I know it’s been all of two weeks since I last used this space to discuss what business travel will look like once a rebound takes hold, but an interesting point came up since then in my discussions about it with colleagues.
I’ve said a few times that travelers — particularly business travelers — are not going to be looking at compromising their standards when they get back on the road, but I’m still not entirely sure many hoteliers have wrapped their heads around what business travelers' true expectations are going to be when coming out of this.
Like I said before, the way many white-collar workers live and work has changed, so that’s likely to have an influence on things. But what I find particularly interesting is the idea that many hoteliers are viewing the current environment as an opportunity to have a reset on the hotel industry’s operating model.
I totally get that from an owner/operator perspective. Even before this ongoing pandemic hit, they were feeling squeezed by growing expectations from travelers and brands as labor costs spiked and demand plateaued.
Something clearly needed to change from their perspective, and this is a chance to future-proof the industry.
But something everyone needs to keep in mind is, for the large part, travelers are not part of this discussion because they’re not interacting with the industry at the moment.
However you want to describe it — hibernation or cryogenic sleep — business travelers are in stasis at the moment.
When that ends, those travelers will wake up. When you wake up from a year-plus-long coma, any sizable change is going to come as a shock to you. So if business travelers get on the road again and all the amenities and experiences they’ve grown to expect are no longer there, that’s going to serve as a clear disappointment.
Things like daily housekeeping and the overall check-in and check-out processes seem primed for the sort of operational reset hoteliers are dying to make a long-term reality, but you have to ask yourself when you’re creating a new normal if it’s one business travelers will welcome upon their return. And even if it’s a long-term change for the positive, how are they going to be able to adjust to those changes if they are sudden and stark from their perspective?
It's also interesting to me that hoteliers like to hold on to the hope of pent-up demand bursting the dam open as soon as vaccinations and governmental regulations allow for it. But the emotions fueling that demand largely are an ever-growing desire for a return to normal. That inherently means people will want things to largely be the way they were before but with some improvements.
Officials with Hyatt Hotels Corporation — particularly President and CEO Mark Hoplamazian — love to constantly preach for empathy, and this is a great example of when it is necessary. There is clearly a need for change in the hotel industry, but it must be done in a thoughtful way that considers how would-be travelers are thinking.
What do you think? Let me know via email or on Twitter.
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