2020 Hotel Trends to Watch - HubSpot
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2020 Hotel Trends to Watch
Introduction
Contents
Introduction
What to Look for in 2020 - The Trends
Conclusion
Trends provide us with the insight we need to see what is hot and what
is not even setting a spark alive for travellers and the hotel industry.
For independent hotels, which are not supported by huge corporate
entities, they are essential for tracking how a business needs to adapt
to keep up with the rest of the industry and future-proof the business.
Trends, forecasts and data are ways of predicting how short-term
developments will evolve into medium and long-term progress. While
there are distinct global trends, it is the way segments in the market
react and address these that impacts the revenue opportunities and
guest experience. Ultimately pushing through trends is not enough,
it’s the guests that accept something new and following consumer
expectations is just as important.
Which is why savvy businesses, whether independent luxury hotels,
serviced apartments or giant international chains, always keep a
keen eye on the latest trends and how to implement them in their
properties.Digital Guest Experience
What to look for in 2020 –
trends and predictions In 2020 we can expect more power and control put into guests’ hands
via mobile apps. With most big-brand chains now providing an app
that offers control over all aspects of the guest journey from pre to
post stay, 2020 will see increasing uptake of the same technology for
smaller independent luxury and boutique properties.
Brands are increasingly recognising that mobile is not just another
channel but the channel – a fundamental part of our lifestyles that is
at the centre of everything we do. With 76% of travellers saying their
smartphone is their most important travelling companion1, and 70%
having done travel research on their smart devices2, the requirement
to tap into this all-important platform has never been greater.
“76% of travellers say their smartphone
is their most important travelling
companion.”
The days will soon be gone when guests are inconvenienced by
having to interact with different human and technological touchpoints
throughout their journey – tablets for check-in, TVs for hotel
information, folders with printed hotel guides, cards for room service
and landlines for booking extra services. Now the whole journey
from booking to check-in, ordering services, information, queries and
upselling as well as post-stay feedback, loyalty and marketing can all
be controlled on a single platform, their own mobile device.
Not only does this provides greater customer choice and satisfaction
but also gives businesses the opportunity to provide targeted
notifications, upsells and offers, ultimately increasing revenue.
Expect to see this trend spread throughout the industry to
independent hotels, hostels and serviced apartments, even camping
and glamping facilities.
1
https://www.criton.com/news-hub/30-mobile-marketing-stats-for-hotels-in-2019/
2
IbidSystem Connectivity
Greater connectivity will be a trend that accelerates and deepens.
In the past the hotel industry has been slow to connect its various
systems such as PMS, CRS, CRM, PoS and the host of other applications
that keep hospitality businesses running. This is due to legacy systems
that were not built to connect or share data with other programmes,
and required costly integration solutions.
Today this is beginning to change. With the strategic insight and
revenue potential of big data, technology providers are increasingly
looking to work together. Application Programme Interfaces (APIs) are
the connective tissue that enables different systems to integrate and
these will continue to grow in importance. Open APIs, rather than just
tailoring a connection to another specific programme, give systems
the potential to integrate with a wide range of software. This sharing
of data will allow for greater personalisation and more targeted
marketing, leading to more conversions on offers, discounts and
upsells, providing enhanced revenue.
“The sharing of data will allow for greater
personalisation and more targeted
marketing.”
Even with open APIs, businesses need to create the connections
between systems, either through their in-house IT teams or by
outsourcing to technology providers. However another promising
form of integration will continue to grow in popularity – networked
ecosystems of connected software that businesses can buy into.
Mews has a hospitality app store that allows businesses to select and
essentially plug and play applications for instant integration. And
SiteMinder has recently opened its Hotel App Store as a similar service.
Expect such integration solutions to proliferate and prosper in 2020
and on into the future.Facial Recognition and Voice-enabled Technology
Voice technology is already making waves in the hotel space and will
see increased implementation in 2020 and beyond.
By replacing all those separate old-school devices cluttering up
bedsides, like alarm clocks, Bluetooth speakers, landline phones and
huge printed hotel directories, in-room voice assistants like Alexa
consolidate large numbers of services and data into one device.
“79% of hoteliers report voice-enabled
technology investment plans this year.”
They also collect and store customer-request data for valuable
business insights and increase the potential for upselling by offering
targeted offers in response to customer requests. They free up staff
from repetitive tasks and queries to engage in the warmer side of
guest interactions and offer a simple and intuitive go-to platform for
all queries, requests, FAQs and information. With 79% of hoteliers
reporting voice-enabled technology investment plans this year3, it’s not
hard to see how this trend will continue to gain momentum.
Likewise, other hands-free technologies will also play an increasing
role. Facial recognition has seen initial uptake, especially in China
where Marriott guests can check in via facial recognition software
similar to that used in airports. And the FlyZoo Hotel in Hangzhou now
has facial recognition entry to lifts and rooms. In a similar hands-free
vein, Starwood hotels are trialling beacon technology, which would
unlock room doors when a guest with their smartphone is nearby.
