Guest Experience in the Hospitality Sector.
About CX Centric Conversations
CX Centric Conversations are interactive international discussions centered on business growth through Customer Experience and Customer Centricity. We are a global community. To keep updated about future events and projects please click here.
On Thursday 3rd June we will host the CX Centric Conversation: Driving Growth in the Hospitality Sector through Exceptional Experiences. This is sponsored by CX Brussels and Freshworks. Feel free to sign up here.
This will be an international interactive discussion and will include a keynote from Alec Dalton, Senior Manager at Marriott International, and also from Sharon Head, Head of Customer Success at Freshworks.
It goes without saying that the Hospitality Industry has been the hardest hit owing to the novel Coronavirus which has rippled through all industries around the globe causing more harm than good, which will take years for these industries to recover. This has changed the demand for tourism and hotels significantly. This change has dealt a significant impact on the management and marketing activities of hotels across the globe. The Hospitality industry now faces a smorgasbord of unprecedented challenges which have proved to be insurmountable in most instances. As part of the international CX-Centric Conversations, CX-Centric will be hosting a very pertinent and antidotal online event that will address and give solutions to some of the most common challenges faced in the Hospitality sector. The event will be titled: Driving Growth in the Hospitality Sector through Exceptional Experiences. Amongst other challenges we will delve incisively into during this much anticipated online event include Innovative Technology, Fierce Competition, etc.
Hospitality Challenges
The first challenge we will look into during the event is that of the government regulations and rules which have been imposed to try to curb the spread of the novel Coronavirus. This has brought the activities in the Hospitality industry to a complete halt. Longstanding travel warnings from public health officials, government institutions, and the media have hindered consumer trust in the safety of travel. Consumer safety in traveling is sure of much importance to business growth in the Hospitality sector. With this challenge, we will explore: How can hospitality companies convey hygiene and restore confidence in safe travel?
Innovative technology is also another major challenge faced by the hospitality industry. In its own right, hotel brands need to stay relevant by investing in emerging technology across every part of the guest experience – from seamless reservation websites to on-property applications of mobile technology, to the Internet of things in guest room entertainment and design. How might companies like Marriott prioritize where investments should be made to drive guest engagement? It is worth mentioning that electronic check-in service offering is the latest technology being embraced by the industry. This innovation allows for clients to plan for trips, then hotels register the guest which will lead to key cards being sent to the guest which is equipped with the new identification recognition that utilizes frequencies. On arrival, a text message is then sent to the guest’s mobile phone entailing the room number and check-in time, among other details. However, such technology has proved to come at a high financial cost for many hotels.
More so, hotels’ mix of business varies greatly from pre-pandemic norms. Leisure demand is high as consumers plan “escapes” from home, while business and event demand remains low. Concerning this imminent challenge, These are some of the questions will try to answer clearly:
Being a highly competitive industry with extensive players, how can hotels compete for a share of leisure demand?
How can hotels entice the return of more dormant guest segments like business and meetings/events?
Preserving brand equity is also a common challenge with the Hospitality sector. Most branded hotels (e.g. Marriott, Hilton, Hyatt) are owned by private or institutional investors and operate under franchise schemes. Delivering guest satisfaction often comes at the expense of profit margins, and that can conflict with the financial objectives of hotel owners. How might companies like Marriott improve their business cases to owners about the value of brand affiliations and the need to deliver great experiences to preserve brand equity?
