INTELITY

April 17, 2020 by INTELITY

How 5 Industry Leaders Predict COVID-19 Is Changing the Future of Hospitality

Discover why safety, flexibility, and innovation are emerging as the top tools hoteliers will need to recover from the global crisis.

Right now, 80% of the hotel rooms in the United States stand empty. As occupancy rates continue to plummet and fear rises, industry leaders are looking to the future for hope and preparing for what comes next. How will the modern traveler’s needs shift? Where can hoteliers find advantages in a recovering market?

In the answers to those questions, common thought patterns are emerging and leaders are finding some consensus about what the future of hospitality looks like. Here are 5 predictions about how hospitality is evolving—and how your business should, too.

1. Guest safety is the next big competitive advantage: the more proactive you are, the quicker you’ll recover.

Certified safe places such as regulated hotels will become popular and home rentals without safe ratings will fall away. Airbnb will struggle. Hotels will have a new normal of much lower occupancy.

— Timothy O’Neil-Dunne, Principal at 777 Partners

At least for a while, the new normal in the hospitality industry will be finding ways to raise occupancy rates to their former numbers. Simply telling people you care about their safety will not be enough; you’ll need to have concrete proof your property is a safe space.

New safety standards and laws are bound to pass, and compliance will be essential. If you can show guests that you have top-level safety measures in place, you’ll not only outpace your direct competition—you may take back some of the guests you’ve lost to short-term rentals as well.

2. But it’s not just about bookings. Safety will also be a top driver of technological innovation and guest satisfaction.

From a technology perspective, there’s going to be a lot more of a boom on [the] Internet of Things (IoT) and sensors.

— Alex Ajdelsztajn, Director of Property Internet at Marriott

Places that are built for gathering are now going to be focused on keeping people safely apart and catering to guests who are much more likely to be worried about germs and interpersonal interactions. So how can you keep guests happy and safe while on property?

According to Ajdelsztajn, IoT devices and sensors are going to become increasingly important to the future of hospitality. Not only will they equip hoteliers to monitor cleanliness and distancing, they’ll display your commitment to safety in a tangible way—and the value of that can’t be overstated.

3. Flexibility and transparency will be key to enticing people back to travel.

Once things are getting better, there will still be a lot of uncertainty. Can you travel and is it safe to travel? Flexibility will be very important for quite some time. To give more transparency on the rates – are they flexible, and how flexible are they?

— Axel Hefer, Trivago CEO

There’s likely going to be a long period of time between lockdown and full recovery. In the interim, people are going to be more hesitant to travel, but not for lack of want. In fact, people are desperate to get out of their homes and resume normal life, including travel. But they’re also scared.

Beyond health worries, they’re facing financial uncertainty and won’t be prepared to pay steep cancellation fees or risk a refund while the world remains unstable. That leaves hospitality companies with a unique challenge: enticing travelers to book.

Flexibility and transparency are the key. Be completely clear about your policies regarding booking changes and cancellation upfront and loosen penalties. As a result, guests will feel more secure and booking rates will rise.

4. Properties will need to create both spaces where people can gather and spaces where people can distance.

Physical spaces will morph to ensure the utmost of cleanliness and space between people so that people can socialize, work, and interact with the ability to moderate their sense of distance. As time develops, the hospitality industry is going to have to adapt to people needing and wanting to plug in and out of socialization.

— Josh Wyatt, CEO of NeueHouse

At least for a while, people are still going to need to distance themselves from one another even after the country reopens. Yet, they’ll also need to return to some level of normal social interaction. As a result, hoteliers are in a bit of a bind, left to meet and balance both needs.

Explore how you can create both types of spaces at your property, and give guests the freedom to choose how they spend their time. Consider restricting some common areas with capacity maximums while leaving others open to host meetings, events, and more. Guests will not only appreciate the extra consideration but may also be more likely to recommend your property to others looking to travel in the new world, securing your place in the new future of hospitality.

