For over 30 years, working in silos has been cemented into the DNA of hotel management. And for a long time, an inward-facing organization could succeed because the guest behaved exactly as we, the hotel industry, wanted them to. We were in the driver’s seat.
NB: This is an article from Demand Calendar
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Fast forward to today. The guest now occupies that driver’s seat. Competition for their attention and loyalty emerged from companies outside our industry, most notably the OTAs, who understood the digital customer better than we did. Guest behavior changed, and it keeps changing at an accelerating pace.
Our guests have fundamentally evolved, and it’s time we do, too. As an industry, we can no longer afford to operate with the old, siloed playbook. We need a new, unifying mindset.
That means shifting our entire focus from managing internal departments to orchestrating the complete guest journey. Our new strategy must be guided by a clear, five-stage action plan: ATTRACT, CAPTURE, PREPARE, DELIVER, and REVIEW. Adopting this framework provides us with a new map for navigating an entirely guest-centric world.
Our New Action Plan: 5 Stages to Orchestrate the Guest Experience
Our new operational map provides a clear path forward for the industry. Each stage has a defined mission and requires a cross-functional team, or “pod,” responsible for executing it with measurable goals.
Stage 1: ATTRACT
Our first mission is to ATTRACT. We must become the inspiration for our guests’ journeys, creating genuine desire by telling a compelling story that moves far beyond simply selling on rate.
But a compelling story requires a solid foundation. We must ground our strategy in two fundamentals. First, we need an in-depth understanding of our destination and the primary reasons people travel there. Second, we must have a crystal-clear definition of our target audience – the travelers who represent the absolute best fit for our specific hotel’s identity and offerings. These two insights guide every message, ensuring we answer the critical question of why a guest should choose us over any other option.
With that strategic clarity, we can empower dedicated, cross-functional “Storytelling Pods” – uniting Marketing, Brand, and PR – to lead the charge. These pods must invest in cinematic video and immersive imagery that resonate with our target audience’s motivations for visiting the destination. We must establish authentic influencer partnerships that align with the values of our ideal guests. Our social channels need to become platforms for storytelling that build a true community around shared interests.
