Today's Hospitality Trends

Today’s Hospitality Trends
The TEN trends that have reshaped (and are still reshaping)
the industry
• #1 - Virtual communities
• Social networks and in
particular TripAdvisor have had a profound
impact on customers. This has led to more
transparency and, overall, to an improved
quality of the services provided by
hospitality companies.
• #2 - Sharing economy
• Airbnb represents a major disruption in the
hotel industry, making the competitive
landscape tougher than ever. This is further
reinforced by the fact that lodging
properties listed on Airbnb do not
necessarily have to comply with the same
rules and regulations than traditional hotels.
• #3 - Online Travel Agents (OTAs)
• They have had at least three major impacts on the hospitality industry.
• First, they have altered distribution channels and consequently taken value
away from hoteliers.
• Second, the notoriety of brands owned by Booking Holdings and Expedia are
such that these companies have almost replaced hotel brands.
• Third, they have built solid relations with travelers. Now, hoteliers have to pay
to get access to these customers, thereby leading to a thinner profit margin for
the former .
• #4 - Digitalized guest experiences
• Apps, in particular, are increasingly

important in the way hoteliers manage the
services they provide to their customers and
can now control many aspects of the guest
cycle and experience.
• #5 - Booming global tourism
• Low cost carriers enable more people to travel
the world at a reasonable price. Moreover,
several emerging markets have seen their GDP
increase at a rapid pace, thereby enabling their
citizens to travel the world. Customers from
South Korea, China, India, and others, now
constitute a large body of potential travelers.
Their demand, of course, has a big impact on
the offer.
• #6 - Experience economy
• Customers request extreme personalization,

unique experiences, and so on. This could
very well lead to the death of the travel
agent and the rise of the independent
traveler.
• #7 - Asset management practices
• The asset-light approach has become prevalent in the
industry. The separation between the management of
operations and real-estate assets now allows
hospitality companies to focus on their core business,
thus improving efficiencies.
• It however induces additional complexity and
potential agency problems, explaining the emergence
of new types of jobs, such as asset managers.
• #8 - Professionalization
• As stated above, new job profiles have
emerged following the increasing
complexity of the hospitality industry. In
parallel, the need for quantitative
competencies (for forecasting, budgeting,
etc.) has also increased.
• #9 - Generations Y and Z
• These new generations have different
requirements and needs compared to older
generations. A respondent said “Older
generations think about hotels and car
rentals. Younger generations think about
Airbnb and Uber.”
• #10 - Sustainability
• People are becoming increasingly sensitive to

environmental and social issues. A respondent
said that this “has to be considered in
branding, but beware of green-washers:
consumers are now well-aware that window-
dressing exists, and they will not buy it.”
• Today – hospitality industry 2.0
• What does the future of hospitality hold?
Overall, our faculty suggests the need for
hoteliers to properly embrace the above
mentioned trends and understand what's at
stakes. Six dimensions came out from our
survey:
Know Your Guests Better With Guest Preferences
• hoteliers focused on providing a uniform

