What are the best practices and examples of hotel guest journey maps from other hotels or industries?

1 Define your goals and scope

Before you start creating your hotel guest journey map, you need to define your goals and scope. What are you trying to achieve with your map? Who is your target audience? What are the stages of their journey? How much detail do you want to include? Having a clear purpose and focus will help you design a relevant and useful map that aligns with your guest service management strategy.

2 Research your guests and their journey

To create an accurate and realistic hotel guest journey map, you need to research your guests and their journey. You can use various methods, such as surveys, interviews, reviews, feedback, analytics, or observation, to collect data and insights about your guests' demographics, preferences, behaviors, motivations, and challenges. You also need to map out the touchpoints, or the interactions between your guests and your hotel, across the different stages of their journey, such as awareness, booking, arrival, stay, departure, and loyalty.

3 Visualize your map and add layers

Once you have gathered enough information, you can start visualizing your map and adding layers. You can use different formats, such as diagrams, timelines, charts, or storyboards, to present your map in a clear and engaging way. You can also add layers of information, such as guest personas, emotions, expectations, satisfaction, pain points, opportunities, or recommendations, to enrich your map and make it more actionable. You can use colors, icons, symbols, or images to highlight key elements and patterns.

4 Validate and share your map

After you have created your map, you need to validate and share it. You can test your map with real guests, staff, or stakeholders, and ask for their feedback and suggestions. You can also compare your map with other hotels or industries that have similar or different guest journeys, and learn from their best practices and examples. For instance, you can look at how airlines, restaurants, or museums design their guest journey maps, and see what you can apply or adapt to your hotel. You also need to share your map with your team and other departments, and use it as a communication and collaboration tool to improve your guest service management.

5 Update and optimize your map

Finally, you need to update and optimize your map regularly. A hotel guest journey map is not a static document, but a dynamic and evolving tool that reflects the changes in your guests' needs, expectations, and behaviors, as well as in your hotel's offerings, processes, and performance. You need to monitor and measure the impact of your map on your guest experience and satisfaction, and identify areas for improvement or innovation. You also need to review and revise your map based on new data, insights, or feedback, and keep it relevant and useful.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?