The year 2020 is full of opportunities to make the most of the enormous number of tools that technology offers to hotel marketing today and, at the same time, be able to generate unforgettable stories for guests. This is explained in this interview by Alfonso Pérez, Sales and Marketing director of Only You, who participates as a speaker at the MOST Congress, the first national congress specializing in online marketing, SEO and tourism (hence the name with the initials MOST), will have place in Benidorm on February 19, 2020, organized by HOSTELTUR and Webpositer and sponsored by the Benidorm City Council and Visit Benidorm.
What hotel Marketing trends do you think will be most relevant in 2020?
The industry is facing a passionate and accelerated process of digital transformation. On the one hand, in this process of transformation – Organizations Mindset – we are seeing hotel chains and OTAs that focus on immersive and personalized experiences. Work the personalized, detailed Customer Journey and increase customer satisfaction in the “Moments of Truth” through the data and actions downloaded to the teams in a transversal manner. Be generators of precious stories for guests who will never forget. On the other hand, sustainability is something urgent that the most relevant companies in the industry are addressing.
And in the technological field?
In reference to digitization -the facilitating tools to transform-, each company must continue advancing from Big Data to Smart Data and polishing its Business Intelligence (BI), or starting the path, those that do not have, to improve the strategy. Advances in Artificial Intelligence, predictive algorithms, Machine Learning in specific areas -CXL of Reservations, customer behaviors-, and RPA for automated reporting processes. Lastly, an improvement in the personalization of the communication that we currently have with the client through a technological ecosystem that we continue to build together. CRM, DMP, work audiences and segmentations to impact in a more personalized way. In the IoT section -Internet of Things-, although there are chains that are working, I consider that it still requires a little more time and it will not be possible to advance this year, although everything points to Facial Recognition for online check-in, and Reality Virtual. This would be my wish for 2020, although I am afraid that too many requests for the remaining eleven months and each company will have different priorities.
What are the main challenges facing the tourism and hotel sector in this regard?
The challenge is the ability to adapt each organization to the changes that will occur throughout this year. This involves working the mindset of the teams, investing in adequate training more than ever, in order to have prepared, autonomous and empowered teams. And on the other hand, to devise a suitable and flexible strategy for changes, but always oriented to data and personalized communication with the final client. Our sector is full of traditional topics, without argument or measurement, which sometimes make us lose focus on what is important. What cannot be measured or quantified is called intuition and you have to put the customer at the center at once and listen to their needs and make decisions based on the data. There is a lot of uncertainty around the digital business about the movements that the big OTAs, Google, Metasearch, can make … this aspect worries me especially in 2020. The Asian market is changing and is another challenge for the coming years and it will also change … It will be exciting! It is time to build customer loyalty through personalization, attraction and emotion.
What role do you think brands will play and their positioning in such a competitive world?
The role of brands will be essential, rather the ability they have to provide added value to the guest. “Comfort” hotels only have one way of growth through volume and their profitability will depend on it. They will continue to be cost management companies rather than experience generators. The brands that find specific niches and study their archetypes well, will be those that obtain the highest profitability for their businesses. The customer is always willing to pay more when he receives added value.
How do the new generations influence?
In the new generations the sense of property is changing, we are heading towards a more social, more humane, more sustainable world, in which experiences become fundamental in our lives, because over time they have more and more value than a deteriorating property or material good. For this reason, story brands are positioning themselves over status brands. Experiences are unique, personal and this is where personalizing becomes
Note taken from: HostelTur