One of the hardest-hit sectors during the COVID-19 pandemic has been the travel and hospitality industry. According to OAG Aviation Worldwide, travel restrictions on international flights have caused the global airline industry losses of up to $880 billion. Many hotels now find themselves empty and looking to fill their once-bustling lobbies and hardly-occupied rooms.
To mitigate the drastic economic impact on their businesses, hotels should be analysing data that is currently available to them. Analysing these data can provide hotels with insight on workflow inefficiencies and redundancies, which can help hotels come up with effective strategies that allow hotels to position themselves better during and post-COVID-19.The use of data in the hospitality industry provides a plethora of benefits. From predicting market demand and reducing inefficiencies, to maintaining good customer relations that keeps guests coming back, there is no doubt that data is set to play an exponentially important role in the hospitality industry.
Here are 3 ways hoteliers can use data to better position themselves and remain relevant in a deeply impacted and saturated market.
Predicting Market Demand And Implementing Strategic Pricing
In such a highly competitive industry, the current situation makes predicting market demand and implementing strategic pricing, of primary importance for hotels to be able to stay afloat or even turn a profit. Since hoteliers won't be able to rely on historical data and trends for a while, business intelligence tools that collect real-time data help hotels develop a better understanding of booking patterns and market demand.
Market demand can also be gauged using competitor pricing data, gathered by analysing competitor's websites and monitoring how their prices have changed. This allows hotels to price accordingly to remain competitive in the market, yet ensuring that prices are not too high, which may dissuade customers and cause the hotel to suffer a loss.
With the use of data, hotels can identify specific patterns that affect market demand in real-time. This gives hotels the competitive advantage to figure out and decide when to lower or increase their rates so that they fill their rooms with the most strategic prices in the current situation.
Seamless Hotel Check-In And Check-Outs
Hotel staff and guests would be required, at least for the next few months, to maintain safe distancing measures and minimise direct contact with one another. With GTRIIP's solution, guests can view, register, and book their preferred room before completing the necessary front-desk due diligence via GTRIIP's platform, even before they step foot in the hotel.
GTRIIP's solution uses data that is collected during the booking process to allow guests to enjoy a seamless and secure check-in experience, from pre-arrival to check out. This dramatically reduces the amount of direct contact required between guests and staff. Hotels can also use the data gathered upon booking to send personalised pre-stay emails to guests. These emails provide guests with detailed information on hotel services, including how to get to their rooms when they arrive, as well as the opening times for reception.
This lightens the load and the quantity of staff needed at the check-in counters, which increases efficiency and reduces operational and labour costs. This differentiates them from their competitors, all while staying relevant and maintaining safe distancing measures.
Providing Highly Customised Guest Experiences
Increasing customer retention rates by 5% increase profits by at least 25%, according to research done by Frederick Reichheld of Bain & Company. Even in these difficult times, hotels should look at providing more value to guests. If guest satisfaction and service quality are adversely affected, it will be a challenge to maintain current customers guests and attract new guests as the economy starts to improve.
To gain a deeper understanding of customer needs and preferences, Hoteliers should use data from customer loyalty programs to identify patterns in guests' activity. This allows hotels to influence the guests' purchase decisions by personalising offers and upselling ancillary services more effectively.
Understanding and catering to guests' preferences and needs create a curated customer experience which keeps them coming back, increasing customer retention and improves brand image, which allows hotels to stand out from the competition.
Conclusion
The global economy is expected to shrink by 3 per cent during 2020 in a coronavirus-driven collapse of economic activity that will mark the steepest downturn since the Great Depression of the 1930s. An increasing number of hotel properties will leverage a variety of smart technologies to reduce operational costs, improve guest experiences and implement strategic pricing to allow them to stay competitive in a saturated and highly competitive market.
Find out more about GTRIIP's hotel solutions, such as their automated and hassle-free check-in system here: www.gtriip.com/hotel/
To learn more about how data and smart technology can help your hotel, reach out to us via the link below.www.gtriip.com/consult-with-us/
