觀光服務業客戶關係管理之數位轉型: 深入探討旅館服務業 - 政大學術集成

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(1)國立政治大學商學院國際經營管理英語碩士學位學程 International MBA Program College of Commerce National Chengchi University 碩士論文. 治. 政 Thesis大 Master’s. 立. ‧ 國. 學. 觀光服務業客戶關係管理之數位轉型: Nat. y. ‧. 深入探討旅館服務業. er. io. sit. The digital transformation of customer relationship. n. management witha the leisure segment in the hospitality. iv l C n hindustry engchi U. Focus on accommodation services. Student: Hélène Delay Advisor: Professor Shari Shang. 中華民國一〇六年五月 May 2017.

(2) 觀光服務業客戶關係管理之數位轉型: 深入探討旅館服務業 The digital transformation of customer relationship management with the leisure segment in the hospitality industry Focus on accommodation services. 政治大 Student: Hélène Delay. 研究生：狄海倫. 立. Advisor: Shari Shang. 學. ‧. ‧ 國. 指導教授：尚孝純. 國立政治大學. sit. y. Nat. 商學院國際經營管理英語碩士學位學程. io. n. al. er. 碩士論文. Ch. A Thesis. e. i. i n U. v. n g c hMBA Program Submitted to International National Chengchi University in partial fulfilment of the Requirements for the degree of Master in Business Administration 中華民國一〇六年五月 May 2017.

(3) Abstract The digital transformation of customer relationship management in the hospitality industry Focus on accommodation services for the leisure segment By Hélène Delay The hospitality industry has been subject to enormous changes since the 2010’s with each actor trying to differentiate itself through innovation on architecture and design, comfort, services and especially. 政治大 This research aims to show how the digital transformation affects the customer relationship 立 management in the hospitality industry with a focus on accommodation services for the leisure on the overall traveling experience that is highly affected by technology.. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. segment.. After giving a wide overview of the hospitality industry and the trends related to technology, the report will focus on hospitality groups, specialized in accommodation services, and the challenges. y. Nat. sit. brought by the digital transformation regarding the customer relationship management with the. er. io. leisure segment. The analysis of multiple cases studies relying on second-hand data will lead this. al. v i n customer relationship management with by the digital transformation. Ctheh leisure segment disrupted engchi U n. research to highlight the solutions adopted by hospitality groups to cope with the challenges on the. The digital transformation has brought many challenges: new consumption habits, tech-savvy customers, the rise of digital competitors and an entire new economy based on the sharing of services and commodities. In order to deal with these challenges, hospitality groups have deployed efficient solutions for e-reputation and data management, they have developed new services that are now highly-personalized and automated and offer a mobile and digital experience to customers looking for mobility, ease of use and efficiency.. These challenges should not be considered as threats for hospitality groups but rather as opportunities to create value, differentiate and increase sales.. i.

(4) Table of contents 1. Introduction ...................................................................................................................................... 1 1.1. Digital transformation in the hospitality industry ..................................................................... 1 1.2. Motivations................................................................................................................................ 8 1.3. The objectives............................................................................................................................ 8 2. The hospitality sector and the challenges related to technology ...................................................... 9 2.1. The different actors ................................................................................................................... 9 2.1.1.. The hospitality groups .................................................................................................... 9. 2.1.2.. Event agencies.............................................................................................................. 10. 2.1.3. 2.1.4.. 治政 Travel agencies ............................................................................................................ 11 大立Online travel agencies (OTA) ................................................ 12 The new digital actors: ‧ 國. 學. 2.2. Segmentation of the market ..................................................................................................... 13 The leisure segment ..................................................................................................... 13. 2.2.2.. The corporate segment ................................................................................................. 14. ‧. 2.2.1.. 2.3. Challenges in customer relationship management .................................................................. 15 The new consumption habits........................................................................................ 15. 2.3.2.. Tech savvy customers .................................................................................................. 16. 2.3.3.. The rise of new digital actors, the Online Travel Agencies (OTA) ............................. 17. er. io. sit. y. Nat. 2.3.1.. al. n. v i n Ch 20 3. Research approach ......................................................................................................................... engchi U 3.1. Research method ..................................................................................................................... 20 2.3.4.. The sharing economy ................................................................................................... 18. 3.2. Data collection ......................................................................................................................... 20 3.3. Data analysis............................................................................................................................ 20 4. The findings ................................................................................................................................... 23 4.1. Before consumption ................................................................................................................ 23 4.2. During consumption ................................................................................................................ 31 4.3. After consumption ................................................................................................................... 36 5. Conclusion and limitations............................................................................................................. 40 References .......................................................................................................................................... 42. ii.

(5) Table of figures Figure 1: The top objectives for Technology in the hospitality industry in 2016. ............................... 2 Figure 2: The customer facing tech rollouts …………………………………………………………6 Figure 3: Tech rollouts in the guest room ……………………………………………………………7 Figure 4: The predicted hotel technology trends for 2016 ………………………….………………..9 Figure 5: Top 10 ranking of hospitality actors worldwide …………………………………………..11 Figure 6: Summarizing table of the 10 cases studies presented in the findings ……………….……..24 Figure 7: Revenue Insights – Performance Overview Dashboard …………………………………..27. 政治大 Figure 9: Online bookings figures in 2015 ………………………………………………………….30 立 Figure 10: Customer feedback about Let’s Chat …………………………………………………….32. Figure 8: Accorhotels.com website on iOS …………………………………….………………......29. ‧ 國. 學. Figure 11: Hilton Digital Key ………………………………………………………………………34 Figure 12: The GoBoard in the Courtyard San Angelo lobby ………………………………………36. ‧. Figure 13: Connie at Hilton McLean, Virginia ……………………………………………………..38. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. iii. i n U. v.

(6) 1. Introduction 1.1. Digital transformation in the hospitality industry Hospitality is a growing sector with a very bright future for those who manage to adapt and redefine their offer and way of doing business. The global revenue in the hospitality industry reached $490bn in 2016, and is predicted to grow by 13% to reach $554bn in 2018. It represented 9% of the world GDP in 2015 and employed 1 in 11 jobs in the world. To match an increasing demand, the world accommodations hotel counted 22 million of rooms in. 政治大. 2016, which represented a 4% growth compared to 2015 and was mainly supported by hospitality. 立. groups.. ‧ 國. 學. The key regions are traditionally Europe and North America with the largest number of rooms (respectively 7.9 million and 5.4 million) but these numbers are today almost stagnating. The growth is focused on Latin America and Asia Pacific (+300 000 rooms in 2016), with the rise of powerful. ‧. Chinese hospitality groups. Today China counts almost 2 million of hotel rooms and is the second. y. Nat. country in number after the USA with 8.7% market shares, whereas it was not even in the Top 10. io. sit. countries ten years ago. A significant example is Home Inn (http://www.homeinnhotel.com/), a. al. n. by 15.4% in 2015.. er. Chinese hospitality group, the ninth in the world, that grew its accommodations capacity in number. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. Just as for every sector, technology has become a critical asset for hospitality groups and the expenses are rising to take the advantage of this new opportunity. According to the 2016 Lodging technology report lead by HT Magazine, 54% of hotels have increased their expenses on technology in 2016 to meet their three biggest priorities: mobility, the upgrade of existing systems and boost security. Mobility is mainly related to the usages of customers, that are requiring an omni-canal interaction, but also of the staff that can gain in productivity by being more flexible. The upgrade of existing systems aim to improve the efficiency of hotels staff and are necessary to provide an effective platform, key of success for the digital transformation. With the increasing data from customers and digital payment solutions, security has become key for hotels to manage the information about their customers.. 1.

