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Travels needs and expectations are ever changing and
evolving. With an industry that caters to millions a day, the hospitality and
hotel industry continue to require ways to keep up with shifting customer
demands in order to keep up with expectations and satisfy their clients. Bernard
Marr, a Forbes contributor, talks about how Big Data and Analytics can and do
play a large role in helping the hospitality industry to predict customer
demand and shifting trends.
Big
data is a new step for the hospitality industry, though one they can adapt to
with ease, as with today’s technology there is now an infinite ‘volume and
variety’ of data available. As Marr points out, from reservation to check out
customers will leave a data trail through their stay and analysts are starting
to understand the importance of turning ‘data into actionable insights’.
One of
the first ways that analytics and Big Data have aided the hospitality industry
is helping them to observe their customers and identify clients that will give
them ‘a higher life time value’. Marr identifies two types of hotel clientele –
those whose stay will be simple and hassle free and second, those who will
spend a lot of money on fine dining, entertainment, sports activities and spa
treatments. Observing clients allows hotels to help meet the needs of the each
of their segments separately. Those that tend to stay for a short amount of
time (business travels) tend to return if the hotel meets all their
requirements, creating a higher lifetime value.
Big Data
and analytics is leading the hospitality industry to help improve their
marketing reach and yield/revenue management. With the new technological age,
hotels (and others in the hospitality industry) must be aware of changing
technology that can help them ‘roll with the times’, in order to identify
modern customer demand. Hotels must change with the times in order to properly
satisfy and attract the modern business and leisure traveler.
An
American hotel chain, Red Roof Inn is an example of the positive use of an analytics
system. In the winter of 2013/2014 they had experienced a 10% increase in
business after running a new marketing campaign. The company realized the value
of having a hotel near an airport. The hotel’s marketing and analytics team
worked together, using public database and weather reports, and found out that
a large percentage of airline passengers use mobile devices to search for
nearby hotel when their flights were cancelled. After discovering this the
company held a marketing campaign which was targeted at mobile using passengers.
Denihan Hospitality,
another American hotel brand uses Big Data not just for marketing but in the
physical operation of their properties by putting analytics in the hands of
their front of house staff. “Armed with dashboards on their smartphones” front
of house staff was able to predict guests needs and desires in advance, such as
restaurant meals, concierge services or outside activities. Housekeeping staff were
able to receive ‘real-time updates’ on whether certain rooms would require an
extra pillow or who was more likely to room service for a midnight snack.
With large data collections
which can identify customer segments, the hospitality industry can better
coordinate itself to optimize its room occupancy and revenue. Marriott uses
analytics and Big data to observe
(Unstructured and semi-structured datasets) weather reports and local events
schedules that are use to determine the demand and value for “each individual
room throughout the year”. It enables Marriot to precisely optimize their room
prices. As Marr states this is “vital in an age where customers are used to
saving pennies by scanning price comparison services for the best deals.”
Marr
states that once the hospitality gets use to analytics that there will be a
large increase in innovation that ‘should result in more satisfying stays for
us as customers’. We firmly believe that this new and ever increasing analytics
technology is the future, for helping not just the hospitality industry but
every industry in staying a step ahead of changing trends and client
expectation in order to boost sales and revenue.
Alexa
Bailey and Sakshi Bheda
Article reviewed: http://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2016/01/26/how-big-data-and-analytics-changing-hotels-and-the-hospitality-industry/#2fcfb8b64b39
