What do we mean when we hear about “added value” in hospitality?
Before answering this question, it is essential to take a step back and think about how over the last few decades our way of planning and living the travel experience has undergone a major evolution.
Imagine we are in the 1960s. Organizing a trip starts with the dream of the trip itself and in the past inspiration was driven by catalogues, brochures, TV commercials and advice from friends and family. Once they had gathered information, stories and anecdotes, they went to a travel agency or tour operator to book and organize the next steps. There were also those who relied completely on printed guides, such as Lonely Planet, choosing a hotel from those recommended and contacting them directly by phone. They travelled mainly within their own country, as few could afford to go abroad. Once the destination was reached, strictly using the paper map, there were three points of reference for information: info points, local people and hotel staff. With the latter, a climate of trust was created immediately, also because the length of stay was long, usually at least a couple of weeks or more, so there was a way of getting to know each other and getting in tune with guests. Therefore, the “added value” was represented by the human factor that thanks to its knowledge and warmth helped to enrich the experience of travellers with emotions and moments to remember.
Now let’s take a leap forward, from the 1960s to the 1990s and 2000s, called the years of digital transformation. The advent of technology brought major changes. In 1991 the World Wide Web (‘www’) was born, the service that made the internet accessible to all users but just in the 2000s the Wi-Fi was introduced, allowing us to interact much more easily. In those years, blogs and social networks became popular (the first being Facebook in 2008). Therefore, the way people dreamt up a trip was no longer by consulting exclusively printed material, but ideas were suggested by those who recounted their travel experiences online, accompanied by attractive photos which allowed readers to immerse themselves with their minds in those unknown places. The first low-cost flights and search engines, such as Skyscanner, where you can compare prices by setting filters according to your needs, began to spread. This novelty gradually favored the tendency to travel more frequently during the year and consequently shorter (the so-called “hit and run” phenomenon).
However, the massive inclusion of new technologies has reached its peak in the last decade. It can be said that the web has gone from a static situation where it was a mere collector of information, to a highly dynamic state where users have the power to create their own content, share it and comment on it. This new dimension, in which it is possible to navigate without any limitation of time or space, has had a major impact on our daily lives and the way we travel. All stages of the travel experience (dreaming, planning, booking, experiencing and sharing) are influenced by online content, mainly on social media through photos, videos and stories. A striking figure in this respect is the following: on Instagram more than 581 million posts are tagged with the hashtag #travel[1]. Moreover, we no longer rely exclusively on the opinion of people we know, but also on influencers and even more on reviews published online. We are more informed, knowledgeable and independent, we are discerning and look for tailor-made and personalized experiences. Nowadays, few of us would choose a hotel or restaurant without first doing some research online and similarly, few of us would go to a travel agent or consult a catalogue to choose our next destination.
Our habits have changed. We have in our hands a vast array of content in which we can choose, compare and customize anything to suit our needs. In 2006, the president of travel and tourism research agency PhoCusWright, in Travel 2.0 Confronts the Establishment, said: “New travel researching and planning approaches are empowering consumers in unprecedented ways. […] Travelers are keen to take control and find/create the perfect trip, not just the cheapest trip.”[2]
These words lead us to reflect: if today’s guest has all the tools he needs to plan his trip and adapt it to his needs, how can I, as an accommodation provider, intervene during the phases of his experience to provide added value?
In the past when technology did not exist, or in the more recent past when it was entering our daily lives in small steps, the human factor still played a fundamental role: it represented the main lever for building loyalty. However, in recent years it seems to have been crushed by the weight of technology, with a consequent increase in the distance between guest and structure. Based on this scenario, what does the future hold? After a whole year of being addicted to technology, the thing we miss the most is human contact. What we can do to get back to valuing our role and the guest’s travel experience is to embark on a path of transformation that involves a conscious use of the opportunities that technology offers and at the same time constant training.
The new platforms and tools we have today, if used correctly, make it possible to optimize services and improve the guest experience, as well as ensuring more effective organization of work and maximizing economic performance. We have an unimaginable amount of data, information and means of intercepting future guests compared to the past. Our task is to give value to this precious data, implementing an offer increasingly tailored to individual needs, whose focus is represented by the people who have the power to arouse emotions and good memories. An example of this is the introduction of online check-in, thanks to which guests can enter in advance their personal details and those of any accompanying persons, as well as additional useful information such as the reason for the trip or the arrival/departure time. We decide which information is most effective for our strategy. Once at the hotel, the receptionist only has to check that the data is correct. So, the time we used to use for paperwork can now be used to get to know our guests better, to make them feel at ease and to create a climate of trust. By listening and using exploratory questions, we can identify important nuances that will help us to personalize the service, exceeding the guest’s expectations in order to build their loyalty. This is what is known as “added value” and it is what makes the difference today.
It is important to be careful not to make the mistake of thinking that technology can replace, even partially, the work of staff. Digital transformation is not only about technology, but also and above all about people, who must be constantly trained in the use of new platforms and in the intelligent interpretation of data, which can lead to excellent results in terms of service improvement.
Francesca Capece
Content editor
Hospite – The Italian Hospitality Academy
[1] https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/travel/ (date: 12th August, 2021)
[2] https://www.phocuswright.com/Travel-Research/Research-Updates/2006/Travel-2-0-Confronts-the-Establishment