(7) The average of the technology budget for hotels is 6% of the revenue in 2016 versus 4.9% of revenue in 2014.. 立. 政治大. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. Figure 1: The top objectives for Technology in the hospitality industry in 2016. Source: 2016 Lodging technology report, HT Magazine This digital transformation brings important evolutions to hospitality groups and disrupts their business-models with a first impact: being “customer centric”. The leading companies do not control the customer relationship anymore and focus increasingly on their customers’ needs. The consumerization of IT, that is “the specific impact that consumer-originated technologies can have on enterprises” according to Gartner (research and advisory firm specialized in IT), has disrupted the balance between companies and customer by giving to the last one superiority. This new consumerization is today at the same time an opportunity for companies to take advantage of new technologies and develop them while focusing on consumers, rather than on the IT perspectives. 2.

(8) Thanks to technologies, hospitality groups can offer more added-value services/products and acquire new customers. If they fail in doing so, they are highly exposed to the risk to become obsolete, to suffer from new entrants and not to be able to match the customers’ new needs. This adaptation is quite consequent as guests have now strong expectations from hospitality groups, especially regarding the bandwidth Wi-Fi, the hotel arrangement and amenities and the automation of services.. The high-bandwidth Wi-Fi has become a critical criterion, so much that 87% of guests expect it to be free and consider it as the first desired criterion. It should be available both in common spaces and in. 治政大 in guest technology, has published Elevenwireless, a company specialized in delivering global trends 立 some data and information regarding the hospitality sector and the evolution of customers’ needs private rooms according to a TripAdvisor survey in 2015.. to. be. alone. ‧ 國. like. together”. states. Michael. Tiedy. 學. regarding the hotel arrangement in the survey named “6 hospitality tech trends for 2014”. “Millennials from. Starwood. Hotels&Resorts. ‧. (http://www.starwoodhotels.com/). It means that this wide range of customers are more and more independent from each other and travel alone but at the same time they are more likely to easily meet. y. Nat. sit. new people and to share some moments when traveling. Therefore, they expect the common spaces,. al. er. io. such as the lobby, to be warm and convivial to enable people to meet and network and at the same. n. time to be the center for technology. Hotel can for example mix couches and communal work-stations. Ch. i n U. v. that give a wide choice to customer for seating, working and chatting. Jeremie Trigano, the founder. engchi. and CEO of Mama Shelter (http://www.mamashelter.com/fr/, brand AccorHotels) highlights that the lobby should be “made of meetings, freedom, fizz, interactions and emotions.”. Hotels should offer high-tech and state-of-the-art products to their customers as well. In fact, 99% of guests travel with at least one device and 40% of them with three devices or more (Elevenwireless survey, “6 hospitality tech trends for 2014”). They bring content from these devices and expect to use it in the most enjoyable way. They do not only need a good Wi-Fi connection, but as well devices to attach their own, such as a personal television with syncing services.. 3.

(9) To get deeper into figures about guests’ expectations, the graph hereinafter represents the current matching of customer new needs with hotels offerings.. 立. 政治大. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Figure 2: The customer facing tech rollouts.. Ch. engchi. Source: 2016 Lodging technology report, HT Magazine. i n U. v. This graph reflects that hotels have well understood the importance of high bandwidth and an automation of services through online and mobile platforms. Their current use is quite high and a majority plans to use it in the future if it’s not already done. This becomes an expected criterion.. 4.

(10) In the guest room, the high-bandwidth Wi-Fi is a priority as well but providing state-of-the-art technology is not the first focus for hotels as shows the graph below.. 政治大. 立. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. Figure 3: Tech rollouts in the guest room. Source: 2016 Lodging technology survey, HT Magazine. 5. i n U. v.

(11) Technology has empowered people to achieve more in their daily life. Hotel guests are looking for efficient interaction with hotels and they prefer automated services through online platforms. These platforms give them more flexibility to choose when, how and from where to connect with the hotel. Online services are no longer peripheral services and have become expected from customers, for example 91% of guests prefer an online check-in. Technology and digitalized services should be present all along the customer experience.. Customers take already advantage of available digital tools when it comes to comparing hotels for prices and quality of services. The rise of technology has empowered the customers to the detriment. 治政大ability to choose the service with the of information and choices. That means that customers have the 立 best value for money, one of the most determinant factor in their decision-making process, especially of traditional actors. They now have the power to compare the prices and they have access to a bunch. ‧ 國. 學. in economic downturns period when traveling is considered as a secondary need. According to a survey lead by TripAdvisor in 2016, the price is the most important criteria for 95%. ‧. of the respondents and the ratings of accommodation on a review site comes right after for 91% of respondents, even before the location and proximity to key attractions for the hotel (80%).. y. Nat. sit. This new power offered to customers increase the competitivity between traditional actors and force. n. al. er. io. them to be very customer-focused.. Ch. i n U. v. To summarize, the main customer trends regarding technology in the hospitality sector are the need. engchi. of a high bandwidth Wi-Fi and of the automation of services that offers mobility, and the importance of hotel arrangement favoring socialization and empowers guest with high-tech amenities. These elements are shown on the figure on the next page.. 6.

(12) 立. 政治大. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. Figure 4: The predicted hotel technology trends for 2016 Source: Loungeup.com. 7. i n U. v.

(13) 1.2. Motivations The digital revolution is everywhere. It affects every sector, every company and changes the balance between companies and customers by empowering customers to take control over the companies. The customer relationship is thus at the heart of digital programs as the main challenge for companies to keep their customers and to gain new ones by differentiating and creating added-values in their services. This study aims to show how the digital transformation is changing the hospitality industry by focusing on the highly challenged customer relationship management, with a focus on the leisure. 政治大 The hospitality industry is a very interesting sector because it is a very traditional one where 立 technology has some limits for changing the products itself but has infinite way to disrupt the whole segment, for traditional actors offering accommodation services such as hospitality groups.. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. customer experience.. 1.3. The objectives. y. Nat. sit. The research aims to highlight the innovative responses hospitality groups are conducting to face and. er. io. cope with the new challenges brought by the digital transformation that are affecting the customer. al. n. v i n C h new services withUhigher added-value and differentiating opportunities for hospitality groups to create engchi relationship management with the leisure segment. The research will show these challenges as. to create loyalty and increase their sales and share of the markets by gaining customers.. 8.

(14) 2. The hospitality sector and the challenges related to technology 2.1. The different actors 2.1.1. The hospitality groups. The ranking in the number of hotel rooms lead by MKG in 2015, a leading consulting group in the hospitality sector, show that hospitality industry is led by four nationalities that are: -the US with five hospitality groups in the top 10 -China with three hospitality groups in the top 10. 政治大. -France and the UK counting each one hospitality groups. 立. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. Figure 5: Top 10 ranking of hospitality actors worldwide Source: Les Echos Start 9. i n U. v.