5. The only way to prepare for a rapidly-evolving, unpredictable new travel market? Innovation.

There is a plethora of easy-to-implement solutions that can help us overcome the current crisis. The timing is on our side for catching up with what technology can offer our industry. The ones that do this not only will weather this unprecedented crisis but will also come out stronger and more equipped to deal with a completely new travel market.

— Rom Hendler, CEO and Founder of InnoVel

There are plenty of common sense measures hoteliers are taking during this time to stay afloat: preserving cash, reducing costs and searching for new revenue sources, just to name a few. Meanwhile, the long-term future of the travel market will remain in constant flux until the crisis subsides, making it difficult to do much more than wait. Right?

Wrong. By investing in innovation—whether it’s repositioning internal teams and processes or finding technology that can power your comeback strategy—you’ll be more prepared to handle the industry’s evolution, no matter how much it shifts.

There you have it: the future of hospitality is in safety, flexibility, and innovation. As you plan for the future, keep in mind how you can begin to weave them into your long-term strategies. Remember, these aren’t just trends; they’re seismic industry shifts that are likely here to stay.

Meanwhile, if you’re looking to find out more about how you can take immediate steps to help your business bounce back—and build a foundation to future-proof it in the process—check out our blog post, Recouping Losses from a Drop in Occupancy.

Ready to learn more about how INTELITY can help you maximize ROI, staff efficiency, and guest safety?

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April 7, 2020 by INTELITY

Recouping Losses from a Drop in Occupancy

Short-term and long-term strategies to future-proof properties and recoup hotel losses once travel resumes and the pandemic is contained

The COVID-19 pandemic has plunged the travel sector into a cloud of uncertainty. As the result of worldwide travel slowing to a near standstill, US occupancy rates have declined over 67% compared with the same time period last year, with average daily rates (ADR) and revenue per available room (RevPAR) seeing similarly drastic drops.

However, there is some silver lining. The hotel industry is cyclical and has shown its ability to come back from every major downturn it’s experienced in the past. Two relatively recent events, the 9/11 terrorist attacks, and the 2009 financial recession, severely impacted hotel ADR and RevPAR in a similar way to the current coronavirus outbreak. In both cases, though, these average performance metrics for hotels quickly rebounded and exceeded their pre-event levels as economies recovered and mass traveling resumed.

The strength of the hotel industry lies in coming together in the face of hardships, and this current situation is no exception. Here are some steps hoteliers can take — both today and in the future — to position themselves to recoup losses once travel and hospitality resume on a global scale:

Do Now

1. Stay top of mind by leveraging digital marketing channels.
People around the world are currently working from home and planning future aspirational travels. While working remotely, they are more likely to engage with digital advertising channels like email and social media. Hoteliers can keep their brands relevant through targeted messaging on these channels.

2. Email future-stay discounts to loyalty members.
Engaging with and showing appreciation to loyal guests through personalized discounts and offers can strengthen relationships with these valuable customers, further ensuring they remain repeat customers when they begin traveling again.

3. Offer direct booking perks and gift cards.
Gift cards and perks that can be redeemed for future stays provide ancillary revenue in the immediate while locking in future occupancy for the travel bounce-back. Restaurants, service providers, and other establishments are using similar methods to help lessen the impact of the coronavirus outbreak on their businesses.

4. Consider ‘staycation’ messaging and marketing promotions.
It is very likely that once daily life begins to return to normal, many people will be eager to get out of their homes, but may still be cautious about traveling on planes or to far-flung destinations. By targeting a local audience with staycation messaging, hoteliers can address short-term occupancy rates once social distancing measures are scaled back.

Future-Proofing Through Technology

From telemedicine to self-driving cars to remote work software, the coronavirus outbreak will undoubtedly lead to an increase in technology adoption across numerous industries. The same will hold true for hospitality technology; the outbreak is forcing hoteliers to re-think the role of technology in providing an optimal guest experience while ensuring the public health safety of staff and guests. In order to bounce back from the current occupancy drop and be best positioned for long-term success, hoteliers should consider investing in technology tools that:

1. Limit unnecessary guest-staff interactions.
While relationships with guests are at the core of nearly all hotels, future guests may want to avoid unnecessary face-to-face interactions, especially in the time immediately following a return to normalcy. Investing in technology such as mobile check-in and digital communication tools allows hoteliers to adapt to this new normal.

