Telling the Difference Between a Hotel Gimmick and a Real Innovation

If you’re in the hotel industry, you see many trends come and go. Some of them are lasting, while some of them are gimmicks that quickly fade away. These gimmicks can be a waste of time and money, so you certainly want to avoid them when possible. But how do you tell the difference between a gimmick and a lasting trend? That’s the question we’ll be discussing today in the Southeast International Hotel Brokers blog.

Trend or Gimmick?

Let’s define the difference between a trend and a gimmick first:

Gimmick

A gimmick or a fad typically peaks in popularity extremely quickly before rapidly losing steam. Eventually, it becomes something people look back at as silly or that only has a small, leftover cult following.

Remember Beanie Babies? That’s a perfect example of a fad. They peaked in popularity, people collected them thinking they would be valuable, and then they never ended up being worth anything. People quickly moved on. That’s not to say gimmicks or fads are bad, but they’re not worth investing significant time or money in for the long term.

Trend

A trend is ongoing and has the potential to be a fixture in the industry in the future. A good example of a trend is the push for more eco-friendly hotels. Not only does reducing your use of utilities reduce your footprint on the environment, but it also saves you money too, all without affecting the guest experience. Another example is the use of connectivity, especially in smartphones, to make things more streamlined for guests. If a trend makes sense for your hotel and your demographics, it’s definitely worth looking into and investing in.

How to Tell Which is Which

Sometimes telling the difference between a trend and a fad can be difficult. A good rule of thumb is to consider how implementing a new technology or process will affect your business in the long-term. Does it fundamentally change the way you do business, or is it just something that is fun, but ultimately not useful?

For instance, implementing a new kind of reward program through the blockchain is a big, fundamental change. This trend has the potential to become something that is used industry-wide. That’s when you can tell something isn’t, at the very least, just a passing fad.

That isn’t to say all trends are winners. Sometimes even significant trends fade into obscurity or become obsolete as technology progresses. Or perhaps they don’t take off at all. Sometimes these are risks that a hotel owner just has to take.

Choose Southeast International Hotel Brokers

When you’re in the market to buy or sell a hotel, let Southeast International Hotel Brokers help. Our hotel brokerage has the knowledge, experience, and dedication to customer service that you need. We make everything as convenient as possible for you when walking you through the buying and selling process. Contact us today for more information and to speak with a member of our hotel broker team.