Stay the same or finally become guest centric!
Hotels lag behind successful data companies like Alphabet, Booking, or Airbnb because they haven't fully leveraged customer data in their IT strategies. To increase their value, hotel companies need to focus on creating a central "Golden Record" of their guests, similar to data-driven companies. This requires shifting to a central data management (CDM) or central data platform (CDP) system instead of the traditional, siloed approach, which...
When we look at the value of successful data companies like Alphabet, Booking or Airbnb, we must realize that no hotel company is part of the list. But why? Hotel tech covers the full customer journey but obviously hotels are not able to drive value out of their existing IT-stack and the massive amount of available customer data.
The answer is not hard to give when you compare the IT-strategy of data driven companies and hotels, no matter if we look on group or an individual level. Data driven companies’ key element is the central profile, the so-called golden record. They know everything about their customers and can use this centrally available knowledge for their own success by providing individualized services and products at all touchpoints along the customer journey.
The Hotel Yearbook Technology 2023
The 2024 edition of "The Hotel Yearbook (HYB) Technology," curated by EHL's Ian Millar, offers a comprehensive outlook on the emerging technology trends and innovations poised to shape the global hotel industry. It amalgamates insights from a multitude of industry thought leaders, spotlighting key foresight in several tech-oriented fields. This includes anticipated evolutions in the future tech stack, which will drive operational efficiencies, the 'human stack' that explores the intersection of human resources and technology, and the application of Generative AI in creating novel customer experiences. Overall, this HYB edition serves as an essential guide for understanding how technology and innovation will redefine the industry landscape.