This week’s Friday Five is about consumer behavior and intelligence. What do your guests want? How can you give it to them? What can you get from your guests?
We’re covering the shifts that have already occurred in 2016, what top hotels are doing to get their guests’ loyalty, and how you can get your guests to give you feedback and even user generated content. Check out the top stories from the week:
Increasingly, savvy hoteliers are using guest feedback to make operational and service improvements on property to deliver better guest experiences. ReviewPro recently surveyed 2,877 hospitality professionals across the globe to gain a better understanding of how hotels manage guest satisfaction and to highlight current trends in the industry related specifically to guest survey management.
Over the course of the first few months of 2016, hoteliers around the world have noticed a shift in the industry. Through research, Spring Engage have highlighted four topics have been at the forefront of many independent and branded hotel’s market discussions- the home sharing and OTA competition, business versus leisure traveler preferences, how to optimize loyalty programs, and the need to increase direct hotel bookings.
Hotels that are aware of the increased value-consciousness of travelers may better hold market share against the Airbnb threat if value added features, creative bundling and rate parity are strategically executed and marketed.
Airbnb successfully delivers relevant and quantifiable advantages in saving time, defeating distance and generally finding a way to offer a solution for a “pain point” be it constrained travel budget or a preference for a given location. Airbnb also offers the perception of control for users, and a perceived authentic experience with locals.
Australian consumer affairs show The Checkout has done an investigation into hotel comparison websites and found a lot of the time consumers get further discounts if they call a hotel directly.
While this is no surprise to anyone in the hotel industry, this story is notable because of the wider attention it’s bringing the issue. Consumers are sitting up and taking notice that OTAs like Expedia and Priceline aren’t always where the best deals are, and they’re behaving accordingly.
Looking for inspiration for your hotel’s loyalty program? Look no further! USA Today has compiled some of the industry’s top seasonal promotions to spice up business in slower periods of the year or to encourage people to stay more often with a particular brand in hopes that they will become loyal followers. Here are some of this spring’s best offers to help you top up those loyalty program balances.