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Email marketing is a very powerful tool for hotel management. The exchange of communication between the hotel and the guest in the post-reservation phase can be very profitable if managed in a strategic way.

As we have seen in this article, establishing a relationship with the guest before and after his stay helps to improve the guest experience and to create a positive association between the guest and the hotel, aimed at increasing guest loyalty.

It is not just a matter of informing the guest about the details of the reservation, but rather gathering and creating sales opportunities to increase guest's expenditure during the stay and contemporaneously enrich his experience. 

Prestay emails allow the hotel to connect with the guest: attention paid to details such as providing useful information for arriving at the property or listing the events and activities that guests will be able to attend during the stay will help to make the customer feel pampered and at the center of the hotel's attention. 

So far, all is clear, but putting this in place is not so simple. The difficulty in implementing these strategies is twofold: on the one hand we need to equip ourselves with tools that can automate all activities, on the other we need to know when and how to communicate them. 

In this regard, below are some ideas and guidelines that can be used to create communications to be sent to guests before, during and after their stay.

Confirmation email

The confirmation email is usually an automatic communication that is sent from the hotel's online booking system immediately after having received the reservation. Often at the time of booking a credit card is required, so it may be useful to inform the guest that the reservation has been successfully received and that the security of the payment method is guaranteed by PCI and Digicert certifications that the Booking Engine should have.

Being the first communication sent by the hotel to the future guest, it is a precious moment. It is the email with the highest opening rate so, in addition to thanking him for having chosen your property, you must take advantage of this moment to immediately establish a relationship with the guest. A guide to the top 5 attractions in the city will certainly be appreciated, as well as additional information on the services offered by the hotel or a link that leads to a page of the website with other interesting information tailored ad hoc according to the guest type.

Prestay email

About a week before arrival it is good to send a new communication, both to remind the guest that the stay is approaching and to offer additional services: an exclusive upgrade, a discount voucher to use hotel services (spa, gym, tasting). Planning and waiting for a trip are often the most exciting parts for the guest, so providing relevant information on local events, activities and services that the hotel provides is certainly a great way to create a connection with the guest and help him build his ideal vacation.

This moment could also be an opportunity to obtain information from the guest in order to customize his reception at the hotel through a short questionnaire (questions can include if the guest prefers flannel or linen sheets, etc.).

Independent hotels, because of time constraints and often due to lack of tools are unable to optimize communications and the relative opportunities during the time period that goes from the confirmation of the reservation to the arrival of the guest at the hotel. On the contrary, OTAs put these activities first, thus gaining the traveler's trust and creating interaction opportunities.

To the detriment of independent hotels, it is worth pointing out that the core business of OTAs is receiving online bookings, while the hotel's game is played at a later stage, during the stay, when the services are provided to the guest. Often hotels do not take full advantage of opportunities that could prove to be very profitable because of time constraints, priorities and limited resources.

Hotels that do not use email marketing to communicate and interact with their guests are losing a great opportunity. Today, social media and search engines are increasingly saturated with commercial advertisements, therefore hotels have to use diversified strategies and email marketing is definitely a very important tool. 

In addition, statistics are clear, currently email marketing is increasingly used by companies to promote products and services through ad hoc offers for the customer:

- the number of e-mail users will grow to 2.9 billion in 2019

- 73% of millennials identify emails as the preferred channel for business communications

- 86% of online consumers want to receive promotional emails on a monthly basis

- compared to other media, emails have the highest conversion rate (66%)

The objectives of email marketing

At the core of email marketing applied by hotels there are two objectives:

• creating a relationship with the guest through valuable communications that improve the customer experience

• the promotion of the hotel towards potential customers who have shown interest in the property but have not made a reservation

In the first case, there is a well-defined process to follow. As we have already stated in a previous article on the guest experience, online experiences influence customer expectations, which in turn affect the experience of their stay. In the digital age, the guest experience begins at the time of booking, as soon as the guest comes into contact with the hotel and not when he physically accesses the property. Being present from the start, when the reservation is made, is the best way to accompany the guest towards his stay.

