The long-term earnings power of Digital guest journey technology

Technology adoption rates accelerated rapidly during the pandemic, and they are showing no signs of slowing down. Marriott International"s CFO Leeny Oberg recently told investors: "The digital experience and the experience for customers and associates is of critical importance over the next few years and forever."

Digital guest journey technology - contactless check-in/check-out and pre-arrival/on-property guest messaging and digital concierge services - is having the biggest impact because of its high ROI and long-term earnings power.

Consumers expect to do everything from their smartphones in their own time, but they are unwilling to compromise on service and experience.

For hotel operators, what might once have been "nice to have" has become "need to have" as they come to terms with labour shortages, changing consumer preferences and the need to upsell and maintain profitability in the face of inflationary pressures.

Compared to the period before the pandemic, Alliants AXP platform is seeing guests send three times as many messages, a clear indication that conversational CRM and messaging are services that consumers appreciate and value.

Hoteliers need to choose a platform that allows consumers to communicate in the channel of their choice, whether that's WhatsApp, FB Messaging, or SMS.

For those of our hotel clients who are still using legacy systems, new API solutions make integrating digital guest journey tech with existing operating systems easier to achieve even compared to five years ago.

In tune with sustainability goals, there are plenty of examples of how digital guest journey technology saves money, time and energy (keyless, paperless etc).

Enabling guests to perform admin like checking-in from their smartphones saves front office employees enormous amounts of time and saves tired guests from waiting in line.

Hotel employees are freed up to have relaxed conversations and truly get to know their guests, deliver a personal service and drive loyalty.

So, digital guest journey technology is certainly a valuable driver of operational efficiencies. But crucially it is enormously beneficial in increasing total revenue in a hotel setting. AI-driven upselling messages know the optimal time to make suggestions to guests, for instance, to arrange transport, excursions or late check-out.

So many aspects of our daily lives (online research, social media, payment, etc) run on big data, AI and automation that we simply take them for granted.

Similarly, in a hotel setting, the digital guest journey is rapidly becoming what guests expect – an unobtrusive and intuitive way to genuinely elevate the customer experience while making the working day infinitely easier and more fulfilling for employees.