Future of Lodging

What's getting called the metaverse today is a joke. But marketers are right to run tests. The key thing to learn is how people will express their identities and status via avatars in virtual games. Future branding depends on that knowledge.

Outsiders figure out what's wrong with an industry and rightfully disrupt it. Then they learn that the disrupted industry does things a certain way for a reason. It doesn't mean Sonder's overall strategy is wrong, but that's a lesson it is learning.

Amenitiz joins a wave of startups democratizing online selling tools for hoteliers. The Barcelona-based startup brings e-commerce tools to small hotel companies in a way that's similar to how Shopify helps small retailers.

Lodging startup Casai, which is like a Sonder for Latin America, has bought a vendor of smart home tech. The deal is one of the more notable examples of hospitality companies trying to secure their supply lines.

The pandemic has shifted the industry’s focus from fitness to wellness — which means reimagining investments in spaces like the hotel gym, and shared equipment.

Accor's Sébastien Bazin is one of the rare travel industry executives who can hold a room rapt with his every word. In this video, the CEO explains some of the thinking behind his company's boldest decisions.

You might not have noticed, but luxury hospitality is in the middle of a major reboot. Old, storied reputations mean nothing anymore if today's service is lost. The market is a blank slate where all relationships, preferences, and loyalty need to be re-examined and rebuilt by luxury travelers. Brands have to re-think their value propositions.

Other than at exception-to-the-rule Google, metasearch has been on a downward spiral in vacation rentals for years. HomeToGo is turning itself into a series of booking sites instead, which just might work in that holiday home sector.

Airbnb at times has seemed to lean more toward the rights of guests than hosts while smaller rival Vrbo has done the opposite, tilting toward hosts at some junctures to the disadvantage of guests. Although a host land grab recruitment slugfest is under way, it makes sense to try to carve out a middle ground.

Listen now to a conversation with citizenM’s CEO at Skift Forum Europe in March 2022 in London.