Hilton is looking to bring digital guest services to its entire portfolio in the same vein as the Conrad Concierge app did for its Conrad properties.
Hilton Worldwide is looking to increase its focus on mobile technology as a way to more competitively connect with the hotel brand’s guests. Hotel mobile technology has become the premier method for hospitality to reach guests in a way that is direct and immediate. It’s also unobtrusive, given that downloading a hotel app or opting in for communication is required before a connection can take place.
In 2012, Hilton launched Conrad Concierge with number one hotel app developer Intelity as an experiment. It was the first service-enabled hotel brand app made available, and it surpassed 180,000 users in less than two years.
A number of factors, including the success of Conrad Concierge app and the surge of hotel guest demand for mobile technology, have now led Hilton to begin a roll out of a new mobile strategy to engage guests through a hotel app similar to Conrad Concierge. The roll out will include a number of Hilton’s brands, such as Waldorf Astoria and DoubleTree.
The hotel app aims to increase sign ups for the Hilton HHonors loyalty program and provide innovative mobile concierge services to guests. Mobile is also viewed as a way to be competitive against indirect room bookings using channels such as online travel agencies like Priceline. Access to a suite of mobile features will serve as an incentive to get guests to download the app.
Using the hotel brand app on a smartphone, hotel guests will be able to pick a specific guest room, use mobile check-in, open the door to their hotel room with a mobile key, and access digital hotel services.
In an interview with The Drum, Geraldine Calpin, Hilton Worldwide global head of marketing and digital, said, “We are using digital to create a better stay experience, and we will continue to innovate in that digital hospitality experience because for us it’s about a better experience.”
“In some cases, people don’t want to talk to people, so enabling digital and technology to provide guests with more choices and control over their stay is what we want to do. The big thing is how can we make that easier and with less friction for our guests.”
(Video: John Vanderslice, VP of Hilton Worldwide Lifestyle & Luxury Brands, talks to Bloomberg TV from Intelity on Vimeo.)
