Hospitality: The Olympics Opportunity

With the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics underway, the world is watching as new records are set and new heroes emerge. But athletes are also sharing behind-the-scenes glimpses into their daily lives, including their accommodations during the event, gaining traction on social media. This presents a lucrative opportunity for the luxury hospitality industry: with 90.4% of high-net-worth travellers planning to follow the 2024 Summer Olympics (according to GWI's 2024 consumer survey), hotels and brands that partner with Olympians will align closely with their prospective consumers' interests.

More than providing much-needed comfort and rest post games, aligning with athletes can be a strategic opportunity for hospitality brands, generating considerable media value and tapping into these personalities’ high engagement rates. While Airbnb became a Worldwide Olympic Partner in 2019, committing to providing travel options that are economically empowering, socially inclusive and environmentally sustainable, the space remains relatively untapped for the luxury hospitality sector. Aside from becoming a sponsor of the Olympics themselves, there are partnership opportunities between hospitality brands and athletes at an individual level or with teams. What would this look like?

Take SIRO, a venture by the renowned Kerzner International group. The high-end fitness and wellness hotel concept has enrolled athlete ambassadors to align with its active ethos. These include British-Somali professional boxer and humanitarian, Ramla Ali, alongside world class football team A.C. Milan. The hotel also boasts established relationships with Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic, who recently made headlines by beating Rafael Nadal in the men’s singles at the Paris Olympics, and British swimmer Adam Peaty, who just won silver for Team GB in the 100m breaststroke. 

Each of SIRO’s athlete ambassadors plays an advisory role in the development of the brand, from bespoke training programs to recovery, nutrition and wellbeing. More than brand ambassadors, SIRO has unique access to the routines, programs and strategies of these professional athletes, technicians and wellbeing experts, uniquely positioning the hotel in the eyes of its luxury clients who are also sports enthusiasts. 

Partnerships between hospitality brands and various Olympics sports and athletes can range far and wide. Whereas swimming is the most popular sport among the luxury traveller, 52.2% of this cohort were interested in gymnastics. However, aside from sportswear and sports equipment sponsorships, five-time gold medallist Simone Biles has few contracts with hospitality brands, and even fewer in the luxury space.

Sports has become such a pertinent interest for the luxury consumer that many hospitality brands have moved beyond partnerships and into full-scale collaborations. Created by Meliá Hotels International and world renowned tennis player, Rafael Nadal, ZEL Hotels leverage the power of Nadal’s athletic prowess to offer best-in-class services to its clients, including activities like tennis and climbing. 

“With our first ZEL hotel in Mallorca, and with the concept that we have created for the brand, we are looking to offer those moments in life that I enjoy so much: everyone knows that I love sailing, particularly in the Mediterranean; eating on the beach, at a beach bar or in a beach club; and relaxing while spending time with friends and family, feeling at home,’ said Nadal after the launch.

Beyond partnerships during the Olympics season, there is a key opportunity for hospitality brands to tap into athletes’ private holidays. Lefty data shows sports people’s posts about leisure hotel stays have led to a 27% increase in EMV in the sector, despite only 28% of athlete’s posts focusing on leisure travel. These posts achieve a high engagement rate of 5.9% on average, presenting a unique potential for airlines and hotels to invest in athletes’ downtime. This also showcases how enlisting an Olympian as ambassador can extend far beyond the games, as these personalities have built highly-engaged communities over the years who will follow their every move, on or off season.

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