experience to all guests. Today, guests expect
personalized service and unique experiences.
While this can be challenging from a service
standpoint, technology has taken a lot of the
work out of collecting and using guest data
already contained in the hotel’s PMS to provide
the exceptional service that guests crave.
• While hotel software solutions are treasure troves of guest data, with
some work hoteliers can add even richer data that can be used for
deeper segmentation to ensure even more relevant communications.
We recently added new functionality in Revinate Marketing, Guest
Preferences, that allows hoteliers to capture additional preference data
from guests. For those who might shy away at asking for data,
remember you’re doing it for the benefit of your guests, as it will help
you tailor your communications.
• Knowing when to ask for data is important.
You want to ask for data at a time when
guests see the relevance of the request and
are open to engaging with you. Confirmation
and pre-arrival emails are great places to
insert requests for guest preference
information. Both emails get very high open
rates and guests are likely to respond
• What is bringing you to the area?
• 1. Business
• 2. Leisure
• 3. A little of both
• What are you most looking forward to when
visiting?
• 1. Shopping
• 2. Museums and galleries
• 3. Restaurants and Bars
• 4. Playing or attending sporting events
• 5. Spa
• The check-in counter is another great place to capture guest
preference data. In addition to confirming that you have the most
up to date email and contact information for your guests, check-in
staff should focus on adding guest preferences, as a face-to-face
encounter is the perfect time to engage in friendly conversation
and capture data.
• For example, you can ask the following questions without
appearing intrusive:
• What are you most looking forward to about your stay in location?
• What brings you to town?
• What are you hoping to do during your stay with us?
• Finally, we recommend that you
occasionally send dedicated one-time
emails to your existing database to collect
preference data that will improve your
marketing personalization efforts. In
addition, hotel groups that offer different
experiences in varied locations can use this
data for targeted cross-promotions.
• Questions we suggest include:
• What type of travel do you do most often?
• 1. Corporate
• 2. Family
• 3. Couples
• 4. Friends
• How often do you travel with pets?
• 1. 1 – 2 times a year
• 2. 3 – 5 times a year
• 3. 5+ times a year
• 4. Please give us your pet’s name and breed so that we can
recognize our furry guests on arrival.
• What type of announcements would you
like to receive from the hotel?
• 1. Room offers
• 2. Food and beverage offers
• 3. Spa offers
• 4. Information on local events and
attractions
• The most important thing to remember is that collecting guest
preference data isn’t a one-time thing. Hoteliers need to operationalize
data collection and ensure that they are constantly refreshing their
CRM with fresh data. While this adds some work for the marketing
team and front-desk staff, the rewards far outweigh the efforts. With
rich preference data, hoteliers can create the personalized
communications and on-site experiences that guests expect. And only
when you exceed your guests’ expectations, will you win their loyalty.
Mass Markets
• Historically large-scale mass production and
distribution methods adopted.
• Cost-efficiencies drove prices lower.
• However, products became standardized.
• Customers had to find the best option that fulfilled
their needs.
• Customers grouped into mass markets and were
communicated through mass media- TV, Print etc.
• Suited well for a supplier’s economy
Today’s Markets
• Foreign suppliers and competition from non traditional
suppliers has increased competition.
• This increases supply, and so the need for better service.
• Technology has made the reach of companies global.
• Technology has enabled large scale customized production
: called mass- customization.
Today’s Markets
• Stagnation of growth in customer base.
• Too much competition for customer’s free time.
• Customers are increasingly convenience shopping as opposed
to price driven shopping.
• Consumers now prefer suppliers that provide good quality at a
fair price.
• They find such a supplier and stay with them for a long time.
Customer retention+ Share of
customer
• Basic premise:
• Retain customers over a long term and satisfy the largest portion
of their needs with your products and services.
• The “leaky bucket” concept is out.

• Today’s consumers want companies to
• Understand their needs and wants
• Adapt their products and services to these needs and wants
• The company takes partial responsibility for the

customer’s choice of product.
Developing Relationship
Marketing Capabilities
• Initial steps include:
• Data collection
• Data access and marketing tools
• Product and service customization
• Customer service procedures
• Customer access channels
• Key measures:
• Customer satisfaction
• Share of Wallet
• Stability of relationship
• If implemented properly customers are locked in
due to satisfaction, ease of service, and value.
• This increases the cost on the customer’s part
when they have to switch suppliers.
• Customer service should be interactive,
personalized.
• Communication is through multiple channels.
• Use customer service opportunities to
– Verify if needs and preferences have been addressed
– Measure levels of satisfaction
– Find any other questions that need to be answered
– Additional customer information such as change in
status
– Verify if presenting new products or options is
appropriate
Customer Information
• Requires more information than traditional direct
marketing.
• Optimal types of customer information will vary
by industry, company market positioning, and
marketing programs.
• Building a customer information base is an
iterative long term process.
Example: Cellular Phones
• Stage 1:
– Preliminary information collected during the
first purchase to make recommendations
• Stage 2:
– Based on the calling patterns and bills make
refined recommendations and offer better deals
that the customer cannot refuse.
Customization and Added Value
• Provide tangible benefits to customers through
customization.
• Example: Dell Computers
• Trend evident in service industries such as
• Insurance
• Computer systems
• Telephone
• Financial Services
• Customer service is a better differentiating weapon than

price or features.
• Competitive advantage gained through

– Implementing a corporate culture focusing on the
customer.
– Developing a suite of products and services that can be
customized.
– Training and empowering the customer service staff.
– Developing infrastructure to collect and maintain
customer information
• Mass customization occurs when
consumers become co-creators in the
content of their experiences
• Enablers of mass customization
- information technology
- process technology
- digitization of product
- new organizational thinking
• Issues in mass customization

