Digital. Technology. Automation. Often when we hear these buzzwords, especially in the context of the hospitality industry, the fact that they can never replace the human touch comes to mind. This is especially true because the core of hospitality is the human touch and the quality of human interaction is prized over anything else. Just comb through the reviews on any business in the hospitality landscape, the good reviews would usually be the ones raving about the great service or how a certain staff went the extra mile. Very seldom will the reviews mention the spacious room or the decor in a certain restaurant! It is always the human interaction, no matter how brief, that leaves a lasting impression on the guests.
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Embracing Technology
In the post-pandemic setting, however, hotels cannot be resistant to the technological advances that should have already taken place eons ago. Not when it is what consumers want. A global survey by Amadeus showed that technology holds a crucial role in supporting recovery, as 84% of travellers said that hotel technology would increase their confidence to travel. In the new normal, technology will be the differentiator.
Portier, as a tech company in the hospitality industry obviously supports this notion but we too, believe that technology can never replace the kind of hospitality humans provide. Our unwavering philosophy is that technology enhances the human touch. It empowers people to form true connections with one another and ultimately redefine what hospitality is.
Guests Want Personalised Experiences
Previously, we had discussed how hotel technology can improve staff productivity here. To summarise, hotel technology frees up time for staff to focus on what or who matters most - guests. Guests want to feel like you care, they appreciate the fact that staff remembers their names even though it was only a brief interaction. They love it when the bartender remembers their go-to drink. These details, albeit how small or granular, serve the same purpose. They are little reminders that guests crave for personalised services! In fact, there is strong data out there that proves it. IBM says that hotel guests are receptive to personalisation - more than 70% of hotel guests reported positive personalised experiences. I will mention this again, technology will be the differentiator when it comes to personalisation!
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Personalised experiences powered by technology will be a game-changer in this field. Every bit of guest behaviour, the nuances of guests’ choices can all be tracked and recorded by technology. Data can be very sensitive, but consumers today are more than okay with hotels using it, as a matter of fact, they expect hotels to be able to offer them tailored experiences. Skift’s report shows that 58% of travellers aged 55 and older do not mind when hotels use their personal information to offer them relevant deals, discounts and loyalty points! A win-win situation for all!
Hyper-Personalisation
Portier takes it one step further. We believe in hyper-personalisation - deploying personalised services at the most opportune time.
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Through several strategies which include crawling through data reports, we are able to provide guests with hyper-personalised experiences through our platform. We possess the industry’s leading efficacy rates of converting those personalised experiences into incremental revenue for our hotel partners. Something that could not be achieved without technology and the warm, welcoming staff of our hotel partners.
The key takeaway here is, hyper-personalisation will not be possible without both technology and the hotel staff working seamlessly together. Portier sets to redefine the parameters of smart hospitality and in an ever-competitive hospitality landscape, where the benchmark for the best hospitality service is constantly met by every other hotel, Portier's technology will be the differentiator.