(15) Most of these leading hospitality groups position on the three markets: economic, mid-scale, upscale & luxe with numerous brands and have a clear-cut positioning on each of them. This wide positioning enables hospitality groups to offer a big range of hotels and services in order to widen their potential clients on all the segments and to increase their global market shares. For example, AccorHotels counts 27 brands in total and among them Sofitel and Pullman belong to the luxurious and upscale segment. But on this segment the positioning of these two brands is clearly different: Sofitel offers a very classic experience and wants to reflects the French “art de vivre” with very local touches whereas Pullman hotels are very standardized all over the world and want to seduce modern business travelers with very high tech amenities.. 治政大 of mergers & acquisitions. This An important trend to notice in the hospitality sector is the increase 立 increasing number of acquisitions is explained by the need for hospitality groups not only to be ‧ 國. 學. competitive with traditional players, like their peers, but also with the new alternative lodging possibilities such as Airbnb and reservation channels such as Booking.com enabled mainly by the. ‧. digital services. By merging and acquiring other companies, traditional hospitality groups gain a stronger bargaining and negotiating power but also a stronger influence towards customers.. y. Nat. sit. The biggest M&A in the hospitality industry happened in March 2016 when Marriott acquired. al. n. in the world in number of rooms.. er. io. Starwood for $12 billion. Marriott and Starwood have thus become by far the first hospitality group. Ch. i n U. v. Mergers & Acquisitions are now the key to develop and enter the Top 10 ranking. For instance, Jin. engchi. Jiang acquired Le Louvre Hotel in 2015, which has made it enter the Top 10 ranking according to the MKG Hospitality ranking.. 2.1.2. Event agencies. Two kinds of event agencies exist: meetings and events (M&E) organizers and venue finders. The first one organizes the whole event upon demand on the final customer and provides some added value to the event through special services. Most of these complementary services participate to the value differentiation of the event agency with a very clear trend for digital.. 10.

(16) The second one, the venue finders, search and book the venue for the event. The final customers organize then the event by themselves or through the services of event organizers. Event agencies mainly targets professionals willing to organize meetings, incentives, conventions or events (MICE).. The MICE activity reached a global revenue of $8.2 bn in 2015 with a stable growth versus 2014. Because of an instable economic situation worldwide, 56.3% of the companies are trying to control the expenses on event organizations. In order to decrease the costs companies have shorten the length and the frequency of the events, they organize it in a closer venue and lead stronger negotiations with. 治政大 M&E survey forecasted that the The trends for 2016 are more optimistic as an American Express 立 budget by participant would increase by 3.3% in 2016 whereas it decreased by 3.8% in 2015. The event organizers.. ‧ 國. 學. MICE activity is expected to reinforce in 2016 with a growth focused on Europe with an increase in number of events and expenses for the first time since 2010.. ‧. Even if technology had a growing importance in the MICE sector, remote and virtual meetings will not replace traditional ones as only 25% of companies use them today especially to reduce the costs.. sit. y. Nat. er. al. n. -GL Events. io. The leading actor in the MICE industry are:. Ch. -American Express Meetings & Events -Helmsbriscoe. engchi. i n U. v. -MCI. 2.1.3. Travel agencies. Travel agencies are intermediaries between hospitality groups (or more rarely big independent hotels) and final customers on the leisure segment. They create packaged tour with hotels, air-tickets, on-site activities and target individuals or group traveling for leisure and seeking for organized holidays. The major players are Expedia Inc. with $50.4 billion in annual travel sales in 2015, Priceline ($50.3 billion), American Express Global Business Travel ($30 billion), Carlson Wagonlit Travel ($24.2 billion) and BCD Travel ($23.8 billion). 11.

(17) The travel agencies market is growing with more than 60% of travel agents who reported an increase in sales in 2015 vs 2014. This growth is mainly carried by the digitalization of the services, with travel agents using social media to interact with customers. Some of those actors have decided to go 100% online, to become “pure players”, and are called online travel agencies OTA.. 2.1.4. The new digital actors: Online travel agencies (OTA). An online travel agency is a pure player distributor that enables hotels and hospitality groups to sell. 政治大. rooms through their platforms in exchange of commission mainly between 15 and 25% of the hotel room price.. 立. The two largest Online Travel Agencies (OTA) are Expedia Group with the famous Booking.com. ‧ 國. 學. platform, Hotels.com and Priceline.. ‧. In 2016, digital travel sales reached $180.6 billion in the United States and is forecasted to reach more than $213 billion in the US by 2020, which would represent a 17% growth in revenue.. y. Nat. sit. According to the HOTREC (an association gathering 43 associations and syndicated in 26 European. al. n. represent more than 48% in 2018.. er. io. countries) Online Travel Agencies represented 43% of the hospitality market in 2016 and will. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. The online comparative platforms play an increasing role in the hospitality industry as they empower the customer with comparative tools that help him finding the best fare. This new ability of comparing the available offer on the market on the price criteria makes the customer more and more sensible to price. The most famous comparative platforms are Kayak.com, Liligo.com, Hotels.com and the leading one is Trivago. Trivago is the leading global hotel search platform and its mission is to “be the traveler’s first and independent source of information for finding the ideal hotel at the lowest rate”. It counts 55 localized websites and apps across 33 countries. The strength of this platform is the various sources from which it combines the hotel content: more than 250 booking sites and its ability to display the findings on the search criteria of users, mostly related to price. This trend is mainly developed in Europe and America as it counts for about 86% of the revenue of Trivago (Market Realist source). 12.

(18) The user can not book directly on the comparative platform and is redirected on the OTA’s website (Priceline, Expecia, Ctrip.com…).. 2.2. Segmentation of the market As explained in introduction this research focuses on hospitality groups offering accommodation services because they are a showing and relevant example of the digitalization of traditional industry, where technology does not affect so much the product itself but rather the whole surrounding services. 政治大 is also clearly noticeable because of the rise of new actors, the digital players, that are uberizing this 立 industry. These digital players are disrupting the whole hospitality industry, both on the leisure and. part of the overall customer experience. The current disruption in customer relationship management. ‧ 國. 學. corporate segments. This research focuses on the digital transformation of the customer relationship management with the leisure market, as it represents the highest market share in the hospitality. ‧. industry.. y. Nat. The segmentation of the hospitality market is called the “mix of clientele” and is very important for. n. al. er. io 2.2.1. The leisure segment. sit. hospitality groups to reach all the potential customers with an adapted offer.. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. The leisure segment gathers individuals or groups traveling on personal and mainly recreational purposes. These customers may be direct customers or indirect customers who interact with the hotels through the intermediary of travel agencies.. Leisure travel accounted for 70% of the total travel expenditure in 2013 (Statista figures), and is highly related to the economic situation of travelers.. 13.

