Guest Experience meets Technology

Recently there was a 2018 Guest Experience Report which was released in partnership with companies StayNTouch, Travel Tripper, and TrustYou. The reports purpose was to further examine the important trends found in the hotel sector in regards to customer experience.

The report itself provides indicators to help hoteliers to better anticipate their guests decisions and actions as well as to better understand the current market environment. As stated by Frewoini Golla, director of Marketing for StayNTouch, “By and large, hoteliers understand the importance of offering a unique guest experience, but understanding and evaluating the current state of the guest journey is critical for hoteliers to begin making the necessary strides in their guest engagement strategy,”. Frewoini is right, hotels that are investing in analyzing customer experience are outperforming their competitors.

The report highlights various topics including investing in technologies which would better improve the guest interaction experience. In addition, the report urges hotels to invest in smarter check-in technologies. For example, more than 41 percent of survey respondents indicated they do not offer guests a choice of check in method, although guests increasingly prefer to use their phones to check in and gain access to amenities.

Hotel company Hilton Worldwide has been a leader in this sector, being the first major hotel company to release a smartphone application which allows guests to pick their preferred room, and check-in prior to arrival, allowing them to bypass the front desk and enter the room through a digital key on the application. This is an incredible innovation that is shaping the way guests interact with hotel staff.