Hotels are often biased when creating offerings and packages for potential guests because they make decisions based on a hunch or past experiences that are no longer relevant.
NB: This is an article from Demand Calendar
The missing link is to collect and analyze data to get elevated insights into guests’ needs and behaviors. The key to becoming successful in growing guest spending is to personalize offerings throughout the guest journey.
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Every hotel’s dream is to maximize the average revenue per guest and, at the same time, maximize guest satisfaction. These things tend to go hand-in-hand. The more the guest spends, the happier they will be with the experience. Let’s examine which data a hotel needs to implement a successful guest personalization process.
Collect the right data
Hotels often assume they have all the answers in the data stored in all their siloed systems. It is just a matter of extracting, compiling, and analyzing the data. However, the problem is that the hotel has not collected the correct data, and therefore personalization will be too vague and only partially relevant to the guest. As a result, the offering misses the target and will not produce revenue as expected.
The reason for traveling
The reason for traveling is the most critical piece of data a hotel needs to be able to customize an offering. Still, many hotels have difficulties capturing this information before attracting them to book. Hotels can assume that many guests travel for business during the week, while many travel for leisure over the weekend. Based on assumptions, hotels can segment offerings. The hotel should capture the information upon check-in by asking the guest and then have historical data to be analyzed and used for future decisions.
The travel reason to the destination is critical since it provides more specific and contextual information about the guest’s needs and preferences for their specific stay. For example, a guest traveling for a business meeting has different requirements than a guest traveling for a family vacation. By understanding the guest’s reason for traveling, hoteliers can tailor their offerings and services to meet their needs, such as providing a business center, early check-in, or family-friendly activities.
The home of the guest
The second most critical piece of data is from where the guest comes. The guest has different needs depending on the length of the trip. The knowledge of the guest’s home might also capture cultural differences vital in how the hotel communicates to the guest before booking, during the booking process, pre-arrival, arrival, and stay. Here are some examples of how knowing where the guest comes from can help personalize offerings.
