I hope 2022 will be remembered as the year of travel
industry renewal, as it seems nearly everyone I know has spent some well-earned
time away from home this year – myself included.
Beginning
in the spring
, we saw leisure demand surpass pre-pandemic levels globally
with some markets reporting record-high reservation rates. This trend continued
throughout the summer, laying excellent foundations for
a
strong Q4
where hotel reservations are already outpacing 2019 bookings,
according to Amadeus
business
intelligence data
.
Similarly, group and business travel is on the upswing, with
35 million more group room nights booked in H1 2022 over the same time last
year, and 38 million group room nights already booked for H1 2023.
With such positive indicators heading into 2023, how are you
preparing to allocate your technology budget to tackle your greatest needs?
Which areas should you focus on to keep your property – or destination – ahead
of the pack? Here are five important considerations for your 2023 budget plan:
Lead with data
Comprehensive
business
intelligence
data is critical to inform strategic decision making across
all aspects of hospitality – from revenue strategy, to marketing, sales and
operations.
The most sophisticated solutions on the market provide both
historical and forward-looking performance metrics and market insights, along
with air traffic data to position your property or destination for success.
Pair this with other data available across all systems –
CRS, CRM, and more - to gain a truly holistic view of your business. Armed with
the ability to identify peak and need periods, you’ll be empowered to
confidently adjust room rates, hire staff or launch promotions to entice more
bookings.
Think outside the (marketing) box
How are you connecting with your most profitable audiences
today? Through social media? E-mail marketing? If you haven’t yet adopted an
omni-channel
media
strategy
, 2023 would be the year to do so if you want to stay ahead of your
competitive set. Employ all channels at your disposal (targeted ads,
metasearch, GDS advertising, etc.) to truly cast a wide net and elevate your
brand’s visibility in front of travelers and travel agents alike.
Particularly with group and business travel returning, global
distribution system (GDS) usage is on the rise. According to
new
Amadeus research
, 60% of travel agents say they log in to a GDS more than four
times a day, and 88% say ads influence their buying behavior.
The results speak for themselves. Thanks to Amadeus
supported media campaigns, Mexican hotel chain
Posadas
increased its web revenues by 364% since the pandemic, and Spanish destination
marketing organization (DMO)
Turismo
de Tenerife
secured more than 150,000 bookings to its island.
Boost direct bookings with e-commerce best practices
A strong distribution mix will always be important for capturing
bookings where guests prefer to shop, but your direct channel is likely your
most profitable and where you’ll want to focus the most. But an outdated hotel
website with a fragmented booking flow just won’t fly with today’s consumers.
They want a lightning fast, modern website where they can clearly see what
they’re buying with options to personalize and upgrade.
Maximize your online presence by integrating
reservations,
guest management and web
solutions into a user-friendly experience for
guests. Designed with e-commerce best practices in mind, this type of platform
provides a highly configurable booking flow that enables personalization and
more hotel revenue opportunities.
Hoteliers using a
combination
of booking engine plus web
are already seeing the value, reporting up to a
25% increase in reservations during beta testing.
If you’re not quite sure how to assess your online presence,
download our
e-commerce
guide
to identify areas of improvement.
Automate operations amid continued labor shortages
As travel demand increases amid continued labor shortages, hoteliers
are challenged to come up with creative solutions to operational issues. Whether
it’s pooling housekeeping resources across multiple properties or turning to
self-service kiosks to handle guest check-in/out, it’s clear that technology
can help manage pandemic-influenced challenges.
If operational challenges are a major issue for your
property, give your staff the ability to work smarter, not harder.
Service
optimization
solutions can be a valuable tool to enable better staff communication
and faster resolution of guest requests, while automating maintenance and
housekeeping activities. This can help eliminate costly delays and confusion between
team members in favor of giving them time back to focus on the guest and
provide a positive overall experience.
Prepare for the next generation of meetings and events
It’s clear people are ready to leave home and meet in-person
again. Whether it’s a wedding, family reunion, corporate team building or major
conference staged in a hybrid format, consider
what’s
driving gatherings now
. Health and safety remains a major concern, but
wellness and sustainability are also coming into focus after two years of
pandemic stress.
Conference attendees don’t want to sit through eight hours’
worth of presentations. They want rejuvenating activities and healthy snacks to
elevate their day. They want social distancing protocols and food hygiene to be
taken seriously, while still having the space and opportunity to connect with
others face-to-face.
Prepare for more unique requests like this from planners in 2023
and use
sales
and catering
technology to help them book, plan, and visualize the big day.
With 2023 looking to build on this year’s travel recovery, it
will be critical to adopt technology that can scale with your business and
position you for success now and in the future.