Guest personalisation and value-driven service are among the top priorities among hotels to drive up occupancy, as well as to keep their guests coming back. Technology is also playing an increasingly important role in giving travellers a better experience, reveals the 2018 Guest Experience Assessment Report.
Jointly released by StayNTouch, Travel Tripper, and TrustYou the study surveyed more than 300 hoteliers worldwide. It examined guest experience trends and their adoption in the hotel industry, as well the areas in which some hotels may be falling behind.
The study provides insights for hoteliers to improve their guest-driven decisions and gain a better understanding of the market, as well highlights guest communication and staff responsiveness, mobile booking and check-in and use of guest data to improve guest stays.
In addition, the report allows hotels to see where they stack up in comparison to their peers, as well as offers important takeaways on how hotels can move the needle forward on improving the guest experience through technology and data.
Some key findings:
- 41.3% of respondents do not offer their guests a choice of check-in method despite this being a popular guest expectation/preference.
- 70% of respondents never or only sometimes convert upsells or upgrades at check-in – missing out on a revenue opportunity.
- 74.7% of respondents say that they respond and resolve standard guest requests either quickly or very quickly
- 68.4% of respondents recognise the need to improve their use of mobile technology to improve the guest experience.
- 48% of respondents acknowledge they are finding it challenging to capture or utilise guest data to personalise the guest experience.
An interesting fact is emails and phones are still the primary means of communications among many of the hotels – an area for improvement as in-person interactions establish more personalised rapport with guests, stated the report.
Almost half of respondents don’t offer guests choice of check-in method. (Image credit: jacoblund/iStock-Getty Images)
Frewoini Golla, director of marketing for StayNTouch, explained why these findings are critical for the hotel industry. “By and large, hoteliers understand the importance of offering a unique guest experience, but understanding and evaluating the current state of the guest journey is critical for hoteliers to begin making the necessary strides in their guest engagement strategy.”
The study, said Nancy Huang, Travel Tripper’s director of marketing, “not only helps hotels to benchmark their own performance, but they also help hospitality suppliers to better understand and adapt their technology to hotels’ needs.”
Valerie Castillo, vice president of sales & marketing for TrustYou, remarked on how the study showed the difference in how hotels and travellers assess the guest experience “We have made significant strides over the last few years, but the hospitality industry is still a ways away from perfectly mirroring guest’s needs.”
Download the free report here.
• Featured image credit: gnacio Ruiz Casanellas/iStock-Getty Images
