I once stayed in the most charming bohemian B&B owned by a Belgian chef. From the twice-weekly supper club to the eclectic artwork, everything about this B&B was special, but more than those things, it is the relationship I developed with the owner that keeps me wanting to go back. Upon my leaving, she said, “Next time, when you write to reserve, tell me you’re a purple guest, so I can be sure you get my friends’ discount.” She knows how to make her guests feel special.
Imagine this level of personal service and relationship but on the scale of a full-service hotel. This is the potential of predictive intelligence, also known as predictive analytics and business intelligence.
We are still working to bridge the great divide between data and human relationships. They seem so disparate, one scientific and the other emotional, but they are really interwoven. Data exists to help hotels create more and better relationships, better relationships create better data.
How do we get across this chasm between data and relationships? First (and the focus of my recent article No More Spaghetti), integration is essential. We must reduce the complexity of the technology and the data at our disposal. Otherwise, it is either rendered useless or it eats too many resources. Once the data is no longer in silos—for instance, things like multiple guest history profiles have been linked across various apps, and platforms are available in one accessible dashboard—then the magic of predictive intelligence can unfold.
The power of predictive intelligence stretches across marketing, revenue management, and operations. According to EyeforTravel’s Bringing Predictive Intelligence to the Hotel Industry, predictive analytics allows hotels to:
- predict trends (i.e., intelligent forecasting)
- understand guests
- improve business performance (e.g., offering a better understanding of labor and maintenance needs)
- improve strategic decision-making
- predict behaviors
How does predictive intelligence offer so many benefits? By giving hotels the tools to see patterns and make associations
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