Hospitality industry must address seven key trends for success

Deloitte’s Hospitality 2015 suggests that the key drivers in determining success through 2015 and beyond for UK and international operators will be:

Emerging markets​

China and India will continue to be the key hospitality markets and will have absolute year-on-year tourism growth greater than the UK, France or Japan by 2015.

Alex Kyriakidis, hospitality and leisure leader at Deloitte, said: “In the emerging markets, the rise of the middle classes will drive significant new demand for both leisure and business hospitality. The greatest future potential in these markets will lie in developing mid-market and economy-branded products aimed at the domestic traveller.”

Demographics​

In 2015, US boomers are forecast to account for 60 per cent of the nation’s wealth and 40 per cent of spending and represent a huge market for operators in the UK and the West in general. 

Brand​

Social media has exploded in popularity. It has the potential to highlight any inconsistencies in the delivery of the brand but will also provide an enriching communication channel between brand and consumer. Operators that harness rather than fight social media will succeed.

Talent​

With annual staff turnover in the hospitality industry at 31 per cent, businesses must have plans to retain critical employees and manage staff churn.

Technology ​
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Hospitality companies will also need to invest in technology, with the battle to drive sales through websites set to continue along with the development of smartphone applications to meet surging demand.

Sustainability​

Sustainability will become a defining issue for the industry in 2015 and beyond. With resources scarce the issue will need to be embedded within the heart of the hospitality industry.

Crisis management ​
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In an uncertain world operators must have appropriate responses, protocols and risk management strategies in place to deal with the unexpected.