This week two Global hospitality companies announced that they will continue to add mobile based solutions to attract Millennial travelers. As AI Concierge becomes more prevalent across our industry, and guest engagement continues to increase, certain trends begin to appear and the insights from these trends can be valuable for any hotelier. Providing the guest with an ability to text inquiries about almost anything is becoming a guest expectation. The data shows that there are some differences in the priority of inquiries made by guests in different hotel categories (luxury, mid-level, economy, etc.) however the consistencies make it worthwhile to review the top inquiries from across thousands of hotels. Most of these frequent inquiries are simple and should not require more than a few seconds for the guest to attain an answer, nor should they slow your front desk operations. So, what are guests asking and what should hoteliers take away from these insights? Here you go.
1. Wi-Fi – by far the most common category of inquiry, this demand for access to a hotel’s Wi-Fi offers significant opportunity to the hotel. Most notably, data capture, upsell opportunities, location-based insights, and communications.
2. Checkout time / Request for late checkout – a simple question that should take seconds to answer digitally. Again, this can represent an opportunity for ancillary revenue by offering the first additional hour for free but charging for additional time, all electronically conveyed and transacted.
3. Reservations – this includes reservation requests for in-house amenities as well as nearby restaurants, etc. These reservations can either be addressed digitally or forwarded to the appropriate personnel while bypassing the front desk.
4. Breakfast – Is it complimentary? What time is it served? Again, hoteliers can upsell a breakfast special or even refer a nearby restaurant.
5. Nearby attractions – Offering these attractions to your guests can generate hotel revenue, as can sponsoring offers and tickets to events that guests are already planning to attend.
6. Extra towels – the front desk should never again have to hear this request as it will always be sent directly to housekeeping.
7. Ice Machine – add value by offering to deliver the ice and any additional drinks to the room.
8. In-stay Amenities – An inquiry of anything offered by the hotel offers multiple opportunities for upsell.
9. Hours of Operation – Gym? Spa? Pool? These are simple Q&A’s that require no human interaction.
10. TV remote/channels/operation – here’s an opportunity to inform guests of entertainment specials that fit their profile. Or just provide better instructions. Requiring guests to learn how to use the TV remote by using the TV remote can be a thing of the past.