How Hotels Are Changing: Big Brands vs Independents

Why Big Brand Hotels Need To Act Like Independents

Contrary to popular belief, independent hotels tend to outperform big brands during times of crisis, and this sentiment spills over into peacetime too. Here is an excellent resource for some figures on this — https://preferrednet.net/media/1296303/independent-vs-brand-hotel-performance-whitepaper.pdf

IHG CEO Keith Barr said this when asked about post-Covid travel:

Customers are going to want to stay in the biggest branded hotels — this will put headwinds on home-sharing. We will also see weaker brands and independent hotels convert over to the big brands.

It’s easy to see how Keith arrived at that assertion, but it’s not so simple to understand why he was wrong.

At Klinical, we work closely with hospitality brands all over the world from luxury resorts in Ghana to 5-star heritage hotels in London. As we consult, strategise, create and develop, we pick up various insights that help us to stay on the crest of hospitality’s next wave.

Here are just a few things I’ve noticed:

Agility

Big brand hotels like JW Marriott tend to have strict regulations over what their properties can and can’t do from a branding and marketing perspective. This may provide some upside via consistency and simplicity but our experience in the field and the latest data demonstrate that travelers are increasingly looking for…