Summer is here, but the hotels, restaurants and outdoor amenities we often associate with vacation season look much different than only a few months ago. Instead of cold beverages, hotel greeters offer care kits with hand sanitizer and disposable masks; touchless transactions reduce contact during check-in; and in some states, hotels and short-term rentals still can’t be booked.
These are just some of the changes for a hospitality industry especially hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. The metrics are grim: Consumer spending on hotel rooms, conferences and weddings has plummeted by 64.4 percent compared to a year ago, and until there’s a vaccine, trends contributing to the drop-off—such as drastically reduced business travel and related virtual work—are likely to continue. While few doubt the need for social distancing and other steps, these measures are already having a profound effect on the human experience and other brand promises the industry has historically made to customers, employees and partners.
All of which begs the question: What might be next for hospitality, and what should its leaders consider as they move from today’s uncertainties to the next normal?
We believe industry leaders need to focus on what could be their core strength—creating an elevated human experience, or what we call an eHX. This doesn’t just mean optimized CRM, pockets of innovation, service excellence or great apps; recent research indicates companies focusing on creating a holistic human experience are twice as likely to outperform their peers in revenue growth over a three-year period. Choices made to focus on experience today will help determine who leads in a new hospitality environment tomorrow.
To make these choices, executives are examining both current finances and future investment. This likely means taking an aggressive budget stance to free up any uncommitted resources in favor of operational improvements focused on efficiency. It might also mean investing in service enhancements that touch human experiences—such as AI-driven insights that guide travel personalization—and can unlock value down the road. It will be a hard balancing act, but investing in a time of crisis can position organizations to thrive in the future.
What does this mean specifically? Keep these three principles in mind as you develop recovery plans, and you’ll be able to both honor the human experience and respect the balance sheet:
