Hotel companies could face pressure going forward, with demand from corporate travelers remaining low for the time being and more alternative accommodation on the market.
But Glenn Fogel, president and CEO of Booking Holdings, believes the shifting market could be beneficial to distributors in the long term.
Speaking during an RBC Global Technology, Media and Telecommunications Conference this week, Fogel says the company could be well-placed to take advantage because of its combination of both hotel and private accommodation inventory.
"If I'm a hotel, I've got to worry because of corporate travel being diminished but also competing for leisure because there's a step change in the number of people being exposed to alternative accommodation."
Echoing that sentiment during the Phocuswright Conference 2020 later the same day, Fogel shares figures showing private accommodation represented 40% of new bookings in the second quarter and 33% of new bookings in Q3 - both percentages being up year-on-year.
“There’s definitely people who previously would not have looked at alternative accommodation but that has been a trend for a long time. The pandemic and the desire to be safer and get out of the cities brought forward demand for alternative accommodation. Now, next year when they think about where they’re going to stay, they will put alternative accommodation, along with hotels, in the consideration set.”
He adds that the “more supply there is and the more fragmentation” creates a strong position for distributors as well as “conversations that are a little bit easier” with hotels that are looking for demand.
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Questioned during the RBC Conference on “new disclosures” in the alternative accommodation market, Fogel talks more about the trend towards private accommodation market and potential challenges.
“We also know there is more pressure coming toward alternative accommodation from the regulatory point of view. Many popular tourism places are having issues because people who live there feel there are too many tourists or they are too concentrated and need to be spread ore they feel people are not paying taxes appropriately.
“We want to be a very good corporate citizen in area of making sure alternative accommodation market is built out in the right way so it’s a win-win for everybody. I do believe it will continue to grow, we’ll continue to build it out and we’re going to concentrate more on the areas where we are under-indexed but I do believe it is a great growth opportunity for us.”