Every operator should know where they’re exposed and what competitors are testing right now.
Why does this matter?
- Best case: you identify opportunities to strengthen your guest offering, reduce operational friction, and unlock new revenue streams.
- Worst case: you learn what your competitors are already exploring, so you’re not surprised when guests start spending elsewhere.
At a minimum, your competitors are testing three areas…
- How to attract more guests to their property (and away from yours)
- How to increase automation and reduce costs
- How to add ancillary revenue streams
How do we know?
As investors, EMERGING works with entrepreneurs building world-class concepts and technologies that give hospitality and entertainment operators a competitive advantage.
EMERGING also Licenses eight (8) best-in-class entertainment concepts with broad market appeal.
If you’d like to discuss any of the below, I’m happy to share what we’re seeing across the market over a 30-minute call.
Peter Kratsios | Managing Director | PK@Emerging.com | 516.650.7001
1) Attract guests to your property (and away from competitors)
To stay competitive, you must constantly give guests new reasons to show up, reasons to stay longer, and reasons to share their experience with friends and family.
- McKinsey found 52% of Gen Z travelers say they splurge on experiences, and they’ll cut other categories before trimming experiences.
- McKinsey also found 92% of younger travelers say their last trip was motivated in some way by social media.
The “experience layer” of your property is both a growth lever and a marketing engine. It amplifies your unique differentiators and it exposes when you don’t have enough.
Hospitality-entertainment concepts can serve as meaningful differentiators through marketing and programming, while organically increasing guest dwell time.
EMERGING’s licensing business provides a single point of contact to help operators add premium entertainment experiences with proven ROI. All concepts are under 600 SF/unit.
How EMERGING supports the process:
- Step 1 (free): We analyze your property, market, and customer profile.
- Step 2 (free): We curate the best concepts that fit your space and budget constraints.
- Step 3: We forecast a performance outlook to support your decision-making.
2) Increase automation and reduce costs
If automation and cost control are important to you, the goal should be less friction and better decision-making using the systems you already have.
ServeAI is the best solution I’ve seen.
Every day, I’m seeing large hospitality operators impressed by ServeAI’s Decision Intelligence Platform.
ServeAI replaces fragmented systems with one intelligence layer that connects your data (POS, scheduling, payroll, inventory, etc.) without replacing the systems you rely on.
Over time, ServeAI can also unlock high-margin ancillary revenue opportunities by identifying guest intent in real time and delivering personalized upsell offers at the right moments.
When your systems communicate and optimize 24/7, you can increase both gross and net revenue per guest.
3) Add ancillary revenue streams
Across hospitality and entertainment, the most durable growth often comes from high margin, on-property ancillary revenue drivers.
From what I see most often, the easiest ancillary revenue wins are:
F&B monetization:
- If you have televisions, Taiv replaces TV commercials with custom, monetizable content.
- If you have restaurant seating with desirable views, Tablz allows guests to pay a premium for specific tables.
- Adding entertainment near an existing bar & kitchen will create a new guest dining option without building new dining infrastructure.
Paid Enhancements:
Hotels and casinos: room upgrades, early check-in/late check-out adjustments, and resort fees are common. What’s changing is the sophistication of technology that maximizes upsell opportunities. Solutions like ServeAI are not yet deployed at scale, but they will be. The upside is too meaningful not to optimize paid enhancements.
Bowling centers, movie theaters, and family entertainment centers: with many traditional options already in place (merchandise, memberships, events), the next shift is toward a personalized guest journey where customers pay more for a curated experience.
Let’s talk (30 minutes)
If any of the three areas above are priorities this year, let’s do a focused 30-minute session. Assign a team member to connect with me, and I’ll share what we’re seeing across concepts, technology, and monetization strategies.
Peter Kratsios | Managing Director | PK@Emerging.com | 516.650.7001