Note: For HOTELS’ 50th anniversary issue in September, the editors called on industry leaders to offer their ideas about the current state of disciplines ranging from design and F&B to disruption and investment. Today we present Fergus Boyd, vice president of Digital and IT for Yotel, London, who writes about why digital is cool, relevant and needs to be more direct to guests.
When I came into the hotel world about two years ago, the first thing I noticed was how backward IT and digital thinking was in the hospitality sector compared to my previous fast-moving, innovative world of airlines.
I think in a lot of cases hotels are half to one generation behind airline thinking, but even airlines are half to one generation behind retail. Retail is the fastest-growing e-commerce sector because of the amount of competition in that world. The hospitality industry is more fragmented than airlines, and OTAs understandably have taken advantage of this.
I totally salute the amazing marketing and IT prowess of the big OTA players, and it is them we look up to for best practice digital and IT experience in hospitality, not hotels. One challenge for hotels is that an OTA cost of sale can be hidden in reduced ADR and isn’t necessarily instantly visible in the P&L. Today’s revenue managers can happily pass large quantities of inventory to OTAs to drive occupancy, but this comes with reduced profits. Hospitality needs “commercial managers”—not the revenue managers—driving profitability. In all aspects of digital marketing, costs are transparent and digital managers have to be on their toes to prove ROI and contribution to the top line.
For smaller chains like YOTEL to succeed, they must target specific segments through multi-channels and go all out to win direct traffic. For us, that segment is “digital naturals,” which is a mindset, not a demographic. It isn’t about just targeting younger customers. Millennials and “digital natives” are so last year!
This target audience includes technologically savvy, design-aware travelers of any age who value a unique experience. The customer experience has changed to a BYOD (bring your own device) model. It’s not about crazy frills controlled through an app like window blinds, heating, lighting, toilet flush, etc. But it is about large TVs that can act as screens with super-fast, reliable WiFi so that guests can stream their own content.
It’s about being inclusive and focusing on anyone, of any age, who gets why digital is cool and relevant, and who wouldn’t dream of picking up a telephone to book. It’s about a great product (smartly designed rooms/cabins and co-working, shared public spaces), gelled with a great online proposition that makes selling and servicing easy and natural. It’s about being obsessive about the online journey, constantly testing and tuning a fast, responsive mobile-friendly website, and keeping cost of sale low.
Mobile apps are great for in-hotel concierge servicing. In reality, some apps are developed for vanity, but responsive sites are sanity. Let’s be realistic: Few guests want to keep a hotel app on their device beyond the duration of their stay. Responsive sites drive low-cost sales and servicing. It’s not cross-channel or omni-channel, it’s just “customer channel,” which means direct digital.
Contributed by Fergus Boyd, vice president, Digital and IT, Yotel, London