Four Seasons sees Airbnb as 'meaningful force to reckon with'

Toronto

FOUR Seasons isn't taking Airbnb's push into high-end lodging lightly.

"I would be naive to say that we aren't being mindful of the Airbnb effect," said Four Seasons Hotels And Resorts CEO Allen Smith. "It's just another example of the speed in which the market is changing and the manner in which we need to be prepared to respond to it."

The five-star hotel chain created six decades ago by Isadore Sharp continues to expand worldwide while working to preserve its top-tier reputation in an industry increasingly driven by millennial expectations and tastes. The company, jointly controlled by …