By Jon Blakeney
Revenue is surpassing pre-pandemic levels in travel, but there’s a new attitude in town. Today’s traveler is looking for a more authentic, culturally immersive and responsible experience.
The 2023 American Express Global Travel Trends Report identified that 79% of Gen-Z and millennial respondents said they agree that they would love to partake in a day of the life of locals in the destination they are visiting, while 86% wanted to support local businesses while traveling. According to Travel Weekly, booking.com found that 755 of its users want “authentic experiences that are representative of the local culture.” Basically, travel is back, but neighborhood tourism is especially big business.
Given the consumer demand, it’s surprising that so few hotels have embraced this concept to any great extent. Without doubt, those running hotels have a full to do list—dealing with the rising cost of utilities, labor, supplies, having to increase salaries, and so on—but investing in a localized approach ought to be on that list: it’s not only morally enriching, but can yield huge returns for the business.
Small independent hotels have a significant competitive advantage over large rivals. While for many years they’ve struggled to compete with the buying power, marketing resources, and honed offerings of multinational chains, today’s growing demand for a localized offering could prove to be their superpower. Nobody will know and be able to react to the local area as quickly and authentically as them. None of this is to say that international brands need be left behind. They may have to work harder, but there’s no reason they can’t be just as localized as their smaller rivals.
Regardless of the size of the business, there’s a few key elements to consider.
Embracing local flavors
At U.K. hotel chain The Pig, each of its premises has a restaurant menu created by sourcing from within a 25-mile radius of its local area. This is great environmentally, making for an admirable carbon footprint, but there’s more to dine out on than that. Celebrating local dishes and ingredients not only educates the guests but also supports local producers and venues—kitchen staff also get to work with wonderful local suppliers and flex their creativity by designing dishes from a produce-first perspective, for example. Most guests don’t want to eat the same meal in every place they visit and will find being offered local produce elevates their stay. It will be a unique experience should they opt to embrace it. The Pig also works with local schools to provide apprenticeships for prospective chefs and gardeners, and there’s free wellingtons for the guests to get stuck in, too.
Becoming *the* venue in town
Creating a synergy between tourists and locals from within the hotel provides a more “native” experience for guests, while allowing those who live in the area to enjoy a new set of facilities and offerings. Few do this as well as Ennismore, which started as Hoxton Hotel and is now one of the world’s largest and fastest-growing lifestyle hospitality brands. It has refined yet relaxed co-working spaces, large lobbies that let you sit and get things done, bars nearby adorned with local art—table service so that you needn’t leave your seat to get a little post-work cocktail. These are environments guests and locals both want to spend time in.
25 Hour Hotel, the European hotel group also brings the outside in. They make their communal spaces something of a community hub, creating venues and events programs so good that guests and residents both want to come through the door.
Center Hotels, a small boutique hotel chain in Iceland, does something similar—regularly opening its space to locals for concerts, performances, discussions and more. These events happen in their “library” areas, which feature local artwork, books, films, and vinyl people engage with. Guests are welcome to soak it all in too, of course.
The Line, an American-based hotel chain, has an in-house radio station hosting local talent and paying special attention to subcultural scenes, genres and musical movements in and around where the hotel is. You’ll hear very different music coming from the speakers in Austin than you will in Washington DC. In each case, the hotel is no longer othered in the community, it is a hub used by all.
Stepping outside
Or do the opposite! The Line’s L.A. branch asks local running club Koreatown Run Club to organize a weekly run for guests, helping them to explore the city through a local route, while doing the hobby they love to do. Omo, a hotel brand based in Japan goes a step further, describing the local area as a resort. The dedication to localized experience is followed to the point that some of the staff (known as rangers) spend as much as six months researching a special interest of theirs in the area, in order to then take guests out on “safaris” related to that interest. A great way to allow guests to discover the hidden stories of the local neighborhood and access genuine hidden gems? It’s miles ahead of dumping a few tourist leaflets at the check-in desk.
Not only does this support local businesses and diffuses tension between local businesses, it also taps into the desire of travelers who want to take part in local life. Hostility toward Airbnb within some communities, such as New York City, could potentially be reduced if those letting their properties were to take a similar approach.
Creating the right brand culture
Get this right and guests no longer feel like they’re staying in a hotel; they feel like they’re living in the area temporarily (which is what they want). That is a powerful shift in perception, and it’s not easy to achieve. The key is to build it into your brand culture.
When Iceland’s Center Hotels came to us for help on becoming more localized, a key step was to hold workshops with teams across each of the individual hotels, from every possible role. We worked with them to pinpoint how every employee could contribute best to providing guests with a great, local, experience.
What they came up with was remarkable, and far more authentic and effective than anything that could have been dictated from above. Crucially, because they had created it, they owned it and were excited to put it into action. Three years on they’ve seen a 77% increase in direct online bookings, as well as a 35% increase in revenue compared with 2018. That’s huge growth on pre-pandemic figures, and an indication of what can be achieved by blending a number of these examples into one seamless brand experience grounded in its environment: a more sustainable business, admired by the local community and guests alike.
Hopefully, future localized hotel models will blend the highlights from a number of these examples into one seamless brand experience that is grounded in its environment, sustainable, and admired by the local community and guests alike.
Jon Blakeney in group managing director at experiential design agency I-AM.
This is a contributed piece to Hotel Business, authored by an industry professional. The thoughts expressed are the perspective of the bylined individual.
