Articles tagged “independent hotels”

The candid comments of the Accor CFO show just how difficult it is for hotel companies to compete with the big online travel agencies. You can't do it half-heartedly and AccorHotels will have to decide how much effort it is willing to put in to the initiative.

Seriously, though: Do we need to start publishing a weekly column called "What AccorHotels Bought and/or Invested in This Week?"

Accor CEO Sebastien Bazin thinks the hotel industry has failed to get a wake-up call over the last 15 years and has missed out on wave after wave of digital innovation. He's saying all the right things about Accor addressing these past shortcomings, although the jury is still out on how much he'll be able to accomplish.

Independent hotels compete in an industry that’s dominated by massive marketing budgets from chain-affiliated brands to online booking sites and Google. For independents, an online marketing and distribution strategy that integrates best practices across direct- and third-partychannel bookings, search, inventory management and guest incentives plus considerations of the mobile traveler and the social web is key to capturing and retaining guests.

Starwood boasts the most progressive and design-friendly brands among its competitors; however, even that is not enough to satiate consumers' demands for independent properties that they perceive bring them closer to a local, intimate experience.

Independent hotels and chains will all feel the impact of the consolidation of Orbitz Worldwide into Expedia Inc. Independents didn't have much clout before the acquisition, and the chains will feel the pressure, too.

Hotel brands’ increased interest in the independent hotel market comes as consumer bookings and the number of actual small private hotel increases suggesting there’s enough business and options to go around for specialized consortia, global corporations, and the do-it-yourself traveler.

Relais & Châteaux goes beyond a focus on independent luxury properties with a specialty in cuisine, attracting a specific segment of high-spending leisure travelers who want a quality guarantee on both the hospitality and culinary aspects of their stay.

Although there are seismic shifts in Leading Hotels' business caused by changing consumer behavior, marketing trends and booking habits, Teng is not concerned with major chains' entrance into the sector. He believes that his and similar organizations offer a specialty product that cannot be recreated for the masses.