- pricing of customized products
- compensation for customer input
- strategic relationship between producers
and consumers in market for customized
goods
Two Way Communication
• Focus is on customer’s choice of channels.
• In several new channels customers control the time
of access
• Companies control only the content delivered.
– Example: Internet, e-mail, Cellular phones.
• Key to success is to integrate information flows from
multiple channels and co ordinate marketing activity.
Two Way Communication
• Message Broker system could be implemented
- Customer service rep sends transaction
downstream to operations system
- Message Broker intercepts transaction, creates
mktg-oriented transaction and sends original to
operations system
- Mktg-oriented transaction is sent to system that
makes promotional decisions
- Once promotional decisions are made, message
broker decides which should be delivered and in
what order
Marketing Objectives
• Customer Awareness and Education

• Customer Acquisition
• Customer Acceleration
• Customer Retention
• Niche Marketing
• Lapsed Customer Reactivation
Building Customer Loyalty
• Key measurement for loyalty: Retention
• 5% increase in retention rate can increase
lifetime value by 75% (F. Reichheld)
• The top 20% customers yield 80% of
revenue
• So, treat the ‘Gold’ better than others
• What to do with ‘Losers’ ?
• Relationship effects of retaining non
profitable customers
- Reference accounts
- Referral
- Learning
- Innovation
• Five customer loyalty promotions
- Develop catalog with premiums available with
proof of purchase
- Establish an ‘insiders’ or ‘special privilege’ club
- Create a prestige society offering both practical
benefits and self-image symbols
-Establish an apparently personal relationship
- Provide extra conveniences that have secondary
purpose of increasing consumption
Defining Guest Service
After reading this chapter, you should be able to:

– Identify and explain the guest service principles.
– List and explain steps involved in providing guest
service.
– Explain and apply the concepts of service.
– Identify types of service.
– Illustrate the qualities of service such as perishable,
tangible, and nontangible.
– Characterize guest expectations.
Copyright © 2013 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
(recap)
Defining Quality Guest Service
• Definition: Exceeding guests’ expectations.
– There are many definitions for quality guest service
available.
– The challenge with this definition is that much work
goes into consistently pleasing the guest.
Aspects of Guest Service
• Focusing on serving the guest

• Consistency in service
• Efficiency in service
• Guests defining quality and value
• Knowledgeable employees
• Commitment from the top of the organization
• Processes that allow service to continually improve
Perishability of Service
• You cannot inventory service.

• It is not a commodity.
Advice for Providing
Guest Service (cont’d)
• Listen to the customers.
– Empathize with and assess the customers feelings first.
– Let them know that you care for their needs and have a
sincere interest in their satisfaction.
• Exceed guests’ expectations.
– Be responsible for customers’ satisfaction.
• Treat the customer as the most important part of your job.
– Notice the specific needs of each customer and
provide those extras that are more than what the
customer expects.
Advice for Providing
Guest Service (cont’d)
• Know your products and services.
– Know the procedures of your company and the
industry.
– Use this information to make things better and easier
for the customer.
• Be professional.
– Present yourself well, using verbal and nonverbal
communication.
– Take pride in yourself, your company, and your job.
Top Three Attributes
of Customer Service
• According to MSN:
– Knowledge of staff
– Friendliness of staff
– Readily available staff
Types of Service
• Assistance Service:
– Involves basic service and meeting the expectations of the
customer. Crucial to any business.
• Example: Help choosing a good seat for the show
• Example : Help choosing an appropriate wine
• Repair Service:
– Fixing a problem for a customer. It may have been a fault
of the business. It is reactive, instead of proactive. It
involves “putting out fires.”
• Example: Repairing a leaky faucet in a guestroom
• Example: Helping a traveler find an alternative flight in
bad weather
Types of Service (cont’d)
• Value-Added Service:
– Involves exceeding customers’ expectations.
• Example: Remembering a guest’s favorite drink
Example: Offering a free upgrade
Tangibles and Intangibles
• Two of the most common components of guest service:

– Tangibles
– Intangibles
• In hospitality, we sell an entire experience.
• By breaking down each of the components, they can be:
Monitored
Evaluated
Improved upon
The Customer
Ultimately Decides
Q: Who pays the salaries of the management and the
employees?
A: Customers
Q: Who pays the rent, the utilities, and the taxes?