2. Capture more revenue from every booking.
Technology that drives additional revenue from each guest can help hoteliers accelerate the bounce-back from the coronavirus outbreak. For example, offering in-room dining through a mobile app or tablet can increase the average dining check size by up to 30% per order, and tools like digital storefronts unlock ancillary revenue streams by allowing guests to purchase the linens, pillows, and even wall art used throughout a property.

3. Maximize cost-saving opportunities.
In addition to increasing revenue, hospitality technology can also help properties save costs, primarily by automating many traditionally manual processes. By providing self-service tools to guests and capturing critical guest behavioral data, hoteliers can use technology to spend less and spend smarter.

These are challenging times for the hospitality industry, but past resilience has shown that hotels will bounce back from the current public health crisis. Implementing immediate and long-term strategies will become necessary as travelers change their habits in the face of changing norms. To learn more about how INTELITY’s solutions are built to maximize hotel ROI, schedule a demo with the INTELITY team today.

March 27, 2020 by INTELITY

Leveraging Technology to Automate Hotel Operations

The right tools can help you do more with less

With the coronavirus outbreak causing dramatic shifts across the hospitality industry, many hoteliers may be faced with the unfortunate and difficult task of maintaining operations with a limited staff. While hotels may be asked to do more with less during this period of uncertainty, understanding how to automate hotel operations in order to run leaner can further drive down costs without driving down service levels.

Hospitality technology can reduce the time and effort involved with carrying out service tasks, allowing guest needs to be fulfilled more quickly and with fewer resources. Technology solutions allow properties to automate guest requests and other activities through a centralized platform, capturing detailed data performance metrics and ensuring that service doesn’t drop off with a reduction in on-site staff.

Providing Self-Service Tools to Guests

The simplest way to reduce the burden on a lean staff is to provide guests with tools and technology that empower them to ‘self-serve’ their basic needs. By offering mobile check-in through a guest app, inbound guests can verify their check-in information before arriving and skip the front desk upon arrival, reducing the amount of front desk staff needed. Once the guest is on property, it is important to provide multiple self-service channels for common requests such as in-room dining, housekeeping services, and more. For example, by allowing guests to request more towels through an in-room tablet, requests can be automatically routed to the appropriate department (versus routed manually by a phone attendant).

Tying automated service requests into a corresponding back-end platform ensures more efficient tracking and fulfillment, which requires fewer on-site staff resources to effectively manage. By automating hotel operations, staff can save upwards of three minutes of employee time per guest request. While this may not seem like a lot on an individual request level, processing thousands of daily requests can quickly lead to hundreds of hours of staff time saved.

Making Data-Backed Decisions

Not only can technology tools have a direct time-saving benefit, they can also unlock opportunities for efficiency optimization by capturing detailed performance data and informing operational decisions. By leveraging the data on guest behavior and staff performance generated through on-site technology, properties can staff based on real-time activity rather than heuristics. This is particularly beneficial in use cases such as in-room dining – by analyzing the types of dishes ordered by guests as well as the times those dishes were ordered, properties with on-site dining options have the information needed to scale down kitchen operations during times when in-room dining volume is low, or the dishes being requested at certain times require less preparation.

Capturing guest behavior data at scale and analyzing it in the context of staffing is especially prudent in times of difficulty. The coronavirus outbreak will likely have long-term effects on property management strategies and priorities, and hospitality technology provides scalable solutions that can seamlessly adapt to shifting operational needs.

Your hotel may be asked to do more with less. We can help. To learn more about how you can automate hotel operations, schedule a demo with our team today.