(19) 2.2.2. The corporate segment. Within the corporate segment, one can distinguish individuals traveling for business and group of professionals organizing events like seminars, conferences… A “group” of traveler defines a booking with at least seven rooms.. For corporate individual travelers, the prices and conditions are negotiated between the hospitality groups and the client company according to the annual amount of rooms rented.. 政治大 segment interacts directly with the hospitality groups or hotels or through intermediaries such as event 立 agencies.. The corporate groups refer to the “Meetings & Events” (M&E) or MICE segment. This particular. ‧ 國. 學. Corporate individual travel accounted for the remaining 30% of travel expenditure in 2013 (Statista. ‧. figures). This segment is affected by economic crisis, such as the subprime crisis in 2008, as the budget for corporate events and travelers are quite consequent for companies while they want to focus. y. Nat. sit. their economic efforts on strategic priorities.. er. io. But this allocated budget will remain important for companies, as a study lead by “Market realist”. al. v i n business travel, companies generate $9.5 in profit in average. In person meetings, Cinhrevenue and $2.9 U i e h n g c as the human factor is too important for will never be replaced only by remote or virtual meetings n. (an investment information technology company) in 2016 shows that for one dollar invested in. business relationships.. The corporate segment is important for hotels and hospitality groups because it is an opportunity for customer retention. Indeed, customers who enjoyed their experience on business purposes are more willing to come back in the hotel on leisure purposes with friends or family.. 14.

(20) 2.3. Challenges in customer relationship management 2.3.1. The new consumption habits The “Y Generation” or the “Digital Natives” also called “the Millennials” is the new generation of people born between 1980 and 1999. They become the dominant segment in the hospitality industry in 2017. This new generation is used to being enabled by the technology, to using many devices, sometimes at the same time, and to having a limitless access to instantaneous information. This new using habits have given rise to special behaviors in the hospitality industry. Before going out for dinner, this new generation checks the best restaurant on the internet, compares. 政治大 Before traveling this new range of customers compare the prices on Google, Kayak or any other 立 the recommendations on TripAdvisor and books for the best price on LaFourchette.com.. comparative platform, and finally book through an Online Travel Agency searching for the best fare. ‧ 國. 學. and value for money and with less regards towards customer loyalty. In fact, a survey lead by Google in 2012 reveals that amongst American consumers, a random user visits 17 websites of travel. ‧. companies on 4 different research platforms before booking a hotel room!. y. Nat. sit. To go deeper into details on these new trends for customer behaviors, studies show that smartphones. er. io. have today a paramount and growing role in the online reservation of hospitality services because. al. n. v i n C h use of smartphones expected to reach 50% by 2020. The growing e n g c h i U as a reservation channel shows the need of these customers for mobility. At the same time, customers are very selective and expect a 40% of the people went on the reservation website via a smartphone in 2016, and this figure is. certain level of comfort and ergonomics when consulting a website from their smartphone. Indeed, almost 40% of mobile consumers give up on a booking because of a poor experience. With this access to information from anywhere and at any time, customers have become more discerning regarding the value for price of the service. They are now able to compare prices on online comparative platforms and feedbacks on social networks, OTA and any user-generated platform, which make the customers more price-sensitive.. The new challenges brought by digitalization regarding the consumption habits are related to the limitless access to information, making the customer more discerning towards price and quality.. 15.

(21) Hotel reputation management has thus become a core subject for hospitality groups. Hotel reputation management is the practice of monitoring and influencing the perceptions of customers towards the hotel or the hospitality group through the Internet. The concept has emerged with the development of public relations and has turned to opinion portals, forums, social networks and search engines highly fed by user generated content (UGC). The hospitality industry is certainly the most affected and vulnerable to online reputation. More than ever hospitality groups have to improve their customer’s satisfaction and to highly control the user generated content (UGC) on their own website, but also on comparative platforms and forums. According to TripAdvisor, 93% of the people use online reviews to choose the hotel they want to stay. 治政 peer reviews. So if a bad reputation management is prejudicial大 for hospitality groups, on the contrary 立 a good one is a very positive opportunity to reach and retain new customers during their decisionin and a survey from Ipsos about technology and tourism in 2014 showed that 68% of the people trust. ‧ 國. 學. making process.. ‧. Hospitality groups also face challenges to adapt to the new mobility expected by customers. This mobility is enabled by increasing technologic improvements that are taken as granted by tech-savvy. y. Nat. n. al. er. io. 2.3.2. Tech savvy customers. sit. customers, expecting hospitality groups to offer mobile solutions.. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. Customers want to have a high-tech and digital experience, this is no longer a desired criterion but has become an expected one. The “6 hospitality tech trends for 2014” survey from Eleven Wireless, shows that 87% of guests consider that Wi-Fi should be a free amenity. They should not be cut from their high bandwidth Internet they enjoy at home or at work or even anywhere with the 4G connection. On the other hand, a bad bandwidth would be a disaster especially for hotel hosting corporate events.. Customers are looking for an overall digital experience with new services available from their fingertips through their smartphones or any other device. The seek for mobility, with the possibility for customers to interact with hospitality groups from anywhere and at anytime is no longer limited to the reservation process but extends to the overall guest experience.. 16.

(22) Customers prefer automated services such as online services requests and check-in. The “Top 6 tech trends for 2014” survey from Elevenwireless shows that 85% of guests use online service requests (e.g. for housekeeping) when offered and 91% prefer to check-in online. All these services are no longer optional and have become expected by a growing number of customers. Providing them enable hospitality groups to stay in the race but as well to differentiate from competitors by creating value. The challenge for hospitality groups is now to be able to offer unlimited online services, through an user-friendly website or application, that can be easily and quickly used.. 政治大. 2.3.3. The rise of new digital actors, the Online Travel Agencies (OTA). 立. ‧ 國. 學. The rise of technology and the slow adaptation of traditional hospitality actors have opened the opportunity to new actors to intermediate and uberize this market. The traditional travel agencies,. ‧. with physical corners, have opened new online distribution channels offering the possibility to customers to book their travel online and new 100% online actors have also developed.. y. Nat. sit. Pure players have taken advantage of this opportunity and have become new intermediaries between. al. er. io. hospitality groups and final customers. They offer the chance to hospitality groups to sell their unsold. iv n venue U and. n. rooms at lower price on the Internet. These OTAs are very successful because they offer to customers. Ch. the ability to compare prices and characteristics of the availability of information.. engchi. participate to the limitless. As pure players, they offer a 100% online and digital experience, which is highly valued by their customers looking for a mobile solution. These OTAs represent a source of revenue for hospitality groups as these rooms would probably not have been sold without their help. But at the same time, the OTA retains a commission on the price of the rooms sold in return, which represent a loss on the room revenue. This loss of revenue is growing with the success of OTAs. They have gained power to the detriment of traditional hospitality groups and are able to bargain a rise of their commissions. For example, Booking.com has an average of 10% commission on the room price with AccorHotels (previous work experience at AccorHotels).. 17.

