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How To Put The Customer First As You Digitalize Your Hotel Operations

Hoteliers need to know where they want to get to and when, as they map out their digital transformation, advises Shona Whitehead , founder of Cogent Blue , in her latest blog for Duetto.?

Cogent Blue believes that hotel companies big or small should focus on the same priorities when purchasing tech. They need:

• To be easy to do business with from a customer perspective
• Have a single source of truth for data
• Have a stable and integrated tech stack

“You need stability between all your different systems to enable you to take advantage of new technologies as they come in. You want to be able to switch out tech easily when a better solution comes along. It's much easier for independents and small hotel groups to do that,” Whitehead explained.

Owners, investors, and asset managers often play a role in the purchasing decision of new technology. Here, Cogent Blue believes more emphasis should be placed on the improved asset value technology can bring.

“If you're building something that you're going to be managing it's a considerably different decision from if you're flipping a property. We see all the time where technology sticking plasters are applied because owners don’t want to invest. Owners and asset managers don’t know how to communicate how technology forms part of the value of the asset,” Whitehead explained.

The other value Whitehead sees in technology investment is in retaining talent. Hotels need to better understand how technology can help them augment the value of their team members.

“Technology should be used to automate repetitive tasks and free up team members to do the more interesting jobs, and properly spend time doing what they should be doing. I don't think hospitality has harnessed that yet. Staff worry new technology will remove their jobs, but it doesn’t. Having the latest systems can help you attract and retain talent,” Whitehead said.

Read now and learn more about the benefits of digital transformation, putting the customer first in tech decisions, and the asset value of technology: https://www.duettocloud.com/library/why-digital-transformation-should-start-with-the-customer

Major Trends for Hoteliers to Watch in 2023

PhocusWire points to increased digitalization, the return of business travel, the continued evolution of “bleisure” and impressive growth in average daily rates (ADR) as some of the major trends the hotel industry witnessed in 2022.

However, while many markets have seen a return to 2019 performance figures in terms of rates and occupancy, uncertainty still remains.

As hoteliers plan for 2023, what should be their focus? Where are the opportunities? And what are the threats? In this article, PhocusWire caught up with industry experts from around the world including Duetto’s Chief Revenue Officer, Chris Crowley .

Hotels can expect to see performance returning to 2019 levels, but hotels have to take the learnings of the past two years forward with them and not fall back into old habits. Here’s how:

• Incorporate forward-looking data into your strategy. Historic data is no longer sufficient to build a hotel revenue strategy.
• Demand will continue to be variable. This is because the world will continue to experience multiple overlapping market crises repeatedly. Hotels need to adopt very flexible pricing models, especially in high-volume hub city destinations.
• Pricing must be dynamic and flexible. Hotels can no longer rely on fixed pricing models to deliver consistent and reliable volumes of business. Dynamic pricing and rate flexibility have become essential, not just for the hotel, but also to attract a new breed of engaged travelers.

So what can we expect from 2023? There will be more tech adoption as hotels continue to get to grips with doing more with less; business travel is returning but in a new guise as corporates are repeatedly asked to curb travel spend; and that short-term booking window remains.

Discover more in the full article here: https://www.phocuswire.com/trends-for-hoteliers-to-watch-2023

What Are Your Trends & Predictions For 2023 – Let Us Know

Duetto has launched its latest annual Trends & Predictions 2023 Survey and is giving hoteliers a chance to win one of five $100 Amazon Gift Cards for completing the short five-minute survey.

Open to hoteliers, revenue consultants, owners, and asset managers, the Revenue Management Outlook & Trends Survey 2023 is looking for input on:

• The biggest challenges facing hoteliers in 2023
• Trends in hotel technology investment and adoption
• The growing importance of automated processes in revenue management
• How hotels intend to optimize business mix in 2023

This is the second annual survey from Duetto. The 2020 results showed that 77.6% of respondents expected to increase their hotel tech investment in the next three years.

The Duetto Revenue Management Outlook & Trends Survey 2023 will run until January 15, 2023. Results will be reported in early February.

Fill out the survey here and let Duetto know more about what trends you see shaping hotel revenue management in 2022:?https://duettocloud.typeform.com/outlook-trend23

• Stay up to date with the latest revenue strategy thought leadership. Sign up for the Duetto Check-In email newsletter today: https://www.duettocloud.com/sign-up-for-duetto-newsletter ?