The following is a guest post from Dale Johns, founding principal of Silverstone Development. Opinions are the author’s own.
A city’s hospitality landscape can make or break its status as a top-tier destination for conventions, events and tourism. Take Indianapolis, for example: smart investments in luxury, extended stay and historic hotels helped generate revenue and resulted in 932,000 hotel rooms booked in 2024 alone. (Taylor Swift’s final U.S. Eras Tour performances from Nov. 1 to Nov. 3, 2024, didn’t hurt.)
Indianapolis is just one instance of the booming global hospitality industry, with revenues projected to reach $7.2 trillion by 2029. As cities across the country lean into their unique offerings and appeal to tourists, hospitality development firms have an opportunity to establish themselves in the industry among national players and larger-scale projects.
Breaking into any industry comes with opportunities to grow, and boutique hotels can leverage three distinct advantages.
1. Know Your Niche
Not all hotels are created equal, nor should they be. Boutique hotels have the flexibility to define themselves in the market, but developers have to know exactly what their project is trying to be. What is your specialty that only your project can bring to the market? What unique amenities or designs enhance the experience of staying at your hotel?
Ultimately, this means developers need to understand their brand and what they want to be known for. Settling for gimmicks or chasing fads that worked for other developers may have an appeal in the short term, but long-term success relies on distinctions that keep guests and locals coming back.
2. Know Your Community
Locals should always be an important audience. For example, while Indianapolis’s 30 million visitors in 2024 dwarfed the 2 million people who make their home in the Indianapolis metro area, locals are the people who see and live with your hotel every day, and they can be a vital part of your hotel’s day-to-day business.
So, how do you appeal to locals when they may not be staying in your rooms? Develop something they can use, appreciate and can’t get anywhere else. Maybe that’s a swanky rooftop bar that has the best skyline view in the city or a new restaurant concept that challenges the steakhouse status quo. Lean into lifestyle, not just for guests, but for everyone who comes through your doors.
3. Know Your Values
You understand the value of your project and what you bring to a city, the convention landscape and local residents. But what do you value? What drives you to develop a project in a certain place at a certain time? It can’t be all about capitalizing on a fad to make a buck. Rather, go a step beyond appealing to local patrons to contextualize your project within the greater community and how your hotel meets its needs.
For instance, if you’re developing in one of the five different cities vying to be the women’s sports capital of the world, clearly articulating how your hotel provides visiting teams with preferred amenities and strong security can build a positive reputation for both the city and your brand. Your reputation precedes you. Deliver.
Any hotel breaking into a city’s established tourism footprint will find itself in intense competition. You won’t be the biggest — you likely don’t want to be. That gives you the flexibility to fill niche needs and appeal to people who want more than a place to crash after a long day. Embrace it and clearly illustrate how your differences are assets that will strengthen the city’s tourism and community for decades to come.
