While Americans are traveling more than ever before, revenue growth has slowed for more than 66% of hotel brands in the U.S. in the past five years. The opportunity cost of sluggish growth is billions of dollars every year - so how can hotel brands meet demand for guest experiences that travelers are looking for and ultimately drive bookings?

Today, Deloitte Digital released a white paper called Human Experience (HX) in Hospitality to look at how hospitality companies can harness the power of human experience to increase guest loyalty and drive revenue.

Deloitte Digital created a tool called the Values Compass to measure what truly motivates feelings and purchase behavior in a non-linear world. It maps cardinal human values - Ambition, Curiosity, Belonging and Certainty - to provide a visual reflection of a customer, employee or partner's values in aggregate. Deloitte used the tool to measure the human values of nearly 50 hotel brands across 7 distinct categories, including luxury, upper-upscale, upscale, upper-midscale, midscale, economy, and home share, and found that when hotels deliver a truly elevated human experience, they win.

Some of the most compelling findings in the study include the following:

  • The basics (e.g. clean room, perceived value, etc.) are no longer differentiators in the hospitality space. Guests reward brands that welcome conversation around their perspective and experience.
  • The share value rose above the rest, ranking as the number 1 or 2 value for 83% of brands across categories. Customers expressed a desire to be social with others, and to share opinions and be heard.
  • Luxury consumers value "ambition" and "curiosity", as opposed to "belonging" and "control." These customers value taking risks, seek out challenging situations and are willing to sacrifice free time to get ahead. Hotels that surprise and delight them with experiences will see success.
  • Corporate must prioritize franchisee relationships in the same way they do their workforce. The majority of franchise owners feel unsupported and do not believe they make a fair profit. This can undermine a hotel's ability to deliver on the expectations of hotel guests and the workforce.

Please see here for the full white paper titled "Human Experience (HX) in Hospitality" with more details on the research and its findings. 

About Deloitte

Deloitte provides industry-leading audit, consulting, tax and advisory services to many of the world's most admired brands, including nearly 90% of the Fortune 500® and more than 8,500 U.S.-based private companies. At Deloitte, we strive to live our purpose of making an impact that matters by creating trust and confidence in a more equitable society. We leverage our unique blend of business acumen, command of technology, and strategic technology alliances to advise our clients across industries as they build their future. Deloitte is proud to be part of the largest global professional services network serving our clients in the markets that are most important to them. Bringing more than 175 years of service, our network of member firms spans more than 150 countries and territories. Learn how Deloitte's approximately 457,000 people worldwide connect for impact at www.deloitte.com.

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