Exploring new dimensions in hospitality

Businesses worldwide are facing challenges like never before. The challenge to survive and grow is the biggest of them all. If there is one single factor, which plays an integral part in any business to counter to all those challenges that the competition poses, then it has to be innovation. Express Hospitality provides an insight into some of the innovations that the industry has explored.

Creative thinking and innovation are often the keys to success of a business. Globally, businesses have grown over the years with fresh ideas and strategies. The hospitality business is no exception, having undergone a lot of development in recent times. Let's go through a few of these innovations that the industry has witnessed and find out who was responsible for implementing these ideas.

Sharing time

Ever wondered when timeshare (vacation ownership) began? No, not the last century. Well, not the 19th century either. It has its roots set in royalty. The King of Prussia, Frederick the Great, was the first to set foot in a vacation home. This pithy property, constructed in Potsdam, in 1747, became his perch of preference. Thus, European summer residences grew in popularity amongst the blue blood. The genteel across the Atlantic in the US also showed favourable interest for these getaways. While this indulgence was confined to the elite for centuries, it was in the age of 'flower power' that it spread en masse.

In 1964, a Swiss-based developer, Superdevoluy experimented with different forms of resort ownership. It was the age of spanking interstate roadways and autobahns, shiny Cadillacs and airplanes. It was also the age of the baby boomers. Economies of industrialised nations swelled beyond their seams. The left foot of the rich began to itch, and most hopped into whatever transport was available and set off to travel. Vacation homes developed rapidly and condominiums sprang up in touristy hotspots - mountains, beaches - you name it. Timeshares' popularity in the US outshone that in most other countries. Unfortunately, insalubrious operators polluted some of the air. To provide a solution to this mayhem, in 1969, the American Resort Development Association (ARDA) was born to regulate and promote timesharing. It was in the 70s that timeshare stepped on the accelerator and big brands in hospitality started to take notice, eventually making it an integral part of hospitality and leisure. The 70s was also when the big daddies of timeshare - global exchange companies, Resort Condominiums International and Interval International, were born. This was the beginning of the timeshare revolution, creating the possibility of exchanging a vacation ownership unit at one resort with another participating resort.

By the end of this decade, there were 45 vacation ownership operations registered across the country, with 445 ownership resorts. In the 80s, big hotel brands waiting and watching on the sidelines entered the fray. As reputed developers were in the market, hotels thought it fit to enter this industry. Lodging giants lumbered in to capture a slice of it. Marriott dived into the industry in 1984, Disney and Hilton plunged in, in the early 90s. This had a positive impact on the industry, as it raised the bar in standards due to established hospitality brands, thus raising timeshare's profile. This decade also saw new themes entering the fray - wholly-owned condominiums, apartments and motels were converted, followed by purpose-built products.

The Second Life

In September 2006, Starwood's aloft Hotels made a virtual debut with its doppelganger on Second Life. While this might have meant very little to most people, in the bigger scheme of things, it was a set of firsts in many categories. One would wonder at the need for a hotel in the virtual world. Here's why: Starwood's aloft, described as a Vision of W Hotels was, literally, a part of W's DNA.

Going beyond the cookie cutter approach, aloft's USP is its urban-influenced design, accessible technology, stylishness and social ambience. The group has an ambitious plan of opening the first property in the first quarter of 2008, and by 2012, enjoying a global presence of 500 properties. All of them would be similar, and thus, would be developed through a prototype throughout the world. Says Brian McGuiness, VP, aloft Hotels, "aloft is next generation thinking - we are really about tomorrow, today. That said, we liked the concept of the virtual world and the customer target audience of early adopters - tech savvy individuals who are always looking for what's next."

aloft was the first hotel brand that placed a three dimensional version of its hotel prototype on Second Life. The brand acquired an island off the coast where it set to develop a prototype of the hotel. Inhabitants of this parallel universe could enter the hotel and entertain guests, get a sneak peak into the vibrancy of the hotel, view its landscaped outdoor space and its loft-like guest rooms. It simultaneously launched a blog, www.virtualaloft.com, which was a log to record the entire development process from start to finish, aimed at making visitors feel involved.