(23) With the rise of these new actors, the challenges for hospitality groups are to gain back some market shares and to limit the loss of revenue through commissions by re-attracting the customers on their own website and application.. 2.3.4. The sharing economy According to the website www.thepeoplewhoshare.com: “The sharing economy, or collaborative economy, is a socio-economic ecosystem built around the sharing to human, physical and intellectual. 治政 commodities such as apartment, private rooms or even couch, 大 but also the sharing of experiences and 立 is worth around $15 billion USD dollars. memories. Today the sharing economy. resources”. In the case of the hospitality industry the sharing-economy refers to the online sharing of. ‧ 國. 學. Airbnb (https://fr.airbnb.com/) is one of the biggest disruptors in the sharing-economy market. In. ‧. 2015, Airbnb counted more than 2,000,000 of rooms in 34,000 cities, which is in figures more than the double than the biggest hospitality group Marriott-Starwood. Airbnb has developed a marketplace. Nat. sit. y. that enables a customer to compare and select a vacation property and connect with another individual. er. io. who provides it. With the success of this new economy, other actors have risen such as HomeAway (https://www.homeaway.tw, houses exchange platform for holidays, since 2005), Wimdu. n. al. Ch. i n U. (http://www.wimdu.fr/) and 9 Flats (https://www.9flats.com/fr).. engchi. v. These actors take advantage of the financial crisis pushing individuals to rent their home and apartments to make some profit, but also the new trend of the willingness of the people to share their experiences, their culture with visitors and strangers. In 2015, 9% of UK and US travelers had already rented space in a private home. However, the US customers are less likely to use these services as the European ones. The awareness of sharing amenities among US consumers is about 32%, while it reaches around 58% in Europe according to the article “Here's Proof Airbnb Is Shaking Up the Global Hospitality Industry” from TheStreet in 2015. The sharing economy has a consequent impact on hospitality groups. Indeed, the survey “the rise of the sharing economy: estimating the impact of Airbnb on the Hotel Industry” released in 2016 by 18.

(24) Boston University shows that each 10 percent increase in supply on Airbnb causes a decrease of 0.37 percent in monthly hotel revenue. Traditionally, hotels have responded to these new competitors by lowering the room prices in area with a high offer from the sharing economy, which lower the revenue of the hotel but also the value of the perceived service. Beyond offering lower prices, the sharing economy actors offer added value services to their customers by using localization services they advise their customers about the best area to stay depending on activities and amenities around. Hospitality groups have to keep a very close eye on these new actors, because people are gaining trust on their services, which was before the first brake for using them.. 治政大 mainly looking for cheaper prices But if these actors offer interesting services for leisure customers 立 or a more autonomous or independent experience, the corporate segment is not significantly affected ‧ 國. 學. yet. Some actors such as Bird Office (https://www.bird-office.com/) are developing the sharing of meeting rooms in busy areas and aim to disrupt the corporate hospitality industry but are not likely. ‧. to do so for now.. y. Nat. sit. The challenge related to the rise of the powerful sharing economy is that the actors are not driving. al. er. io. demand but they are shifting demand from other hotels. They also increase the number of amenities. n. available, and as a result participate to lower the prices for hospitality groups. The hotels have to re-. Ch. i n U. v. attract the customers by offering them new highly valued services that are worth to pay for.. engchi. 19.

(25) 3. Research approach 3.1. Research method. This research tackles the following problematic: how the digital transformation disrupts the customer relationship management with the leisure segment in the hospitality industry? To do so, the study has first identified four new challenges emerging from digitalization: new consumption habits, tech-savvy customers, new digital actors and the emergence of the sharing economy. It will now present the recent solutions that hospitality groups deploy to cope with these. 治政 as opportunities to create value, differentiate and increase sales. 大立. challenges and will tend to consider these challenges not as threats for hospitality groups but rather. ‧ 國. 學. 3.2. Data collection. ‧. This research relies on multiple cases studies collected from the internet as second-hand data. These. y. Nat. cases studies are built with solutions and program deployed by hospitality groups worldwide to cope. io. sit. with the identified challenges. The selection of those examples is based on the level of innovation. n. al. er. and effectiveness compared to the competition on a specific problematic.. 3.3. Data analysis. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. The study traces the customer journey that is the entire guest cycle from the imagination of the trip until when the guest leaves the hotel. This customer journey is made of the interactions between the hotel or the hospitality group with the leisure customer and as a consequence highlights the challenges brought by the digital transformation on the customer relationship management level. The research uses this chronological scheme to remind the challenges regarding customer relationship management and to show and explain the solutions deployed by hospitality groups. The analysis of second-hand cases studies brings concrete examples of these solutions and enables to appreciate this challenges as opportunities for hospitality groups to create value, differentiate and increase sales.. 20.

(26) The table below summarizes the 10 cases studies that will be presented in the findings.. Hospitality group Challenge. Solution. Starwood Hotels Discerning. Online. &. management software – special customers’ needs. Resorts customers. Worldwide. empowered. by Revinate. comparative. tools provider). Opportunity reputation Shape the offer to the. (software Adapt. Mobility. Engage the customer. 政治大 User-friendly website available. &. Guest. Resorts Seamless booking. Interaction. Worldwide AccorHotels. a Strengthen the loyalty. y. sit. of Let’s Chat: iPhone & Increase guest satisfaction Whatsapp. er. al. n. Resorts. & services. (SPG):. personalized. Automation. io. Hotels. Preferred Increase sales. competitive app highly Differentiation. Nat. Starwood. Measure of ROI. ‧. Starwood. Customer satisfaction. any Sales increase. device. Starwood Hotels Mobility. Worldwide. from. Measure of ROI. 學. ‧ 國. 立 Seamless booking. brand/hotel. positionning. and peers’ reviews. AccorHotels. the. C hsolution engchi. Rise of digital actors Marketplace. v. messaging Differentiation. i n U. –. Collect data. Re- More independant. attract the customer on Limit losses the company channel. Strengthen. the. awareness Hilton. Digital & Mobile The digital room key Guest satisfaction. Worldwide. experience. available. from. Hilton Honors app. 21. the Loyalty Differentiation. brand.

(27) Marriott. Tech-savvy. High. customers. (The. tech. amenities Guest surprise GoBoard) Differentiation. Redesign of common Positionning parts Hilton. Tech-savvy. The. robot. Worldwide. customers. Connie. concierge Guest surprise Differentiation. The automation of. Positionning. services Starwood Hotels Social Interaction &. Facebook Dynamic Ads Increase brand awareness Product 治政大. Resorts. Worldwide. 立. & Hyatt Gold Passport. Increase sales. 學. Corporation. Hotel Discerning. ‧ 國. Hyatt. Loyalty. volatile customers. Personnalization of loyalty. Rise of digital actors. programs. ‧. Insights. for. service. improvement. y. Nat. al. er. io. sit. Strengthen & reward loyalty. v. n. Figure 6: Summarizing table of the 10 cases studies presented in the findings. Ch. engchi. 22. i n U.

(28) 4. The findings. The digital transformation is the perfect opportunity for hospitality groups to have their customer relationship evolve all along the customer journey, also called the guest cycle experience, and to create value and differentiate in order to retain customers and to attract new ones. The customer journey is composed with 6 steps: Inspiration and information, planning and evaluation of options, purchase, preparation for the trip, stay and engagement. The customers go through these six stages before they arrive in the hotel, while they stay in the hotel. 政治大. and after they leave. They are made of the interactions between customers and hospitality groups whether they are physical or digital.. 立. Before the guest arrives in the hotel, he goes through 4 stages:. Nat. y. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. 4.1. Before consumption. sit. -Inspiration and information: When the guest focuses on a special need (location, price, ease of. er. io. access…) and explore which hotel may be the best choice. The guest can contact the hotel through. al. telephone, email but most of the time he will use the Internet and its website.. n. v i n C hselecting a list ofUhotels, the guest compares them using -Planning and evaluation of options: After engchi hotels platform with guest reviews, forums…. -Purchase the hotel: the customer books the room. -Preparation for the trip: it starts when the customer receives the confirmation email, texts or a welcome note. These stages are the most crucial for hospitality groups as they have to attract customers facing a fierce competition, and to engage them to have them book into their properties. The ease of access to information, in high quantity and from any device and from everywhere, is the most important challenge brought by the digitalization in the hospitality industry that has clearly affected the inspiration and information, planning and evaluation of options stages.. 23.

