The lodging industry has been creating and delivering great guest experiences for hundreds of years with tried and true scientific hospitality principles and the passions of those who have generously shared the places they called “home,” whether in a small, independent motor lodge or a large luxury resort. Airbnb’s success should not make the industry discount lessons learned—it should serve as a catalyst for an opportunistic examination of technological assets. (See Related Article: The Airbnb Quality Challenge)
Competing with Disruptive Innovations
The only way to successfully compete with an innovator is to innovate. The industry can, and does, deliver consistent quality but the sameness that is often a byproduct of consistency makes competing with Airbnb challenging. In the traditional lodging industry, technology has significantly reduced and, in some cases, obliterated personal interaction between guests and hotel staff, operators, and owners. This mode of operation appeals to some guests, but if competing with Airbnb is in the strategy books, then including another approach in the syllabus is required.
Compare these sanitized experiences, bereft of human interaction, to the Airbnb experience wherein personal interaction usually starts within a few hours of making a reservation—it helps to create the feeling of belonging—and it’s a powerful human motivator. Instead of going to TripAdvisor for answers and Google Maps for directions, guests and hosts “converse” with each other. Ironically, the same technology that diluted human interaction in the lodging industry has become a tool to garner competitive advantage at Airbnb. Airbnb, however, does not have a monopoly on communicating with guests via technological means. New ways to provide much valued personal service to guests who value it can be implemented through well managed technology.
Amenity Management
The industry has amenity management systems in place that many Airbnb hosts cannot attain. These systems can be evaluated and maximized. For example, the establishment of an interactive concierge service that taps into existing software could provide custom amenities. Many guests are no longer content with room service options in their current form. This amenity doesn’t appeal to an ever-increasing number of guests for various reasons, including price, limited offerings, and restricted time availability. Airbnb guests often make positive comments about the willingness of hosts to make basic food and beverage fare, such as milk, tea, bread, and baby food, available at cost at their destinations. Hotels might consider offering a similarly priced amenity service and offer guests an opportunity to pre-pay and confirm orders online.
Maximizing Loyalty Program Metrics
The value of responding to guests in real time cannot not be overstated. Airbnb hosts refer to emails and texts to enhance repeat guest experiences and they obtain positive reviews because they respond promptly. The time is well spent because it manages expectations and minimizes expensive service recovery efforts. For the industry, an interactive concierge service that taps into existing software can be used to establish communication avenues with guests. Data gleaned from such a service can then be linked to reservations and loyalty numbers, which provide informative metrics to enhance future stays and aid in marketing efforts.
Diversity
One of the valued hallmarks of the Airbnb community is diversity in which every guest receives the same treatment, no matter how much or how little they spend on a booking. Anything that the industry can do to demonstrate respect and appreciation for guests as individuals will go a long way toward competing successfully with Airbnb. For example, the appearance of a predominantly displayed email address and a text enabled number in booking confirmations, linked to a human being who is knowledgeable about the property, facilitates personal interaction and helps build relationships with guests who have come to expect these modes of discourse.
The Way Forward
Airbnb is in the game to stay. The industry, regulators, and Airbnb will take the necessary actions to level the playing field. There is nothing new about the core service Airbnb is offering. People have been sharing their spaces with strangers for thousands of years. The company has not invented anything. Its leaders have, quite simply, found innovative ways to use existing technology to disrupt the status quo. The only way to minimize the disruption caused by an innovator is to innovate better—and faster—than the disruptor. The industry possesses significant assets in the forms of experience, quality offerings, and extensive technological systems. It can minimize disruption by maximizing existing assets in innovative ways to offer personal service and diverse offerings that can rival and exceed Airbnb experiences.
About the Author
Diane M. Vondrasek is an energy consultant for HVS and a former quality assurance systems engineer in the commercial nuclear power industry. She strives to help her clients understand the environmental and regulatory context in which they operate and implement results-driven solutions. Her citizenships (U.K. and U.S.) and diverse experience provide underpinnings for a robust belief in interdisciplinary collaboration, both domestically and globally. When Vondrasek obtained her M.S. degree in hospitality information management, she found a professional home in blending her passions of energy, technology, and travel.
