Even experienced hotel operators sometimes need outside expertise. Hotel consultants can provide industry knowledge for a market entry, repositioning an asset that is struggling, or structuring a management contract.
This guide covers what hotel consulting firms do, when to employ them, and what the top hospitality consulting firms are.
What Is Hotel Consulting?
Hotel consulting, also referred to as hotel management consulting services, is an advisory service that is delivered by external specialists who help hospitality businesses with different topics, such as performance or strategic positioning.
Consultants can either be independent or represent full consulting firms, and the scope of tasks can vary from tackling a single operational challenge to supporting the full lifecycle of a hotel property, from conducting a feasibility study to exiting the investment.
Hospitality consulting firms often bring together experts from different disciplines so that they can serve clients with all matters from finance and asset management to brand positioning and operations.
Using hotel consultancy services can be a great and cost-effective option for hotel owners and operators looking for expertise in a specific area that do not want to build internal capabilities for that purpose.
What Do Hotel Consulting Companies Do?
The scope of hotel consultancy services is broad. Common engagements include:
- Feasibility and market studies: assessing demand and conducting a competitive set analysis before building or acquiring a hospitality property.
- Operational audits: identifying performance gaps and recommending process improvements.
- Revenue management strategy: optimizing pricing strategies, channel mix, and booking performance.
- Brand and franchise advisory: guiding owners through selection, negotiation, structuring hotel ownership, and negotiating management contracts.
- Financial restructuring: assessing distressed assets and finding refinancing scenarios or ownership transitions.
- Financial audits: reviewing hotel financial statements, accounting, and compliance to identify risks, inefficiencies, and opportunities for profit or cutting costs.
- Valuation and transaction advisory: conducting hotel asset valuations, advising on pricing and positioning, and including buyer/seller sourcing and deal negotiation.
The right firm for an engagement depends on the scope and scale of the project, what the property in question is, and also geographical location, as firms may have specialized knowledge in certain markets.
Top Hotel Consulting Firms
The following is an overview of top global hotel consulting firms, ranging from large general hospitality consulting firms to more boutique agencies that work exclusively with hotels.
HVS
HVS is a global consulting firm that focuses exclusively on the hospitality industry. The firm has 50 offices worldwide and covers hotels, resorts, casinos, golf courses, and mixed-use developments. Services include feasibility studies, valuation, and strategic advisory.
Deloitte
Deloitte has a dedicated hospitality and leisure team that advises major hotel groups and travel companies on a large scale. The firm has a strong auditing practice and also provides strategic consulting and financial advisory.
McKinsey & Company
McKinsey has a larger travel practice that serves the aviation and hospitality industries, as well as investors and the public sector. They work with the world's largest hotel groups on strategy and organizational performance.
Boston Consulting Group (BCG)
BCG focuses on travel and tourism and has worked with five of the top ten hotel groups globally. The focus of the projects has been on improving digital operations, revenue management, and customer experience design.
PwC Global Tourism & Hospitality Center of Excellence
PwC's hospitality team advises all stakeholders of the hospitality value chain and is specialized in investment structures and business planning for individual companies or entire destinations.
Bain & Company
Bain's travel and leisure practice advises the hospitality, cruise, and aviation industries, in particular with change management and organizational performance. Bain also follows the client into the implementation phase.
Xotels
Xotels specializes in revenue management consulting and distribution strategy for boutique and independent properties. Xotels’ services can help smaller properties reduce OTA dependency and get support in digital marketing management.
EHL Group
EHL business solutions supports organizations in the hospitality and service industries with comprehensive solutions, including consulting, education and training, talent development, and innovation support. EHL leverages its broad expertise and industry network and helps clients perform better, elevate customer experience, and build sustainable service-driven organizations.
How to Choose a Hotel Consulting Firm
The size and reputation of a firm do not automatically make it the right fit for your purposes. Before engaging any hotel consulting company, consider the following:
- Scope match: Does the firm's core expertise align with your specific challenge?
- Experience with property type: a firm experienced in full-service branded luxury hotels may not be the right partner for an independent boutique
- Geography: local market knowledge matters a lot in feasibility and positioning work
- Model of engagement: Do you want a firm managing the project end-to-end, or a specialist brought into your team for a defined deliverable?
For owners who prefer working with individual consultants rather than firms, the International Society of Hospitality Consultants (ISHC) has a global directory of practitioners with different specializations.
The Value of Outside Expertise
All hotel operations, however well-run they may be, are subject to market changes and evolving capital structures.
Hotel consulting firms exist to support your existing internal expertise and to bring an outside perspective with specialized knowledge to significant decisions in the lifecycle of a hotel property.
