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Hotel
Brand Versus Consumer:
Four
Priorities But Are You on the Same Page?
|
London,
UK – October 2014 / Newsmaker Alert / In a data-driven and mobile world,
the expectation is that you will put your customer first. Are you getting
it right?
In
the first
of a three-part series on Mobile in the Travel Industry, EyeforTravel
turned to the hospitality industry for insights into where they are investing
time and energy. Knowing how important it is for these industry players
to understand their customer, the research also involved a survey of 20,000
travel consumers.
While
both hospitality executives and consumers had the same top four priorities,
they ranked them in a slightly different order. The good news, however,
is that when it comes to the number one priority hotels and consumers are
on the same page.
Since
the consumer comes first let’s take a closer look at their priorities and
what these might mean for hotels.
Priority
No 1: On an equal footing
When
it comes to the number one priority both hotel executives and the consumer
are speaking with the same voice. Hospitality executives have identified
the provision of localised information prior to the customer’s journey
as a top priority, and that’s what the consumer wants.
-
On a global
basis, over 50% of respondents strongly or somewhat agreed that they would
like to use their devices to find localised information before their journey.
-
Travellers
most interested in such services were from BRIC nations with 47.8% strongly
agreeing they could make use of such services.
By these
services we mean maps, activities and transport options that the customer
might find useful. While the good news is that many hotel groups say they
are building territory specific sites to address the issue there is still
room for improvement.
Priority
No 2: Great content beats deals
Proving
that reviews really do matter, travellers are ranking information about
where they are headed as more important than hearing about notifications
on deals and discounts. Indeed, travellers want to hear reviews and information
from fellow travellers, which could explain the success of platforms like
TripAdvisor.
It also highlights just how important it is for travel brands to get their
content strategy in ship shape.
Priority
No. 3: Multi-platform is the name of the game
For
consumers the ability to organise trip and manage it across all devices
is priority number three (for hotel executives it’s reviews and trip information).
Globally, over 57% of respondents said they either strongly or somewhat
agreed that it would be helpful to reorganise the trip across all devices.
What is more nearly 44% of consumers strongly agree that they use multiple
platforms when research travel. Accommodation providers have, however,
been slow to provide adaptive mobile because they felt it “added complexity”.
Given what consumers are after, perhaps they need to rethink this approach.
In fact just a third of hotels are rising to meet the multiplatform need.
As an example:
-
42.2%
of customers would like mobile hotel check-in but just 8.6% of hotels currently
offer it.
Priority
No. 4: Yes to deals and discounts
The
consumer’s final priority is a desire to receive notifications on deals
and discounts. Indeed, over 40% of consumers globally are happy for hotels
to proactively notify them about deals and discounts with people from BRIC
nations (63%) being particularly responsive. This is particularly good
news when you consider that consumers are also keen to book added in-stay
services. Over 50% of travellers said they would welcome the opportunity
to book spas and activities while 40.6% said they would like room service
options via mobile.
About
EyeforTravel
EyeforTravel
is a leading business intelligence provider for the online travel and tourism
industry. As well as providing some of the most in-depth research into
global online travel markets and trends, EyeforTravel produces a series
of senior executive travel conferences on a diverse range of topics including
travel distribution, online marketing, social media, mobile and revenue
management. For more information visit www.EyeforTravel.com.
Upcoming
Events:
Smart
Travel Analytics & Revenue Management Europe 2014 (November 24-25,
2014)
Smart
Travel Analytics N. America 2015 (January 28-29, 2015)
Online
Marketing, Social Media & Mobile in Travel Asia 2015 (February
3-4, 2015)
Mobile
& Innovation in Travel N. America 2015 (March 23-24, 2015)
Contact:
Gina
Baillie
GM
EyeforTravel
Ltd
T:
+44 (0)207 375 7197
US
Toll Free: 800-814-3459 ext. 7197
|
Company
registration number for EyeforTravel Limited is 06286442. It is also registered
in England & Wales. Registered office is 7-9 Fashion Street, London
E1 6PX. United Kingdom |
