KAYAK opened its first branded hotel in Miami Beach in April 2021 and recently added two properties in Playa del Carmen in December. Why did you decide to create your own hotel brand? What does having your own hotels allow you to do?
We decided to open our own hotels to better understand the operational pain points and opportunities of independent hotels. Many of them can’t invest in the latest technologies. We’re testing a variety of formats, locations, sizes and technologies. Once we build the right software, we’ll provide it to everyone.
What lessons have you learned in the short time of operating your own hotel?
KAYAK Miami Beach opened in April. We quickly learned how hard it is to operate a hotel, the importance of great staff and how easily we could fill the hotel with KAYAK users. But we have a lot more work to do on the software integration and consumer touchpoints. The most important goal was to provide an amazing guest experience. Thankfully, the reviews for KAYAK Miami Beach and our restaurant have been great.
You recently invested in hotel operations platform and hotel company Life House. What made you decide on this investment?
We have a common vision that independent hotels can improve operations and profitability through improved technology. They have a great team and top-tier VC co-investors. We simply couldn’t have opened our Miami Beach location without their help.
You also oversee restaurant reservation platform OpenTable, which is also owned by Booking Holdings Inc. How have you worked to integrate KAYAK and OpenTable to create a great experience for travelers?
One hundred percent of travelers need to eat and we can help with that. OpenTable will serve as the reservation partner for all KAYAK Hotels—whether that means onsite reservations at our restaurants or serving as a way for guests to find takeout, delivery and nearby options for dining. OpenTable powers reservations for more than 7,000 hotel restaurants—and we hear that tour operators count on us as well. With the recent addition of loyalty, CRM integration and PMS integration, OpenTable can easily integrate with point-of-sale systems, email marketing tools, content management systems, delivery platforms and booking partners to help streamline operations, from reservations and waitlists to shift planning and actionable insights. We expect even more growth in this area this year, as we work towards a more personalized hotel experience.
How did your company handle the pandemic?
We embraced the quiet and focused on reimagining our services—invested in up-leveling our UX, launched KAYAK for Business and, most notably, we opened three KAYAK Hotels in nine months. Our team has innovated and created smart solutions to travel pain points. The team has been resilient, and we’re doing our best to take care of them through the addition of modern benefits. We have some openings for outstanding roles at KAYAK and OpenTable we’re always looking for entrepreneurial talent.
Some have said that a silver lining of the pandemic is that it forced the hospitality industry to embrace technology faster than it has in the past. Have you seen that?
Absolutely. More diners than ever are using OpenTable to make online reservations, instead of walking in or calling. And restaurants are embracing technologies like digital menus, ordering and payment. QR codes are almost ubiquitous now. On the travel side—launching KAYAK Hotels and KAYAK for Business has deepened our knowledge of travelers’ preferences. These insights have enabled us to deepen our relationship with our users. Personalizing travel across all of our verticals (Flight, Stays, Cars, Things to Do) is one of KAYAK’s top priorities in 2022.
What does the future hold for KAYAK?
There’s still so much for us to do. We’ll stay focused on our core search capabilities to find the best travel options. But, we’re also investing in our business travel services and deepening our capabilities in the accommodation software stack. You’ll see more KAYAK-branded hotels, too. One of our more ambitious goals is to have independent and boutique hotels be “KAYAK enabled” via consumer-facing tech in 2022.
What are your thought about the current relationship is between OTAs and hotels?
Hotels will always benefit from OTAs as a source of bookings. And most will also grouse about the cost. But OTAs are adept at marketing, conversion, international translations and even payment. So, it’s a symbiotic relationship. As a meta, KAYAK helps both of them, since we let travelers choose where to book.
There’s a lot of speculation about travel for this year and beyond. What is your prediction?
COVID is not going anywhere. So, people are adjusting their behaviors to live with it. I’m optimistic that we’ll see even more leisure and business travel next year.
Why did you choose hospitality as a career path?
Way back in 1999, I saw that the internet could make traveling a lot easier. I helped start Orbitz, one of the original OTAs, and then started KAYAK five years later. Travel makes people—and the world—better. I’m having a great time.
What things did you learn with the founding of Orbitz that helped you launch KAYAK?
What always frustrated me about Orbitz was that we weren’t comprehensive, and we didn’t offer booking choice. If a hotel or airline wasn’t on our platform, we couldn’t show you their rates. And if you did find something on Orbitz, we forced you to book it there. When we launched KAYAK, our goal was to show consumers every possible travel option, and then let you book either directly with the supplier or with your preferred online agency. It was a great idea. Today, KAYAK processes billions of queries across our platforms to help people find their perfect flight, stay, rental car, cruise or vacation package.
Have you looked into the possibility of using cryptocurrency for bookings and other purchases?
Yes, but our legal team said no.
What keeps you up at night?
Nothing. I’m exhausted by the end of the day from work and from chasing a four- and a six-year-old around. But I am always wondering what we could be doing better at KAYAK and OpenTable
Steve Hafner, CEO/cofounder of OTA and travel search engine KAYAK, is no doubt a pioneer in the space, also having been on the founding team for Orbitz in 1999. In the last year, KAYAK has opened its first three branded hotels and made an investment in Life House, a hotel operations platform and hotel company. Hotel Business caught up with him to find out about what it is like to own hotels, the future of the company and a possible silver lining of the pandemic.
