The recent years with a turbulent and unpredictable market have made hoteliers used to dramatic change. Guest booking behavior and previously established travel patterns have been replaced by new ones belonging to a hotelier’s daily challenges. New travel trends and changing guest behavior are here to stay; they must act upon them.
The Importance of Guest Data
If you, as a hotelier, manage to monitor, predict, and act on these changes, you can leverage these challenges and make the most of them at your hotel. But how to tackle them? One thing is sure your guest data is your best asset.
Guest data is your main source for highly powerful insights allowing you to streamline your operations and apply key tactics to increase revenue. And if you combine guest data with smart technology, you will surely be successful in achieving your goals.
4 New Booking Behavior and Travel Trends
Below, you’ll find 4 new booking behavior types and travel trends.
1. Travelers Start to Plan Ahead Again.
While most travelers are still planning and searching for trips in the short term, the share for longer search windows increased during Q4 2022, according to Expedia’s travel insight report for Q1. During the last quarter of 2022, 35% of overall searches were for travel in 2023 — a 55% increase YoY according to the report.
This means that traveler confidence increases, and people plan their trips earlier.
2. Shifting Seasonal Trends
Many markets used to rely on seasons of high and low demand. But what was once predictable and expected is now much more variable.
Today, guests are more flexible and willing to travel during off-peak times. That includes periods before or after traditional high seasons and historically low-demand midweek days.
3. The Rise of Flexcation
The idea of remote work or bleisure travel isn’t new, but the pandemic made it bloom. As flexible work options remain for many companies, “blended” or “flexcation” travel — a longer stay that mixes remote work and play — is on the rise, and the opportunity for those in the travel and hospitality industry is huge. Insights from the Traveler Value Index 2023 study show that 28% of consumers want to take a flexcation trip in the next 12 months.
4. Growing Demand for Digitalization and Personalization
As technology becomes a more natural part of people’s lives, this sets all kinds of customer expectations, which puts a certain pressure on hotels. For example, most guests expect a higher level of digitalization and quick replies regardless of which channel they use to request information.
Guests also look for a certain level of personalization before rating a service as good. They want to feel unique and have a valuable experience. This can challenge hotels as many are still understaffed, and personalizing services demands an increased effort.
If you, as a hotelier, manage to monitor, predict, and act on these changes, you can leverage these challenges and make the most of them at your hotel. But how to tackle them? One thing is sure, your guest data is one of your best assets, and by combining it with smart technology, you have a very effective way of leveraging powerful insights that will allow you to streamline your operations and increase your revenue.
Free Guide: How Hotels Can Use Guest Data to Increase Revenue
This guide, “How Hotels Can Use Guest Data to Increase Revenue“, will educate you on how employing intelligent technology is the most efficient approach to tackle these issues.
Click here to download the Guide “How Hotels Can Use Guest Data to Increase Revenue”.
