Key tools for your hotel or chain that will help you to become less dependent on tour operators

According to figures from Exceltur, alliance for excellency in Spanish tourism, the closure of the company represents losses exceeding 200 million Euros, between tour operators, hotels, airlines and restaurants. The impact of Thomas Cook’s closure has been so great that it is no wonder that the future of many companies who are highly dependent on them is now uncertain. The main regions affected are now claiming money from Head Office to alleviate the effects of this ‘tragedy’, the word used by many agents in the sector to describe the situation.

This unprecedented collapse within the tourism industry also highlights the need for innovation and adaptation to new technologies and work processes.

Although heavy debts held Thomas Cook back, over the last few years tour operators have been revving up the business model transformation process due to the many challenges that they have been facing. Following the example of other large international groups such as Apple Leisure Group, the trend is for vertical integration, and betting on their own product.

Following the collapse of this great tour operator, the moment has come for hotels to rethink their distribution and independent commercialisation strategies in order to be prepared to compete in a market that, as we have seen, is constantly changing.

But, what strategies and tools allow hotels to become independent and boost direct sales?

Guest data capture tools

Hotels and hotel chains are able to produce a large amount of information. However, their analytical capacities are often very reduced or they do not capture the full potential of this data. On the other hand, the information that intermediaries share with hotels is very limited. Without this data, hotels are wasting a golden opportunity to connect with guests to foster their loyalty and boost sales via their direct booking channels.

For this, investing in technology to get to know guests better is essential, and the digital strategies in this sector ought to be based more and more on big data and its analysis in order to be competitive. For example, to start capturing guest data, we can use the hotel’s WiFi connection. This is a very simple process and normally, it only requires an email address or registration via a social network to capture data.

Data enrichment tools

How can we collect guest data using the WiFi? As we mentioned before, tools such as Hotelinking are integrated with the property’s WiFi provider so that guests can only access the Internet via a captive portal. They have to register with their Facebook profile or fill in a form.

Data is validated in real time and a top-quality database is generated. This will comply with the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

This information can be consolidated with the data in the PMS to obtain more complete guest profiles and therefore increase the segmentation variables. Integration with the hotel’s or chain’s PMS is completed to be able to recover information and match it against the database obtained via the captive portal and the data that is already in the PMS.

WiFi loyalty tools

These tools which capture data via the WiFi are also known as Social WiFi. Not only do they allow you to elaborate much more complete guest profiles, they also contribute to foster your guests’ loyalty from the moment they are activated.

For example, offering welcome gifts to users who connect to the hotel’s WiFi. This is the perfect opportunity to start to develop a direct relationship – it does not look like an advert and it is a step towards gaining your guests’ trust. A rewards system helps to achieve a rate of email opening that is above 60 %, way above the average for the sector which is below 20 %.

Systems such as the one Hotelinking uses also detect returning guests and allow you to offer them personalised rewards for their loyalty while encouraging them to use them at the same time. For example, you can offer discounts for future bookings made on the website or promotional codes that can be redeemed in the property itself. All this communication is automated, thus saving you a lot of time.

Guest satisfaction tools

Fostering your guests’ loyalty is key to boosting direct sales, but encouraging them to make purchases just by offering discounts or gifts is not enough. Think of a guest who has returned to a hotel many times and on one occasion, has a bad experience with the room service. They will surely think twice about coming back in the future, regardless of the incentives he is offered.

For this reason, sending guest satisfaction surveys to allow guests to give their opinion during and after their stay is fundamental to create a link of trust, act in time to solve any incidents, and learn about what guests are happy with and what needs improving in the hotel. Don’t forget that a satisfied guest may return to the hotel, recommend the hotel to other potential guests and rate the hotel positively on online reputation websites.

Guest comments can also identify what they value, their tastes and preferences. This is valuable information that also helps us to get to know them better and can be added to the database to complete guest profiles.

Email marketing tools

All of this client data volume obtained via the WiFi, enrichment with the PMS and satisfaction surveys must be managed efficiently, because having a large amount of information is worth nothing if it is not organised and prepared for analysis and use.

In this sense, hotel CRMs which are specific to this sector are very helpful. This software is able to gather and organise the information from each guest and monitor its evolution, the profitability that it brings to the company, the degree of loyalty and purchases.

Hotel CRMs allow you to quickly and simply segment a large number of variables and launch automated and personalised email marketing campaigns, using all the information gathered.

Email marketing continues to be one of the most effective methods, leading to many sales. Good communication planning and the creation of well-segmented recipients can help to increase the percentage of bookings made via the website. This way, you will gradually take control of your hotel’s commercialisation.