Why There Always is Room On The top With Airbnb and What Hotels can Learn From It

There is room for improvement, there is room for change, the best is there is room on the top.

Airbnb is known as a community-driven platform. From a Social Media Consultant perspective, I see Airbnb as a Human to Human lodging alternative. Revenue per human is the key performance indicator.

Airbnb has a function like an aggregation platform where new connections have taken place between hosts and humans. It has become a human to the human exchange network.

And we know that with Airbnb acquisition cost is lower and when travelers first have got a taste of Airbnb they don’t want to go back to Hotels.

The Airbnb playbook generates unique stories which become a completely different customer experience than what they previously experience when stayed at Hotels.

Consumers that chosen Airbnb as their preferred accommodation alternative has indicated that top reasons for this are;

• Price
• Location
• Space
• Amenity
• Flexibility
• Human connections

The Airbnb transformation

One of the primary notions of Airbnb is that is provided travelers with the opportunity to live like locals. And the definition of local here entails downtown residential areas, near the best restaurants, bars, and other local hangouts.

There has in recent years since Airbnb gained popularity done several surveys to learn more how Airbnb really impact the Hotel Industry.

And from a Hoteliers perspective it can on the surface looks like business as usual. A recent survey done by Resonance show some very interesting data.

The survey shows that Millennial travelers have full-service Hotel as their first choice, while roughly a third of Millennial travelers preferred luxury Hotels and resorts.

An, in fact, Marriott International and Hilton both reported stock prices up over 40 percent in the past year and 2017 was the best year on the books for U.S. Hotel occupancy.

From a Social Media Consultant perspective, I don’t see this as a positive result that happened despite the competitive challenges from Airbnb, but rather as a direct result of the Airbnb popularity and growth.

Airbnb is a direct result of the disruptive economy and the growing access to advanced technology.

Home or room rental was a traditional accommodation that lived its life through newspaper advertisement and word of mouth. With the introduction of the Internet, this continued to evolve through forums and Craigslist.

And with Social Media people that wanted to attend large popular event started to express their dissatisfaction with sold-out Hotels and no available accommodations.

In addition to main reasons people pick Airbnb, they value transparency, authenticity, safety, and personalization.

But more than anything the real key lays in how Airbnb has brought life to the stories and experiences that make humans believe their dreams can come true.

Tap into the creative traveler

Airbnb has transformed travel and the travel experience. And this transformation has become a real challenge for many Hotels today.

Airbnb, one of the biggest successes of the sharing economy, is now drawing more traffic than any other Hotel brand or metasearch site. In Q1 2017, Airbnb drew 106.9 million visits to its site, an increase of 31% from 2016 (source: eMarketer).

The future of travel is not about looking ahead but within and finding a way to connect travelers with the community.

Today’s traveler aspires to make a difference and change the world for the better. And travelers will continue to reshape the lodging industry through the next decade.

Hotels today need to find new alternative ways to coexist in this new exciting market. We are seeing more Hotels expanding their portfolios with boutique style brands that are designed to appeal to a new generation of travelers.

And we already seeing Hotels that shifted to an innovative local collaboration focusing on providing apps where can order food from a local restaurant and charge it to their room. Hotel teams that empower employees to connect with guests on a more casual basis offering local tips.

Conclusion

If we as Hoteliers take an isolated look at the factors that trigger travelers to pick Airbnb there is nothing that is really far out of the stretch.

Humans dream big, we as Hotelie should dream big too. And start look at how we together with Airbnb can make the world enjoy new alternative accommodations that add values to everyone.

An improved distribution of Hospitality portal that is built on community-driven principle along with the best of what Hotels can offer will tap into new exciting Human To Human network.

Hotels that become part of a community that value transparency, authenticity, safety and personalization will score the highest revenue per human. This is the key factor for Hotels that want to keep the momentum of the great results that the Industry experience in 2017.

Today’s Social Media Management tools provide advanced options that will help Hotels with these tasks. If you need a quality team the help your Hotel pulls this off, then get in touch with my partners at Founders Media.

With the right team behind your Social Media efforts, it can become cost-effective and generate a new revenue stream for your Hotel.

To get your Hotel started here are a few FREE gifts and resources from myself and my partners Founders Media.

1. FREE access to my Hospitality Gone Social Vault (Click Here to Unlock)
2. FREE ebook from Founders Media (Click Here to Unlock)
3. FREE 21 Days To Social Media Mastery for Hotels email course (Click Here to Unlock)
4. FREE access to #HotelPodcast — A Podcast about Social Media Mastery for Hotel (Click Here to Unlock)
5. FREE access to our Facebook Group — Hospitality Gone Social (Click Here to Unlock)

Are Morch is the founder and owner of Are Morch — Hotel Blogger & Social Media Consultant. Get more from Are on Facebook | Twitter | Google Plus | LinkedIn | Pinterest | Instagram

Originally published at aremorch.com on April 15, 2018.