Luxury hospitality company Hyatt Corp continues to “punch above its weight” as the lodging and hospitality industry recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a former executive at the company.
Hospitality industry continues to recover from COVID-19
In an Interview with Third Bridge, the expert said all hotel segments, including luxury, are experiencing “positive” growth as business returns and demand evolves. However, they added that while occupancy rates are returning to “healthy” levels, customer satisfaction is near an all-time low.
The expert told us that technology is a competitive differentiator for hotels. They said it has varied uses and could be optimized to address industry-wide staff shortages by helping hotels predict scheduling needs. Robotics could also be utilized for “back of house” operations, while technology could be employed to advance self check-in or mobile services. Overall, the expert believes Hyatt has a “very good” technology product compared to its competitors.
In the Interview, the expert revealed that the hotel industry has controlled pricing better than in previous recessions by not losing to online travel agencies. Compared to its competitors, the expert said Hyatt is “well-positioned to sustain and outperform” the marketplace in terms of pricing levels due to the quality of its products and bringing new products to market.
However, the expert added that current pricing is unlikely to be sustainable. As the recession deepens, they said more “dynamic pricing” will develop to the degree that the industry introduces “person-specific pricing and instream, on-demand revenue management”.
The expert told us that the lodging industry is likely to rethink the buy vs build equation with regards to technology. They said players could focus more of their internal talent on customer-facing technology and other points of integration.
Overall, the expert believes Hyatt is “well positioned” through the current recovery period and continues to “punch above its weight” on winning new development deals.
