NEW YORK — Hyatt Hotels Corp. wants to be known as the most owner-friendly brand in the hotel industry.
Paul Daly, Hyatt's global head of franchise and owner relations, said his work is centered on finding ways to be flexible to owners' needs at a point when brands are being decried for their rigidity.
"We try to be balanced there, right? Because guests expect consistency when they travel and brands have to really represent consistency, but we really do lean into flexibility," he said in an interview with Hotel News Now at the 2024 NYU International Hospitality Industry Investment Conference. "We try and be as flexible as we can as a brand."
The way that manifests is a bit different across hotel segments, Daly said.
"Each brand is a little bit different," he said. "Lifestyle hotels, there's a lot of opportunity to be flexible. Some of the the more kind of cookie-cutter brands like Hyatt Place, Hyatt House, there's maybe a little bit less flexibility in terms of brand specifications. But we really try and be flexible when we can because we know owners are just trying to make sure their assets are successful. It's oversimplified, but we know when owners do well, we do well."
Part of the owner relations process is backing up what the brand is asking for with facts and evidence, Daly said.
"We focus a lot on bringing data to life," he said. "we think about data in two ways. You have results data, which is the more traditional way that we think about data, your average rate, your occupancy percentages, RevPAR index, etc. And we spend a lot of time sharing with owners what we call behavioral data. And this is data that we know we share with them that says if your hotel executes these behaviors, you're going to be more successful in different areas."
For the full interview with Hyatt's Paul Daly, watch the video above.