The Escalating Standards of Luxury and 10 Other Hospitality Trends This Week

Keeping Up With the Escalating Standards in Luxury Hospitality: The level of competition at the ultra-premium end of hospitality is unimaginably high, and it keeps getting higher. Extraordinary service and experiences quickly become table stakes as guest expectations continue to skyrocket. A culture of creativity gives the best hoteliers that distinctive edge.

Hilton and Lyft Launch Loyalty Partnership: Hilton and Lyft’s new loyalty partnership is a win-win for travelers. On one hand, Hilton members get completely free points for riding in Lyfts. On the other, it’ll also soon be possible to book rides with extra loyalty points.

Skift Forum Asia: China Is on Track to Be Airbnb’s Top Origin Market by 2020: Will Airbnb be able to break through in China and other parts of Asia Pacific where other Western companies have fallen off their scooters? We’ll discuss these issues with Siew Kum Hong, one of Airbnb’s earliest employees in the region, at Skift Forum Asia in Singapore.

Meeting Planners Anticipate Rough Year in 2020: Tight budgets, competition, needy clients, last-minute requests, and unresponsive venues rise to the top of the list of challenges planners need to tackle in 2019. They anticipate tougher times next year.

Equinox Hotels Represents the Next Generation of Lifestyle Branding: How does a brand become a lifestyle, and vice versa? Equinox is an ideal case study for exploring that very concept.

New Skift Research Suggests Homesharing Will Erode Even More Hotel Market Share: As one of the largest travel sectors, accommodations will continue to grow as travel becomes an even more integral part of consumer lifestyles. Yet it remains to be seen if the disruption from alternative accommodations will fundamentally shake up the entire sector.

What Happens When Hotels Pledge to Reduce Plastics? It’s one thing for a hotel to join a coalition and promise to reduce its plastic footprint, and another to make measurable progress.

IHG to Launch New Upper-Midscale Brand Atwell Suites: The hotel group is pushing forward on its goal of quickly adding new brands across the hospitality spectrum. The only question is: What will it add next?

Consolidation Sweeps European Short-Term Rental Managers With Altido Launch: As external capital pours into the vacation rental sector, it makes sense that some property management companies believe they need to merge to thrive. It’s also notable that Marriott has already begun working with some of Altido’s properties for its new homesharing effort.

An Accor Deal for Oyo Rival Treebo Could Give It a Brand Foothold in Europe: Accor is still seemingly on the hunt for acquisitions, and this one is pretty eye-catching. Treebo and its rival Oyo have disrupted the Indian hotel market, and now it looks like they will do the same in Europe and elsewhere.

Who’s Cracked the Code on High-End Homesharing? ThirdHome just might have the winning formula on what affluent homeowners want when sharing properties. Scaling quality and keeping up a high level of trust will be key as it grows.