(29) Hospitality groups have to focus on their online social reputation and to control it to affirm and reinforce their added value, set themselves as the best option for the researched service or product. They clearly need to at least avoid bad comments and feedbacks that would definitely prevent customers from booking their service..  Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide – E-reputation management Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide has clearly taken a step into controlling its online reputation and has selected the company Revinate (https://www.revinate.com/, a hotel operations, marketing. 政治大 Revinate aims to provide hoteliers with data about the guest experience, insights from the competition 立 and road maps to improve and engage the guests.. and revenue software company) as Online Reputation Management Software provider in 2015.. ‧ 國. 學. Accessing relevant data about the online activity and the performance of other actors on the market,. ‧. gives a global outlook of online reputation and enables the company to control user generated content by interacting with customers, to better understand customers by reviewing comments and to engage. er. io. sit. y. Nat. customers.. al. v i n value proposition to their clients in C order to improve guest satisfaction and loyalty and as a hengchi U consequence to increase revenue. On an internal point of view, such tools measure the Return On n. The added-value of this service is the possibility given to hospitality groups to shape their offer and. Investment (R.O.I.) for marketing teams and general managers that is important to evaluate the marketing efforts and to correct them.. 24.

(30) 立. 政治大. ‧. ‧ 國. 學 sit. y. Nat. n. al. Source: Revinate website (https://www.revinate.com/). Ch. engchi. er. io. Figure 7: Revenue Insights – Performance Overview Dashboard. i n U. v. Digitalization has increased the need in mobility and comfort all along the customer journey, but especially into the selecting phases. If hospitality groups fail in offering a mobile experience, the customer would just not consider the offer as it would represent too much effort. Hospitality groups have to offer websites that are responsive and easy to navigate from any device and to give an easy access to key information that customers are looking for.. Mobile experiences represent an opportunity for hospitality groups to catch the customer at the mobile-moment, that is according to Hotelogix (a PMS software provider company) “when people reflexively turn to a device, often to a smartphone - to learn or do something”. Mobile surfing is the favorite option out of business hours so this is a very important channel to consider as 70% of leisure 25.

(31) travelers book trips and hotel rooms during their free time, for example while commuting or waiting for something. By analyzing the traffic through mobile surfing, hospitality groups can choose the right time to push marketing promotions that could engage the customer. These new data about consumer habits can be used to boost the marketing R.O.I. by targeting the customer with the right message, at the right moment and on the right place..  AccorHotels – User-friendly website. 政治大 from any device by upgrading AccorHotels booking website. The new version is accessible in more 立 than 90 countries and enables customers to book directly in more than 3,500 hotels. In 2013, AccorHotels understood the crucial stake of delivering a user-friendly website accessible. ‧ 國. 學. It offers a friendly design, advanced search functions, pictures and video of hotels and a secured payment gateway, which is very important to offer the possibility to customer to directly make a. ‧. reservation and to access easily and transparently all the information they need to prepare their travel. The website has been optimized in order to facilitate booking and to make the reservation more. y. Nat. sit. spontaneous by reducing the sales process steps and as a consequence to increase the sales.. er. io. Customers who need to book a room quickly and effectively can use geo-location function for last. al. v i n offered several choices next to them that previous expectations. They can be reached as C match U h e ntheir i h c g well by spontaneous promotions around them. n. minute bookings. They just need to activate the geo-location service on their device and will be. The use of data to target and personalize communication towards potential customers is a big opportunity for hospitality groups to drive bookings and hotels start to consider it.. 26.

(32) 政治大. 學. ‧ 國. 立. Figure 8: Accorhotels.com website on iOS. ‧. Source: Screenshots from Hélène Delay. Once the customer has gathered all the information he needs and has chosen the hotel that matches. y. Nat. sit. the best his decisive criteria he proceeds to the purchase of the hotel room.. er. io. Despite a wide adoption of the internet, Phocuswright states in his report “independent hotels: marketing, distribution and technology for non-branded properties” in 2015 that online travel. n. al. Ch. i n U. v. channels still represent only 45% of all travel booking in 2015, which is surprisingly lower than. engchi. expected. We should nuance our statements then, as there is still an important role to play for travel agencies, phoning and human contact… On the other hand, 52% of online bookings stem from OTA worldwide (62% in Europe!) and not from the brand’s channel.. 27.

(33) 立. 政治大. ‧ 國. 學. Figure 9: Online bookings figures in 2015. ‧. Source: Phocuswright.com. y. Nat. sit. If a customer is already loyal or has a positive attitude towards a hospitality group, he is then more. er. io. likely to have the app on his phone/tablet and then to spend those last three stages (Inspiration and. al. v i n app. While using the app, the customerC is totally locked into the brand channel and has lower chance hengchi U to compare and get alternatives from competitors. This is as well the right opportunity to attract and n. information, Planning and evaluation of options, Purchase the hotel) directly on the hotel provider. help the customer in his decision-making process through incentives and loyalty programs. The experience the customer enjoys while going through the app is crucial because it gives a pre-taste of the on-site experience. It must be fast, well-designed, beautiful and efficient. To highlight the paramount role given to apps in the hospitality industry, Marriott’s CIO, Bruce Hoffmeister, has even called this rise of mobile apps as “one of the biggest shifts of the past decade”..  Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide – Mobile App : Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG) Starwood launched the Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG) app available on iOS and Android in 2011 and has upgraded it in 2016. The app is now more personalized than ever.. 28.

(34) It gathers every single information potentially useful to customers in order to make the reservation as easy as possible, with especially a lot of pictures of properties so that the client can easily imagine it. There are clear information about transportation and other convenient aspects available and about culture and events as well. Everything is at the fingertips of the customer for more comfort and easiness, the customer does not have to search for the information by himself, have less time to doubt and will not be tempted to visit competitors’ websites to find those information. Starwood has added a social dimension, customers can share their travels or likes on Facebook and other social media… The company relies on its customers to benefit from viral marketing. The app has reached a higher level of personalization, which makes it unique and makes it an added. 政治大. value of Starwood’s services and an axis for differentiation.. 立. The guest has booked his room and now starts preparing his trip. This is the perfect opportunity for. ‧ 國. 學. hospitality groups to create a strong relationship and interact with the customers! The most common practice is to send a confirmation email to customers and some reminder. ‧. afterwards, offering special services before they arrive (ex: airport pick-up) or other useful information about the hotel, available services, location… The goal is to make the customer feel. y. Nat. sit. valued by taking care of him through these interactions and as a consequence strengthen the customer. n. al. er. io. relationship all along the life cycle and to give him the opportunity to buy new services.. Ch. i n U. v. For example, Hilton offers the possibility to its guests to choose the room they want and the view. engchi. they prefer thanks to Google Maps. This is the only hospitality group offering this chance to customers, and the customer may feel valued as he now has the choice to choose the room he prefers. Hilton use this opportunity to encourage upgrading by showing beautiful pictures of luxurious rooms..  Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide: Automation of services & Interaction The interaction with customers is easier today as the relationship is 24/7, from any device through automatic messaging or chatbots. Starwood has launched “Let’s chat”, this is a new service available in 150+ select Starwood’s hotels & resorts in the world, that enables guests to communicate via WhatsApp or iPhone messaging with the front desk, before or during their stay. With this service, customers can make a reservation for. 29.

