Latest news with #SkiftPodcast
Skift
29-07-2025
- Business
- Skift
Blending Hotels and Rentals: Dart's Bet for Group Travel at Scale
Skift Podcast Compelling discussions with travel industry leaders and creatives who are helping to shape the future of travel. Compelling discussions with travel industry leaders and creatives who are helping to shape the future of travel. Learn More As the line between short-term rentals and hotels continues to blur, Dart Interests is betting that the next generation of resorts won't choose sides. In a new episode of the Skift Travel Podcast, Skift CEO Rafat Ali sat down with Dart President Chris Kelsey to explore the company's $2.5 billion flagship project—Evermore Orlando—and a bold vision for hybrid, group-first hospitality. Located next to Walt Disney World, Evermore is different than many other resorts in the market: a master-planned destination that combines luxury vacation homes with traditional hotel rooms, all managed under one umbrella and anchored by a 433-room Conrad. The idea, according to Kelsey, is to solve the pain points of both legacy hotels and short-term rentals while meeting the needs of modern families and multigenerational travelers. 'We didn't want to retrofit homes into hospitality,' Kelsey said. 'We designed everything from the ground up for this exact use case—groups, gatherings, and consistent hotel-level service.' Listen to This Podcast Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube | RSS Bridging the Gap Between Hotels and Rentals At the core of Evermore's model is what Kelsey calls 'residential hospitality.' Unlike Airbnb or Vrbo, none of the homes are privately owned or inconsistently managed. All units—from 2-bedroom flats to 11-bedroom homes—are owned, operated, and serviced by Dart Interests, offering the scale of vacation rentals with the standards and loyalty benefits of a hotel. That alignment with Hilton Honors is a key differentiator. Evermore is the first property where Hilton has integrated non-traditional units—like villas and vacation homes—into its global loyalty ecosystem. 'You can now book an 8-bedroom house with Hilton points,' Kelsey said. 'That's transformational, not just for us, but for travelers who are looking for more space without giving up quality or perks.' An 'Anti-Theme Park' Philosophy While Evermore sits next to one of the busiest tourist corridors in the U.S., Dart intentionally designed it as a counterpoint to the high-energy, high-saturation theme park experience. 'Everything in Orlando goes fast, flashes lights, or tries to entertain you,' Kelsey said. 'We wanted the opposite—calm, open spaces, human-scale architecture, and intentional landscaping that helps people decompress.' That focus has helped Evermore attract not only park-goers but also destination weddings, reunions, and corporate retreats. The crown jewel is an eight-acre crystalline lagoon that serves as both centerpiece and recreational hub, surrounded by event venues, cabanas, and casual dining. Rethinking Food, Labor, and Landscape Dart Interests is also challenging conventional resort operations. After encountering difficulties running 13 food and beverage outlets in-house, the company partnered with Chicago-based Lettuce Entertain You to bring culinary expertise and brand consistency to the portfolio. Landscaping and maintenance have also been rethought from scratch. With more than 1,000 acres under management, Dart has internalized many traditionally outsourced services to ensure long-term quality and cost control. And on the labor side, Kelsey emphasized Dart's investment in building a stable, full-time workforce rather than relying on contractors or gig labor. 'Hospitality isn't just about the physical product—it's the people delivering the experience every day,' he said. Building for the Long Game Unlike many resort developers chasing yield and flipping assets, Dart is taking a long-term ownership view. Kelsey says the firm's privately held structure allows it to prioritize brand equity, operational resilience, and guest satisfaction over short-term gains. 'What we're building with Evermore is not meant to be sold in five years,' he said. 'It's a forever asset—and that changes how you design, staff, and operate.' Looking ahead, Dart is exploring expansion into mountain, lake, and coastal markets, using the Evermore playbook to serve group and family travelers often underserved by traditional hotels or vacation homes. But Kelsey is clear: this isn't about scaling fast. It's about scaling right. 'We don't want to copy and paste Evermore,' he said. 'We want each location to feel grounded, local, and thoughtfully built for how people actually travel—and stay—today.'
