Ian Schrager: Hospitality Is a 'Me Too' Industry
Skift Take
Schrager has a lot of strong opinions on the current state of the hotel industry and, given his track record of success, it's probably not a bad idea to listen to them.
Ian Schrager, the iconic hotelier best known for Studio 54 and pioneering the modern boutique hotel in the 1980s, has a warning or two for the hotel industry.
“It’s a ‘me too’ industry, and it’s unfortunate,” he told Skift, shortly after receiving the 22nd Annual ISHC Pioneer Award from the International Society of Hospitality Consultants (ISHC) on the final day of the Americas Lodging Investment Summit in Los Angeles last month.
Schrager was referencing the hotel industry, a sector of which he’s been involved in for more than five decades, and bemoaning the lack of innovation he’s seen in recent years.
“I think they’ll wind up getting into the same rut they were [in] 30 years ago, but it’d be a lot of different colors," he continued. "But it’s a 'me too' industry. Maybe because it’s so capital intensive. I don’t know why, but it’s an industry that lags the cultural growth curve rather than leading it like the technology industry does.”
He continued, “I think the industry is at a crossroads again. They were at a crossroads when I got started last time as well [referring to the early 1980s].
