Boutique Hotel News and Feed Your Mind Hoteliers partnered up to host the latest Feed Your Mind breakfast. Sky BusinessOne Hundred Shoreditch is hosting a.
Feed Your Mind events Roundtable discussions are held over breakfast, dinner or lunch. Each event is intended to give hotel service providers the chance to shape and inform the market.
In partnership with Sky Business the latest Feed Your Mind focused on how to drive the lifetime value for a guest and how loyalty in the digital era is redefined.
The following are the key takeaways:
- Hilton Honors gained 128 million new members over the last six-year period, a growth rate of 147%. It has outpaced other global hotel chains (e.g. Marriott Bonvoy has grown by 119 millions members.
- The concept of loyalty is no longer based on traditional points systems. Instead, it is a combination of the experience element and guest recognition which cannot be purchased.
- For leisure guests – which are typically more difficult to convert than corporate travellers – the reluctance to download apps means loyalty is often intangible and based on recognition and consistency of brand promise.
- A key strategy is to understand customer behaviour through convenient data requests.
- Customers who spend a lot of money respond better to a membership club or subscription model than points collection. Customized programs or “micro loyalty” initiatives prioritize experience over volume.
- For different types of properties and customer segments, there are different programs required. It is a challenge to combine spend from various touchpoints into one guest profile.
- The current systems are often unable to provide the guest insights necessary for personalisation, and for improving lifetime value. There is a strong desire to bring all systems together on one platform. Hyatt achieved this feat with great success.
- The challenge of using data collected to create pricing, packaging, or loyalty offers is another. It often takes dedicated teams, which are time-consuming and require a lot of resources, as well as clearly defined strategies, to take action on guest preferences.
- It is anticipated that predictive technology and AI will enable greater automation and efficiency, as well personalisation and tracking lifetime value.
- Luxury hotels tend to be more cautious when it comes to technology. They prioritize reliability and ensure that digital advancements don’t interfere with the human experience. Modern backend platforms that do not rely on legacy systems give new market entrants an edge.
Thank you to Joe Strudwick for starting the discussion, as well as Rob Sergeant, hospitality brands manager EMEA at Ruckus, and Neetu Mitry, Cycas Hospitality’s CCO.
The following companies are represented: Andaz London, Beaverbrook, Blue Orchid Hotels, Cafe Royal, Great Northern Hotel, Iconic Luxury Hotels, Leonardo Hotels, Mandarin Oriental Mayfair, Montcalm Collection, Morgans Originals, Starhotels, The Newman, The Welbeck Hotel, Urban Rest, and more.
Sukh McClatchie can help you learn how Sky Business can improve connectivity in your hotel. sukhminder.mclatchie@sky.uk.
Click here to find out more about Feed Your Mind. here Katie Houghton can be reached at katie@internationalhospitality.media / +34 711 02 42 31.
