Even with the ripple effect on the hospitality industry from the pandemic, the hospitality industry has shown that it is resilient and able to adapt and respond to changes. Although the economic landscape is experiencing huge disruptions, travel is one of the industries where traveller’s budgets are seeing continual increases with travel plans still going ahead.
The travel and tourism industry continues to creep back to pre-pandemic levels. However, although travel is back on the cards for many travellers, it’s important for the hospitality industry to continue adapting to trends and changes to meet the expectations of post-covid travellers. Let’s take a look at some of the emerging trends within the hospitality industry this year.
Why Is It Important To Keep Up With Hospitality Trends?
The most successful hospitality companies go through constant evolvements, but if you are going to achieve an autonomous and ever-adaptive business, then it is vital to keep up with the latest hospitality trends. Keeping up with the latest trends in hospitality will give you the best possible chance of being able to reach the right target audience. As well as this, implementing new hospitality technologies can make your business more efficient and, in some cases, it can help to improve overall customer experience.
Failure to keep up with the latest hospitality trends can lead to serious negative impacts on your business. Worse than this, it can cause your business to deliver less than adequate customer service to your guests.
Rates Increasing Has Caused Expectations To Increase
Rates for hotel rooms continue to increase in line with inflation and demand, with an average 54% increase between January 2022 and January 2023. These prices are, at least, partially responsible for a recorded drop in guest satisfaction in 2022. This is because customers are paying more, but aren’t receiving anything additional in return.
Although increasing operational costs are making it difficult for hotels to increase the value of a hotel stay, there are many low-cost ways in which hotels can make guests feel as though they are getting more for their money.
But, this requires creativity. In order to provide an extra touch of first class hospitality, hotels should look to provide personalised messages and use customer data in the right way. This can include offering guests discounts if they book well in advance, or partnering with small local businesses to provide guests with nice welcome gifts, such as coffee or biscuits.
Hybrid Work Has Seen An Increase In Hybrid Trips
Following the disruption to both business and travel, it’s positive to see that business travel is seeing further signs of recovery during the pandemic. But, the office space is a different environment than it was pre-pandemic. There are now far more people working remotely or within hybrid environments, and this often means within hotel environments. Hotel leaders should be prepared to meet the needs of both guests and business people.
In order to cater to these guests, hotels should pay attention to timings when it comes to meeting these additional needs and requirements. During the week, especially during business hours, travellers may be in search of things such as strong and reliable Wi-Fi connections, calm and quiet spaces and better working spaces. You could consider the current offerings of your flexible working spaces, or look to make desk spaces within guest bedrooms more beneficial to the needs of your guests.
You could also consider work perks for guests who do need to work whilst staying in your hotel, such as free coffee or in-room service menus. Then, once guests clock off from their work, you can then provide further perks to help them relax and unwind, such as happy hour offers at the bar or discounted gym and spa access.
Technology Recognition Is A Must
One of the leading trends in hospitality following the pandemic is the increased desire for self-service. During 2020, online services and contactless check-ins were lifelines for the industry and ongoing demand shows that this isn’t going anywhere. This, however, doesn’t mean that front-of-house services are suffering. In a recent study, less than 25% of respondents said that they believed front desk services were at risk.
A key takeaway that comes from the demand for self-service is that guests like to have options available to them. Ease should be available to guests where required through the use of mobile and technology advancements, but if guests need help or require services, then front-of-house desks should be available. Ensuring these services are in place can also help lessen the strain from staff shortages by reducing the workload of the front desk in your hotel, which then allows staff to be more attentive with face to face guests.
Having things such as room service delivery, mini bar restocks and cleaning or dry cleaning services available for guests to request through an app, can allow the staff delivering the service to be more welcoming and deliver better customer service.
Experience Is The Focal Point Of Travel
Even though the ‘where’ has always been a focus point when it comes to travel, what guests can do once they arrive at their destination has become of more importance in recent years. Whether this has been caused by an ongoing sense of disappointment from covid, or just an increase sense of excitement with travel, around 88% of travellers said in a recent study that they were planning to seek out experiences when they visit their next destination.
From unique eating experiences, fun-packed excursions or exploring the local area, no matter what it is that guests are looking to experience, hotels act as the base and staff can usually provide local information for guests. A good idea to enhance this is for hotels to partner with businesses in the local area and offer things that they think guests would like to do during their stay. This is also great for guests who want to learn more about the area, or for hotel to broaden their guest engagement offerings. Reach out to nearby wineries or breweries to see if they want to feature their products in the hotel bar in exchange for discounts for guests, speak to local chefs about offering cooking classes in the hotel or host pop up events for businesses – there are many ways you can showcase the local area to your hotel guests.
Conclusion
As explored in this article, these leading trends are driving the hospitality industry in a huge way. Following covid, the whole industry has seemingly grown stronger and is now ready to offer much more for guests. Whether this is in the form of a huge hospitality or commercial fit out or simply broadening their guest services, there’s a lot to consider when it comes to the hospitality industry and the success it can bring.