Personalisation is the key for UAE hotels
Contributors are not employed, compensated or governed by TD, opinions and statements are from the contributor directly
A recent report published by Grant Thornton on ‘Hotels 2020: Welcoming Tomorrow’s Guests’ highlights the need for hotels to get more personalised with their guests.
The report suggested that hotels must put mobile technology at the centre of their customer experience, where services such as AirBnB are challenging traditional business model.
Hisham Farouk, CEO of Grant Thornton UAE said: “Over the past decade the UAE has rewritten the rule book and set the standard for innovation in the global hotel and hospitality sector. Hoteliers in the UAE must act now to embrace new technologies and adapt to changing customer demands. They must differentiate themselves by making a reality of mass personalisation – while also keeping a human touch.”
A key driver of ‘personalisation’ trend has been increasing spending power of millennials. This demographic group are set to outspend baby boomers in hotels by 2017 and expect increasingly tailored services, such as mobile room customisation and special in-app offers. With number of Chinese tourists alone expected to double to over 200 million by 2020, rising numbers of travellers from emerging markets also means hotels need to change their services to cater for new needs and preferences.
The other highlights of the report are that the hotel industry has been lagging behind other industries when it comes to mobile personalisation. The report presents the need for hotels to consider apps that personalise elements of a guest experience.
While there is a need to adopt technology more personally, hotels must also be mindful of how much data is likely to be shared by guests.
Hisham Farouk concluded saying: “The trends highlighted need to be taken into consideration by UAE hoteliers as competition increases with emergence of mid-tier and affordable hotels.”
Comments are closed.