Hotels offer two main things – a room and a location. While I’m no expert in retail location, I imagine the cost benefit analysis of hotel construction relies pretty heavily on what nearby attractions are worth visiting. But how do you meet the demands of location if an “attraction” is temporary?
Back in 2004 Jacksonville Florida was in the running to host the 39th NFL Super Bowl, making it the smallest city ever considered to host the game. However, the NFL had a stipulation that in order to be considered to host the games, a city must have a minimum of 17,500 quality hotel rooms – something Jacksonville was about 3,500 short of. Rather than withdraw from consideration, the Jacksonville Super Bowl Host Committee suggested a unique alternative – cruise ships. The idea was a success, adding 3,600 rooms for NFL guests, sponsors, and other VIP’s. Great idea if you have an accessible body of water nearby.
Snoozebox is a more recent innovation in “transportable, temporary hotel accommodation.” The European company offers “flexible configurations from 40 to 400 rooms, Snoozebox can be fully operational and ready to welcome guests within 48 hours of arriving at almost any event or location around the world” (from the Snoozebox site). Assembled from shipping containers, each room contains a “living area,” with bed and closet, as well as a “wet room,” with a commode, sink, and hot water shower. (see inside of a “room” here) “And Snoozebox is truly adaptable, being totally self-contained with no need for mains services or flat terrain to be sited.”
The concept has been used for sporting events and concerts to house anyone from fans to project crews and production staff. Check out some upcoming events here – including accommodating performers for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Pageant at Windsor Castle this coming September.
Both concepts - Snoozebox and cruise ships - are great examples of using innovation by reframing the objective. In this case, both groups moved from the traditional “get people to the hotel” to the more innovative “get the hotel to the people.” It’s pretty audacious if you think about it. How might you reframe an objective you’re working on?
*Each Monday, Prophet’s Chief Curator and Provocateur, Andy Stefanovich, or a member of our innovation team shares an on-ramp to Monday with Prophet employees across the globe. We’d like to share the inspiration and expand the footprint of these weekly jump starts by sharing them here. This week’s post was written by Geof Hammond in our Richmond office. Happy Monday!
