Part of Airbnb’s success is that it tapped into a dissatisfaction with the mass commodification of large-scale hotel chains. Even the hotel companies recognize this. “Twenty years ago when you listened to what travelers wanted, they wanted a clean room and not to be surprised,” Arne Sorenson, CEO of Marriott International, explained in an onstage interview about disruption at the American Magazine Media Conference in early 2016. “That fed our brand’s strategy: OK, let’s make sure it all looks similar.” Now, he says, what the traveler wants has changed: “If I’m waking up in Cairo, I want to
...more