In addition to improving the guest experience, email marketing is an opportunity to increase the average amount spent by the guest by offering additional services, upgrades and extra activities that contribute both to enrich the stay and increase the profits of the property. Each hotel can choose its own communication mix and the relative contents, usually these are the most commonly used: confirmation emails, pre-stay emails, welcome emails, post-stay emails, holiday and festivities greetings.

The second scenario, instead, involves the implementation of marketing actions targeted to those who left their contacts at the hotel but for several reasons decided not to book. These potential customers have however expressed an interest in the hotel (leaving their email address) and therefore may decide to re-consider booking at the property thanks to ad hoc promotional communications, perhaps receiving an additional discount or a free service on the offer found in the Booking Engine.

In short

Email marketing is a very important resource for hotels, but communications must be coherent and consistent, sharing useful and valuable conent. Managing all these activities without a tool that automates operations is impossible. For this reason, hotels must equip themselves with a PMS system that has an integrated customer relationship management (CRM) application to communicate with their customers and potential customers in an effective and automatic way.

Do you want to enrich your email marketing activities? Fill out the form below, one of our technicians will show you the benefits you can obtain using a management system with integrated CRM.

In the digital age, technology is revolutionizing what until today has always been considered usual practice in the hotel industry. To keep up with the latest trends, hotels have to embrace new technologies, not only to surprise the guest with innovative and still not widespread tools in the hotel industry, but above all to understand what will be the guest experience of the future.

Hospitality pioneers, such as the Hilton and Mariott chains, are already adopting some of the technologies that will become key players in 2019, some of which may be fads, while others may really revolutionize the concept of hospitality and customer experience.

Below is a short list of technological trends that are spreading in the hospitality world and that will take place in 2019:

Internet of Things - IoT

The Internet of Things is currently used in various sectors, even if the hotel industry seems to be the one most prone to take advantage of it. IoT means the addition of connectivity to existing products and services, which enables them to send and receive data. Thanks to the IoT it is possible to reduce the power of the light bulbs during day hours, switch off the heaters when the rooms are empty or when they reach a certain temperature or can be used to optimize the temperature automatically before the guest arrives.

Applied within hotels, IoT offers significant advantages: it improves the guest experience, reduces costs by saving energy and decreases manual staff operations.

Artificial intelligence - AI

Artificial Intelligence can be applied in different ways: chat boxes, robots and voice assistants.

Chat boxes provide online answers to the questions and requests of customers using artificial intelligence. They are usually simple questions that can be answered without human intervention: this means replying faster and leaving more time to staff to deal with difficult tasks such as handling complaints or solving urgent issues.

The robots equipped with artificial intelligence have been introduced this year by Hilton, these "smart" robots answer the questions of the receptionist, such as inquiries about hotel services. In Japan there is a hotel entirely managed by robots: entry into the rooms is guaranteed by a facial recognition system, the same one used for check in; robots welcome guests at reception, bring suitcases in the room and respond to all guest needs (in different languages) establishing an eye contact and interpreting body language.

Voice assistants with artificial intelligence are also spreading in hotel rooms: Amazon's Alexa for Hospitality is a cylindrical device that allows the guest to request room service, turn on the lights, set the alarm, leave messages to housekeeping, ask for information about the hotel, call reception, put on the music and many other activities. In the future, Amazon will allow guests to log in to their personal Alexa, in order to have their own preferences already saved within the artificial intelligence system. However, this technology is raising privacy concerns because the device could record conversations guests have in the room.

There are many stimuli that involve the guest upon his arrival at the hotel: the design, the music in the background, the materials with which he comes in contact... but there is another very important sense, which is often underestimated: smell.  

Smell is actually an essential part of the guest experience. Unlike the other senses, smell is the only sense completely developed at birth and is the one that most of all impacts at an emotional level as it is not perceived through intermediaries that transmit the sensory message, but is directly connected to the brain, specifically, to the limbic system, the part that processes emotions and memory.  

