This case study explores the journey of a UK hotel group, Kabannas, implementing HiJiffy’s conversational AI across its guest journey. This has led to fantastic results, especially when it comes to automating answering incoming queries and boosting the conversation rate of upselling with Oaky. This publication is based on HiJiffy’s first-party data and insights from Louise Garner, the Commercial Director at Kabannas, who is quoted throughout.
Kabannas is subscribed to a Premium plan at HiJiffy and benefits from conversational AI in communications across the guest journey, implementing the chatbot on the webchat on their website, WhatsApp, and email.
The Client: Kabannas
Kabannas is a group of three hotels in the UK, with a total of 135 rooms, located in London St Pancras, Newcastle, and Liverpool. Formerly operated by the Youth Hostel Association, Kabannas acquired the properties in 2023.
The brand stands for providing well-located, quality, flexible accommodation where travellers can rest, recharge, and connect with others. Each hotel offers buzzing social spaces that nurture a community feel and food and beverage services that fuel travellers’ energy.
The Challenges
To differentiate on the market and mark the arrival of the new brand to the properties, Kabannas aimed to put the guest in charge of their digital journey and interactions with the hotels. They looked for a solution that would allow their guests to chat with them whenever they needed, even outside of the traditional 9 am to 5 pm Reservations Department.
“AI is here and changing quickly, resistance is futile, hospitality and other service industries need to get on board and embrace the change, your guests, your customers, your employees expect instant information at their fingertips.” – Louise Garner (LG), Commercial Director at Kabannas
In addition to the goals above, the aim was also to keep Reservations staffing to a minimum. It was important that Reception team members could quickly grasp a new AI tool and be able to aid a guest when necessary while prioritising taking care of the guest in front of them.
Key pain points
Kabannas identified repetitive questions guests would ask daily, such as the check-in time, breakfast cost, closest train station, and so on, as the main pain points to be addressed with an AI solution. All of this information was readily available on the Kabannas website or in reservation confirmation emails, but guests lead busy lives and want to interact and get transactional details instantly.
From a broader perspective, Kabannas was looking for a specialised tech solution that would help them to:
Enhance guest experienceMaking communication channels, including the website’s webchat, WhatsApp, and email, readily available to engage with (prospective) guests.
Automate guest communicationsAnswering common questions to boost bookings and processing in-stay queries regarding amenities and services to have a positive impact on guest satisfaction.
Optimise proceduresFurther improving the guest experience and reducing the team’s workload, Kabannas looked to automate procedures, including group bookings, reservation modifications and cancellations, refunds, and more.
It also mattered for the brand to work with a solution specifically designed for hospitality and a company that understands the industry and is driven by innovation.
The Implementation & Adoption
Louise Garner reflects on the adoption process:
“An advantage we had was launching a new business with a set tech stack rather than adding HiJiffy into an existing tech stack and team where I imagine you could get some resistance as change can be hard. During our ‘go live’, we held training calls with the three property teams to show them how to use HiJiffy. We followed this up with a Loom training video accessible on Teams Channels for all users. We also created written training resources that all Reception Team members can access.”
“A few team members who had worked for the previous owners of the properties with a traditional reservations department were a little resistant and not used to answering pre-arrival questions. This was quickly resolved once they saw how easy HiJiffy is to use. We also asked their feedback on what information we could add to the chatbot to help them. When they sent in ideas, which were subsequently loaded into the system, it was an instant attitude change for some of the team as they felt valued and could see how the ‘tool’ was a great addition to our guest experience.”
The Solutions
The key applications of HiJiffy’s conversational AI across the entire guest journey at Kabannas properties include:
Answering pre-booking FAQsHiJiffy’s conversational AI, specialised in over 200 hospitality-specific topics, instantly replies to incoming queries 24/7 across various channels managed by the brand, including webchat and WhatsApp.
“HiJiffy is the ultimate team member! From answering basic guest questions to facilitating high-value group leads and enabling Oaky upgrades, HiJiffy does the job of many and is there 24 hours a day.” – LG
Supporting direct bookingsThanks to seamless integration with the Cloudbeds booking engine, conversational AI facilitates bookings on the website and guides users through the booking process.
Facilitating group bookingsA special custom flow is triggered for bookings for more than ten guests. It collects all necessary information and passes it on to Group Reservations.
