The hospitality industry is finding mobility is the key to delivering travelers a more satisfying stay
With WiFi firmly established as the must-have hotel technology for business travels, hoteliers are turning their attention to other innovations, including better pre-trip communication, seamless check-in and e-folio integration.
To begin with, globally travelers are increasingly turning to mobile bookings, with more than a quarter of transactions booked on mobile devices. This according to the 2014 Hotels.com Hotel Price Index, which also showed an increase of over 80 percent in Hotels.com bookings made by US mobile users.
Last-minute bookings seem to have been the driver behind the mobile surge, with 50 percent of Hotels.com travelers booking same or next-day hotel stays.
To accommodate all the on-the-go bookings, hoteliers are beefing up their mobile presence with increasingly sophisticated apps available across a number of platforms, to enable guests to search for hotel deals, book rooms, view upcoming reservations and find hotels with their GPS.
But shopping and booking alone are just the beginnings of what guests are looking for in a mobile experience. According to new research by Cornell’s Center for Hospitality Research (CHR), travelers are particularly interested in using mobile capabilities for such features as room-ready notifications, requesting room amenities, hotel services and rooms upgrades.
The Cornell report, entitled The Mobile Revolution Is Here: Are You Ready? is the first phase of a multi-part project sponsored in part by Intel and Monscierge, a global software company specializing in hospitality solutions.
“This is the first look at guests’ mobile expectations while they are on property, proving that guest desire a mobile-enhanced experience,” says Gene Hopper, who manages strategy and alignment for Monscierge. “These expectations aren’t unrealistic. We’re using our phones to get our prescriptions, do our banking – already various relationships of trust. Guests expect to use smartphones to build connections to their hotels, to take the friction out of regular tasks.”
But in order to get the most out of those apps – both to give the guest a truly personalized experience and as a tool to collect data for hoteliers to use in marketing and operations – guests must be willing to share some level of personal information.
Another hospitality industry research project, this one from the University of Houston Conrad N. Hilton College of Hotel and Restaurant Management, finds that indeed a growing number of travelers are open to the idea. According to researchers Drs. Cristian Morosan and Agnes DeFranco, more than one-third of guests are willing to disclose personal information on hotel apps, provided they meet certain criteria.
“Guests weigh the risks and benefits of information disclosure and are willing to disclose personal information to apps if the hotels make the personalization benefits clear to them and design apps that stimulate positive emotions, such as joy, pleasure and excitement,” DeFranco said. “Hotel apps should be conducive to trust, and allow guests to reduce their search time and conveniently find/personalize services that are relevant to their consumption.”
However there are several factors that play into the question of who shares what kind of information and how much. The Mobile Revolution Is Here findings reveal that women and younger travelers are more willing to share some limited personal information on in exchange for special services.
The type of information requested was a factor, too. According to the University of Houston study, guests were much more willing to share certain personal details – things like room preferences, amenity preferences and gender – but less willing to share details like income, credit card information and driver’s license or passport numbers.
Of course, the app revolution in the hospitality industry is being driven by the ever-increasing growth in the mobile platforms that are available to travelers. Of the survey’s 320 respondents, more than 85 percent said they always carry a mobile device when traveling, with more than half (55 percent) saying they carry two to three.
One other item of interest from the Cornell report: Travelers say they would prefer one app that could be used to create a personal travel profile, and serve as a central repository for their information and preferences. In that way, whichever hotels they choose could provide that personalized experience without having to download apps for individual hotels or brands.
“Through smartphones and tablets, hotel apps can become rich portals for guests and superb tools for hotels to learn about their clients, anticipate their needs and provide outstanding service,” Morosan said. “As guests set increasingly blurry boundaries between the public and private spheres of their lives online, investigating how they trade their personal information for uniquely personalized hotel experiences will continue to be a top priority for our research agenda.”
OTHER STORIESApple Pay Comes to
Amex Corporate CardsAmerican Express has announced that its corporate card portfolio has been activated for Apple Pay, allowing card members to pay with compatible Apple devices at contactless merchants in stores, or within participating apps that accept American Express.
The mobile payment option is available for eligible US corporate cards, the first major corporate card portfolio to offer Apple Pay. American Express added Apple Pay for consumer cards and OPEN Small Business Cards in late 2014.
According to American Express, when a card is added to Apple Pay, the actual card numbers are not stored on the device, nor on Apple servers. Instead, a unique device account number is assigned, encrypted and securely stored in the secure element on your device. Each transaction is authorized with a one-time unique dynamic security code.
Travel and Transport Launches Wearable AppTravel and Transport has unveiled the latest version of their eTTek Dash app for Apple and Android wearable devices. The app is available to the public through the Apple and Android markets. eTTek Dash features for wearable devices include access to current flight information, car and hotel data and future trip details.
