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The Hospitality Hustle: How to Stay on Top of the Ever-Changing Hotel & Vacation Rental Game
The Hospitality Hustle: How to Stay on Top of the Ever-Changing Hotel & Vacation Rental Game - Staying on Trend: Keeping Up With Changing Traveler Tastes
In the fast-moving hospitality industry, evolving traveler preferences present both opportunities and challenges. Keeping your finger on the pulse of trends allows you to capitalize on rising demand for certain experiences. However, failing to adapt to changing tastes risks your property feeling tired, irrelevant, or undesirable to guests. Ongoing innovation and alignment with what travelers value is crucial.
Boutique hotel owner Madison Clarke explains how revamping her properties’ dining was key to attracting younger guests. “Millennials want unique, shareable food experiences for the Instagram era. Our dated white-tablecloth restaurants felt stuffy. We underwent a complete food and beverage revamp focusing on creative small plates, craft cocktails, and locally sourced ingredients. It was a risk, but ultimately increased our average guest age from 52 to 34.”
Meanwhile, Ben Howard adapted his mountain resort to capitalize on surging interest in wellness getaways. “Travelers increasingly want to continue healthy lifestyles on vacation through fitness, nature, nutrition and self-care. We expanded hiking trails, built a yoga studio with daily classes, added a juice bar, and trained staff as hiking and wellness guides. Occupancy has grown even during our off-season.”
On the vacation rental front, Ryan Luo notes the appeal of extended stays for remote workers. “With remote work now mainstream, we’re seeing demand shift from weekend getaways to 1-2 month stays as professionals work untethered. Our properties near major cities now cater to digital nomads with optimized wifi, desks and office equipment.”
No matter your hospitality niche, stay attuned to traveler sentiment by monitoring social media, review sites, search trends, and industry reports. Signs of changing priorities appeared years before pandemic-driven needs like rigorous cleaning protocols, flexible cancellation policies, contactless service options and social distancing amenities rose to prominence. Savvy operators spotted emerging desires early and adapted accordingly.
Use creative ways like surveys and focus groups to probe your guests’ evolving hopes for future stays. Track feedback and service requests for clues into rising expectations. Study generational and geographic trends shaping travel motivations. Then make measured, thoughtful changes to align with guest appetites rather than reacting hastily to passing fads. Aim to lead rather than follow trends whenever possible.
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