Technology is now core to attracting and entertaining guests in hotels. Even old, vintage hotels have made technology their ally and not their enemy, since the benefits are too important to be overlooked. In practice, this means investing in a wide range of solutions that pay off significantly, since they target the customer experience and create the desired engagement. Let’s take a look at five ways hotel technologies can improve your service::
Optimize your website and booking engine
Your website and booking engine should be user-friendly, easy to navigate and have useful content, modern visuals and local information to help travelers plan trips. Include a best price guarantee and immediately advertise the benefits of direct booking. Consider adding a chatbot service to give website visitors instant answers to their queries.
Many hotels have adopted sales tactics similar to OTAs to increase their bookings. A typical example is adding automatic messages to the website about the number of available rooms and the number of travelers who have recently booked a room. Other hotels display price comparison widgets, such as price check widget της AboutHotelier.
Be friendly to all devices
Ensuring your website is mobile friendly, and enabling guests to interact with your hotel via a mobile device, is something we take for granted these days. Especially the booking engine, it should be as close as possible to what the customer wants.
Your booking engine is the first solution your visitors interact with when they choose to make a booking through your website. However, the booking engine is mainly aimed at new clientele, while your loyal customers, customers traveling for business or a group aiming to stay with you, need something more.
There are some hotel trends, which if done well can make the hotel stand out, as well as ensure the image of a modern business with an assured future course. For example, moving your more traditional operations to a cloud-based property management system (PMS) is something that can help both your staff and guests create and have the ideal hospitality experience.
Even here, most functions can of course be used from any device, thanks to the fact that it is cloud-based.
A central reservation and management system can help your staff manage bookings by cross-referencing all information about room availability, rates and traveler profiles to help them manage bookings, especially when it comes to serving large groups and companies .
Collection, Analysis and Acting on Data
The amount of data available related to traveler behavior and preferences is virtually limitless. One way to show that you care about each individual visitor is by showing them offers specially made for them.
Feedback: Even defamation works in your favor
There are companies that rely on external partners and secret customers who leave quality reviews about the services of the accommodation. Nevertheless, an honest review will look more convincing, and of course even if it is negative, it can help you by either correcting your mistakes or giving answers that offer a solution, making the business less impersonal.
A more modern way to collect reviews is through emails. You can use the data you get from the booking engine and send your clients an email with an overview, giving them plenty of time to complete it when they want, while also serving as a reminder of their stay with you.
A follow-up email that is specifically intended for them, on their personal account, ultimately shows an interest in their point of view, which can make the traveler feel valued and thus choose to repeat their stay.
Demands have risen and the experience for both travelers and hoteliers must be simple, fast and smart. In fact, according to the Lodging Technology survey, to meet the increasing demands of customers, 54% of hotels plan to spend more on technology this year, and it is estimated that mobile solutions will dominate the list of investments. Technology is now clearly a differentiator.