Four Things You May Not Be Thinking About - But Should Be.

Davis, John F. (2007, June 1). Four Things You May Not Be Thinking About – But Should Be. Hospitality Upgrade.

The World Wide Web has dramatically changed the way business is conducting, especially in the hospitality industry. It has increased the competition, requiring hotels to come up with new and unique approaches to stay on top. There are four major changes that hotels should be focusing on to maintain their competitive advantage.

Keynote Systems states that 67 percent of customers make reservations online, compared to the 57 percent that book over the phone. These customers are certain to look around and take a virtual tour of your hotel. The pictures and virtual tours should show modern technology with a clean, up-to-date style. Images of the amenities should also be included. Potential customers will want to see the best offers available and be able to picture themselves actually sleeping in the bed or eating at the restaurant. If this information is not available online, or is not available in a number of languages, the hotel will lose guests. In order to please guests that do make a reservation, their stay should be very much like what they pictures while looking online. An inconsistency between the rooms pictured and the actual rooms given will cause a great disappointment for the guest. Technology also can manage rates more affectively. This will ultimately generate more revenue for the hotel. Guests have become increasingly more demanding, about everything from prices to brands to recognition. Loyal customers want special treatment and hotels need to do everything possible to meet their expectations and keep their loyalty. Lastly, the hotel needs to reach their potential guests through personal websites, rather than GDS’s. This can be done be creating special deals and making surfing easier.

I agree that the best way to reach a potential customer is through the internet. All of the younger generations and even a percentage of the elderly are online-savvy and find the internet to be the most convenient way to find a hotel in a good location. It is also an excellent way to view the different rates available for the different rooms types and locations, and make a decision on what is best for their wants and needs. I also agree that customers need to be able to look around on the website and get a feel for the hotel. I personally would prefer a themed hotel over a comfortable home-like one, and the only way to really be able to know ahead of time is to see a variety of images or take a virtual tour. A virtual tour is also nice from the hotel’s standpoint because it offers the opportunity to include a voice over that sells the wonderful features of the hotel and convinces the guest that this is the place for them. The voice is a good way to include additional information instead of having everything only available in type, which can be boring for the guest. It works like a free commercial, and is an additional tactic to keep the guests visiting the personal webpage rather than Expedia or Sabre.