March 19, 2020 by INTELITY

An Update on COVID-19 from INTELITY CEO Robert Stevenson

On behalf of the INTELITY team, I am writing to share an update on COVID-19’s impact on our industry and our deepest sympathies for what we know is an extremely difficult time for most hoteliers, both personally and professionally. We have been in constant touch with our customer base and observing the impact that the novel coronavirus disease outbreak is having on the hospitality sector and the travel industry as a whole. As developments are moving quickly, I wanted to take this opportunity to provide an update on the steps we have taken in response to the outbreak and how they pertain to the services we provide for our hospitality customers, partners, and the greater community.

As we monitor the global impact of the outbreak, we will continue to provide around-the-clock support and technical service to our customers without any gaps in coverage. All customers will continue to receive the same level of access, service, and support on the INTELITY platform, including:

Full 24/7/365 platform availability and functionality;
Continued ongoing engagement with our Customer Success, Project Management, and Sales teams; and
Our Technical Support team continues to be available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, via email at support@intelity.com, by accessing our online help center, or by phone at +1 (407) 965-2222. We will always respond within 2 hours for non-urgent issues and within 15 minutes for more urgent cases.

I also wanted to share with you that as of Tuesday, March 10, as a COVID-19 precautionary measure, INTELITY has updated our policies to implement a remote work environment and limited all non-essential travel for team members in order to ensure the safety of our employees, their families, and our customers. However, we are working closely with our server sites and supply chain partners, and we will continue to operate 24/7/365 and do not anticipate any disruption to the level of service we are providing.

These are challenging times for our industry, and we need to come together to tackle the difficulties that lie ahead. At INTELITY, we are doing our part by supporting our hotelier customers in their time of need. Be well, be safe, and let’s look out for each other.

March 18, 2020 by INTELITY

3 Digital Guest Communication Strategies to Implement when Practicing Social Distancing

There’s no way around it – the hotel industry, and the travel sector in general, are facing unprecedented times. The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak has effectively halted both business and leisure travel, dramatically reducing occupancy rates around the world.

At INTELITY, we understand the vital role that hospitality technology plays in increasing guest satisfaction and loyalty. Additionally, this same technology can be used to open up multiple communication channels between guests and staff at a time when social distancing is becoming the new normal. Effective digital guest communication is especially important in light of current events — not only will it allow properties to best ensure the safety of guests and staff while providing timely updates regarding an ever-changing situation, but it also provides opportunities for hoteliers to mitigate the long-term effects of the outbreak on the bottom line.

Strategy 1: Pre-Arrival Communications

Hotels that are still operating during the outbreak should implement clear communication plans for inbound guests. By sending a pre-arrival email to guests, hotels can ensure guest safety by clearly communicating the actionable steps being taken in public spaces and guest rooms to minimize the potential of viral transmission, including detailed cleaning protocols, hand sanitizer locations, staff health guidelines, and dining service changes.

Additionally, the pre-arrival email can be used to communicate any updates to cancellation/rescheduling policies. Guests’ travel plans are no doubt being severely impacted, and proactively messaging these policies can help assuage guest concerns while also reducing inbound call volume.

Finally, properties that offer mobile check-in can use the pre-arrival email as an opportunity to link to their guest mobile app. Mobile check-in technology allows guests to skip the front desk upon arrival and go straight to their rooms using a mobile key, which takes on even greater importance in the context of social distancing.

Strategy 2: Leveraging In-Room Tablets

In-room tablets provide another digital communication touchpoint between guests and staff. Guests can use tablets to submit service requests, order in-room dining, access property information, consume entertainment content, and much more. By allowing guests to communicate their needs through a tablet rather than a face-to-face interaction, potential transmission touchpoints can be reduced without a loss in service quality or timeliness.

In-room tablets can also be used to push personalized offers and promotions to guests. Given that guests may feel uncomfortable or unable to dine in on-property restaurants, offering a “virtual” happy hour or similar offer may still allow the property to capture lost revenue in a safe, guest-centered way.

Of course, tablets can also be a channel for sharing critical information around safety precautions, local updates, and more. The ability to manage tablet displays through a centralized content management system ensures that guests can receive relevant updates in real time.

