An Interview with Jason Pinto
The BLLA Events Team sat down with Jason Pinto, COO of Pace Revenue, and one of our facilitators from the 2023 Boutique Hotel Investment Conference on June 7-8.
The BLLA Events Team sat down with Jason Pinto, COO of Pace Revenue, and one of our facilitators from the 2023 Boutique Hotel Investment Conference on June 7-8.
BLLA: What are you hoping to get out of your participation in the Boutique Hotel Investment Conference?
JP: Meeting and networking with innovators who are not afraid to buck the prevailing wisdom and take risks.
Engaging with the hospitality industry innovators and sharing more of the market-leading solutions from Pace.
BLLA: How did you come to enter the hospitality industry?
JP: Pace Revenue was founded by a team of entrepreneurs, technologists, and data scientists with a passion for building automated decision intelligence systems. From its founding, it was clear that the hospitality industry was a perfect match for Pace with its massive scale, unmet need, and engaged revenue management teams. Now with over 1,200 active hotels on the Pace Platform, this successful industry partnership is a revolution in progress.
BLLA: What does boutique mean to you?
JP: Hotel operators and owners who are looking to be innovative and who realize that the traditionally fragmented brand world leads to a lack of innovation due to competing definitions of success between multiple financial stakeholders.
Hoteliers who have made distinctive decisions with their brands; hoteliers who stand out from the crowd of mundane grey boxes with beds. Hoteliers who have innovation at the heart of their DNA.
BLLA: What are the top three trends that you see in the boutique hotel investment space?
JP:
- Forget millennials, a forward-looking hotel needs to think about how to cater to Gen Z, meaning more authentic and unique experiences.
- Using a building for multiple purposes (combining hostels/student housing with standard hotel rooms) along with F&B offerings that attract locals.
- Authentic sustainability and loyalty that doesn’t involve points.
BLLA: What is the mission statement of your company?
JP: The Pace Commercial Operating System: Pace Revenue is on a mission to transform commercial decision-making in the hospitality industry with a modern platform designed for optimal autonomous decision giving innovative hospitality operators insight and intelligence.
BLLA: Why do you believe boutique hotels are a good investment?
JP: The brands are saturated. Even branded hotels are trying to be “independent” but ultimately the weight of legacy systems and processes along with stakeholder complexity means that they can’t be truly innovative or agile. Boutique hotels require more work to be successful, but they give an owner more flexibility to adapt to changes in conditions.
BLLA (Boutique & Luxury Lodging Association)
Founded in 2009, the Boutique & Luxury Lodging Association (BLLA) is the global voice and leading advocate for independent boutique and luxury hospitality. Representing a distinctive and influential sector of the lodging industry, BLLA connects hotel owners, operators, investors, innovators, and industry leaders through advocacy, education, strategic partnerships, and thought leadership.
Through its global community, industry conferences, membership programs, and initiatives including StayBoutique and Boutique Money Group, BLLA champions the individuality, entrepreneurial spirit, and innovation that define boutique hospitality. As the industry evolves, BLLA continues to expand opportunities in investment, technology, artificial intelligence, and visibility and distribution for independent hotels.
At its core, BLLA protects independence, strengthens the boutique hospitality community, and shapes the future of an industry where individuality is the ultimate luxury.
Learn more: BLLA.org | BLLA LinkedIn | StayBoutique
About FLYR Hospitality
FLYR Hospitality is a technology company that is purpose-built for the travel industry. Leveraging deep learning, an advanced form of AI, FLYR is helping airlines, cargo, and hospitality businesses around the globe elevate their results. With FLYR, businesses are able to improve revenue performance and modernize the e-commerce experience through accurate forecasting, automation, and analytics. Learn more at flyr.com. For more information visit flyr.com/hospitality.