More and more hotels are coming to terms with the fact that increasing the value of their brand is directly proportional to achieving in-depth customer service with properly harnessed customer insight. This has necessitated the rise of hotels where customers are not only lured with interiors, but also with very real, AI robot concierge services.

Just a few days back, Amazon announced a new program designed to help hotels deploy Alexa’s voice-enabled smarts across their properties. The Alexa for Hospitality program will “help increase guest access to amenities” and “improve employee productivity,” according to a press release.This is more than simply putting an Echo on your bedside table to replicate the tasks performed by the Echo in your living room at home. The idea here is that guests will be able to ask Alexa for specific information, such as pool hours, as well as ordering room service or asking the concierge for dinner recommendations using just their voice.

Through Alexa for Hospitality, hotels can configure Alexa so that guests are able to control their various connected in-room gadgets, such as thermostats, TVs, and lights, as they would at home. According to Amazon, guests will soon be able to connect their own Amazon account to the Alexa-powered device in their room so they can access their music and audiobooks. This integration will be temporary, with the connection automatically cut once a guest checks out.

The first results of Amazon’s new hospitality program will kick off this summer at a number of Marriott International hotels, according to Amazon, though the company is opening invitations to all hospitality companies.

After decades of spending on technology to enhance staff abilities, hotels are finally looking up to the commercialization of advanced tech such as AI, so that hotel guests can enjoy value for money in terms of efficiency and luxury. This is not a replacement for humans, but is much wider and pervasive. Technology like Alexa can create more trust, and in the process also transform hotel processes, services and facilities.

Today, the hotel industry thrives on and rapidly adopts technological advancements that provide utmost customer satisfaction. Having an intelligent Alexa hotel is ‘the’ strategy that modern hotels need to surpass customer expectations. How? There are certain essential elements of Alexa that will make hotels intelligent, including digital assistance, voice-activated services and travel experience enhancers. From the customer’s personal choices to their tiniest of needs, this will help hotels offer carefully-planned assistance.

Travellers today love absolute control and flexibility in their travel experiences. A dedicated technology like Alexa that empowers customers’ stay, giving them the luxury to unlock their room, adjust room temperature, operate curtains, or even order food and drinks, is a sure win-win. Additionally, the Alexa Skill Set, a collection of self-service APIs, tools, documentation, and code samples that makes it fast and easy for you to add skills to Alexa, will also help hotels with customization to deliver a unique experience. This will provide a differentiated experience by building a skill that lets guests naturally access property information, services, and amenities. We have anyway managed to become comfortable with voice assistants on-the-go, as well as at home. Alexa will simply help hotels recreate the same experiences and comfort.

The more you know your customer, the more better positioned it makes you to surpass their expectations and cater to every need. While hotels have already started making the pre-journey process(bookings) seamless, it is time to take a step further and assign AI the work of a dedicated chaperon, who will also make the stay more familiar and comfortable. Amazon’s Alexa is the breakthrough all hotel systems have been waiting for.

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Not long ago, the two segments within the hospitality industry – OTAs and hotels – maintained a friendly relationship. Their cooperation benefited everyone, including them; hotels gave online travel agencies their long-standing business to market to, and OTAs returned the favour by providing hotels the visibility that would improve their bookings.

That relationship has slowly soured, as OTAs have gradually widened their market share and raised commissions, undercutting hotel companies’ bottom lines. In a recent case involving Westgate Resorts and Swiss website Amoma.com, the former has accused the latter of selling Westgate rooms for unauthorized wholesale rates, taking the matter to federal court. According to Westgate, Amoma was securing its wholesale rates from travel site operators and then offering these low rates directly to consumers with only small markups, which was undermining Westgate’s established business model.

This is definitely not the first case to have put the spotlight on the frosty relationship between hotels and OTAs. Last year, Hyatt and Expedia were at loggerheads over crafting a new agreement on commissions and other issues. Like many of its peers, Hyatt also wanted to negotiate lower commission rates from Expedia.

Online travel agencies came into the picture in the 1980s and gained more momentum in the next decade. Today, reports predict that the Priceline group (which includes Booking.com) and Expedia alone will account for 94% of all online bookings by 2020. While so far, hotels have been happy to take increased visibility, but on the flip side it has meant less money for them, with a sizeable chunk of their revenue stream now going to OTAs. As hotel companies are growing their technology capabilities, major players are questioning the need for OTAs when they now have the capacity to get customers directly. Hotels are trying to better capture the guest through improved user experience, user-driven design, and an emphasis on making booking as easy as possible. For instance, hospitality giant Hilton introduced a global advertising campaign ‘Stop Clicking Around’, complete with broadcast and digital spots that encouraged consumers to book directly through Hilton rather than waste time on third-party sites.

Commenting on these efforts by hotels, Sanjiv Agarwal, Chairman & CEO, Fairfest Media, said, “Rate parity and MFN led to imperfections in the market. Hotels have rightly fought against these practices. The whole point of the hotels seemed to be that they should be able to compete in a free market by showing prices lower than the big OTAs. Now by the same logic, a hotel should not mind an OTA offering lower price to consumers. Hotels would also do well to keep in mind ‘direct’ business does not come free.”

