Expert opinion · May 22, 2026 · Nikita Khandheria
The hospitality industry has one of the biggest branding problems in business.
Not because the brands are weak.
Because people still do not believe they can scale.
Watching The Yes Girls on Shark Tank honestly frustrated me a little because if almost any other company walked in with that level of sales, reputation, demand, and market positioning, the conversation would have immediately been about growth potential. But because it was hospitality and events, the lens completely changed. Suddenly the question became whether a “personal experience” business could scale at all.
I think that way of thinking is outdated.
The best experiential companies today are not just planning events. They are building trust at scale. They are building emotional brands. They are building communities, referral engines, vendor ecosystems, operational systems, and audiences that want to buy into a feeling.
That is scalable.
At ERIA, we have always viewed ourselves as far more than an event planning company. We are building a brand people emotionally connect to. The event itself is just the delivery vehicle.
Our growth strategy has never been about one planner trying to do everything forever. It is about building a recognizable brand ethos so strong that we can continuously bring in talented people, trusted vendors, creatives, producers, and operators who all understand exactly what ERIA feels like.
That is the future of hospitality.
The companies that win will not just be the ones with the best logistics. They will be the ones with the strongest identity, the clearest point of view, and the ability to consistently create experiences people want to talk about.
For a long time, hospitality was treated like a service business. I think the next generation of companies are going to prove it is actually a branding business.
And we are just getting started.