The aim primarily was to reach out to thousands of potential customers, which would be the perfect target audience for this cutting edge brand. The development was parallel to the physical prototype and its virtual sibling. With virtual aloft, they would receive and ingest feed back from residents. For each visitor to the property, it was carefully noted how they reacted to space, what areas and what furniture they preferred, and what they overlooked.

Based on these responses, the company would alter the hotel design to the work-in-progress prototype. Says McGuinness of the result, "Our key learnings were around design and concept. Having future customers tour an aloft hotel before it was built, allowed us to gain insight into the desires of the customer before we opened doors. This allowed us to refine the design and concept." Natural materials such as cork are used in the hotel. The space from the ceiling to the floor is nine feet, creating a lofty feeling. The hotel will also be fitted with state-of-the-art amenities.

With aloft, Starwood hopes to reinvent the travel experience, flouting set norms and bringing in innovation.

Theme-based adventure

In 1955, the amusement park industry witnessed a revival of sorts. Walt Disney started Disneyland in Anaheim, California. What made this park different from its predecessors was the concept of themed lands with matching attraction, unlike the previous formula which included rides, arcade and sideshows. By the 1980s this became a billion dollar industry worldwide. In India, Appu Ghar was the first amusement park, inaugurated in 1984. India has come a long way, with over 150 amusement parks, water parks and snow parks, altogether an investment of over Rs 30 billion. The market is now expected to cross Rs 6,000 crore.

How about when a hotel and resort incorporates the basic features of an amusement park and then blends it with the rich cultural heritage of the nation? Chokhi Dhani and Swabhumi are two groups working on a similar unique concept developed in the country. And coincidentally, both are situated in the extreme corners of the country depicting two very different cultural aspects of India. Chokhi Dhani is situated in Rajasthan, on the outskirts of Jaipur and Swabhumi is situated in Kolkata, West Bengal. The concept they worked on was to create an area where visitors could come and absorb the culture of the region and at the same time enjoy the pleasure of living in five-star accommodation, with all modern amenities. Here a guest could also enjoy the everyday shopping experience, buying authentic rural produce. The concept has been described as heritage village. Subhash Vaswani, managing director of Chokhi Dhani describes, "A heritage village encompasses the USP of rural, ethnic and cultural ambience. It is set in a picturesque village theme area, replete with rural, folk and cultural activities. The feel is enhanced by the food and performances which symbolise the true spirit of a village." Swabhumi, situated on the Eastern Metropolitan Bypass in Kolkata is structured with clay models, dummies and artificial rural setups. There is also an amphitheatre, a shopping complex, and food outlets that provide an opportunity to explore the different cuisines of India. Various state governments have also developed similar concepts like Dilli Haat in Delhi, and Shilparamam in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh. Both these places focus on the trade of Indian handicrafts, with Indian culture as a background. There are also private companies involving themselves in developing destination complexes, like the Noida-based D S group, which bought over the Airport Hotel in Kolkata.

Green hotels

Environment-friendly hotels have been in existence for a good many years. But to distinguish those hotels which followed the principle of not polluting the earth by laying strict environment norms, and their counterparts which did not necessarily draw a line between their social responsibility and business activities was an implausible task till early 1990s. There was no platform to recognise the efforts being made to "green" the industry from within by a few hotels. Till 1997, Ecotel was a concept unheard of in Asia. The Orchid in Mumbai (India) was the first property in the continent to be certified as an Ecotel in 1996. Today, there are hundreds of Ecotel certified properties globally and the number continues to be on the rise.

What emerges from innovations like these, is that as long as there is a periodic cycle of change, with companies continuing to look outwards, new ideas will express themselves. The bottom line is that those companies that manage to think 'out-of-the-box" and at the same time improve their business practices, will be the ones to counter all the challenges that competition will pose and ultimately carve a niche for themselves.