The hotel lobby has long been asserting that OTAs are practising a sort of monopoly. This, however, is not possible, because travellers have many options, online and off, besides Expedia and Priceline. Besides, OTAs don’t set the retail prices; it is the hotels that set pricing, based on multiple factors. OTAs only set commission and contracting terms.

The reason that the skew towards OTAs remains is due to the fact that travellers associate cheaper costs with them. Hotels have limited control of their operational costs, have less inventory than OTAs and invest significantly less in marketing initiatives, which leads to consumers being exposed more to OTAs.

So, how will all of this ultimately play out? Considering all the efforts that hotels are putting towards increasing direct booking, it will grow. That, however, will not prove detrimental to OTAs, as independent and boutique properties will continue to benefit from their offerings. The question that will ultimately beg an answer is how the short-term attempts by hotels to divert business from OTAs will convert into bringing long-term, brand loyalists on board.

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Hoteliers always keep exploring ways to give their business a boost and increase occupancy rates. However the industry is highly competitive and they often keep facing the heat from other segments like alternative accommodation. The challenge is even bigger for individual hotel properties which are in the same game without the kind of resources that hotel chains have. We look at how these individual hotels can leverage technology and digital to stay competitive against the chains.

1- Open up channels

Just having a phone number and email ID won’t cut it anymore. Weigh down all the options you can offer your customer to reach you and start with the best ones. Whatsapp or Facebook Messenger could be a good start point. People who are on the move might not prefer picking up the phone and making a call to place a request and will prefer chat as a medium in many cases.

2- Build a character

While it is true for almost anyone on social media platforms, it is easier for relatively smaller independent hotels to implement. They have got more freedom on how they present themselves offline as well as online as compared to the hotel chains which have to stay in sync with the brand character. Pick the key traits and start highlighting them on social media one at a time.

3- Invite reviews

Even after an excellent stay, most of the guests won’t go to review platforms like TripAdvisor to give you a positive review. Review platforms are your friends as an increased ranking there will significantly affect the number of incoming guests. You can explore different ways to remind your guests to review you on Trip Advisor. A QR Code to the listing page on the bill or a thank you text after the stay with the link could be good for start but it would pay to be more creative with how you ask for reviews.

4- Channelize the negatives

Some guests are more demanding than the others and might not be very happy with the experience. Sometimes guests are unhappy due to incorrect expectations. Whatever be the case, keep all your communication channels open for your guests and encourage them to share any problems they face immediately. This would allow you to avoid a potentially negative review and even turn it into a positive one. There are some tools that allow hotels to invite feedback through the Wi-Fi landing page however we are not certain about the effectiveness of such tools.

5- Tech up

Personalisation goes a long way in enriching the customer experience and while most good hotels ensure that for their frequent guests, IoT technologies can also aid in the process by providing more actionable data. Hotels can explore the option of keyless entry and mobile check-ins. This would not only boost the customer experience but also attract new tech savvy guests to the property. While the investment would be high, implementation would be easier and quicker than across hotel chains.

6- Make friends

Explore potential partnerships to expand the offerings beyond just accommodation. For instance, you can associate with some quality activity providers in the region and offer them as a part of stay packages at your property. You can also leverage each other’s marketing channels to reach different audience at times. This way, you will be able to reach new customers while being able to offer more than just hotel rooms to your guests.

How else do you think individual properties can compete with hotel chains? Do share with us.

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Present in 4 countries, Red Planet hotels chain claims to provide a premium stay experience at affordable prices. Recently, they  announced the launch of a significant content upgrade to its app and guest reward options.

To mark this distinctive launch, Red Planet is giving away Apple Watches to its lucky guests. The guests need to book the hotel rooms through Red Planet’s official app and stay in any of the 25 hotels across Japan, Thailand, Indonesia and Phillipines between now and 30th September, 2015.

Ryan Chua was the first lucky guest to win an Apple Watch, Image Source: Red Planet Twitter Feed

‘Red Planet Hotels’ app is relatively new and with great user interface. Through it guests can:

• Find hotel facilities information
• Book hotel and pay by credit card
• Gain access to the brand’s social media pages
• Have a direct chat line for hotel staff and guests
• Search the distances of the tourist destinations from your hotel
• Receive information of the local events etc.

Although the app is relatively new, it has received a rating of 4.6/5 by its users.

Coinciding with this upgrade is Red Planet’s Referred programme. The members will be requested to promote the hotels to their family, friends and colleagues and for each paid reservation the members will earn cash commissions. This is open for firms, associations and  any website wishing to participate and be a part of it.

Another lucky winner of the Apple Watch. Image Credit: Red Planet Twitter Feed

According to their official website, Tim Hansing, the Chief Executive Officer of the Red Planet Ltd., said “This positions us as the true market leader in our segment. There is no one else in the region that comes close to offering this level of innovation.”

Red Planet claims that it provides ‘5-star sleeping experience at a 1-star price’ accommodation. The firm operates 24 hotels in Indonesia, Japan, Philippines and Thailand. It’s still expanding and acquiring existing hotels and and developing new ones. Its hotels are all centrally located  and have hi-speed WiFi. The hotel is even listed on the Japanese and Indonesian stock exchanges.

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