“Another key function is how easy setting up chatbot flows is, especially for group enquiries. The leads come in with pre-filled key information, making it easy for Group Reservations to reply promptly after checking availability. In today’s world, a guest enquiring about a group demands a quick response, and HiJiffy allows us to do this.” – LG
Improving guest experienceAn automated WhatsApp message reminds incoming guests about the key information on the day of their arrival. After the check-in, a welcome message introduces the chatbot and establishes it as a channel for 24/7 assistance during the stay.
In-house communicationsAI provides automated instant replies to guests asking questions about facilities and services.
“In-house communication is key. Today’s guests expect to be able to use instant messaging once they are checked in to ask a question or report an issue. HiJiffy facilitates all this. Quick replies from team members reduce the chance of a guest checking out with an unresolved issue and subsequent low rating once they leave.” – LG
Increasing revenue from upsellingAfter the booking, the brand sends automated WhatsApp campaigns offering guests personalised upselling options through Oaky, integrated seamlessly with their systems. Guests can easily explore and select additional services to enhance their stay. Not only does this improve guest satisfaction, but it also positively impacts the bottom line. In addition, upsell offers are promoted in the webchat when travellers and guests ask about specific topics, such as breakfast.
The Results
This summary of the key achievements related to using HiJiffy’s Guest Communications Hub refers directly to the challenges indicated in the earlier section. The results are based on HiJiffy’s data (visible to the client in the dashboards and reports section of the platform), as well as Kabannas’ insights and observations they contributed to this case study.
92% of questions answered automatically by conversational AI
From June 2023 to June 2024, the AI chatbot at Kabannas received over 40K conversations and automatically resolved 92% of the queries. The most common questions regarded booking an entire room, group bookings, managing bookings and check-in.
“This demonstrates our guests can interact with an AI tool and get the information they need instantly with only very few interactions requiring human interaction.” – LG
71% open rate of WhatsApp campaigns
Automated WhatsApp campaigns, including service and upselling messages, get an average 71% open rate at Kabannas. This is just short of double the average performance of hospitality email campaigns for the EMEA region, as stated in the 2024 Hospitality Benchmark Report published by Revfine (36.4%). Getting the message to the guests on their preferred channel positively impacts guest satisfaction – as they feel taken care of by the brand – and the revenue, as illustrated in the next point.
35.7% conversion rate for upselling with Oaky via webchat and WhatsApp campaigns
In addition to using Oaky for upselling via email, Kabannas is also using channels automated by HiJiffy to promote offers such as breakfast or towels. In May 2024, upselling deals were presented in the webchat and WhatsApp campaigns over 2.5K times, with 13.5% of guests following the link to learn more. This resulted in a 36% conversion rate, translating to 125 sales via automated channels.
For context, the average performance of any hospitality email campaign in EMEA is a 2.9% click-through rate and 0.4% conversion rate. In other words, the synergy between Oaky’s upselling system and HiJiffy’s AI-powered automation leads to 90x higher conversion rates.
Testimonials
“HiJiffy delivers high levels of automation along our guest journey. HiJiffy allows our guests a simple and effective way to engage with us from the initial research phase to post-booking, pre-arrival, in-house and post-check-out. Over 90% of the time, they instantly get the answer they need – a game changer in the hospitality industry. We can focus our team on face-to-face interactions with our guests, and HiJiffy allows them to confidently step away from the screen and engage with our guests.” - Louise Garner, Commercial Director at Kabannas
“We’re excited about how the partnership between Oaky and HiJiffy leverages AI-powered communication solutions for upselling. It enables hoteliers to impress guests by seamlessly promoting relevant offers directly on their favourite messaging platforms. By delivering relevant offers through the right channel, we ensure that guests can enhance their experience directly at the property. This not only boosts guest satisfaction but also increases ancillary revenue for hotels, creating a win-win situation for both guests and hoteliers.” - Clément Dénarié, Chief Revenue Officer at Oaky.
“Collaborating with Kabannas, specifically with Louise Garner, has been an outstanding experience. They leverage the latest technology, consistently adopting AI innovations to enhance operations and elevate guest experiences. Kabannas stands out for their proactive and inventive use of our solution, particularly in personalising guest interactions and optimising resource management. Their ability to seamlessly modulate their tech stack ensures they stay at the forefront of the industry, adapting swiftly to new technologies and integrating them effectively. Their enthusiasm for AI and cutting-edge solutions makes them an exemplary partner. We proudly support their journey and look forward to their continued success.” - Elodie Soares, Customer Success Manager at HiJiffy