A: Customers
• Lesson:
– They should be treated as the ultimate critic, because
ultimately they are.
Meeting Guest Expectations
• Truly great service is receiving more than you expected.

• Expectations can also be categorized a few ways.
– Evaluate the type of signals you are putting out as a
business.
– These signals begin to establish or set the level of
expectations.
– They can be explicit or implicit.
– They make up the brand or image that you portray.
• This idea is commonly referred to as brand management.
– All decisions would be related to this central theme,
from the wallpaper and décor to service style.
Meeting Guest Expectations
(cont’d)
• Explicit expectations:
– Those expectations that are fully expressed.
– They are set by promises made by staff, contracts,
menus, signage, advertisements, and service promise.
• Implicit expectations:
– Those expectations that are not fully expressed.
– They are set by prices, décor, location, and service
style.
Levels of Expectations
• Ideal Expectations
• Reasonable Expectations
• Minimal Expectations
Order of Expectations
• Primary expectations are generalizable to most
hospitality settings.
– They are the main wants and needs of the service
experience.
– Prepared and ready for the guest
– Attentive, professional service
– Efficiency
– Comprehension of the process
– Knowledge of the times
– Wants are heard and understood
– Follow-through of a product that is what it claims
Order of Expectations (cont’d)
• Secondary expectations are less important to basic, essential
service and may be omitted with a certain level of tolerance by
the customer. They are the things that they take away from the
guest service. Guests don’t usually mind until they become a
larger issue, although it would certainly be best to provide all
of these expectations in a desirable situation.
– Knowledgeable, pleasant staff
– Options made known
– No transferring
– Competence
– Acknowledgment—know the customer. Or, respect their
anonymity.
Inputs that Set Expectations
• Every customer is different.

• There are many inputs that determine the individual
customer’s expectations.
– Some come from the business while others come from the
guests.
– As a result, the expectations may be low, high, or even
undecided.
– Defined by
• Marketing
• Operations
• Inputs from guests
• Self
• Others
• Occasion
Providing
Guest Service Basics
– Become familiar with your customers, survey them.
– Demonstrate your dedication to your customers.
– Tell your customers what they can expect, then keep
your word.
– Develop your expertise and maintain consistency.
– Treat all your customers and workers with the same
high level of respect.
– Apologize if you are wrong.
• Remember that credibility is much harder to regain
than it is to attain in the first place.
Issues with
Exceeding Expectations
• “Consistently meeting expectations”
– To give something extra doesn’t mean giving away
your business.
– It could mean personalizing a service, giving extra
attention, recognizing a familiar face, or giving extra
help with bags or the elevator.
– Using the human touch is what makes hospitality what
it is!
Databases
• “Developing lifetime relationships with the customers”

– Large database with all of their customers’ information
– Shared among properties
– Keeps records of the guests’ profiles:
• Name and title preferences
• Likes and dislikes
• Pictures of pets
• Food and beverage preferences
• Past issues
• Lifetime usage and frequency
Discussion Questions
1. Give an example of empowerment in a counter-service setting.
2. What is the difference between implicit and explicit expectations?
3. Explain how the definition for the term quality service can be generalized to
facets of the hospitality industry.
4. Define basic expectations of guest service and explain why they may be met
but quality guest service may not be perceived in the eyes of the customer.
5. Provide three recent examples of a service experience during which your
expectations were exceeded.
6. List five tips for delivering quality service.
7. Explain why expectations differ between customers and establishments.
8. List and briefly describe three types of service.
9. Explain the difference between tangibles and intangibles in a service setting.
10. What does the term perishability of service mean in relation to the hospitality
industry?

Today's Hospitality Trends

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Today’s Hospitality Trends

• Apps, in particular, are increasingly

• Customers request extreme personalization,

• People are becoming increasingly sensitive to

• hoteliers focused on providing a uniform

• The “leaky bucket” concept is out.

• The company takes partial responsibility for the

• Customer service is a better differentiating weapon than

• Competitive advantage gained through

• Issues in mass customization

• Customer Awareness and Education

After reading this chapter, you should be able to:

• Focusing on serving the guest

• You cannot inventory service.

• Two of the most common components of guest service:

Q: Who pays the rent, the utilities, and the taxes?

• Truly great service is receiving more than you expected.

• Every customer is different.

• “Developing lifetime relationships with the customers”

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