How to choose a hotel brand for your investment? - part I

Hotel investment is, on the one hand, a business analysis: a selection of financing sources, franchise offers, creation of an investment plan and management. However, apart from hard numbers, there is a much less clear question of choosing a hotel brand. What is worth remembering before it is done?

Hotels have become an integral part of the lifestyle of the vast majority of people today - if only because more and more of us travel and we do it more often. However, it has huge consequences on how hotels operate as a kind of product. Hotels must change more and more often - the needs of their guests are changing even faster. Hotel brands should distinguish themselves, address a specific group of clients, determine their character not only in the number of stars and standard, but also their visual side, interior design, equipment design, service, communication with clients, cooperation with others, sometimes very unobvious brands, creating your own inner culture, events, attractions.

Trendy destinations, trendy brands

Hotels are also increasingly subject to consumer fashions - as in one season to travel and spend holidays in certain places becomes trendy, just as trendy and desirable is the use of individual hotels. If a hotel brand gains the recognition of opinion leaders such as celebrities, influencers, media or just people who are authorities in a given target group, it will significantly translate into its recognition and popularity. However, it is not enough to provide a comfortable bed and continental breakfast - hotel guests have to recognize that its brand suits them the same as their favourite watch, auto, jeans, perfumes, shoes, restaurant, sport or hobby. Only such a hotel - ideally suited to their hierarchy of values, image and lifestyle - they consider their own, will recommend to others, praise in social media.

Dynamics and risk

In our region of Europe, the hotel industry offers many opportunities for development - one can still speak of a significant shortage of the hotel base and high absorption of the market. We are nothing like Great Britain, Germany or France, where the market is saturated, where almost all significant hotel brands are present and where - wanting to stand out and attract customers - you have to put something special. This free space on the market paradoxically means that in our region, young, interesting, innovative in their concepts, hotel chains can appear faster, because this is easier than breaking into more stable markets. However, in this dynamic and absorption, there is also the risk of hasty decisions and choosing a brand that will not achieve the assumed business goals.