Imagine yourself, as a sales representative for one of the biggest luxury hotel chains, taking part on the world’s leading travel trade show. How do you exactly intend to convince a potential customer to come into your hotel (knowing that he has already spent half-an-hour speaking with your main rival)? Challenging, isn’t it? Your sales arguments might actually be word-for-word the ones of your rival. You weren’t born yesterday! You are well aware that there is a real weakening of marketing initiatives and strategies. It looks like all the paths have already been taken.
However, in the last year, the virtual reality (VR) has proved to be a real marketing tool in the hospitality industry to the extent that VR will represent a $150-billion industry by 2020. Virtual reality was primarily used in the medical and video games industry and has made its debut very recently in tourism. The reason why it has been defying all the odds, is that VR is actually fixing the Achilles heel of the tourism and hospitality industry: the “inseparability” characteristic. In fact, well before VR, the product (an hotel room or an holiday experience) could hardly be experienced before purchase. Thus, by using VR to sell your product, an hotel is able to better communicate on what the potential customer will experience: from the beauty of the location, the large choice of amenities, the magnificence and improvements of the bedroom, to the small details of the porcelain in the bathroom. Basically, VR helps any marketing seller to put words on the specificity of its product, piquing curiosity and attracting customers into their hotel. As an example, hotels are reaching a new target, coming from the middle east. These customer are really demanding in terms of privacy in the rooms but also in the entire hotel. By using VR, sales representation can show specific rooms and spaces for this specific target. Communication is easier and the customer become aware that the hotel can meet its criterion. Virtual reality allows hotels to communicate and promote their property in a new and specific way. The emotion felt by potential customer can lead to the immediate purchase of the room and a different relationship with the sales person.
According to Paulo Trump, CEO and Creative Director at VRMADA, the VR has already reached a higher level of performance. Soon, holiday videos of customers will be in VR-format, allowing them to share and relive special moments with their relatives. People will be able to share, for the very first time, their hotel experiences through their “real” point of view, and as a result, attract even more customers. This could be a brand new alternative to the so-called “word-of-mouth”, or perhaps we should say “word-of-eye”.
If you are still curious about this brand new technology, check this wonderful video of a immersion at the Shangri-La hotel in Tokyo. Do you imagine yourself there ? Of course you do!
Now you are probably wondering, how does it work ? First, the easy part : you need a specialized photographer, and a 3D camera and the best spaces of your hotel. Then, the hard work begins : The goal is to photograph every part and corner of the room, by turning the camera at 360 degrees. This stage needs to be done a couple of time in order to be sure that the pictures of the room are not blurred and that you covered the entire room. Finally, the photographer, helped by his software program, gathers all the picture and create a 3D plan, that customer will see directly in the VR device. For hotels, virtual reality remains a challenge in term of organization and availability of the spaces.
Is virtual reality the future the hospitality sector ? A clear answer is not possible at this stage, not many case studies have been made. This expensive technology is only available for the largest hotel chains and the best hotel brands that have a huge marketing budget. There is no doubt, however, that virtual reality device has become a complementary tool for marketing and booking. In one hand, for some specialist, it represents a new way of sale and a total immersion for customers. On the other hand, virtual reality is considered as being the “new” google glass. But, as technology promise to fail, some hotel brands have not yet dared taking the plunge.
Marielle BERNARD & Aurélia Campagna
Sources:
- AGADONI, L. (2015, February 25). Is virtual reality the future of the hospitality sector ? retrieved from http://www.jllrealviews.com/industries/virtual-reality-future-hospitality-industry/
- TROMP, P. (2017, February 1). How virtual reality will revolutionize the hospitality industry | by Paulo Tromp. Retrieved February 2, 2017, from http://www.hospitalitynet.org/news/global/154000320/4080737.html
- TH. (2016, November 21) La réalité virtuelle, une véritable immersion à 360° retrieved from http://www.tendancehotellerie.fr/articles-breves/publireportages/7052-article/la-realite-virtuelle-une-veritable-immersion-a-360o
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