Kayak CEO on Gaining a Meta Advantage in Guest Experience
Photo Caption: Kayak's Steve Hafner believes the company's metasearch experience serves it well in operating hotels.
Skift Take
Perhaps the big hotel chains will learn that high tech doesn't have to mean a lack of hospitality and a guest experience devoid of personality.
Steve Hafner, the co-founder and CEO of Kayak, argued that the company's under-development hotel technology can take the burden off staff at its three hotels to deliver a better guest experience.
Having a well-known brand like Kayak, and parent company Booking Holdings' resources behind the effort "doesn't hurt, either," Hafner said.
Hafner will appear in a session with Tyler Morse of MCR Hotels on the first day of the May 11-12 Skift Future of Lodging Forum on a panel discussing "What Comes Next for Hotels."
Dennis Schaal: What chutzpah makes you think that Kayak can be a disruptive force in hospitality?