Strategy 3: SMS Messaging

Increasingly, hoteliers are implementing SMS messaging into their guest messaging strategies. Similarly to tablets, SMS messaging can be used as a frictionless way for guests to request services, dining, and more, using a platform they are already familiar with. SMS messaging platforms are often scalable and can be either deployed to an entire database or be individualized to the guest, adding an extra layer of personalization to the interaction without putting guests or staff at risk. It also provides for timely two-way communication, which is critical in a fast-developing health situation.

By opening up a widely-used two-way communication channel, SMS messaging further empowers guests to do their part in ensuring public health safety. Guests who aren’t feeling well or who may otherwise require health assistance can communicate as such without needing to leave their rooms or potentially infecting guest room phones, minimizing transmission opportunities.

The hospitality industry has already been shifting to a more digitally-connected experience, and the coronavirus outbreak will likely accelerate the adoption pace for hoteliers looking to implement more robust multi-channel communication strategies. To learn more how to implement digital guest communication tools and best practices, schedule a demo with the INTELITY team today.

February 20, 2020 by INTELITY

Using Technology to Increase Guest Satisfaction and Loyalty

Hospitality technology solutions are playing an increasing role in improving guest satisfaction, and subsequently, guest loyalty. Investing in experience and management technologies is an effective way of providing an exceptional experience before, during, and after a guest arrives at their destination. By improving guest satisfaction and loyalty, technology also plays a critical role in driving optimized profitability by reducing acquisition costs and increasing repeat bookings.

Pre-Arrival: Stand Out from the Competition

Before booking a reservation with your property, many prospective guests are evaluating where to stay based on the available technology. According to Software Advice and their research on guest preferences, “A combined 60 percent of respondents are ‘more likely’ to choose a hotel that allows guests to check in and open doors with a smartphone than a hotel that doesn’t.” That number is a clear indicator that offering technology solutions can set you apart from the competition before guests even arrive.

On Property: Personalize the Guest Experience

Once guests arrive, technology remains important for creating a positive experience and developing that coveted loyalty. According to Comcast Business, “Technology is a critical component in delivering exceptional guest experiences in hotels, conference centers, and other hospitality locations.” With an understanding of your guests’ preferences, such as desired room temperature and extra towel requests, offering personalized touches not only streamlines hotel operations, but also creates a unique and valuable stay for guests.

Providing a personalized experience with technology extends to hotel offerings. With custom messaging through in-room tablets and mobile apps, guests can receive targeted messages to encourage further participation in individualized options, both on and off property. These might include a night out at a restaurant for guests who indicated they are celebrating a special occasion or a discount on spa services for guests who reserved their rooms as part of a wedding block. Guests aren’t receiving an impersonal email after they’ve checked out; they’re receiving real-time invitations that are relevant to their stated preferences. This personalization leads to a better guest experience as well as an increase in topline revenue.

According to data from Gallup research, the most significant prediction of organic growth is customer engagement, defined as an emotional connection with your brand. Staying somewhere for a night and only interacting upon check-in is a vastly different experience than a number of positive interactions throughout a stay. According to a Gallup Poll, “Guests who are fully engaged spend 46 percent more per year than actively disengaged guests and represent an average 23 percent premium in terms of share of wallet and revenue compared to an average customer.”

Post-Stay: Keep Connected to Your Guests

A guest’s impression of their stay is not solely determined by on-property interactions. How and when you choose to communicate with a guest after they’ve left your property can also have an impact on their likelihood of returning. With loyalty-related bookings making up more than 50 percent of all bookings for the first time in 2019, staying engaged with guests is critical for acquiring bookings at the lowest cost.

If your property has a guest-facing mobile app, you have a direct line of communication to guests even when they’re not on your property. By sending timely promotions and offers, you can ensure that your property is top-of-mind for guests over your competition while creating relevant value for your audience.

Technology is a deciding factor for where guests stay as well as an effective driver for engagement and revenue, which means hoteliers cannot afford to limit the solutions they offer. Investments made in technology will continue to pay dividends in guest experience, loyalty, and the bottom line.

To learn more about the INTELITY platform and our client results, contact INTELITY to schedule a demo with our team.

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