SOUTHLAKE, TX—The digital transformation of the hotel guest experience will be a major competitive advantage for hoteliers this year, according to a new report from Sabre Corporation in cooperation with Altimeter, a research firm. The report found that digital transformation can be challenging for hoteliers and outlines how brands can use it to improve the guest experience.
“Our customers who embrace modernization are having great success, resulting in much higher guest satisfaction,” said Clinton Anderson, president of Sabre Hospitality Solutions. “In order to meet the expectations of today’s tech-savvy consumers, hoteliers must adopt flexible solutions that allow them to further personalize both the guest’s digital and physical experience. This report not only outlines trends we’ve seen in the space, but it also provides step-by-step guidelines for hotels to enhance their technology plans.”
“For digital transformation to excel, it must have a purpose,” said Brian Solis, principal analyst and futurist at Altimeter, a Prophet company. “And among the most progressive hoteliers and hospitality brands, that purpose is centered on guest experience. Modern guests are far more connected than previous generations. Their behaviors, expectations and preferences have also evolved. This is an opportunity for hoteliers to innovate and use digital transformation to introduce new levels of experiences that change the game for the entire industry.”
The report titled, “The Digital Transformation of the Hotel Guest Experience” goes behind the scenes of the digital transformation initiatives and priorities of top hospitality brands with exclusive executive interviews. Key findings from the new report include:
Guest Experience Transformation is a Priority
As consumers become increasingly connected, their expectations, preferences and behaviors evolve. The result is a more informed and empowered consumer base, and a higher standard for guest experience. Now more than ever, travel brands must assess how connected consumerism is changing and how the customer journey can be reimagined for an evolving, mobile, real-time world. From augmented and virtual reality to artificial intelligence and machine learning, the landscape is changing.
Digital Darwinism Means Constant Evolution
Successful modern brands are agile and continually experiment with their technology. They intuitively cater to the on-demand nature of customer expectations and preferences in the design of products, services and user experiences. Whether it’s on mobile, desktop, in-app or on the Web, technologies are designed with experiences in mind. These insights spill into on-property innovation and invention to blur the line between physical and digital, personalizing the guest experience throughout the process.
The Modern Guest Experience Blueprint
Modern technology enables meaningful experiences at scale, adding major value for the traveler, and in turn, the hotel. To stay relevant, travel brands must place guests at the center of all innovation and transformation strategies, leveraging technology to enable meaningful experiences at scale. The report includes a strategy and technology roadmap to transform the hotel guest experience with immediate impact, with steps like reimagining the guest journey as an infinity loop, mapping the guest journey via existing data and input, and striving for seamless, cross-channel journeys that prioritize personalization.
The report explores a wide range of areas where hoteliers can improve their digital guest experience strategies and offers data-driven insights and suggestions on how brands can lead the charge in continuing to innovate and meet customer needs.