SOUTHLAKE—The digital transformation of the hotel guest experience will be a major competitive advantage for hoteliers in 2018, according to a new report from Sabre Corporation in cooperation with the research firm Altimeter.
“In order to meet the expectations of today’s tech-savvy consumers, hoteliers must adopt flexible solutions that allow them to further personalize both the guest’s digital and physical experience,” says Clinton Anderson, president of Sabre Hospitality Solutions.
“For digital transformation to excel, it must have a purpose. And among the most progressive hoteliers and hospitality brands, that purpose is centered on guest experience,” says Brian Solis, principal analyst and futurist at Altimeter, a Prophet company. “Modern guests are far more connected than previous generations. Their behaviors, expectations, and preferences have also evolved. This is an opportunity for hoteliers to innovate and use digital transformation to introduce new levels of experiences that change the game for the entire industry.”
The Sabre Hospitality Solutions report found that digital transformation can be challenging for hoteliers and outlines how brands can use it to improve the guest experience. Key findings from the new report include the following:
Guest experience transformation is a priority.
As consumers become increasingly connected, their expectations, preferences, and behaviors evolve. The result is a more informed and empowered consumer base and a higher standard for guest experience. Now more than ever, travel brands must assess how connected consumerism is changing and how the customer journey can be reimagined for an evolving, mobile, real-time world. From augmented and virtual reality to artificial intelligence and machine learning, the landscape is changing.
Digital Darwinism means constant evolution.
Successful modern brands are agile and continually experiment with their technology. They intuitively cater to the on-demand nature of customer expectations and preferences in the design of products, services, and user experiences. Whether it’s on mobile, desktop, in-app, or on the Web, technologies are designed with experiences in mind. These insights spill into on-property innovation and invention to blur the line between physical and digital, personalizing the guest experience throughout the process.
The Modern Guest Experience Blueprint
Modern technology enables meaningful experiences at scale, adding major value for the traveler, and in turn, the hotel. To stay relevant, travel brands must place guests at the center of all innovation and transformation strategies, leveraging technology to enable meaningful experiences at scale. The report includes a strategy and technology roadmap to transform the hotel guest experience with immediate impact, with steps like reimagining the guest journey as an infinity loop, mapping the guest journey via existing data and input, and striving for seamless, cross-channel journeys that prioritize personalization.
