Meliá aims to anticipate the future and lead the technological evolution in the industry to optimize customer relationships and boost satisfaction, and thus maximise hotel profitability.
The objective is that by 2017, 40% of Company revenues come from its direct sales channels, particularly from members of its Melia Rewards loyalty programme. In parallel, other channels are also expected to grow and contribute the remaining 60% of revenues. All in all, in 2015 online channels in general (direct channels, Online Travel Agencies and Online Tour Operators) will already surpass offline or more traditional channels.
For Jose María Dalmau, SVP Business Development at Meliá: “our digital transformation is not an option, we can only choose between leading the transformation or being dragged along by it. We have chosen the former”.
Steps towards transformation
The Melia digital transformation is not limited to the sales or customer relations, but will extend to the entire hotel value chain and will focus on three key areas:
- Customers: the Meliá Digital project will transform all of the interactions: with the end customer (B2C) through the development of melia.com and mobile applications; with professional customers (B2B) by developing the MeliaPro programme; and for business trips thanks to Business Travel by Meliá, which currently has 125,000 registered companies. The revolution also extends to the hotel front desk as customers may, amongst other innovations, check in using their phones or tablets.
- Employees: the digital transformation of the sales force was launched during the Company Global Sales Convention, held last week at the Melia Villaitana in Alicante. More than 300 members of the sales team witnessed the digital change and also the new features of a “Meliá Sales App” which brings together in a single tablet App all of the tools needed by the sales team. Meliá is also implementing digital projects in all areas of management such as Finance, Expansion, Human Resources, etc.
- Hotel owners and investors: one of the most important projects to cater to stakeholders – whose importance continues to grow as Meliá adds more hotels under management to its portfolio under its Strategic Plan – includes the creation of a new Owner Portal with extensive information about the Company and its products, access to owner benefits and to their personal reservations.
The Meliá Digital project will be led by the new VP of Global Digital Sales & Marketing, Lluís Pons, who was previously head of digital strategy and marketing at Vueling.
The multinational Accenture group has also joined the project providing skills, technology and experience in digital transformation. Its experience and international presence will be of vital importance to adapting the strategy to the 43 countries in which it Melia currently operates.
Major investments in 5 key transformation areas
Meliá Digital is backed by an injection of funding for the project over the next three years of around €100 million, focused on five major areas: strengthening the team (recently increased by 30 people), technology, digital marketing, boosting the Meliá Rewards loyalty programme, and the partnership with Accenture.
As Jose Maria Dalmau explains, “the major revolution is the personalization of our value proposition to customers: multidevice technology, customization and prediction engines, and new digital marketing platforms all enable a true customization of the customer experience at all times during the so-called “customer journey”, (preparation of the trip, booking, travelling, and post-travel). I believe Meliá Digital to be a pioneering and innovative project which will require a strong base in technology, but also a different mentality in our people, a new way of thinking, a new “digital culture”. It is a project that a global hotel company requires to ensure its maintains and enhances its market leadership into the future”.
