The hotel industry is on track to reach its tenth year of consecutive growth— having surpassed US$800 billion in 2017 in the US— but while that brings immense opportunity for its members, it has never been more competitive.
Customers now have more choice and purchasing power than ever. Consider the roaring rise of Airbnb, wanderlust for new locations inspired by Instagram, and the wealth of choice and information available through comparison sites— it’s no wonder hotel companies are having to work so hard to stay at the top.
Meanwhile, demographic shifts, led by millennials and Gen Z, are bringing new expectations for technology and user experience.
In an industry where members can be made or broken from an online review, and optimal customer experience (CX) has become the reigning benchmark of success, power is now firmly in customers’ hands. And while they may be more fickle than ever, ensuring customers have a great experience is the best way to ensure ongoing loyalty.
More than ever, hotels are making use of the vast amounts of data available to them to streamline operations and personalize to ensure they’re hitting the mark when it comes to customer satisfaction.
Whether it comes from mining reviews sites such as Yelp and TripAdvisor, monitoring social media for likes, dislikes, and trends, good old fashioned surveys, or leveraging loyalty program data to optimize price-value combinations in guest promotions, the insight available to companies is practically unlimited.
“The more sophisticated properties might use keycards to collect data on guest use of amenities and put together packages to appeal to them based on that,” Dr. Anil Kaul, Co-founder, and CEO of Absolutdata.
“If a guest used an on-site spa, a hotel could put together a spa weekend package to entice that customer to visit again.”
A personalized experience
Some of the largest hotel chains in the world are now incorporating voice assistants, while personalized recommendations for dining and drinking options in the hotel or in the surrounding area could be advertised on-screen. Just look at what Alibaba’s ‘future hotel’ is offering.
