Sports Illustrated's play for hotels could prove a winning brand extension. But its resorts risk becoming an also-ran if their operations aren't well coached.
Expect other hotel brands to watch the Graduate Hotels' experiment. Professionally managing vacation rentals may be a path for hotels to expand their reach while minimizing some risks.
Although Covid-19 restrictions have eased up since 2020, current undergraduate students are still ambivalent to pack up, move to a new country, and study abroad.
Graduate Hotels has grown to 22 hotels in college towns in six years. Now it intends to face down new competition by branching out to larger urban markets where it can continue to appeal to people involved in universities but also attract other clientele.
The business of planning custom college tours has the potential to grow as tuition continues to balloon at schools across the U.S. The relative cost of having an expert plan an intensive college visit may be worth it for students and families preparing to make a major investment.