Süskind in his novel "Il Perfume" (1985), wrote that "Odors have a power of persuasion stronger than that of words, appearances, emotions or will”

Exclusive fragrances for unforgettable experiences

Perfumes enrich the guest experience and contribute to making it unforgettable, for this reason, a growing number of hotel chains and luxury hotels use exclusive fragrances to create a sensory and emotional connection with the guest. A real olfactory signature that blends with other sensory elements such as lighting, design and music; wraps guests in a unique 360​​° experience.

By bypassing rational cognitive thinking, the sense of smell touches our deepest emotional chords, which is why guests are more likely to remember what they smelled much more strongly than what they saw or heard.

Years later it is possible to remember 35% of what we have smelled, only 5% of what we have seen, 2% of what we have heard and 1% of what we have touched (Rockfeller University - New York ).

Olfactory marketing which is increasingly being used both in the hospitality world and in the retail sector, relies on the ability of perfumes to recall positive memories present in our olfactory memory and, at the same time, tries to create positive associations between the customer and the distinctive fragrance of a brand.

In the hospitality industry, experience is the product. Nowadays, the ability of a hotel to offer its guests an excellent customer experience is the only way to remain impressed in the memory of the consumer and ensure that he will repeat the experience becoming a loyal customer.

In the era of online sharing, offering a "wow effect" to guests means amplifying the positive experience in the network to which each individual belongs, both online via social media and offline through word of mouth which has always been the most profitable strategy for every company.

The fact that the hospitality industry must provide memorable and enjoyable experiences is therefore at the basis of every hotel's mission, but this is not an easy goal to achieve. The aspect that makes life difficult for hospitality players is that guests’ needs constantly evolve: the concept of "excellent customer experience" continuously changes according to new standards acquired by consumers, often dictated by new social media trends or by what other brands offer to the market, even those belonging to different sectors. In short: the experience offered by the hotel has to change and evolve according to guests' wishes and wants that change with technology, trends and experiences customers have with brands they interact with.

The digital world and the "physical" offline world, are increasingly connected. Every year online experiences become more and more prevalent in purchasing decisions and also influence what people expect from brands to influence the perception of their stay.

What is a Booking Engine? It is an online reservation system your future guest can use to search for hotel availability and complete a reservation independently. So far so true. But the Booking Engine is also more, it can indeed become a powerful sales tool in case the potential guest is still uncertain about the reservation.
To exploit all the potential that an online booking system offers, it is necessary to understand travelers’ purchasing dynamics and use a software equipped with specific features which are not present in all Booking Engines available on the market.

Below we list 5 strategies to increase direct bookings:

Secret offers

Secret offers are a strategy used by many of our customers to disintermediate reservations. As everyone knows, online searches often see the traveler landing on OTAs. Once they view the most interesting proposals for the chosen location and period, before proceeding, they usually will visit the hotel’s official channel, hoping to find better offers or a valid reason to book directly and justify giving up to the "guarantee" that OTAs give. The secret offer is a rate applied to a room, visible only if the user decides to leave his contact information and log in to the Booking Engine system. In this way the hotel will be able, in compliance with the privacy regulations to establish a direct communication with the user adding his contacts in the database. Once the traveler has viewed the rate of the secret offer, equal to or more convenient than the one available on OTAs, he can then decide to proceed with the reservation. Another advantage of this strategy, of which few speak, is the possibility of not publicly displaying direct rates to OTAs and competitors. Many of our customers, thanks to secret offers, have obtained a disintermediation of 30% in just 6 months.

Reservations in 4 clicks

If it were possible, guests would like to conclude their reservations with the power of thought; laziness and the need for immediacy have been fostered by the advent of digital. We have not achieved this yet at the moment, but we can say that a good Booking Engine must be able to allow the user to complete the reservation in very few clicks. No useless information, no complex steps. It is necessary to weigh the message that the hotel wants to communicate with the information which is essential for the reservation. Often the hotel's distinctive concept can be transmitted using a single evocative image and / or a sentence that summarizes its values ​​and mission, no long text is needed. In addition to an intuitive and sales-oriented interface, it is important that the user can access the Booking Engine in an immediate way thanks to integration with social networks and that he can insert the fields required to complete the booking quickly, perhaps with the help of an autofill system.

