Why Hotels Need to Personalize the Guest Experience
Until recently, the concept of true personalization in the hospitality industry was a pipe dream. Most hotels use disparate platforms for booking, POS, PMS, loyalty, ticketing, etc, which makes capturing critical data extremely complicated. Additionally, if a guest books a room through an OTA, the hotel doesn’t get access to my email, unless I provide it in person at check-in.
Having worked in the hospitality industry for many years, I understand the difficulty in capturing and using guest data for more relevant engagement. But in other industries like retail, I see how powerful it can be when my data is used to anticipate my needs, send me relevant offers, and personalize the shopping experience.
Unfortunately, hoteliers today are still missing the mark.
Here’s a personal example: A few weeks ago, I checked into a hotel that I
have stayed at twice before. The woman checking me in warmly welcomed
me. After confirming the details of my reservation she asked, “Have you
stayed with us before?” I bristled. Not only had I stayed at the hotel
before, but I wrote a review of my experience on TripAdvisor. The
General Manager even responded to my review. I had also tweeted a day
before my arrival that I was looking forward to another visit to the
hotel, and I included the hotel’s Twitter handle in my tweet.
This is a great example of a missed opportunity for a hotel to take the guest experience to the next level. I don’t blame the front desk staff that day for my imperfect experience. I know that even if my guest data had been collected and stored from previous visits, making that data available to all staff members for effective guest engagement is a complicated feat.
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