Digital IQ Index® - Luxury Hotels 2016

Registering 4.3% compound annual growth rates over the past five years, the hotel industry may be celebrating as Rome smolders. A new urgency has hit the sector. In 2015, AirBnB booked nearly 80 million room nights and nearly $1 billion in revenues—that’s 80 million nights that were not booked at a Marriott, Hilton, or the like. Airbnb is the fourth most-visited Travel destination online, with 80 million unique monthly visitors to its global sites. The industry’s response has been further consolidation in contrast to digital innovation. Last year, Hyatt broke ranks, investing $40M into OneFineStay, an upscale Airbnb rival headquartered in London. The mobile phone has been the weapon of choice for disruption in the industry. 31 percent of total digital travel sales in the U.S. were booked via mobile in 2015, and are estimated to grow to 46 percent by 2019. With 91 percent of Luxury Hotel brands offering a mobile-optimized site experience, and 74 percent offering a mobile app with booking capability, the focus is shifting to advanced mobile capabilities. 45 percent of Index brand apps now offer mobile check-out via app, yet only 16 percent offer keyless entry, and just 15 percent allow guests to order room service or other amenities. Genius brand Marriott lays claim to the number one spot as Hilton slips to number two in this year’s Digital IQ Index: Luxury Hotels. Marriott earns the top spot with its Travel Brilliantly microsite that sources ideas from guests, a sophisticated mobile app and its recently launched Marriott Traveler Online magazine. This study attempts to quantify the digital competence of 55 Luxury Hotel brands operating globally. L2 Members can download the full report at L2inc.com.