Kurt’s quotes (see below for details and context):
“Given how millennials will travel, they represent a significant portion of hotel occupancy and growth,” says Kurt Schoenhoff, vice president of hospitality and brokerage services for Selwyn Property Group.
Schoenhoff says technology and smartphone apps are the cornerstone of hotels attracting millennials, including apps that enable travelers to check in without having to go to a front desk and open their guest room door without having to get a key. Once inside they want to have the ability to control the room’s lighting and look for more touchscreen technology to control blinds and room temperature.
“I think what is driving their contribution to occupancy growth is that they are not saddled with home mortgages,” Schoenhoff says. “They are more interested in experiences versus things. Baby boomers were in rush get through college and buy their first home. Millennials are looking for experiences unique to their generation.”
Full Article:
Millennials are no longer a future prospect for the hotel industry.
This generation of 75 million young adults aged 19 to 33 surpassed baby boomers this year as the largest generational cohort, and their spending power has the hospitality industry taking note. According to a Harris Poll survey, millennials are expected to spend $226 billion on travel in 2015.
That’s an impressive number for a generation much maligned for returning home unable to find jobs in the Great Recession. But these young adults are increasingly business travelers or the executive assistants making travel plans for their bosses. They are brides and grooms planning weddings and in need of hotel rooms. And they are part of a generation more focused on having experiences than owning things, so they look to travel in groups. This highly connected, highly social generation with spending potential and real-time demands is transforming the hotel industry.
“Millennials are on the verge of becoming the predominant business traveler,” says John Wolf, a spokesman for Marriott International. “The boomers are moving from business travel to leisure travel as they retire. We see the rise of this millennial generation and are bearing in mind the many things that appeal to millennials.”
The Charlotte Marriott Center City is about to become a laboratory, of sorts, for Marriott International to consider what features millennial travelers like in hotels. Marriott International purchased the 438-room hotel for $111 million in November of 2013 and is renovating the hotel to include many of the features its designers believe will make it an attractive brand to millennial travelers.
“We’re unleashing bold new ideas in Charlotte — innovating new ways to experience the city we love,” says Crissy Wright, general manager of the Charlotte Marriott Center City. As part of the renovation, and ongoing after it is complete, the Charlotte hotel will be a place for “all of the latest initiatives that come out of headquarters,” Wright says. Those ideas for new technology, new services and new programs will be vetted here.
Construction began in April and is on an aggressive schedule to be complete in the first quarter of 2016. All guest rooms and first-floor spaces will be renovated. Wright says Marriott is not yet ready to reveal what new features the renovated hotel will include.
Companywide, Marriott has been making inroads to appeal to millennial travelers.
For example, to serve the binge-watching generation, Marriott has TVs wired for streaming online content and it reached a deal with Netflix earlier this year to give subscribers access to their accounts during Marriott stays.
So far it’s available at about a dozen Marriott. The service isn’t free, but travelers who already have an account will be able to watch shows on the guestroom television rather than on their tablets, phones or laptops.
Among other offerings targeting millennials are Mobile Request, a mobile concierge service to connect with the hotel staff before, during and after a stay to request valet service or more towels, Wolf says.
Marriott is also amping up its lobbies to make them more like a great room with spaces for guests to gather or to work in public spaces rather than the tucked-away business center.
The coming boom of millennial travelers poses a challenge to traditional hotel operators who now compete for a customer just as likely to crash on a friend’s couch or find a room through Airbnb.
Millennials’ preference for a less-corporate stay has opened the door to competition from independent hoteliers such as Shade hotel in Los Angeles, Ace Hotel, which has locations in Seattle and Palm Springs, Calif., and the Wythe Hotel in Brooklyn.
They are drawing in millennials with an environment that feels more like a local startup. Corporations have responded with hotel chains such as Aloft by Starwood Hotels, Moxy by Marriott and Canopy by Hilton that aim to reach the same demographic with the similar amenities.
Levine Properties has signed a letter of intent with Canopy by Hilton to bring that hotel to Charlotte’s First Ward. The move is part of a current hotel boom in uptown as occupancy rates are as strong as they’ve been in a decade and now reaching historic levels for the city.
“Given how millennials will travel, they represent a significant portion of hotel occupancy and growth,” says Kurt Schoenhoff, vice president of hospitality and brokerage services for Selwyn Property Group.
Schoenhoff says technology and smartphone apps are the cornerstone of hotels attracting millennials, including apps that enable travelers to check in without having to go to a front desk and open their guest room door without having to get a key. Once inside they want to have the ability to control the room’s lighting and look for more touchscreen technology to control blinds and room temperature.
Perhaps in a sign of things to come, at the Aloft hotel in Cupertino, Calif., across from Apple Inc.’s corporate campus, the hotel last year began testing a robotic bellhop that shuttles luggage and other items from the lobby to guest rooms, Schoenhoff says.
Aloft by Starwood Hotels was the front-runner in appealing to millennial travelers and now has 100 hotels in 14 countries.
“I swear we didn’t have a literal crystal ball, but we looked to the future of travel when we created Aloft,” says Brian McGuinness, global brand leader for specialty select brands at Starwood Hotels & Resorts.
McGuinness says Starwood views millennials more as explorers than tourists.
Hotels catering to millennial travelers don’t have all of the bells and whistles of luxury brands. They are staffed differently than full-service hotels. Many don’t include room service but like Aloft offer grab-and-go meals, snacks and make-your-own cappuccinos. That makes them more affordable to millennials, who have less disposable income than their parents’ generation.
“I think what is driving their contribution to occupancy growth is that they are not saddled with home mortgages,” Schoenhoff says. “They are more interested in experiences versus things. Baby boomers were in rush get through college and buy their first home. Millennials are looking for experiences unique to their generation.”
