The shift to smaller and more experiential holiday accommodations is materialising, with Asia as the global benchmark for spiritualism, excellent service and aesthetics, which gives independent brands an opportunity to capture this segment, said Doris Goh, executive vice president for commercial of COMO Hotels & Resorts.
“While the lodging industry is still dominated by big brands and chains, I see the opportunity for indie brands, such as boutique hotels because Gen Z’s and the next generation of affluence are going for more experiential, smaller but better [deals],” she said at the WiT Indie 2025: Next Generation event held in Penang on 24 and 25 July.
Experiences that money can’t buy
She described the present day aspiring traveller as a dynamic demographic, comprising younger and more mobile people, motivated by deep and transformative experiences.
This means access to the “extraordinary”, “money can’t buy experience”, and raising social currency and social standing. A place has to be instagrammable, and enable self improvement and transformation.
“This is where you see more and more people are going to wellness as it's more about taking care of ‘me’ because we're all caught up in this rat race. Como has a 30 year history in wellness and we are seeing younger people uptake,” Goh said in a session on “Redefining the New Luxury”.
Acknowledging that luxury travel is moving towards “less bling”, people are seeking loyalty programmes as it instills a notion of belonging and in locations which evoke a sense of emotion, she said.
She added that 40 to 60-year-olds make up a large portion of luxury holidayers, with an increased number of women seeking experience and wellness.
Leaving a mark
It is also an area which Chris Ong, founder of George Town Heritage Hotels, only knows too well, having been partly responsible for the renaissance in chic and small hotels offering a peak of the past in the UNESCO World Heritage site.
“I think that if you have a material heritage that's only focused on material heritage, it's like a person without a soul. So, intangible cultural heritage is the soul of a city,” said the investment banker-turned-hotelier.
Ong believes that festivals and cultural events tell the story of a place to travellers, hence why his hotels often host shows that promote and educate people about the Peranakan culture, which is his ancestry.
“It’s like if you want to know more about heritage and culture in Georgetown, there are a few hotels that are on top of the list and we hope to be up there,” he said.
Yet, the issue of world heritage cities becoming too touristy and hollowed out of residents, is one that niggles. But, Ong sees it as an organic evolution where cities show another dimension of history and tourism.
Home to a mercantile port, Georgetown has always attracted immigrants, so he is curious to see how foreign workers infuse their culture, and what it would look like in the next decade.
“For me, it doesn't matter if a resident lives in Georgetown or who lives in Georgetown. Travellers are relevant to the whole community as long as they share the same values and spend their money where it helps to keep the community alive and services,” he opined during a chat on the “Renaissance of a Destination”.
Indie hotel benefits
Sharing his take on the “hospitality landscape, present and future in Malaysia” Howarth HTL Malaysia director Sen Soon Mun said independent hotels, mainly owner operated, tend to have higher gross operating profit than branded hotels, if they are well-managed as they do not have management fees or centralised corporate services fees.
While they are prevalent in locations where the presence of branded hotels are low, Georgetown has one location in Malaysia where independent hotels have been quite successful.
This hospitality segment often draws leisure or frequent individual travellers, who are much valued by hotels as they are “bigger paying customers”, Sen said, while citing a few reasons which make indie hotels a more appealing business model.
“You have control versus expense, and personalisation versus standardisation. As a guest, personally I prefer personalisation. I don't want to go to a cookie-cutter hotel. If you want charm, personality and difference, going solo gives you that flexibility and structure,” he said.
Another thing is indie hotels can be more creative, which intrigues the present generation of travellers. “If your hotel is Instagrammable, brilliant. You don't need online travel agents [OTAs] or a sales team,” Sen remarked, however, adding that nearly 70% of independent hotels in Malaysia rely on OTAs to drive business.