The advent of GDPR has introduced new data processing procedures for hotel managers, and, more in general, for all companies that use customers’ data for marketing activities or simply store clients’ information in their database.

The new regulation, like every major change, represents a challenge and for some also an obstacle to routine procedures that have consolidated over time.

GDPR, under some aspects is also an opportunity to regulate the use of our data and also to limit energy dispersion in marketing activities directed to uninterested people.

If we look at the regulation from a different point of view, we realize that this change does not only brings duties with it but also leads to a greater control over activities that rely on data usage. For example, email marketing activities that hotels and restaurants periodically organize for customers who have already stayed at their property or have demonstrated their interest while browsing online by providing their consent to promotional communications.

Google and Facebook teach us that data is the greatest treasure that companies keep: profiled and organized databases are indeed a very powerful marketing tool. One of the new rules introduced by GDPR is the request for proof of explicit consent. Each form of paper registration that is given to the customer at the time of check in must also have a tick box to request data processing consent for promotional activities. Not only it is mandatory to request consent, but the company – in this case the hotel – must also be able to prove to have obtained it.

How to carry out promotional activities in compliance with the new privacy regulations?

It is necessary to have a property management system whose database is compliant with GDPR regulations and therefore equipped with functionalities that allow the hotel to collect, process and store data according to the new regulation.

The functionalities that have been added to the Ericsoft PMS to comply with GDPR, not only allow to insert the date and time the consent was received and automatically delete it once the pre-defined data retention period has elapsed; but also, to extend the retention period of data. How? Thanks to a specific feature, available only in the Ericsoft CRM, which allows to renew consent to email marketing automatically.

In detail, the PMS system will send an automatic email where the guest will be required to renew his consent to receive promotional communications shortly before its expiration. A link with limited validity, will be inserted in the email and it will lead to a website containing the privacy policy. In case of acceptance by the customer, the new consent date will be updated automatically in the PMS system via a “token” associated to the guest’s profile card.

The Ericsoft PMS systems not only allow to handle data processing in compliance with the law, but also positively contributes to the development of marketing activities for hotels and restaurants.

Would like to know more?

Fill out the form below and one of our technicians will contact you as soon as possible.

What is the most commonly used tourist portal for planning a trip? Google, of course.

Who has never opened a "blank page" in Google to start a research for their next holiday? Statistics show that 60% of people planning a holiday and 55% of those who travel for work use Google to plan their trips: a pool of potentially very interesting users to attract during the various stages of travel research and planning.

So why not take advantage of the huge opportunity that the most powerful search engine offers?

Google offers hotel managers Google Hotel Ads, a tool that allows to display the best rates available on the hotel’s official sales channels within the Google tab where previously only the rates of online portals were reported.

The user will be able to view all available rates, from intermediate ones, to those available on the hotel’s website, choose the most convenient one and book with a simple click: a very valuable service to receive direct bookings. Indeed, Google Hotel Ads cancels all unnecessary steps that could interrupt the user's research, facilitating the reservation process.

Moreover, Google Hotel Ads is available on all devices and given the high use of smartphones during travel research and planning phases, this service can really make a difference for hotel managers.

How Google Hotel Ads works

The Google Hotel Ads service changes according to how the user is looking for information, let's see in detail how it works:

Generic searches

In the case of a generic search, for example, "hotels in Rome" on the results page provided by Google there will be, together with the results listed according to organic positioning and paid ads, a grid with a list of hotels. In addition to listing hotels and reporting a mini map to view the property’s location, you can also enter travel dates and sort results based on different filters: best result, lowest price, highest rating, hotel category and many others.

