The pandemic of 1918 and the end of World War I ushered in the economic boom of the 1920s, when pent-up demand and possibilities pushed the global economy to new heights.

If the motto "History repeats itself" holds true, then after a year of isolation and expanded social distancing, it can be expected that similar peaks in global economic activity will appear in the future. Forecasting a strong economic recovery: The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) predicts that by the second half of 2021, the US economy will grow by 6%, and by 2023 it will achieve a quarterly growth of 3%. At the same time, in China, the economic growth rate in 2021 may reach 8.4%, and the OECD predicts that the global economic growth rate will reach 4.2% in the next year.

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This year will be a "travel year". But this is based on the background that business needs may change permanently. So, if business travel is still sluggish before 2022 (and possibly even 2023), what can the hotel industry do to ensure they are prepared for the busy summer and lay the foundation for new business segments?

The following are three major ideas that will affect the hotel industry in the coming year:

01 Collaboration Hotel (Collabotels): Redefine "business travel" to achieve work anytime, anywhere

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed business travel. Companies have adapted to use virtual technology to conduct internal meetings, meet with customers, and establish contacts with potential customers. These are the three common reasons for business travel. Will the demand for business travel continue to rise?

The prospects are worrying: IdeaWorks estimates that airline business travel business volume will drop by 19% to 36%. Even in the low-end market, the reduction in business travel can be disastrous for hotels that rely on company business.

Hotels can redefine the business travel segment to include a new type of business traveller (remote workers, or locals who can work part-time or full-time outside the office) to prepare for potential results. This "office anywhere" situation was previously limited to the digital nomad niche market. Brands such as Selina and Accor have long started to combine collaborative work with the hotel industry. Now, 47% of American professionals say their company will support remote work after the COVID-19 pandemic, so mixed workplaces have become mainstream. In order to best serve the remote worker community, hotels must reposition themselves as "collaborative hotels."

Collabbotels are satellite spokes in the workplace, mainly used for deep work, and are conveniently located near the workers’ residences. According to this view, a space must be built around collaboration and connection. Remote workers seek a quiet space to work alone, while remote teams hope to be in a peer-to-peer collaboration innovation space when working in different quarters.

02 Loyalty+: Provide preferential services to your best customers

Technology will not replace leisure travel. The more technology we use, the more we want to escape from worldly life and have more time on the road! In this regard, the increased use of technology in business may bring more vacation trips, and opportunities to replace original business trips with leisure trips.

In order to be successful, it is necessary to beat competitors with higher customer loyalty and preferential services to the best customers. Make full use of your data mind and customize a package of special services based on each customer's customer relationship management (CRM) profile. By meeting the personal preferences of your customers, you will remain competitive. In the early stages of the economic recovery, when hotels were fighting for market share, low prices weakened guest loyalty, which was of utmost importance.

In the new situation that global business travel is declining, there is an exciting opportunity to reconsider improving customer loyalty and the discount points they provide to tourists. Customer loyalty will become more uncontrollable and business volume will decrease accordingly. Successful hotels will be personalized at each touch point, attract and drive customer demand, and turn one-time consumers into regulars. In 2021, high-performing companies will adopt personalized special offers and targeted offers to stand out from the rest of their peers.

03 Member subscription system: try to develop new business

The road to economic recovery has been bumpy. You can seek new business types to diversify your revenue sources and increase profits. Chris Anderson, the senior editor of Linkedin News in Asia, believes that 2021 will be a turning point. The travel industry will "follow the Netflix strategy" and provide membership subscription services.

Of course, membership and membership fees in the tourism industry are nothing new. Travel clubs like Inspirato provide exclusive rental services for high-end users, and users can enjoy hotel facilities and linen in the leased mansions after paying a monthly membership fee.

However, the new crown pandemic has exposed the importance of revenue diversification as a catalyst for economic recovery. There are several ways to build subscriptions into your business:

Partners: The sale of private jet membership cards to customers by Costco is a good example of how a company can work with another service provider to better serve its customers.

Special service: Tripadvisor Plus is a newly launched service during the COVID-19 pandemic. The monthly membership fee is US$99. You can enjoy discounts and exclusive privileges when booking on Tripadvisor. Access: Selina now offers Nomad Passport (prepaid package, travel period of 30 days) and CoLive (monthly membership, you can stay anywhere).

In order to integrate with mixed workplaces, one idea is to provide remote workers with membership based on membership fees. This kind of demographic data can be lucrative in terms of scale (in most areas, there are more locals than tourists) and interest: 77% of remote workers will consider paying monthly "hotel jobs" based on the price. "membership fee.

When brainstorming ideas about membership fees, pay attention to value. What can you provide to bring the greatest value to the best customers? The more the connection between the value you provide and the needs of your guests, the greater the chance of success. Excavate those overlapping parts!