Marriott International introduced its mobile check-in and check-out feature last year and the service was made available to 4000 Marriott hotels globally by the end of 2014. Kyriakidis claims that, as well as making a customer’s experience more seamless, the technology provides greater data capture opportunities to Marriott.
“Technology is rapidly developing and apps play a huge part in our business because they enable hotels to get to know their customers outside of online bookings and travel agent one-to-ones,” says Kyriakidis.
“Ultimately they bring added value to the customer experience through the data we collect because we can then act on the information gathered.
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“We can find out where guests have travelled from, thanks to GPS technology, as well as where they’ve stayed before.
“This is possible because guests have to register as Marriott Rewards members to use the technology.”
A higher volume of data capture, and more intelligent use of data collected, is something that hotel operators are looking to improve with their loyalty schemes, for reasons ranging from driving brand.com bookings, to providing more personalised experiences for guests.
“There are a number of trends expected to impact loyalty in the year ahead,” explains Rezidor’s Willis.
“The biggest one I believe is big data. Companies are looking for more customer engagement, which means a deeper emotional connection with the brand.
“So the data that allows us to understand customers better, will in turn allow us to provide more meaningful experiences.”
While Media One launched its own loyalty scheme last year, and local operator HMH is looking to debut its programme in the first half of 2015, many of the big international players are already becoming very sophisticated in their offerings for loyal guests.
Starwood Hotels & Resorts, for example, recently launched SPG Pro to consolidate the benefits of its corporate scheme and regular loyalty scheme under one umbrella, and the firm also teamed up with Emirates airline on the Your World Rewards programme to provide reciprocal benefits to both companies’ loyalty members.
Additionally, when Starwood's keyless room entry (using a smart phone) was introduced at the end of last year, it was extended exclusively to loyalty members.
Similarly, for Accor, the loyalty programme Le Club Accorhotels is one of the company’s key successes, and last year’s member recruitment target of 144, 000 was well surpassed before the end of 2014, with 176, 000 new loyal guests enrolled in the programme by October.
“The more members we have the more direct communication we have; the better we communicate with guests, the better we adapt to their needs,” comments Landais.
Ultimately, being more connected to guests will be the big topic for 2015, whether this means through improved data capture, better communication, more seamless digital processes, or if it is with regards to accessibility and affordability of accommodation, and more personal, localised experiences.
“Today’s zeitgeist situation is about approachability and inclusion; it’s not about exclusivity and elitism,” explains Sinha, who says that hoteliers need to become “lifestyle curators”, providing experiences to guests rather than just “the real estate and the body”.
“We are witnessing a chapter of hospitality that was never written before and will never be written again.
“It’s happening right now, so it’s a very exciting time to be in this industry and in this region,” he adds.
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