the company announced its plans to offer an online virtual reality experience for all of its 2,200 Best Western-branded hotels in North America.
Skift recently sat down to speak with Kong at the NYU International Hospitality Industry Investment Conference to ask him about his thoughts on the state of the hospitality industry and where he sees it headed. Here's what he had to say:
Skift: What matters to you most or concerns you the most this year when you're thinking about the future of your business?
Kong: It's really about how strong a brand is going to be in the future, whether we're differentiating ourselves, whether we're building the right foundation for a future growth.
It's all related to the strength of the brand, because if the brand is strong then you can drive business to your hotels, and you have better leverage with OTAs [online travel agencies] in terms of distribution costs. A lot of the problems that we face in the industry you can stop if you have a strong brand.
Skift: How do you make a brand strong or make it stand out, and make it well known when there are so many out there?
Kong: You've got to make yourself really easy to do business with, anything from the research, booking, and all those steps along the way. You make yourself really easy to do business with. When people are actually at the hotel, you provide a quality experience that they expect or you exceed their expectations. Even afterwards, the way that you engage with them. All ways that you can make a brand strong.
Making a brand strong also is about awareness. Your sales and marketing efforts and building that as well as your scale, meaning the number of hotels that you have. Are they in the right locations? All these hotels, do they become billboards for you so when people walk by they see you all the time? They are all
