UESAs anyone working in hospitality will tell you, no two days are ever the same. Hospitality is a demanding and dynamic industry, and it’s easy for hoteliers to get caught up with the day-to-day activities of keeping a hotel running. This doesn’t leave them with much time to decode high-level changes in consumer trends or to hyper-personalize stays for individual guests. With AI however, they can access macro and micro-level data that will revolutionize the way they do business.
Hotels are hubs of data generation. When a guest books his room on a hotel’s website, he might share personal details and preferences. If he signs up for the hotel’s loyalty program, his birthday and anniversary are recorded for greetings and special offers. When he asks the restaurant to avoid certain allergens, this information is stored away so that he doesn’t have to make the same request every time.
With AI, hotels can use data effectively to personalize experiences for guests, and even offer them the room rate and amenities that align with their preferences. It’s also a useful tool that helps with the upkeep of back-office systems and machinery. AI is helping hotels improve operations across departments, resulting in higher revenues. Here’s a closer look at some of the main impact areas.
MARKETING & SALES
Business insights: AI scans all the data sets that a hotel has collected over the years to identify opportunities. For example, AI analyses might reveal that ‘cultural explorers’ are an emerging segment in Europe. Armed with this information, the hotel’s sales team can showcase packages with local heritage tours to this group.
Similarly, AI might pinpoint that bleisure travel among millennial guests is becoming popular. Hoteliers can then advertise attractive weekend packages to business travelers aged between 28 and 43, tempting them to extend their stay. By matching a hotel’s offerings to guest segments, AI can help marketers diversify packages and maximize occupancy.
Targeting: AI can further narrow the focus of one’s marketing efforts. Using predictive behavior analysis, it can forecast which services, room types, amenities and price points to highlight for each guest segment. Or, even better, each guest. This will ensure that marketing budgets are put to better use and produce the results hoteliers are aiming for.
Dynamic pricing: Thanks to AI pricing tools, hoteliers can now automatically adjust pricing to increase revenue. This boosts occupancy and RevPAR, while also delighting budget-conscious customers. AI forecasts demand, analyzes what rates competitors are offering and then fixes room rates accordingly, all the while optimizing pricing strategies.
GUEST EXPERIENCE
A recent study found that 74% of guests expect hotels to leverage AI for more personalization and unbundled pricing. With AI-powered hospitality platforms such as Hudini, hotels can do much more than just connect every step of the guest journey; they can also personalize them.
For example, when a guest is checking-in online, she can also select from upgrades such as room type, floor level and late check-out. When she places F&B orders on the hotel app, she can specify her dietary preferences and complete her order with personalized add-ons. The app’s multilingual chatbot, meanwhile, can suggest activities that match her interests. She can also enjoy the same level of personalization while chatting with the hotel’s voice assistant. These interactions don’t just result in more curated experiences, they’re also important drivers of ancillary revenue. Perhaps most importantly, the usage of data to make stays more unique and thoughtful elevates guest experience, which in turn creates better reviews and repeat guests.
OPERATIONS
Predictive maintenance: AI can help hotels avoid machine failures and system downtimes by scheduling maintenance well in advance. AI pulls data from IoT sensors in machines and analyzes several parameters to gauge what condition they’re in. Timely intervention based on AI’s predictions can save hotels steep repair costs and keep operations running smoothly.
Inventory management: AI-based inventory management tools can take stock of supplies for both guest-facing and backend operations, study consumption patterns, and forecast when the supplies will need to be refilled. This will help avoid wastage and restock supplies only in the required quantities.
Staff scheduling: With the ongoing staff shortage, hotels are turning to AI to deploy staff efficiently. AI tools analyze occupancy rates on a daily and seasonal basis to suggest staffing requirements. By assigning sufficient personnel to essential and guest-facing tasks, hotels can maintain excellent service standards and operational efficiency.
Staff productivity: Staff across departments often have to perform tasks that are basic yet repetitive. At Reception, they receive multiple phone calls from guests asking for hotel information; Housekeeping is commonly asked for towels, toiletries, cutlery and so on. These can be minimized without compromising on guest experience by using AI-led automation.
The AI-powered multilingual chatbot in Hudini’s guest experience app, for example, can assist guests with in-room dining orders, service requests, itinerary modification and upgrades. This helps divert the staff’s time and skills to activities that require human insight and interaction.
With the range of AI-based tools that are now available, hotel operators must choose technology that bridges data islands, offers real-time analyses and contributes to better guest experience. An AI-driven cybersecurity agenda also deserves top priority in order to keep data secure. One thing however, is quite clear. AI is no longer a conversation for the future. It is vital to the hospitality business, right here and now.