Better accompanied than alone

The ten largest hotel chains in the world are currently offering a total of 113 brands covering all market segments; 31 of these brands are less than ten years old. And this proliferation shows no signs of slowing down.
It is of these days, for example, the news of the new Hilton brand Curio, created in view of aggregating independent hotels with their own names and histories. By joining Curio, a hotel will maintain its original identity, while enjoying the management and marketing engine «by Hilton». More or less like AccorHotels’ MGallery and Starwood’s Luxury Collection.
Do you own a hotel? Would you like to become affiliated? Is there no suitable brand for you? Here is the solution: the non-brand-brand. And, anyway, there is a myriad of small chains and consortia: it is impossible not to find a fitting placement. Opportunities are really plentiful today, and the future is clear: if you want to stay in the game you have to find an affiliation, the sooner the better.
Let’s sit at the desk and think. Knowing everything, but truly everything, about our hotel, let’s see what group has a brand that suits us. Is there none? Then let’s see what group has a suitable non-brand-brand.
Let’s compare their proposals – a little competition will not hurt – bearing in mind all the economic factors (as a group or consortium, whether large or small, we can also negotiate more profitable agreements with the OLTAs…).
By analysing carefully the alternative solutions, we come to a crossroad: management o franchising? It is pointless to consult books of macroeconomics, develop Excel spreadsheets in order to compare fees, or negotiate a 1 per cent less. Let’s go where our hearts take us.
Do we love golf, long weekends, cooking for our families and friends? Then management forever!
Is the hotel our baby? Do we forget our partner’s birthday? Do vacations cause us gastritis and nightmares? Then franchising, period.
Let’s just remember that, in either case, we are talking about a contract, so we should carefully consider its expiry time and exit conditions. While being in company is today much better than being alone, being in good company is definitely better still.