“Whether it’s the Curio by Hilton, the Aloft, the W, everyone has tried to be the young hip ones, catering to the millennials. I think urbanisation and the youthful urbanisation of hotels is a journey — there’s no destination.”
“It’s quite straightforward to work with [millennials] if you can reach them through the right channels, so channel marketing is evolving quite rapidly. “I think relevant apps and mobile platforms will allow people to connect with their target audiences, and marketers will have to reshape their marketing strategies. Social media and bloggers are gaining momentum so how to connect with them is going to be a very important aspect.”
One of the most successful and well-known independent hotels in the region, Media One Hotel, last year hired a community manager who deals with all of the property’s social media activities, and many hotel chains have begun to restructure their marketing, ecommerce and revenue functions to keep up to speed with the constantly changing demands of ever more digitally aware guests.
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Accor’s regional ecommerce team has grown from one person in 2013 to five people by the end of 2014, with someone in each hotel also dedicated to looking after social media and websites, as well as an outsourced digital team that works together with the in-house team.
“It’s not just digital, but social media. This is becoming even more important so we are well advanced and we have a dedicated team, and that is something we’re looking to reinforce in the years to come,” says Landais.
Accor recently launched a €225 million ($280.41) five-year programme to upgrade its websites and digital activities, highlighting the emphasis being placed on this aspect of operations.
“Like everyone else Accor is trying to update this over time and it’s very expensive but if we want to improve our market share we must do this,” Landais adds.
Similarly, Hospitality Management Holdings (HMH) last year invested 90% of its capital expenditures on an IT upgrade, implementing a new ecommerce friendly website and installing hardware and software at various levels of operations to increase efficiency and compliance of standards.
“Technology advancements are changing our industry at an unprecedented speed and those who tap it will take all,” says Voivenel.
At Hilton Worldwide, the company is targeting what it defines as the ‘3D customer’. Vice president of operations, KSA, Mahmoud Mokhtar explains this means “discerning, disciplined and digital”.
“Guests will become increasingly savvy to using technology for the likes of e-check-in, pre-arrival room selection and ultimately, straight-to-room mobile technology,” comments Mokhtar.
At the end of December, Hilton Worldwide’s digital check-in and room selection technology went live across more than 4100 hotels worldwide, including 53 hotels in the Middle East and Africa region.
Guests who are members of the group’s loyalty programme, Hilton HHonors, check in and choose their rooms from digital floor plans or lists on their desktops, tablets, or mobile devices. Members are also able to request upgrades or make special requests.
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