(35) dinner, ask for assistance during their stay (ex: set an alarm, assistance in the room…). This has personalized the experience of customers, by understanding their real needs and to adapt. This service is the opportunity to create loyalty and to differentiate. The preferences are kept and related to future potential reservations to directly offer the customers the services he prefers.. 立. 政治大. Source: Starwoodpromos.com. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. Figure 10: Customer feedback about Let’s Chat. In order to avoid the loss of revenue induced by intermediaries through commissions, hospitality. sit. y. Nat. groups have to find ways to re-attract customers on their own channel.. n. al. er. io.  AccorHotels – Marketplace AccorHotels. has. launched. C hits own engchi. iv n Umarket. place. in. 2015. (http://www.accorhotels.com/fr/brands/marketplace/join-us.shtml) to counter Booking.com that does not only offer Accorhotels properties but independent hotels as well. This market place is not intended to offer an infinite choice of hotels, like Booking.com does for example, but rather a selection of 10 000 hotels by 2018. These hotels are assessed thanks to their grade on TripAdvisor, their location in key destinations and by a visit from a dedicated staff. The lodging offer is widely dominated by independent hotels, 73% of rooms in EMEA, that do not have the means to ensure enough weight online and need the services from OTA, and especially Booking.com, which has divided the rentability of these independents by 2 in 10 years. This market place is thus a new distributive way for independent hotels requiring lower commissions, and a wider choice for customers who can still compare those hotels online.. 30.

(36) The strategy for AccorHotels is to re-attract the customer on its own platform by providing him with a wider choice and the ability to compare prices and quality of services. As a result, AccorHotels intends to double the audience on its own portal, which already reaches 170 million unique visitors per month in the world.. AccorHotels does not stop there and wants as well to compete with the new actors of the sharing economy. It has acquired Onefinestay (https://www.onefinestay.com) in April 2016 for 148 million euros. Onefinestay is the upscale version of Airbnb and focuses on the rent of luxury properties coupled with services. AccorHotels will invest 65 million euros to foster an ambitious worldwide. 治政 This strategy enables AccorHotels to compete on each segment大 of hospitality: traditional hotels from 立 low cost to luxury offers, online travel agencies with its platform and the sharing economy. development, which will enable it to multiply its revenues by 10.. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. 4.2. During consumption. sit. y. Nat. io. high-tech experience.. n. al. er. When he arrives at the hotel, the customer starts his stay on-site. He is looking for mobility and a. Ch. i n U. v. Customers now can use online check-in through the website (available from the redirection link on. engchi. the confirmation e-mail) or through the app. A prior check-in liberates the hotel staff and helps them gaining in productivity so they can please customers with extra-service that are more valued. If the customers have not checked in before arriving in the hotel, the registration is now more flexible and is synonymous of pleasure. The hotel staff uses tablets and mobile devices, which enable them to be more mobile and to help the customer to check-in at the bar, or in the lobby… During the whole stay in the hotel, the customer can communicate with the staff through the app or instant messaging for any request. Starwood offer this service through its very complete app and Let’s Chat (please refer to 4.1. Before consumption). To accompany this new mobile and digital experience, hospitality groups have found ways to match the growing customers’ thirst for technology. Technology is supposed to impress customers, to leave. 31.

(37) them with a positive experience, and at least it should offer a level of service as good as what the customer accesses while home..  Hilton Worldwide: the digital room key Hilton Worldwide offers a very complete app to its customers called “The Hilton Honors app”. Thanks to this app, guests can check-in and out, select their room, make extra requests... from their smartphones or tablet. Even more, a new innovative function is available: the security technology allows smartphone to function as room keys! This function is today available in 700 Hilton hotels worldwide and will be developed to the entire Hilton network in the next future, and it counts already more than 10 million of users.. 立. 政治大. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. Figure 11: Hilton Digital Key Source: Hilton.com Most of leading hospitality groups have developed this kind of very complete app where customer can order products or services directly from the app, and do not need to call or go to the reception anymore. If they need extra-pillow, room service, food… they have the possibility to order through the app and be delivered right away in their room. 32.

(38) The interaction with the hotel is extended outside its walls with many partnerships like Uber. The guest can order a cab from the hotel app, that gathers information about the customer in order to offer personalized recommendations. Depending on where the customer is and when, he will receive notifications during the day about events and activities nearby. If the customer wants more autonomy, he can use the function “Fun Finder” to localize activities and facilities around thanks to localization. This kind of services are the perfect opportunity for hospitality groups to gather data from customers and to create a strong relationship by offering convenient and pleasant services. Once the guest has entered the room, he now has access to state-of-the-art technologies. The design of the rooms is modern, they have smart appliances and home automation that for example enable the. 政治大 television, smartphones stations to立 listen to music… And a high bandwidth is now available for free. guest to control temperature and lighting. Guests can enjoy new devices such as state-of-the-art. in most of the hotel as it has become a crucial expected criterion for a wide range of customers.. ‧ 國. 學. This modernization of the guest room is a real challenge for hospitality groups since it was a priority for 56% of hotels in 2016 (2016 Lodging technology survey, HT Magazine). The hotels have to match. ‧. at least the level of services guests enjoy at home and should use it to differentiate by improving the. y. Nat. customer experience.. sit. Mama Shelter, an AccorHotels brand, offers iMac (Apple computers) in the guest rooms. Guests can. er. io. enjoy free videos, TV, radio, a free access to Skype and others applications through the iMac. They. al. n. v i n C hservices, activitiesUavailable in the hotel but as well other screens are used to promote the concierge engchi events and useful information.. can extend the content from their iPhone on the big screen thanks to the technology Airplay. The.  Marriott: The high-tech experience & redesign of common parts The entire hotel has been remodeled by technology and especially the lobby and common parts. The lobby is now the social and professional hub of the hotel and is key for nomadic business travelers. The Courtyard San Angelo, a hotel by Marriott, has chosen to target business travelers by focusing on the design and development of its lobby.. 33.

(39) In the lobby is the “GoBoard’, a big high tech touchscreen, that is an informational television providing weather, news and maps. Customers can access local information about flights, restaurants around, traffic… they can download the content directly on their smartphones thanks to bar codes. Some computers and printers are available as well, which is very appreciated for printing boarding passes and often used by families. The lobby offers many options for seating: communal tables with chairs, semi-private pods, armchairs, sofas… As much as there are ways of working and sharing! The guest can either chose to be “alone together’ by seating alone on communal tables where the contact with other guests would be easier, or to seat in a back personal table, where he would not be disturbed.. 治政大 Some bistro and bar services are the customer stays in the hotel, the more money he will spend. 立 available in the lobby.. Bringing a real workplace to customers is a high opportunity for hotels to make business. The more. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. Figure 12: The GoBoard in the Courtyard San Angelo lobby Source: www.marriott.com/. 34. i n U. v.

