The white paper and an empirical study based on it by the Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Engineering IAO are intended to help hoteliers, service providers, neighborhoods and municipalities to better understand the potential of collaboration and the role of hotels within their own service ecosystem. They show how hotels can create innovative service offerings and tap into new revenue potential by integrating different actors. Actors such as hotel guests, local communities, hotel employees, investors and political decision-makers together form a hotel’s service ecosystem and benefit from a better understanding of their relationships, the applicable framework and relevant influencing factors.
The authors of the white paper, Prof. Vanessa Borkmann and Ronja Gaulinger, offer a deep insight into the concept of the hotel service ecosystem and use practical examples to show how hotels can exploit their potential through collaboration and synergies. The white paper provides specific examples of best practice and recommendations for the successful design of resilient hotel service ecosystems.
“The service ecosystem model shows how consolidation of the value creation network can generate additional revenue streams, new marketing approaches, an increase in demand frequency and more continuity (especially in seasonal operations). This opens up a new area of opportunity around the hotel,” explains Prof. Vanessa Borkmann, head of the Urban System Design research department and project manager of the FutureHotel Innovation Network at Fraunhofer IAO.
Hotels are more than just places to stay
Many hotels have already expanded on their traditional role as just places for travelers to stay overnight. Among the elements contributing to this have been co-working concepts and the opening of food and beverage outlets for external visitors. Their future greater integration into local communities, for example as community centers with infrastructure services, cultural offerings and the targeted attraction of new target groups, offers innovative, expanded business opportunities and revenue potential. Hotels can also take on a new, significant role by not only being drivers of footfall and employers that bolster local value creation and infrastructure, but also by acting as places of exchange, creativity and collaboration.
- The changing role of hotels: In future, hotels will play a greater role in the quality of life and services in neighborhoods and communities.
- New revenue streams: New sources of revenue are emerging, such as delivery and support services for the local area.
- Strengthening resilience: Hotels’ resilience is increased by short lines of communication and logistics routes, as well as local collaboration.
Outlook: Empirical study and new project phase
In January 2025, the empirical study FutureHotel – 360° Hotel Service Ecosystem will be published, which is part of the FutureHotel Innovation Network research project. Fraunhofer IAO has also announced the start of the new research phase of the FutureHotel Innovation Network, beginning on January 1, 2025. New partners are very welcome to join the network.
With the FutureHotel Innovation Network, Fraunhofer IAO has been driving innovative developments in the hotel industry for many years and supporting the actors in it with innovation development and a successful transformation. As part of the process, the influence of social, ecological, political and technological changes is continually examined. The innovation network promotes the exchange of knowledge and offers practical insights into relevant topics, such as sustainable and digital business models and smart hotel solutions and working environments.
Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Engineering IAO