NEW YORK — The only constant is change, and as such, hoteliers must constantly look at new ways to attract guests and turn them into loyal customers.

In a panel on industry innovation at the 2024 NYU International Hospitality Industry Investment Conference, hotel brand CEOs spoke about the new concepts and practices their companies are exploring to keep up with consumer demand and meet the needs of their ownership partners.

There are so many businesses today that are asset-light or a recurring subscription, and those CEOs are under immense pressure to continually prove value proposition or people will go elsewhere, said Greg Juceam, president and CEO of Extended Stay America. In real estate, there's a bit more of a moat around them, so there's a little less opportunity for disruption.

"The point, as everybody up here said, if you're not continually evolving, you're at risk of losing market share, so it does depend a little bit where you are, but all of us need to be recognizing that transformation should be top of mind at all times.”

Hoteliers need to use artificial intelligence to the fullest extent and evolve to use the data available to judge their own performance, said Larry Cuculic, president and CEO of BWH Hotels. For example, BWH Hotels uses third parties to help analyze the data on the money it spends on marketing to see whether it’s being used optimally.

“The point is that in marketing, we have to watch how we’re using our marketing dollars, and then you have to actually judge how you’re using them and how successful you are using them,” he said.

Cuculic likened it to how the Oakland Athletics used a strategy of focusing on players who had better odds of getting on base and into scoring position as portrayed in the movie “Moneyball.” The team’s general manager hired a statistical analyst who figured out focusing on replacing home runs was the wrong strategy.

“AI isn’t just about the customer journey — tremendously important — but it’s also about how you can judge your own performance and make sure you’re optimizing what you do,” he said. “You may not like the results, but you can certainly act upon those results.”

One of the things Margaritaville Hotels & Resorts has done is try to maintain a sense of tomorrow in terms of having fun, Margaritaville Holdings CEO John Cohlan said. One such way is its college ambassador program at 200 campuses across the country. It sends the student ambassadors swag and has them get together frequently, helping the company find employees.

The student ambassador program “really rejuvenates the whole idea of what his brand is all about, which is enjoying yourself in many different ways,” he said.

The company is a sponsor of Major League Pickleball because it is a social sport, he said. The sport is popular at the Latitude Margaritaville communities, part of the company’s active living business, which is how the company learned about it originally.

Margaritaville has all kinds of partnerships that help improve the business, Cohlan said. Years ago, musician and company founder Jimmy Buffett custom-made a fishing boat called the Last Mango, and the company is now finding ways to explore the space.

“We’re now going to integrate the opportunity to go fishing on that boat and probably extend that to explore the fishing charter industry across the country,” he said.

The company is also in the recreational vehicle destination business on a partnership basis with asset owners, he said. It’s a highly amenitized business, called Camp Margaritaville, that is a new offering for people looking to spend time with their family. More people became familiar with RV travel during the pandemic.

“It’s just all kinds of fun ways to find partners and do interesting things,” he said.

What was highlighted during the pandemic was the importance of state and local legislation and regulations, Juceam said.

“None of us expected back in 2020 that we would have to follow 3,000 counties across America, at least those of us that are all in the states and try to figure out what they’re doing on a weekly basis because they were literally changing the rules,” he said. “We had to look at every single county.”

Even though COVID-19 has subsided, many local officials have enjoyed playing around in the hotel industry for well-intended reasons, but they often know little to nothing about the actual business, he said.

While he wouldn’t necessarily call it risk management, Juceam said one of ESA’s core values is being involved in its local communities, and that’s never been more important than it is now.

“These local elections are won sometimes by 200 votes,” he said. “Sometimes 200 people vote in total.”

Hoteliers need to be involved in their communities and know who the elected officials are, and the officials need to know them, he said.

“Whether it’s risk management or just proactive management, be involved in your community,” he said. “If it’s your regional operator, then get involved in your state hotel association.”

Virgin Hotels is developing the next generation of its app in which guests can make reservations, check in with a mobile key, request room service and change the room temperature, CEO James Bermingham said. It's also introducing a new feature, Lucy, an animated character that's generative AI-driven to answer pre- and post-arrival questions from guests.

"It's never going to replace the personalized experience, but I think we can channel it to be accretive to our teams, delivering the guest experience, and I think that's the best use of it," he said.

On the entertainment side, Virgin Hotels rolled out a concert series through a partner that is dedicated to finding emerging talent in local markets, he said. There have been concert series every month.

Wellness will be a future focus for the company in the near-term as the wellness industry, and wellness travel in particular, are taking off, he said. However, the company can't lose sight of the fact that travelers, especially on the luxury side, are looking for unique destinations, authentic experiences and spirit of place.

"That's as true today as it was 20 years ago," he said. "We're looking at new opportunities such as wellness and sustainable travel, but not at the expense of focusing on what's really important to the consumer, which is that authentic travel experience."

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