Clicking on "view all hotels" will open a screen with the map of Rome and the complete list of all hotels on the left, with some basic information such as price, stars and a brief description. By clicking on one of these results, the system will open the hotel card that contains all detailed information on the services, reviews, address, telephone number and price grid: here Google Hotel Ads comes into play. The new service provided by Google will display all rates available on the portals in which the property is listed and, if your Booking Engine allows it, also the rates of your official sales channel to make sure that the user can complete the reservation on your Booking Engine rather than on online portals. In other cases, instead, the search for the ideal hotel depends on its location, therefore the traveler will search directly on Google Maps. By clicking on the displayed results, he will be able to open the hotel card of the property that most interests them, easily compare all rates available on the different sales channels and complete the reservation process in one click.

In an increasingly connected world, the online reputation of hotels can be jeopardized by any “permanent” judgment or comment posted by an unsatisfied guest. These reviews can be true sometimes, in case the staff or the property have not met the expectations of guests. Anyhow, looking for a low-cost solution and expecting a 5-star service, is the start of a negative experience. In some circumstances customers can really experience a bad service, while in other cases, events or complaints reported in negative reviews would have no reason to be published if management dealt with (unpredictable) situations correctly - situations that fall within daily business activities of hospitality professionals.

Nowadays, it is mandatory to maintain high standards and offer quality services in order to prevent that the guest, who is more and more inclined to externalize his experience on social media, negatively reviews his stay at your property.

Complaints are widespread in all hotels, even the most prestigious ones who must indeed be armed with patience to accommodate the bizarre requests and / or complaints of the most demanding guests. Some criticisms might be caused by events outside management’s control, while others instead, as in the case of those who complain because the ice is too cold, might be impossible to solve.

Perseverance, initiative and kindness are the elements that can save your online reputation.

Below are 7 tips on how to best manage guests’ complaints, regardless of your hotel type (resort, b&b or business) that can turn out to be handy whenever you and your staff have to solve unpleasant or difficult situations:

1. Take responsibility

You must reasonably face every complaint as genuine and not as a whim or an opportunity for the guest to create unnecessary problems. After all, the purpose of your property is to provide a satisfactory experience to your customer and if the latter complains, then something went wrong. Not giving weight to a complaint, even a small one, is the worst thing you can do because often this attitude worsens a situation that could have easily been solved with minimum efforts. You must not need to take the blame always, especially if the event was unpredictable, but apologizing sincerely to a guest is the first step to start a positive conversation and solve the problem together.

2. Reduce the stress level

Some guests may be unstable, difficult to predict, unreasonable or simply emotionally charged. Do your best to remain calm and professional, listen carefully to what they have to say, look at them in the eyes, call them by name and take notes of their problems: this will make it clear to your guests that you are taking the situation seriously and will help both to have a cooperate attitude. It is good practice to "separate" guests who complain from others, so that other people are not involved in the story. To avoid misunderstandings or incomplete information transfer, we also recommend you to narrow down the responsibility to solve the problem to the fewest people possible.

For hoteliers, the choice of a PMS system can really represent an exhausting experience. The software is indeed the heart of the hotel and replacing it can lead to tangible improvements in the hotel's performance, but if you purchase the wrong one, you will find yourself having more problems than you had before. The truth is that all software companies advertise themselves as the "ideal solution" and you can easily get lost in the loads of information present in the web. Therefore, before considering any option you should take a step back and begin with the basis. 

What is a PMS?

PMS stands for Property Management System and represents a software that facilitates the management of your property by aggregating data and information from different hotel areas (from housekeeping to front office and restaurant management) making daily managerial operations automatic like room allocation, extra charges and many others. In addition to facilitating the hotel's managerial processes, the PMS also has a strategic role as it collects important data such as the ADR, Rev Par and other essential information to be competitive in the market and increase profits.

If the PMS system, is perfectly integrated with the tools that manage the indirect online distribution (Channel Manager) and the direct one (Booking Engine), together with Revenue Management systems, can really turn into an intelligent machine that not only optimizes and simplifies processes, but increases the overall profits of the hotel thanks to strategic rate planning.

On Friday, the new European privacy regulation GDPR, came into force. In this article you will find hotel and restaurant managers’ responsibilities and the necessary security measures required to protect data in digital format in order to clarify what the new legislation entails.

