In 2021, Wyndham launched an “all inclusive” brand Alltra.

All inclusive (imagine a timeshare without a timeshare where you only pay the package and don’t worry at all about any bill at the property) has become the buzzword for hotel groups in the recovery journey. Other trends are:

1) Health and hygiene. This is here to stay and going to be an important aspect as customers will choose hotels based on health and safety protocols.

2) Acceleration of technology. Technology has always been there, but we will see faster adoption, and the building of more mobile apps. Customers can customise a lot more than they currently can.

3) Sustainability is key . For all brands sustainability is going to become big. Eventually some OTAs (online travel agents) will start putting stars on how sustainable a hotel is. Wyndham is part of the Sustainable Hospitality Alliance in which 14 hotels with a combined reach of over 30,000 properties and 4.5 million rooms are members.

4) Staffing will become lean . Staffing numbers won’t come back to what they were.

Keeping a smaller team motivated will be a challenge for hospitality leadership.

5) More outsourcing. With staff numbers going down, you will see a lot more outsourcing of services at hotels — more partnerships and collaborations.

(Sharma is Regional Director Eurasia, Wyndham Hotels & Resorts)

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