Expect more of these technologies as they continue to be refined. And
although robots haven’t proven an unmitigated success in hospitality
environments, we can expect to see them trialled and trialled again as
developers seek to hone the technology.
3
https://www.hotel-online.com/press_releases/release/is-your-hotel-budgeting-for-voice-technology/Sustainability and Healthy Food
“Wellness travellers spend
Sustainability is a travel trend that doesn’t look to be going away
any time soon. With 79% of travellers saying that hotels with eco-
between 50 and 180
friendly values are valuable to them4, and 66% happy to pay more to percent more than their
environmentally committed companies5, the value of sustainability
isn’t just to the planet but the bottom line too. average counterparts.”
Digitalisation and technology are key drivers here, cutting down on
paper usage by digitalising information wherever possible through
mobile apps or in-room technology like tablets and voice assistants.
Even digital room keys help stop the use of harmful plastics that make
up key cards.
Energy and water conservation measures will continue to grow,
especially in areas with resource shortages. Guests will increasingly be
expected to contribute through simple things like reusing towels and
forgoing bottled water, and will appreciate properties that request this.
Recycling will be another growing concern with big chains like Marriott
replacing single-use plastic toiletry bottles with re-fillable versions, and
hotels increasingly looking to place recycling bins in guests’ rooms.
Food waste too will be increasingly recycled in an attempt to reduce
the 35% that hotels waste6. Composting will increasingly look like an
attractive proposition, enabling kitchens not only to save on waste
removal costs but to enrich the soil of their own herb and vegetable
gardens to produce hyper-local, low-cost, seasonal and healthy food
for the menu.
Healthy food will, in itself, be a huge trend in 2020. With wellness
tourism growing at twice the rate of global tourism7, and wellness
travellers spending between 50 and 180 percent more than their
average counterparts8, hotels that can capitalise by providing, healthy,
fresh, local and seasonal produce in delicious and creative menus will
find themselves well ahead of the game.
4
https://www.criton.com/news-hub/ebook-7-eco-friendly-and-sustainable-initiatives-for-conscious-hotels/
5
Ibid
6
https://www.criton.com/news-hub/ebook-7-eco-friendly-and-sustainable-initiatives-for-conscious-hotels/
7
https://skift.com/wp-content/themes/skift/img/megatrends-2019/Skift-Megatrends-2019.pdf
8
IbidThe Impact of Google Travel and Importance of Direct
Bookings
Google has not only launched its own dedicated travel website
including flights, hotels, packages, and trip-planning tools, it has
integrated this with Google search and Google Maps to give its own
services priority search rankings, siphoning off quality traffic.
This trend is already having a huge impact on big name competitors
like Expedia and TripAdvisor and is set only to continue in the coming
year. Both companies have recently reported losses in traffic from
Google, with TripAdvisor claiming it is largely responsible for drops of
7% in revenue and 28% net income in its third quarter earnings9. This
is because Google is prioritising its own flight and hotel ads, pushing
the free ads of top competitors like Booking.com, Trivago and Hotels.
com further down the page, while forcing them to spend more money
on paid advertising.
With such control over the marketplace, expect Google’s influence to
grow even stronger next year and beyond, perhaps even pushing one
or more of its travel competitors to crisis point.
“Google is prioritising its own flight and
hotel ads, pushing the free ads of top
competitors like Booking.com, Trivago
and Hotels.com further down the page.”
These competitors will be forced to respond by focussing more on
direct bookings and brand advertising. For small independent hotels
the motto, ‘if you can’t beat them join them’ might need to be adopted.
Making sure properties are featured on Google Hotel Ads might be just
as, if not more important, than appearing on the big OTAs like Expedia
and Booking.com.
9
https://skift.com/2019/11/07/googles-travel-gains-levy-pain-at-tripadvisor-and-expedia/Conclusion Whatever happens to individual trends in 2020 and beyond, one thing is certain – the adoption of technology and digitalisation will be one trend that continues to go from strength to strength. Giving guests choice and control over every aspect of their stay, personalising servic- es and marketing, saving on costs and resources, increasing revenue and driving continued success, there is little doubt that technology will continue to be the trend that everyone can bank on. For smaller businesses and independent properties, keeping up with the big chains can be one of the most unrealistic expectations of the industry. But technology is helping to create a level playing field where the smallest boutique hotel can offer the same level of digital custo- misation, personalisation and service as the world’s most powerful chains, while maintaining a strong individual brand of its own. Brand identity is key to independent hotels’ success, and technology helps maintain it by providing a greater level of tailored and person- alised services, by more relevant one-to-one delivery, and by stream- lining systems and processes to drive efficiencies and provide useful, relevant data. Customer-centric, mobile-first tech will be the new luxury in 2020 and, unlike many more traditional forms of luxury, it won’t come with a pro- hibitive price tag.
Our technology will enable you to compete with global hotel chains.
We’re here to help you adopt a mobile-first strategy by integrating
all your guest-facing technology into your own branded hotel app.
Talk to us today for more information on how to increase your direct
(repeat) bookings, maximise your TRevPar and deliver a truly great
guest experience.
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