Should hotels be texting guests? This question was posed multiple times during the 2017 HITEC conference in Toronto, with varying levels of acceptance from operators. One thing is certain: In an industry that often touts its connection to the “human element” through interactions between staff and guests, guests have shown an inclination to gravitate toward seemingly impersonal methods of communication. But is text chat really so impersonal?
During a panel titled “Text Your Guests,” a poll of the audience showed that 70 percent of those in attendance were in favor of texting guests, while 25 percent were undecided and 5 percent were against it. Meanwhile, all four of the panel’s participants were heavily in favor of text communication between hotels and guests for a number of reasons, with some caveats.
“We have to be very careful not to force someone into it,” said Raman Rama, EVP & CTO/CIO at JHM Hotels. “We must allow guests to opt in and out of [of the program].” According to Rama, this is a necessary part of the process and isn’t a deterrent for guests who are already used to texting friends and relatives. In addition, Rama said text communications leave a succinct, easy-to-access paper trail for communications between the hotel and guests.
Furthermore, Alexander Shashou, co-founder & CEO of hospitality operations system developer Alice, said texting guests is a necessary evolutionary strategy for hotels because traditional methods of building relationships with travelers have degraded in their effectiveness over time. What’s more, hotels that embrace SMS text messaging as opposed to direct messaging through a loyalty app have the added bonus of being able to reach every one of their guests without exception.
“SMS is a platform everyone has on their phone the moment they buy it,” Shashou said. “There is no need to buy or download anything additional, and that’s why we’re seeing so much traction from this form of communication.”
