The holy grail of any hotel brand’s tech stack is likely to be the creation of a ‘unified guest profile’ with the various data points on an individual piped and structured within a CRM so that teams can more meaningfully improve the guest experience in order to, candidly, drive more revenue, more profit and better asset valuations.
With the grand unveiling of the Apple Vision Pro, as well as the previous PSVR2 and Meta Quest 3 news, it’s time once again to look at what’s possible (and what’s practical) for the next-generation internet. While an article could solely focus on the metaverse applications – that is, the use of AR, VR and MR interoperable digital spaces – to enhance wellness, we rope in web3 and blockchain technologies here because there’s many interesting overlaps.
The quest for innovation is unending in the dynamic landscape of hospitality and travel. The latest disruptor making waves in the industry isn't a new booking platform or a futuristic hotel design – it's integrating artificial intelligence (AI) into massage therapy, revolutionizing how travelers experience relaxation and rejuvenation.
The gross profit margin for a cup of coffee or tea can reach 95% or more for restaurants. Who doesn’t want to sell more drinks? Let’s check out the latest coffee and tea trends to ensure we stay on top.
While longevity researchers continue to unravel the intrinsic mechanisms of how to permanently stave off chronic disease, prolong human life, and even reverse aging, it’s becoming increasingly apparent that there is no single cure to every ailment – not yet, at least.
The global pandemic triggered an unprecedented acceleration in the importance of wellness within the hospitality sector. Notably, the wellness tourism market value reached nearly $731.36 billion in 2022, marking a CAGR of nearly 4% since 2017. With projections suggesting that this market will grow to $1.2 trillion by 2027, the question is, how are hotels adapting to meet this growth? I brought this question to the HSMAI Rising Marketing Leader Council for discussion.
Earlier this month, Hilton released its highly anticipated third-annual travel trends report, providing valuable insights into the future of travel. Based on a global survey of over 10,000 travelers, video diaries with 60 U.S. travelers, and interviews with Hilton travel insiders, this report unveils the key trends that will reshape the travel industry beyond 2024.
Is fitness a primary booking driver for hotels? Unless it’s a lifestyle brand specifically known for its exercise programming like Equinox or EVEN, the answer is a resolute ‘no’. We can confidently say that a traveler’s purpose will most likely always center around location first, with price as a close-second attribute, for all those outside the luxury segment. However, there are a few significant trends that hoteliers should consider with respect to fitness that will influence how guests choose their properties and the rates they can command.
In an ideal world, every guest who books a room would spend at all the facilities onsite – restaurant, spa, golf, gift boutique, you name it. But that is very often not the case no matter how adept hoteliers are at marketing these ancillary spend opportunities. The only touchpoint that reaches all guests is the in-room experience and this is largely affected by how good a night’s rest each guest has.
It’s said that the average person spends a third of their life in bed, so wouldn’t it make sense to optimize this time by getting the best sleep experience possible?
You are what you eat. Every day, more people are coming to appreciate food as more than just fuel but as medicine that can restore the body, slim the waist, steady the mood, elevate cognition, and even reverse chronic diseases. This burgeoning wellness way of life is also reflected in various dietary trends like plant-based or keto as well as buzzy meal additives like probiotics, superfoods, nootropics or adaptogens.
We believe in the importance of sleep. If a guest doesn’t get a good night’s rest they are less inclined to return. That profound statement came courtesy of Simon Chapman, Complex General Manager for The Benjamin Royal Sonesta, who oversees the hotel’s Rest & Renew Sleep Program] in collaboration withDr. Rebecca Robbins, a medicine professor specializing in sleep science and author of “Sleep for Success” (2011).
As resorts strive to cater to guest demands, they find that wellness is top of mind for many guests in 2023.
Mental health issues have become a pressing concern for health systems worldwide. The COVID-19 pandemic has further exacerbated this situation, leading to a staggering 25% rise in depression and anxiety rates in the first year of the pandemic period.
The Hospitality industry strives to provide excellent customer service, luxurious accommodations and exquisite cuisine. However one of the most essential aspects that is often overlooked is health and wellness, for both guests and employees. In recent years, the industry has started to recognize the importance of promoting health and wellness as an enhancement of the overall guest experience, as well as to improve employee satisfaction and productivity, which leads to better staff retention. This is a great step in the right direction, but there is still much to do.
While the world continues to experience global and economic unknowns, planning may feel challenging for the years ahead.
Wellness has tremendous potential for hotels, as is being made abundantly clear from the litany of articles on the matter in recent months. Part of that potential stems from the all-embracing, or rather ambiguous, definition of the word. It’s healthy eating; it’s spa; it’s fitness; it’s mindfulness; it’s sleep; it’s nature; it’s medical diagnostics; it’s all of the above. But one theme throughout for hotels is that the focus skews to the individual or one-on-one (mostly leisure transients), less so to group activations.
The sudden growth in demand for wellness pursuits has perhaps calmed with the recession of Covid-19, but general interest in the great outdoors and getting back to nature has remained strong, prompting more and more hoteliers to tap into this trend.
How do we design spaces so people can have an experience, ie feel something, perhaps awaken in some small way, or reflect on their lives or the world around them?
The problem with slow burn trends like the current aging out of the baby boomers is not so much that we fail to predict them but that we often cannot account for them in a readily quantifiable and obviously actionable manner on a quarterly or annual financial statement to thereby jumpstart the necessary adjustments to adapt a business.