Skift Take
Hyatt CEO Mark Hoplamazian knows the key to managing disruption and challenges is to focus on the basics: the customer, and the people serving them.
This year will be a pivotal one for Chicago-based Hyatt.
In 2016, the company debuted a new soft brand, the The Unbound Collection by Hyatt, formally launched discounted loyalty member rates, and announced plans to completely overhaul its loyalty program.
This is the year when all of those efforts will ultimately converge: The Unbound Collection by Hyatt will turn one year old in just a few weeks, and Hyatt's direct bookings push, as Hyatt CEO Mark Hoplamazian noted, will continue this year and for many years to come. And in March, the new World of Hyatt will replace Hyatt Gold Passport.
Reception for the new loyalty program hasn't necessarily been the most laudatory — and a very awkward Reddit Ask Me Anything session in November didn't help. Nevertheless, Hoplamazian thinks World of Hyatt represents the kind of loyalty shift in travel that's completely necessary, especially as consumer needs and wants continue to evolve.
Hoplamazian also hinted at some possible new ventures he may launch this year as part of the company's desire to expand in "adjacent spaces" like food and beverage, wellness, and alternative accommodations. Hyatt previously invested in luxury alternative accommodations provider onefinestay before it was acquired for $168 million by AccorHotels in the spring of 2016. Hoplamazian also disclosed that the company is exploring various business models that would enable it to get back into the sharing economy space.
And as Hoplamazian noted last spring, there could be more deals to come from Hyatt, which was rumored to have considered buying onefinestay before AccorHotels swooped in. Hyatt was also reportedly very close to purchasing Starwood Hotels & Resorts before Marriott made its move. Could this be the year that Hyatt makes its own move to get bigger? Hoplamazian didn't confirm anything, but he also didn't rule anything out.
And at the heart of it all, he said, brands should be focused on bringing humanity back into travel, a theme echoed by Skift's own Megatrends for 2017, too. (We promise we didn't ask him to say that, either.)
Skift spoke to Hoplamazian in December, shortly before the holidays, to get his thoughts on the future of hospitality in 2017 and beyond. What follows is an edited version of that conversation.
Skift: If you had to sum up 2016, how would you describe it in terms of Hyatt's business, and the overall hospitality and travel industry?
Hoplamazian: 2016 was actually a tremendous y
