Insights

This post is meant to summarize the discussion in New York last week. I was invited to be part of a panel on Responsive Design for Hotels with Andy Kauffman, VP of Global eCommerce Marketing at Marriott International, and Brian Estep, VP Sales at buuteeq. The panel was led by Michael Bennett, VP Marketing at KSL Resorts, who did a great job of asking good questions and keeping the discussion moving.

There are way too many generalists out there, and for us, finding a niche has been a key part our success. A lot of people ask us how we developed our niche, so I’ll provide a bit of background.

This post could have been titled “14 web trends for boutique, independent, luxury, exclusive, art hotels, resorts, escapes, spas, camps, cabins, excursions, and yurts.” But you have to draw the line somewhere. And despite (or perhaps because of) its ambiguity, “luxury” is still a relevant word.

If you’re in Vancouver this summer, Grand Hotel: Redesigning Modern Life at the Vancouver Art Gallery is certainly worth your time.

After back-to-back red-eye flights, I found myself in Dubai for 3 days. I would have stayed longer, but Canadians are on a short leash due a disagreement between Air Canada and Emirates Airlines. Travelling alone inevitably leaves ample time for good old-fashioned tourism.

So we’ve been hard at work re-designing the Singita website. It’s an established name in luxury eco-tourism, in the midst of an extensive rebranding process. We were brought onboard to reinvent the digital application of the brand.