In the era, where older generations think in terms of hotels and car rentals, and millennials think traveling in terms of Airbnb and Uber, hoteliers can no longer serve the best interest of their guests only through conventional means. And that splashes of digitalization have also been felt by the hospitality industry.
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While the concept of a hotel booking app is not a new one, the race to offer greater convenience to guests have been increasing at an accelerated pace. Hotel management apps, in particular, are disrupting the way hoteliers enhance the stay-cation for their guests. With a pile of data recorded after the visit of every guest, their preferences are registered, which can help hoteliers in serving their guests in a better manner.
Below are some of the crucial dimensions that you can focus on to improve your guest experience:
Customization is the New Business Norm
While there are numerous restaurant management applications, the gap that remains unabridged is the guest’s quest for personalization. With the generated data, hoteliers can further study the feedback and develop features that aren’t present in their competitors’ system, thereby creating a distinguished guest experience.
Since the conventional hotels with an extension kept guests waiting for lines to remain free before they can place an order, a hotel booking app can get help to receive instant service.
Key Features that Bring in Convenience to Guests:
- Request for car parking
- One-tap room service
- Book masseurs
- Reserve a table at the diner
- Ask for a laundry service
Gain a Twofer Benefit – Marketing + Guest Convenience
Several studies have brought into light the benefits of marketing done with a digital platform. Say, for example, you have to upsell or cross-sell a service of your hotel/restaurant. Just with the help of a push notification, you can inform guests regarding the offer.
Moving a step ahead, when guests have a subscription to the platform, they can avail of these services for free. It is, therefore, imperative to develop a hotel management app that can also calculate the loyalty points of guests’ to offer them premium services at a low cost.
Key Features for Guests:
- Track Loyalty Points
- Upgrade Subscription Plans using Loyalty Points
- Push Notifications with the latest Deals and Discounts
- Refer and Earn Points
- Immediate Feedback System
Last-minute Booking is the Latest Convenience
As per the latest study published by Criteo in the Travel Flash report, nearly 80% of the last-minute hotel bookings are done using a mobile app. In addition to this, the conversion rate using a mobile app is 5X better than the book n’ register mode.
What’s more is an online hotel booking service platform can help you cater to additional requirements in a stipulated time frame, which can further upgrade the quality of your hotel’s service.
Key Features for Guests:
- Easy check-in and check-out
- Make a special request (wheelchair, etc.)
- Order a rental car
- Book a guide
- Schedule pickup from railway station/airport
Billing Ease Coupled with Payment Ease Equals Guests’ Experience
Keeping a track of all the additional services availed by guests from a single occupancy can make a hell of a task. With the help of a hotel booking app, all the guests sharing a room can place their orders and requests from a single login, which becomes easy for them as well as hoteliers to easily process bills.
Besides the convenience to calculate the final amount, having a mobile app with multiple payment modes can help guests pay for their preferred modules.
Key Features for Guests:
- Add services to cart before or during the stay
- View bill at any moment
- Multiple payment modes (Both Cash and Cashless)
- Redeem loyalty points
- Easy cancellation/refund processing
Call for Food the Instant Guests are Hungry
The new adage goes like – A hungry customer is an angry customer.
What is the solution?
Food!
While no instant gratification can serve a hungry guest better than food, a food delivery software can be leveraged to offer the convenience to guests to order a meal of their choice at any point in time.
A restaurant management app when integrated with a hotel booking app can provide guests with the leeway to view the menu and order food without having to look for separate booklets.
Key Features for Guests:
- View available food and beverage items
- Track the food from kitchen to room
- Book a table at the restaurant
- Make a special request (Ask for a cake for a birthday, anniversary, etc.)
- Order instant food (2-minutes noodles, snacks, etc.,)
Exploit Technology to Shift your Business to Higher Gear
The new asset to any hotel or restaurant business is data. Using data collected from various sources i.e. hotel check-ins, services, restaurants, entertainment zone, hoteliers can position their offerings and create better sales prospects.
Hoteliers can generate a report and gain insights regarding the common preferences of guests, which in turn, will help create better offerings.
Key Features for Hoteliers that can help in Serving Guests Better:
- Generate daily, monthly, yearly data
- Know the most preferred services availed by guests
- Keep a check on the inventory
- Get real-time update on all transactions
- Leverage data to create insights
Key Takeaway
While a paper-based registration system has become a thing of the past, digital is the new mode to carry out business in the hospitality industry. While the concept of sharing economy is impacting the sheen of the hotel industry, it becomes crucial to winning guests with the best of the offerings.
Service remains a distinguishing feature for guests in the hotels, while the economy remains the unique selling point for bed and breakfast modules. Hence, to add value to your service-based business, convenience with the help of a hotel management app can differentiate your brand.
Author – Bio
Noman Shaikh
Noman Shaikh is a Digital Marketing Head at Fixlastmile which is known for developing a top-notch last-mile delivery System. He believes in sharing his strong knowledge base with leaned concentration on entrepreneurship and business.
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About the author
Are Morch – Hotel Marketing Coach. I help make every experience count while improving online visibility and revenue for fast-growing hotels.
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