(40) Some hospitality groups go further by using advanced technology as early adopters. This is a bet for hotels looking for differentiation in this very crowded industry by bringing to customers a unique and innovative experience and delight them in a way they do not expect. Marriott has deployed in two properties virtual reality headsets program to give the opportunity at their guests to take virtual trips to exotic locations. This kind of services are highly appreciated by customers as entertainment means but it also shows the ability of the hotel to innovate and set itself as the most advanced in terms of technology. Beyond taking advantage of the positive image that technology gives, the hospitality group use this kind of services to promote other properties by offering the opportunity to customers to really be submerged in the new environment and make them. 治政大according to a HT’s study (HT is a Robotics is also more and more considered in hospitality. In fact, 立 review specialized in tech trends in the hospitality sector) 22% of hotels interviewed recognize a strong potential of the use of robotics in hospitality.. Nat. y. ‧.  Hilton Worldwide: The robot concierge “Connie”. 學. ‧ 國. feel like visiting these places for a next trip.. sit. Hilton Worldwide has worked with IBM to pilot a robot concierge called Connie, named after. er. io. Hilton’s founder Conrad Hilton. For now, Connie is deployed at the Hilton McLean in Virginia. This. al. v i n information while interacting with guests, improve by learning all along the C h and then adapt and U i e h n g csystem appreciate the world just as humans do information it receives. Artificial intelligence makes n. robot works with cognitive technologies named Watson from IBM, that enables it to process. through senses, learning and experience. Connie works in team with Hilton’s staff to assist them to give the best experience to customers. For example, Connie informs guests about local tourist attractions, dining recommendations and hotel features and amenities to empower them having the best time during their travel.. 35.

(41) 立. 政治大. ‧ 國. 學 ‧. Figure 13: Connie at Hilton McLean, Virginia Source : http://newsroom.hilton.com/. sit. y. Nat. io. n. al. er. 4.3. After consumption. Ch. i n U. v. Digitalization has given new tools to hotels and hospitality groups to keep in touch with their. engchi. customers and to engage them by creating loyalty after they stay. Loyalty is critical in this industry because of the multitude of actors offering similar choices. Another very important thing to consider, it also enables to shorten the three critical stages in decision-making: inspiration and information, planning and evaluation, purchasing by having the customer directly booking on the hospitality group’s channel. To create and increase loyalty and engage always more with customers, hospitality groups use social media for interaction. Through social media hospitality groups can reach their customers at anytime and from anywhere, in an omnipresent and informal way. The link developed with customers is then stronger. Hospitality groups are increasingly using this channel for digital marketing.. 36.

(42) Indeed, G. Stress, Starwood Director of Digital-Americas Starwood Hotels & Resorts, says: “It’s really important to think of social as an ecosystem where you can adapt the messaging to tell a story over time…. much more effective than focusing on an immediate action”..  Starwood: Facebook Dynamic Ads Product Starwood is an early adopter of Facebook Dynamic Ads Product and highly utilize Facebook as an advertising platform. It enables the company to release marketing videos/posts and to follow-up with customers who have engaged or reacted to the content. The awareness of customers is instantly. 政治大. conversed to a direct response, which engaged the customers at a higher level.. 立. The digitalization has also given a new weight to loyalty program, that are very important for frequent. ‧ 國. 學. travelers mostly business travelers. The new dimension of loyalty programs is leverage by the mobile application provided by hospitality groups.. ‧. Through the app the guest receives greetings for the stay, he can access billing and invoicing services which make the customer feels valued by these attentions. The traditional greetings e-mail or sms is. y. Nat. sit. now personalized and comes directly on the app to interact with the customer in a less formal way.. al. er. io. The app collects feedbacks and ratings of the hotel, which gives very important insights to the hotel. n. about the guest’s experience, expectations and satisfaction that lets room for a lot of improvement and advice.. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. The app can catch all the data from the customer journey (living standards, tastes, travel modes…), which is critical to feed loyalty programs and to personalize the offer to customers’ expectations. These data are highly valued by hospitality groups to differentiate from competitors by tailoring the offer to customers’ needs and offering a very personalized experience, and not only offering discounts, to leverage the unique positioning of the brand.. Hospitality groups take advantage of loyalty programs to encourage customers to book directly through the app or website, using the guest account, to get extra points. Doing so, the customer is once again locked into the hospitality group’s channel, where he can not be attracted by competitors and can not compare prices and quality on digital actors’ platforms. The hospitality group also retains the whole revenue of the sales, without any commission given to intermediaries such as OTAs. 37.

(43)  Hyatt Hotel Corporation: Hyatt Gold Passport, loyalty Program Hyatt Hotel Corporation has redeveloped its loyalty program and has released the Hyatt Gold Passport in the beginning of March 2017. The program has been developed by focusing on the idea that to better serve the guest, it is essential to know him better. Having a better understanding of the customers and their needs is the spearhead of this new loyalty program. Hyatt boasts personalized rewards that enables the guest to get closer from the places and people he likes. In practice, the guest gets 5 points for each US dollar consumed in the services of his choice and that. 政治大 For example, he can be rewarded by ordering at the bar, restaurant or enjoying the spa. 立 The guest can then choose to use his points either in a hotel with free nights, upgrades, spa services, please him. The customer is not locked in a kind of standard services that does not match his needs.. ‧ 國. 學. meals (to choose between 800 properties and 12 brands) or through various partnerships (miles for air companies, access to VIP lounges, or car rental reductions…). The guest can also choose to offer. ‧. or share points if he does not need any service.. Personalizing the loyalty program offers a very wide choice to customers that feel really rewarded. y. Nat. sit. and not locked in a model of consumptions they do not need. The customer satisfaction is highly. er. io. increased and the customer is spurred to consume more in Hyatt properties to gain more points.. al. v i n levels of membership: member, “discoverist”, C h “explorist” andU“globalist”. The guests access to the e n gofcnights h i or number of points accumulated. upper level when he reaches a threshold of number n. In order to shape always more the level of reward to its customers, Hyatt proposes four different. This personalization enables Hyatt to reduce its costs by offering expensive rewards only to frequent customers. To do so, Hyatt relies on the data retained on the customer account. The historic of his previous travels, stays and of the services he consumed orientates the shape of the offer. The redefinition of this loyalty program relies on feedbacks of customers, consumer behavior and habits of customers that are all analyzed from a data base matched with the CRM database.. Hospitality groups are increasingly investing in their IT infrastructure and services, and CRM (customer relationship management) software are highly critical because they gather all the data about customers. The solution must be global and harmonized in order to on the one hand gather data all around the world, and on the other hand centralize them to exploit them on a global perspective. 38.

(44) Using data enables hospitality groups to launch effective marketing automated actions, that can be quite simple such as based on personal information (e.g. personalized e-mail for a birthday) or more complex such as contacting potential customers after they clicked on certain marketing banners on the website of the company. Connecting this personalized marketing actions with social media is now the key for a seamless communication with customers!. 立. 政治大. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. 39. i n U. v.