In hotel management, one of the biggest challenges is the continuous improvement of the travelers' experience. New technologies and Big Data open up a world of possibilities when it comes to measuring and predicting the results of this experience.
Large companies in the industry are already strongly committed to making improvements that allow the analysis and personalize customer experience. This can be seen in the growing interest of companies in areas such as data analysis, as well as the introduction of interactive experiences that join the customer in their journey, thus guaranteeing one of the biggest goals in the hotel industry: gaining customer loyalty.
Improving the Travelers' Experience: Major Technology Changes
According to experts, one of the pillars of this change is the implementation of new devices that help expand tourism experiences through audiovisual content, smart routes, and new mechanisms for user interaction. The idea behind these implementations is to turn a simple shuttle into an unforgettable experience, thus being imprinted in the memory of those who take part in it.
Adding new devices allows for a greater degree of customization, in addition to guaranteeing constant interaction with the customer at key moments of the journey, particularly those in which actions taken by companies can generate a greater sense of proximity. With this, the bond with customers is strengthened in a market in which loyalty and constant improvement are the keys that define the success of any endeavor.
However, the role of new technologies isn’t limited to the expansion of tourist experiences. The possibilities that the Internet of Things (IoT) open for us allows us to create new touch points that produce large amounts of data, and the information that these data offer is what separates successful businesses from those unable to establish links with their clients.
Big Data for the Travelers' Experience Customization
The last years have been defined by the implementation of data analysis departments in large hotel companies. Big Data represents opportunities that have never been explored before by the tourism industry, which already expects to overcome its large number of user profiles by grouping them into well-defined categories of shared behaviors and ways of seeing the world. Every day, we get closer to the possibility of providing offers tailored to the individual needs of each client.
All this makes for a future in which user-generated data allow identifying unique patterns to customize tourist experiences and adapt them to particular traits and preferences. With this, we move from the world of the linear paradigm, based on a buyer persona, to a more comprehensive one in which data crossing allows an almost complete experience customization.
Technology Companies: a Necessary Ally
It’s well known that you cannot jump into any market without understanding the different interactions that occur in it. Therefore, knowing the activities of companies that may become great allies in terms of adapting travelers' experiences is a must. In fact, multinationals are already taking advantage of technology to integrate specific functions in Google Home assistants. With this, they offer users the possibility to find tourist destinations that meet their needs with simple voice commands directed to Google Home devices.
In addition, open network initiatives are allowing multiple tourism companies to connect their service offerings directly with customers. With this, it’s possible to generate non-intrusive, but highly efficient mechanisms for promotional marketing. All this highlights the fact that data sources aren’t strictly attached to a company, but also how necessary it is to establish alliances that allow companies to take advantage of the information that other entities, particularly the big technology companies, can provide to the business.
New Challenges for Tourism Industry Managers
New customer-centered models require trained managers to face the new scenario opened up by the large influx of data. Among the new challenges, one of the main ones is learning how to design travelers’ experience in which technology plays a key role. That is, always taking into account that in every contact that customers have with any device, there’s an opportunity to collect data that may favor a much-desired improvement and adaptation of the route planned around this user.
Since this is such a complex task, managers will be forced to establish a team with a growing presence in technical profiles. The challenge here will be the ability to integrate them together with other departments, so that technology isn’t simply an accessory, but a real chance of improving the experiences that customers enjoy.
Even so, there’s also a greater challenge ahead: to coordinate the various players that take part in a single tourist experience. Nowadays, customers are very well informed… they compare prices and study the information before choosing hotels, transport, restaurants, etc. Therefore, it is necessary to include the different services in which any tourist experience is subdivided.
As if that were not enough, the need to interact with the largest tech companies in the world represents new tests that require a highly trained executive profile with knowledge of new mechanisms for customer interaction.
Faced with such a complex setting, the constant training of specialized and competent professionals to ensure the best performance in tech environments is an essential source that will nurture the tourism of the future.