The Concept Lab at the Independent Hotel Show is an opportunity for up-and-coming, innovative brands to showcase their products and services to the show's audience of independent and boutique hotel owners. One of these exciting new businesses is Faia, and we caught up with Founder Jamie Brown to learn more about the evolution of the brand.

Tell us a bit about your business

Faia is a tech startup! Our platform is a marketplace that allows Destinations to leverage their empty rooms to host incredible global Creators - who pay for their visit in content, rather than cash. This lowers the cost of marketing & distribution by 90% and saves teams a huge amount of time, by turning content into a currency for global travel. You could think of it as a bit like Airbnb - but only for the best photographers, videographers, writers, influencers, etc.

What is your offering for hoteliers?

Hotels can create their Faia profile within a few minutes - once that’s done, they set availability slots that Creators can send requests for. It’s all done through a seamless native booking & approval system that’s familiar to both sides. Every aspect of a “Partnership” is then managed in-platform - from searching for creators & seeing their content, to pre-partnership messaging & planning, all the way through to content delivery once the creator has booked & visited. No more portfolios, email chains, Google Drive links, etc.

What is Faia doing to save the planet?

Faia is fully carbon neutral, aiming to be carbon negative as we grow! All Partnerships that are completed through the platform are offset by both tree planting & direct carbon removal through Stripe’s Climate initiative.

Why have you decided to join the Concept Lab at the Independent Hotel Show?

The best British hoteliers & accommodation providers are here! We’re onboarding cohorts of destinations in the UK, Spain, France, Italy, Scandinavia and Morocco - and want to scale the platform with the best hotels, both independents & groups. More hotel availability attracts more Creators from around the world, which benefits the hotels by having more choice of content. The bigger the marketplace is, the more valuable it is for everyone using it.