AHLA Study Points to Evolving Loyalty Landscape

According to the American Hotel & Lodging Association 2022 State of the Hotel Industry Report, "With high-volume business travel down, traditional, business-focused loyalty programs no longer make sense. The most effective loyalty programs will offer more personalized rewards that meet the needs of occasional business travelers and leisure travelers as well."

Personalization – that's the key. But how can hotels with limited staff focus on each guest and provide them with service catered specifically to them? By selecting technology solutions that help staff learn more about a guest so they can provide personalized experiences. With the right technology in place and staff devoted to the experiences of guests, a property can implement a plan that will allow them to earn guest loyalty through the crafting of hyper-personalized experiences.

Step 1: Know Your Guest

A hospitality solution that uses a single-guest profile across a property is critical for personalization. With insight into a guest’s activities everywhere on the property, staff can offer personalized service immediately by sharing information.  

• If a guest mentions a favorite wine in the restaurant, restaurant staff can make a note on the guest’s profile that is visible for spa staff to offer the wine to the guest during a treatment, or the hotel staff if they want to send it to the guest’s room.  
• If a guest complains about a sore back in the spa, spa staff can make a note on the account that can be seen by the hotel staff who can deliver a warm pillow to the guest’s room to help them relax.

This information remains on the guest’s profile ensuring that staff can leverage and build on it during future visits ensuring each visit by the guest become more customized to their preferences.

Step 2: Reward Your Guest

With a single-guest profile integrated with a robust analytics and marketing solution, staff can engage a guest with personalized offers to encourage them to return. By analyzing past spa visits, a property can craft a special offer for a high-spending, loyal guest based on the treatments they frequently receive. The rewards provided can also be non-monetary in value and instead provide a guest with ‘exclusive’ access.

• Someone who shows up in the analytics as a bleisure travel can be given access to a new or premium meeting space to conduct business for the week.
• An avid golfer can receive access to first-choice or premium tee times not available to average guests.

By reviewing analytics on the behavior of a guest, a property can create personalized guest rewards to thank them for their loyalty.

Step 3: Remember Your Guest

A property should make it a priority to stay in-touch with a guest post-stay. Limited staff, leveraging guest analytics and a digital marketing solution, can easily put together a program to keep top of mind with guests between visits. These communications can be personalized and structured in a way so as not to come across as properties only caring about a guest’s wallet.

• For a bleisure traveler, information on new meeting infrastructure being installed on the property, or tips on working from the road (generated by the property or a shared online article) can show that you’re thinking of them.
• If a loyal guest visits a property for wellness activities like yoga or meditation, sharing tips for stretching and staying centered can help a guest at home and remind them why they love a property.

Loyalty programs are not what they used to be, so property’s need to evolve to earn the loyalty of a guest. The most successful properties will remain flexible and offer personalized service that caters to a guest. Getting to know a guest and being able to provide them with a bespoke experience will translate to positive reviews, higher revenue, and loyal guests.

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