Future features of the wearable app include the ‘Contact an Agent’ functionality that will connect a traveler directly to a travel agent, expected to release early fourth quarter 2015. In addition to the new eTTek Dash wearable app, several other updates were made to Travel and Transport’s app including hotel check-in and live wait times (as opposed to TSA wait times).
Hilton Unlocks Digital KeyHilton Worldwide has rolled out Digital Key, a new feature of the Hilton HHonors app. The feature gives frequent guests the option to bypass the hotel check-in counter and access their rooms, as well as fitness centers, pools or any other areas of the hotel that require a key, via the Hilton HHonors app on their smartphones.
Digital Key is in beta testing at the Hilton Alexandria Old Town in Alexandria, VA., and will continue through 2015 at select US properties. By early 2016, Hilton says, members will be able to use their smartphones as their room key at 250 properties under the Hilton Hotels & Resorts, Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts, Conrad Hotels & Resorts and Canopy by Hilton brands in the US.
Dash the Robot Arrives at Crowne PlazaInterContinental Hotels Group has launched a new hotel delivery robot at the Crowne Plaza San Jose-Silicon Valley hotel. The robot, named Dash, was created by Savioke, a Santa Clara, CA-based company that specializes in robot solutions for the hospitality industry.
Dash is about 3 feet tall and weighs less than 100 pounds. The machine travels at a human walking pace and can independently navigate between floors, even calling the hotel elevator using a special WiFi connection. When Dash delivers the requested amenities, it phones the guest to announce its arrival, delivers the items and makes its way back to the front desk where it can dock itself into its own charging station ready for the next assignment.
Based how well Dash does at the Milpitas hotel, IHG will look at rolling out the robot at other Crowne Plaza properties.
Hilton and Uber Team Up For Two Digital InitiativesHilton Worldwide and Uber have announced a partnership to offer expanded digital features to simplify and streamline the travel experience. Through the partnership, Hilton guests can set automated notifications to request Uber rides to and from the hotel.
Additionally, later this month, HHonors members will also be able to explore the ‘Local Scene’ in select US cities through a digital guide of the top trending restaurants and nightlife spots selected for being the most frequented destinations with Uber riders.
“This is the first time any company has leveraged Uber riders’ most frequented destinations to provide local recommendations,” said Rich DiStefano, senior director of mobile products at Hilton Worldwide. “We're excited to offer these unique benefits," he added.”
AmTrav Introduces Live ChatGlobal business travel agency AmTrav is rolling out its in-house 24/7 live chat service to assist its customers with travel-related questions. The pilot of the program resulted in over 10,000 live chat requests; the pilot’s success prompted AmTrav to release the feature to all of its customers.
Clients and prospects can initiate a live chat with agents from any page on the AmTrav website, and can also access chat from any smartphone or tablet. The same in-house agents who handle phone inquiries are the ones who will answer chat requests.
FAA OKs Gogo’s Next Generation Inflight InternetThe Federal Aviation Administration has granted the final Supplemental Type Certificate (STC) for Gogo’s 2Ku next generation satellite connectivity service. The technology is currently installed on Gogo’s 737-500 test plane and is now cleared for inflight testing. Gogo expects to launch commercial service of its 2Ku technology later this year.
2Ku is expected to deliver peak speeds of more than 70 Mbps to the aircraft, which is more than 20 times the bandwidth provided by Gogo’s first generation Air to Ground solution in the US.
Seven commercial airlines have signed up for either a trial or fleet deployment of 2Ku covering more than 500 commercial aircraft. Gogo expects to launch commercial service later this year and begin rapid installation of the backlog of 500 aircraft in 2016.
Travel and Transport Integrates Traxo Data AggregationTraxo for Business has announced an agreement with Travel and Transport to integrate Traxo’s data aggregation services, helping to capture and organize travel data for both corporate and leisure clients.
Travel and Transport will use Traxo’s technology to provide comprehensive management, customer support, duty of care monitoring and travel spend reporting to their clients.
“Delivering comprehensive travel solutions for corporate programs requires the efficient aggregation of bookings made across all channels,” said Mike Kubasik, Travel and Transport executive vice president and chief information officer. “Traxo’s travel data toolkit augments the technologies we have in place.”
TravelersBox Converts Foreign Change to Digital CurrencyTravelersBox, a solution which lets travelers convert leftover foreign change into usable digital currency, is expanding its service to Manila International Airport in the Philippines.
TravelersBox solves the problem of local currency accumulated during international travels, with significant lost value accruing over time. Travelers can use TravelersBox kiosks located in airports to deposit their leftover foreign coins and bills directly into online accounts including PayPal, gift cards (iTunes, Starbucks, Skype, Gap, and more) or to make a charitable donation before leaving a country.
With the addition of the Philippines, TravelersBox currently operates airport kiosks in Italy, Turkey and Georgia, and will soon launch in Brazil and India. In each country the machines accept the local currency and other popular currencies in the area.