Today’s consumers are increasingly tech-savvy and it’s clear that they benefit from and appreciate a tech layer over their travel experiences. But do hotels feel that technology and authentic hotel experiences cannot go together? This ‘authenticity atrophy’ fear may be preventing guests from getting the hotel experiences they are seeking. With little or no tech as part of the experience, what else is impacted besides face-to-face communication (or lack of)? If a tech layer is added to the hotel experience, what other positive impacts will be seen?
Tradition dies hard
Hospitality is one of the oldest businesses in the world, and to travel is the most universal thing in the world. Something so broad and deeply ingrained in all our lives is always going to go through growing pains and will always be affected by some kind of disruption. It’s a huge, wide market and there are so many different ways people are innovating. Disruption is no stranger to the hotel industry!
But while hotels value the face time with their guests, at the same time it is true that technology is not going to go away, people are not going to go backwards in terms of their ability to use and want technology, and there are many more things to consider than just communication. There are some critical hotel efforts that can only reach their fullest potential with a tech layer. Below we’ve highlighted five of them. How deeply ingrained in the hotel business model they are might surprise you!
What does tech enable?
1. Merchandising: people are very comfortable to transact on mobile. They prefer not to feel like they’re being sold to, but they do appreciate being able to personalize and customize their stay. The people you are dealing with are in spending mode, and tech is the bridge to their spending.
2. Revenue: this ties in to the ability to merchandise. It’s a flow-on effect. Not using mobile and other technology to merchandise simply means revenue is being left on the table.
3. Sharing: this is facilitated by social media – travellers love posting photos and accounts of their journeys. This too is a flow-on effect. If they had the chance to personalize their experience and enjoyed it all the more, they will boast about it.
4. Data: the age-old challenge of knowing who your guests are so that you can serve them better is helped hugely by systems. The best way to surprise and delight is by getting personal. Today’s tech is very good at collecting this data without high levels of tech-savvyness being required. The market itself is also already pre-primed and prepared to tell companies things about themselves that will allow a more personalized experience. And the higher the level of trust with certain corporations, the more information they’ll give. Hotels are very high on the trust factor for guests.
5. Conversations: high-touch can be high-tech. 1:1 conversations feed the need for ‘everything on-demand’. The only way to be there when your guest wants you anytime before, during or after their trip is to provide a channel for direct on-demand communication and requests. You can make this hyper-personal and in the same way that tech enables you to know who your guests are – it will in turn allow your guests to know who your hotel staff are.
So what does it all mean?
Technology has been a natural progression in all industries, and the key is that it doesn’t have to be impersonal. Look at the impact Facebook has had on the world! People share everything because their Facebook wall is where they build their identity. We know each other, and other people from all over the world, intimately because of our ability to communicate through social media like this. Apply the same theory to engaging with your guests; just like Facebook, it will allow you to better know and communicate with your guests, and this in turn will unlock the above five wins.
About the author
Kim Adams is the Marketing Coordinator at GuestDriven. She is an Aussie expat whose favourite places to travel are Quebec City, New York & Australia.
