How Hilton India broke ice with young, experience-seeking travelers

Time was when fluttering multi-coloured flags and stars against the name were enough to draw customers into five-star hotels. Not anymore; in an age when local experiences and cuisines are the luxuries that travellers seek, hotel chains are being pushed to rethink the brand narrative to appeal to young vacationers.

At Hilton India, the task is doubly tough. It is not only looking to convince travellers that its luxurious exclusivity is not soulless. It also wants to shift the lens away from the common perception of Hilton being just a business hotel. The objective is to have a wider band of travellers walking in through its doors.

How then does a hoary five-star property go about earning itself a new set of spurs?

The world’s second largest hospitality chain wants to firmly establish the concept of a “large hearted” hospitality brand and offer a “refreshing outlook against today’s package-driven hospitality landscape,” says Manish Tolani, vice president, commercial services at Hilton India. 

He points to the ongoing campaign that looks to tell the brand’s story through that of the people who stayed there. These stories have been tailored to appeal to the itinerant traveller always looking for something new.

Tolani is keen to build a bouquet of experiences that offer novelty and represent a warm, localised, tactile feel of the places that the properties are located at. For instance, at the Double Tree by Hilton Goa in Panaji, the hotel has introduced a separate check-in counter for children, allowing parents accompanying them to take a back seat while the formalities are completed. This adds an element of fun to an otherwise tedious process. Also, the hotel has several other experiences on offer, such as local walks and special cooking lessons. 

Other Hilton brands that are a part of the campaign include Conrad Hotels & Resorts, Hilton Hotels & Resorts, Hilton Garden Inn and Hampton by Hilton. Like several of its peers in the hospitality space, the hospitality firm is looking to ride on the changing preference of the travellers. It’s no longer just about a stay and a predictable and standardised experience but creating Instagrammable stories around it. People are travelling not only to have a good time, but also to let their friends and family be a part of that experience.

“If you look at Hilton’s current portfolio, in terms of where they have recently opened hotels, many of them are in luxury leisure destinations. Things such as organising cooking classes for children are typically associated with leisure travel,” says Manav Thadani, founder chairman, Hotelivate, a consulting firm. By offering such experiences, Hilton is tapping into a customer insight that personalised experiences are a key driver for travellers, especially the urban millennial, a trait highlighted by many travel and tourism reports in recent years. One such, ‘How India Travels’ by Bain and Google said that experience-oriented travellers spent $22 billion on travel in 2018 adding that “They research extensively online and offline for authentic experiences.” 

Thadani points out that Hilton’s ploy is a clever marketing trick since the brand is looking to strengthen its presence in the leisure segment where travel experiences are a major differentiator. Several other upscale brands such as the Taj and the Oberoi have done the same for a few years now.

With 19 hotels under its fold in India and 15 in the pipeline, Hilton has traditionally been seen as a business traveller’s destination. While that has assured the Texas-based hospitality firm, a steady stream of patrons, it has been a challenge to extend the brand to other kinds of travellers. The idea was to let the target audience know there is lot more to Hilton than just a large business hotel, says Tolani. It is also meant to appeal to those that already frequent the hotel, because more and more are asking for curated experiences even if it is for just a few days.

“At the end of the day, a five star is a five star. It is brick and mortar. It’s the experience that makes all the difference,” says Tolani. But it can’t be a one-time exercise, it must be consistent and delivered over a long period of time, he added.

Hence the focus on individual stories and personalised offerings in the ongoing campaign that will play out across all media, followed by amplification on social media through partnerships with high-profile influencers. Hilton hopes that a band of digital stars will spread the message further and wider, offering people a new pair of lenses to view the hotel with.