THE DIGITAL GUEST JOURNEY IS BECOMING ESSENTIAL IN THE HOTEL INDUSTRY
SEE HOW DIGITAL CAN HELP YOU IN YOUR HOTEL
AT EVERY STAGE OF YOUR GUESTS’ STAY
As a hotelier, you want to offer your guests a safe and memorable stay. With COVID-19, this is an even more difficult challenge and you must double your efforts to ensure your guests with an impeccable sanitary environment.
SHOPPING & BOOKING
Your guest has shopped for his stay on the Internet and has chosen your property. If he did not know your hotel, he probably consulted review sites such as TripAdvisor before booking. Your hotel must be present on social networks and review sites. To manage these numerous forums, you should have a good tool for hotel Reputation Management.
To get the best price, he probably browsed on different online booking sites including your own website. Offer online booking with an easy to use Booking Engine and a Channel Manager to reach your customers through all distribution channels where your hotel will appear. To entice guests to book directly, include benefits such as a choice of free goodies: breakfast included, airport transfer, hotel beauty kit, etc. The savings you will make on the commission payable to OTAs will give you the means to “pamper your guest”.
To build customer loyalty, you will need a CRM adapted to hospitality and well-integrated into your PMS. It should enable you to keep in touch with your customers, get to know them better and present them with targeted offers according to their profile. A loyalty program could also increase the repeated stays of your customers.
ONLINE PRE-CHECK-IN
Like airlines, your hotel may offer online pre-registration. Your guest will provide all the required information and digitally sign the check-in form before arrival.
This approach will give you the opportunity to offer them additional “Upsell” purchase options: a more luxurious room, breakfast, massage, etc. If you know your client well, you will be able to present them with targeted offers that are much more likely to be accepted: a round of golf, champagne, etc. Mobile Guest Applications allow you to offer these “contactless” features to your guests while reducing the manpower needed at your front desk.
AT CHECK-IN
The guest having already completed his check-in form, all that remains to be done is to assign him his room and give him his key. Here again, technology can help.
On the day of his arrival (or even 24 or 48 hours before), still on his Client Application, he could choose his specific room himself, similar to the choice of a seat on the plane, according to his taste: top floor, far from the elevator, view of the golf course, etc. This “paid” feature will ensure your guests’ satisfaction while generating a new revenue stream for you.
The remaining thing to do is to obtain his room key and this can be done in many ways, depending on the lock system used. Still on his Client Application, he could receive a Mobile Key, avoiding him to touch key cards thus reducing the possibility of virus transmission while saving costs on plastic keys.
DURING STAY
With his Guest Application, he could make all his requests and transactions by only touching his own mobile phone. In addition, he could access all the hotel’s information, eliminating the need for a large hotel information book, make requests for room service, find out about activities inside and outside the hotel, book a restaurant, text his requests to the concierge or reserve a taxi or any other service that could be integrated into the application. In addition to eliminating all physical contact, this opens the possibility of generating another source of revenue for your hotel.
AT CHECK-OUT
Still with his Guest Application, he will be able to request a “Late Check-Out”, review his invoice and pay with his credit card. He could also ask the concierge for assistance with his luggage at a specific time, order a taxi or even a lunch box to his liking for his return flight, all adapted to the services offered at your hotel.
AFTER DEPARTURE
After leaving your hotel, you will be able to ask your guests for an overall evaluation of their stay either internally or on sites such as TripAdvisor. This will be an opportunity to keep in touch by offering them loyalty points, personalized offers, or a small gift of appreciation.
As you can see, digital technology can be used to offer your clients an exceptional digital experience!
CONTACT US
Since 2017, we have been carrying out rigorous analysis and evaluations of the best hotel digital solutions in Europe and America. We are ready to assist you in the choice and implementation of the best digital solutions for your hotel.
Our proven methodology guarantees an optimal result and our services qualify for the Government of Quebec’s EDNET program.
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