What are the responsibilities of hotel and restaurant managers?

The hotel or restaurant manager (Data Controller) is the one who manages guest data: it is his responsibility to ensure confidentiality and act in compliance with GDPR by activating all parameters within the software that allow proper handling of guests’ data. Management must also be able to demonstrate to have adopted all technical and organizational measures necessary to be in line with the principles of the new regulation.

What are the responsibilities of the software producer?

The software provider, the Data Processor, the company providing the PMS, the tool with which data is collected and managed. The legislation requires that software complies with the GDPR “by design” e “by default”, meaning that in the development phase new standards and new regulations are taken into account.

Below is a list of precautions that the software user should implement in order to be able to adapt to the legislation:

1. Contact a legal advisor or a privacy expert for an analysis of the data that is managed within their company and the access granted to each operator to ensure security and control.

2. Entrust the analysis of the IT infrastructure (servers, computers, operating systems, antivirus, firewall, Cloud) to a hardware technician or IT consultant that guarantees the security of the company’s computer system. For example, an operating system has to be constantly updated in order to be in line with GDPR regulations, otherwise the company may be subject to sanctions because it does not own a computer system compliant with legal standards.

3. Define together with the legal adviser the retention period of guests’ data to be configured in the PMS.

4. Prepare clear information sheets and consent requests in line with GDPR in order to prove that an explicit consent from the data holder has been given.

5. Provide adequate training to staff on GDPR to ensure that management instructions are acknowledged and adopted by staff in all daily operations.

Below are listed the parameters that allow software to be compatible with GDPR. For simplicity, the term “company” will be used to indicate the hotel or restaurant using the software. Some examples are related specifically to hotel guest data treatment while others, more in general, refer to data storage and email marketing activities.

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) will enter into force starting May 25th 2018 and replaces the current Data Protection Directive, issued in 1995. The fundamental principles of privacy and data protection have not changed; but the new regulation takes into account the changes caused by digitalization and applies in all EU countries. The most innovative aspects that characterize the new legislation are multiple:

Extraterritorial

If a company transfers data of European citizens to a country outside the EU, for example in the U.S., the organizations or companies that process such data will have to comply with GDPR. Indeed, the new rules, protect data of European citizens and apply to all companies that process or manage such data, regardless of the country in which they have their registered office or where data is processed.

Fines

Expensive fines will be introduced for companies that do not comply with the regulation, sanctions can reach 4% of the global annual turnover or 20 million euros. In which cases will companies be subject to fines? For example, if they do not implement adequate policies to request data processing consent or if they violate the principles underlying the concept of "Privacy by Design".

Privacy by Design

According to GDPR, data protection must not represent an additional component but relate to the design of systems. This means that any project must be developed taking into account confidentiality and protection of personal data from the start.

Consent

Companies that collect or process personal data must explicitly explain to users, all the conditions that regulate the collection and processing of such data and it is mandatory to declare how the requested data will be processed.

Increase in rights of data holders

Citizens will be able to exercise the right to request the cancellation of their data from the database of institutions and companies and the right of access to such information or the possibility to inquire about who is collecting their personal data and for what purposes. Furthermore, upon request, the company can be required to provide within 30 days to the data owner an electronic copy of the data in his possession.

Mandatory notifications of violations

The companies that hold personal data must communicate within 72 hours, both to customers and to the data controller, the occurrence of violations that could expose personal information of data owners

The Booking Engine and Channel Manager are two fundamental tools in hotel management, as they allow to distribute room inventory online and sell on multiple channels, from indirect ones, such as portals and metasearch to direct ones, like the hotel’s website and social networks. Integrated within the property management system, the Booking Engine and Channel Manager allow the exchange of data and information in real time, to have a view of the overall reservation trend directly in the PMS, saving time and resources, with the aim of maximizing the economic return. Daily processes are incredibly simplified: instead of accessing many panels with different credentials, online sales will be managed entirely by the PMS, by logging to a single panel, from which all other managerial activities are carried out.