Eric Oppegaard
It may sound obvious, but in the hospitality business, it’s a point that cannot be reiterated enough: creating a better experience starts with truly knowing your guests. Some prefer their rooms in a particular level or location, while others rely on late checkout to catch up on their sleep. Personalizing the guest journey was the topic of a trends deck recently published by Skift.
Before we dive in, be sure to visit our ultimate guide to guest loyalty to access an all-encompassing rundown of guest loyalty, its evolving nature along with proven strategies to position your brand for successful long term guest relationships.
How to Use Guest Data
By and large, hospitality organizations are using guest data, first and foremost for simple marketing. This is largely being driven at the property level and not as much at the brand level. And they’re using it to communicate with guests before their stay from a marketing perspective.
However, the most successful hotels are the ones that have a really great policy on how they manage customer data. There’s a set of travelers that are hitting the market right now that are looking to be fiercely loyal, but their loyalty won’t be driven by some promise of points and free stays. Their loyalty will be driven by exceptional experiences and hospitality organizations that understand what they’re looking for in travel. And you can’t do that unless you have a really solid profile about your guest.
We also need this profile data to be available in the right place – at the right time. A failure to achieve this can result in missed opportunities to create exceptional guest experiences. There can be a disconnect between the amount of personal information the customer feels they have provided and what the hotel actually receives and acts on to deliver the ideal guest experience.
Elimination of Fragmented Systems
We’re moving away from fragmented systems in order to reduce the complexity of hotel operations – whether that be for a brand, chain, or hotel property. Amadeus Hospitality wants to bring all of these technologies together in a modular, component-based platform so hoteliers can connect the information from various systems and focus on creating an unforgettable brand and guest experience.
Personalization is a concept that lies at the very heart of the travel industry: the art of making people feel at home. With the right technology, hoteliers can create this personalized experience and meet and exceed the expectations of the guest.
