“There was a particularly hilarious movie that a German family made during their holiday at the Novotel Sharm El Sheikh. They were actually promoting the hotel tremendously, and to the European and German market, which is essential for us.”
“Customers are relying on more peer-to-peer exchanges of information. The challenge is actually to accept that, and to give the responsibility for the promotion of your brand to the customers.”
As perhaps the most influential manifestation of this trend, it is no surprise that TripAdvisor features highly on all the companies’ agendas. Managing online reputation can be a mammoth task, but ensuring that every customer review or comment is responded to is a top priority, as Premier Inn’s Mitchell explains.
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“Online reputation is the face that you have out there, and it’s accessible by anybody, so we focus heavily on responding to customers, following up, and taking whatever we’ve received from that customer, whether it’s positive or negative, back to the business. It’s about using that information to train your team, develop your product, or change a process.”
Head of marketing for home-grown operator Citymax Hotels, Rohit K. Challapalli, concurs. For the brand’s three-star hotels in Al Barsha, Bur Dubai and Sharjah, “TripAdvisor is a great source for us to understand what our customers really think,” he says.
“The reviews are monitored by our general managers and any comment is replied to within 24-48 hours.”
Last year, guest comments on TripAdvisor led Citymax to improve Wi-Fi services at its hotels. “Guests used to say that they weren’t very happy with the Wi-Fi so we invested in a seamless Wi-Fi system throughout the whole hotel, offering uninterrupted streaming from the basement parking, into the lobby, restaurants [and] rooms,” he explains.
As well as listening to guests, it’s vital to return their loyalty. As Citymax is part of the Landmark Group, UAE guests who hold one of the group’s Shukran cards can collect points at the hotels. “We also have a members’ club for our Huddle Sports Bar and Grill, and for the Maxx Music Bar and Grill, that gives regular guests 20% off F&B,” says Challapalli. “It really connects the guests with the brand – they feel more valued and have a sense of belonging.”
Accor also believes in incentivising loyalty – classic, silver, gold and platinum members of the company’s Le Club Accor Hotels programme can collect points and receive benefits at its hotels worldwide.
“In the Middle East we’ve long since passed the 500,000 cardholder mark,” Henry says.
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