How Hyatt Takes a Holistic Approach to Data

While much of the discussion about data in the hotel industry revolves around straightforward performance metrics, Hyatt Hotels Corporation's Vice President of Data and Analytics Raymond Boyle said his company's approach to data is designed to tackle every issue possible across the enterprise.

Speaking with Hotel News Now, Boyle said his job is to use data to improve every function possible across the company, from culture to cybersecurity to guest experience.

"So strategically, what we're in the business to do is advance care — Hyatt is all about care — through data-driven decisions," he said. "So it's about making sure the company is data-centered and driven in the way they manage, lead and guide the development of the organization. Then it's about automation — just making sure that we are leveraging data and the sciences and machine learning to transform and automate the business over time."

One of the things Boyle is most excited about is the increasing use of machine learning and artificial intelligence "to continue to evolve our ability to care for guests and really deliver the experiences that they need," he said.

Amassing more data on guests carries both a huge opportunity and a huge challenge for hotel companies like Hyatt, he said. While it opens the door to new levels of personalization to elevate guest experience, it also requires a greater degree of security and care to build trust with those guests.

It's about "making sure that the way that we secure data and care for the assets that guests provide us permission to use in a way that creates high trust at all times," he said.

He stressed that machine learning and artificial intelligence will offer a massive gateway to personalizing guest experience from even earlier in the booking process if handled correctly.