Skift
22-07-2025
- Business
- Skift
Simplicity in Loyalty: The Way Out For Indie Hotels
Global Hotel Alliance is betting that simplicity, not scale, will win the next phase of hotel loyalty. With a transparent rewards currency and a sharp focus on leisure travelers, it's carving out a middle path for independents looking to compete without giving up control. Skift Podcast Compelling discussions with travel industry leaders and creatives who are helping to shape the future of travel. Compelling discussions with travel industry leaders and creatives who are helping to shape the future of travel. Learn More In the latest episode of the Skift Travel Podcast, Skift Founder Rafat Ali sat down with Global Hotel Alliance CEO Chris Hartley for a deep dive into the Alliance's unique approach to distribution, direct bookings, and consumer loyalty. What began in 2004 as a Star Alliance-inspired coalition of four independent hotel brands has grown into a global loyalty ecosystem – with leisure travelers at its core. With more than 45 independent hotel brands and 900 properties under its umbrella, GHA is proving that collaboration, not consolidation, might be the best path forward for independent operators. Listen to This Podcast Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube | RSS The Value of Simplicity At the heart of GHA's appeal is its loyalty program, GHA Discovery, and its transparent currency, Discovery Dollars. Unlike opaque, often-devalued points systems common among legacy programs, Discovery Dollars offer a simple, intuitive value: 1 dollar equals 1 U.S. dollar. It's a strategy that consumers understand immediately – and respond to. According to Hartley, members with Discovery Dollars in their wallet are 10 to 15 times more likely to book again through a GHA hotel. 'Simplicity and transparency are what travelers want most,' Hartley said. 'They're tired of guessing what their points are worth.' A Loyalty Program Built for Leisure GHA's portfolio skews heavily toward leisure travel, reflecting a broader industry trend that Hartley believes is redefining the very premise of loyalty. While traditional programs were designed for high-frequency business travelers, today's landscape is marked by blended travel and increasing leisure trip frequency, and it is shifting the economics. 'Leisure travelers are staying longer, paying more, and traveling more often,' Hartley said. 'That changes the whole loyalty equation.' GHA Discovery's focus on resort destinations, upscale experiences, and a high proportion of owner-operated properties has created a direct channel for engagement that often bypasses the commission fees of online travel agencies (OTAs). 'If you get loyalty right, people will do irrational things to stay with you. You just have to earn their trust,' Hartley said. Competing Without Consolidating Unlike major chains that subsume smaller brands into massive loyalty systems, GHA offers independent hotels a way to retain their identity while gaining the benefits of scale. 'Most of our brands want to remain independent,' Hartley said. 'But at a certain point, the economics make that hard. We're offering them a middle path.' GHA's model enables smaller hotel groups to negotiate global corporate deals, access preferred partnerships, and reduce their reliance on OTAs without giving up their branding or operational autonomy. 'We don't own hotels. We don't even run them,' Hartley emphasized. 'But we do give them access to a loyal, global audience and the tools to compete.'
Skift
15-07-2025
- Business
- Skift
‘We Can Solve Big Problems': Bhanu Chopra on the New Era of Indian Tech
RateGain's Bhanu Chopra believes India's time has come — not just to serve global travel, but to lead it. Skift Podcast Compelling discussions with travel industry leaders and creatives who are helping to shape the future of travel. Compelling discussions with travel industry leaders and creatives who are helping to shape the future of travel. Learn More Bhanu Chopra, founder of India-based travel tech firm RateGain, has seen Indian entrepreneurs make waves in the business world, and he believes the perception of Indian executives is changing worldwide. Chopra, who founded RateGain in 2004, has guided the company to become India's first publicly listed SaaS firm, and hopes to hit $1 billion in revenue. RateGain provides data and technology to hotels, airlines, and online travel agencies, making it an important behind-the-scenes player in digital travel bookings. During a recent episode of the Skift Travel Podcast, Chopra discussed with Skift CEO Rafat Ali how Indian professionals are now leading major global companies, which has fostered a renewed sense of ambition and pride. Listen Now Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube | RSS A New Generation of Indian Business Leaders Chopra discussed changing perception of companies coming out of India. • 'I think what has happened is that we as a society, as a community, have gained a lot of confidence. We see some Indians now leading the biggest tech companies in the world.' • 'And I think what has happened is we want to dream bigger. We want to say to the world that we have arrived. We can solve problems — the world's problems — and we can solve big problems.' Chopra was asked if the perception of Indian companies as outsourcing companies has changed dramatically. • 'It's changed. The way people look at us now — even RateGain — has changed dramatically … There used to be this baggage of being a labor arbitrage company — now people see you as problem solvers, leaders in innovation. I see a huge perception change.' AI in India Chopra believes most Indian companies, including RateGain, don't need to build foundational AI models — large language models — themselves. He said the focus should be on developing AI wrappers, which are applications built on top of existing AI models. • 'I think we will see some of the best AI wrapper companies coming out of India.' • 'We don't need to reinvent the wheel. I think we're good at applying. I think, innately, we have that scale, and we can build great wrapper companies.' • 'If you talk to VCs and private equity guys, they're actually putting more value on the wrapper companies.' RateGain's Growth Strategy Chopra said RateGain is 'extremely judicious and also very patient' regarding mergers and acquisitions, adding its focus is on revenue-generating tools for the travel industry. The company hasn't made an acquisition since buying Adara in 2023. • 'We want to get deeper in certain markets. We are still very, very dominant in the U.S. — (the) majority of our revenue comes from North America.' • 'So we look at opportunities that allow us to continue to get deeper in the U.S. and Europe. • 'If you look at everything that we do, there aren't a lot of players. There is some amount of fragmentation, but we want to be the player that rolls up and consolidates the industry as well.' Related
