How can art and creativity transform travel and guest experiences? Teresa Muk, Head of Brand and Strategic Marketing at Swire Hotels, joins us to answer this question today. Teresa joined us yesterday to discuss a recent activation they're doing across their hotels (check it out on the Hospitality Daily podcast if you missed it!) 'Encounters Across Cultures’ is being hosted in four cities: Hong Kong, Shanghai, Chengdu, and Beijing - and features artists using biometric data to create music and art that reflect each city's character. These installations will be displayed in The House Collective's hotels through early next year to showcase the blend of art, technology, and culture and celebrate the return of travel post-pandemic. I found this quite impressive and wanted to speak more about it with Teresa to learn how we all can think about how art can play a role in how we provide hospitality. Here are a few highlights from our conversation: 1) Why does art matter in hospitality? "Focusing on art and creativity is crucial because travelers want to understand and experience local culture. Culture makes the travel experience so much more unique than just going to a restaurant or going to a shop to buy things. What really makes a memory last is connecting with people locally. That's what sets hospitality brands apart: the experience you can curate and present to your guests. It's how you win their hearts." 2) Blending international and local influences "The hospitality experience is always about mixing the international point of view with the local point of view. That's why we came up with the idea of encounters across cultures. When you travel, you really want to have this mix or cocktail of different cultures you can experience in that place." 3) Be friends with your guests "We constantly think about strengthening our connection with whoever comes across our brand or our hotels. How can we become friends with them? We're not looking at our guests as just our guests. We're looking at them as friends. It's about the connection we're trying to create to turn everyone - both the people we work with and our guests - into friends. That's our philosophy, and that’s what sets us apart from the other hospitality brands." But that's not all. We're also getting inspiration today from: • Sarah Chabot on delivering Cyber Monday • Tracy L Prigmore on acquiring a 40-acre vineyard estate • Kevin Boland on hosting a Thanksgiving brunch • adrien gloaguen on a new camping brand • William Murray on inspiration • Regitse Cecillie Rosenvinge on working from inspiring places Check it all out here now: https://lnkd.in/gvY8MCYQ If you liked this, you'll love my daily email where I summarize the best ideas from my interviews each day. Subscribe here for free: https://lnkd.in/e8Zdu9cR
Katharina S.
9mo
I also think that experiencing the local culture at a hotel - and that can be through art - is important. It can create trust and loyalty. Music and art can connect people no matter what background they come from. Do you agree?
Thomas Nankervis
9mo
This resonates with me as I am currently reading 'Creativity, Inc.' by Ed Catmull. In hospitality, we are not creating a product with exact specifications, but rather using our creativity to deliver on a brand promise while also giving guests an experience that is unique to them.
Professor. Researcher. Podcast Host. Focused on people-centric operations & hospitality success.
9moThanks for being included!!