Though not always the case, disruptors can provide an uncomfortable opportunity to improve.
Hoteliers learned lessons about revenue strategy, loyalty programs and guests’ booking experiences when online travel agencies not only came into existence but thrived. They learned lessons about guest experiences on property and within the local community from the rise of short-term rental platforms.
Aside from how OTAs fit into the booking aspect of travel, there really hasn’t been as large a disruptor to airlines or traveling by car akin to a company such as Airbnb or Vrbo. Travel by train has been around for longer than both cars and planes, but at the moment, it doesn’t take as large of a share as the other two despite growing interest.
The New York Times published a story this week about a potential disruptor in the travel industry. There are several luxury bus lines named in the article that provide a higher-end bus trip experience: Red Coach, Vonlane, the Jet and Napaway. All offer some pretty nice services and amenities, especially if you compare them to your typical coach bus. Each line has pretty limited routes currently, some even just between two cities, but growing interest indicates that could change.
The Times article focused on an overnight trip on a Napaway bus from Nashville, Tennessee, to Washington, D.C. — the bus line’s only route. It also has a stop in Knoxville.
One of the passengers interviewed booked a last-minute flight from D.C. to Nashville for $200, but the return flights were $600. The Napaway bus trip was $125. Along with a number of other amenities, the bus line offers seats that fully recline for the overnight trip with black screens that give passengers privacy from other riders as they sleep.
The trip takes 11 hours, much longer than a flight would take between the two cities, but it also means not having to go through TSA security checkpoints and waiting around an airport for hours. Besides, it’s an overnight trip, so you should hopefully sleep for most of it.
We’ve seen over the years hotel companies, particularly the brands, create partnerships to enhance guests’ overall travel experience. As frustration grows with airline delays, cancellations and ticket prices, these premium bus lines create an opportunity that the hotel industry could capitalize on.
That could come from some kind of loyalty program interplay with these bus lines for points earned or burned. Maybe when a loyalty member books a stay at a hotel in a market that the bus line also serves, the reservation process or confirmation email could include a message about booking the trip through the bus line instead of a plane.
As more people want to take trips, having new or better forms of transportation helps with the congestion and, hopefully, provides more sustainable ways to travel. I think a high-speed train network for longer trips and regional networks for shorter trips would be the best option, but any mode of transportation that can fit more people than a car is a move in the right direction.
You can reach me at bwroten@hotelnewsnow.com and @HNN_Bryan.
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