As guest expectations for personalized experiences continue to rise, hotels face escalating pressure to deliver tailored content that resonates on an individual level. Instant gratification is now the norm, with guests anticipating that hotels will foresee their needs and preferences at every encounter.
NB: This is an article from Infor Hospitality
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However, despite the prevalent adoption of personalization strategies, many hoteliers still fall short of these expectations. According to McKinsey, while 71% of brands aspire to provide personalized experiences, only 15% believe they do it effectively.
The critical question arises: Why do hoteliers continue to miss the mark?
Ever-evolving expectations
One of the primary barriers to achieving the level of personalization that guests demand lies in its definitions. “Hyper-personalization” often means different things to different people, and every hotel pursues varying success metrics concerning personalization.
Compounding this, what personalization entails has evolved over time. What is commonplace today was inconceivable a decade ago, leading hoteliers to chase a perpetually shifting target.
Despite these efforts, there remains a gap between guest expectations and what hotels deliver. Ideally, hoteliers may never fully close this gap as it continuously evolves. This is one reason why hoteliers fall short in their personalization efforts.
Consider Riley’s story, a frequent guest at a major hotel chain. Following a noisy stay due to nearby construction, she expected not just acknowledgment but appropriate remedies. Instead, she received generic offers for spa services and family packages—irrelevant to her inconvenience, highlighting a clear disconnect.
The hotel missed a vital opportunity to use the data from Riley’s complaint across channels, resulting in a disjointed and impersonal interaction—a common scenario in the industry.
This trend reflects a broader issue: hotels struggle to extend personalization efforts beyond basic email and website interactions. While these channels are popular for delivering personalized content, modern guests seek cohesive and genuine interactions across all hotel experiences.
True personalization involves integrating tailored interactions both online and on-property, enhancing guest service, fostering emotional connections, and driving loyalty and future bookings. And this is no longer optional.
Yet, 85% of brands feel they are not succeeding with personalization. This indicates prevalent obstacles, often related to technology, data, and intelligence, preventing hotels from excelling in personalization.
Technology, data, and intelligence
Hoteliers have access to a vast amount of data within their hospitality management systems. Nevertheless, many do not fully leverage this information to create genuinely engaging guest experiences.
Success in omnichannel personalization requires more than just data; it demands actionable intelligence derived from that data.
By collecting real-time data on guest preferences across marketing channels, hotels can anticipate critical moments and interaction points with their audience. Identifying and utilizing these opportunities enables hotels to increase the proportion of personalized content in their communication, driving higher conversion rates and revenue growth.
McKinsey’s research highlights the financial benefits of personalized customer journeys, suggesting that effective personalization strategies could enhance revenue and guest retention ROI by 10-30 percent.
As hotels aim to maximize guest lifetime value, the focus must shift from acquisition to retention, creating enduring experiences that foster repeat bookings. Building emotional connections with guests not only promotes loyalty but also increases the likelihood of cross-category purchases and advocacy.
By utilizing the abundant data available and adopting advanced personalization technologies, hotels can unlock significant revenue potential and nurture long-lasting guest relationships.
Personalization at Scale
While the importance of personalized guest experiences is widely recognized, there remains untapped potential for hotels to fully harness data-driven personalization.
For hotels to thrive in personalization, they must invest in advanced technology such as Infor’s Hospitality Management System and pursue a data-driven, guest-centric approach. By prioritizing modern technology solutions, hotels can position themselves for success in an increasingly competitive market, driving higher engagement, loyalty, and revenue growth.
