Jan Hejny is Founder and CEO of HotelTime., the cloud-based PMS system. Jan will be joining a panel of industry thought leaders at ‘Revenue Management and the Connected Customer’ as they discuss the place of the open hotel tech platform in the delivery of a connected customer experience. In advance of this, Jan gives an insight into his thoughts as to how automation is reshaping our industry,.
Customers are getting increasingly impulsive in areas where planning used to be the norm, and the shift is mainly due to the fact that it is way easier to access hyper-personalized offers in real-time.
Travellers have become more volatile: if they don’t find answers to their questions rapidly, then they go searching somewhere else. Chatbots reached a level of sophistication that was unthinkable only five years ago and they can help to guide the customers in their journeys by offering a hyper-personalized, frictionless experience and a faster, better connection with the brand.
The use of AI is revolutionizing not only the way hoteliers interact with their customers, but the way they price their products as well. Hotels should adjust their offers to match each customer unique habits and inclinations. And, thanks to the latest advances in machine learning, this is now possible.
In order to create a real hyper-personalized guest experience, data is essential. And here’s where things get complicated, as hotel data are often stored in on-premise PMS, unable to communicate with other systems. This is changing with the advent of affordable cloud-based PMS but, if we really want to get our Industry out of the 20th Century, we should start valuing our data as the most precious marketing tool we have.
Some analysts have examined the dangers of a new dotcom bubble in AI. The difference, though, is that companies such as Spotify, Netflix or YouTube invest heavily in AI because it is really efficient. Hospitality is a lazy Industry when it comes to technology adoption,…but it’s time to change.
You can hear more from Jan and leading industry colleagues at ‘Revenue Management and the Connected Customer’ on 12th February at the Hilton Bankside, London. Register now and be part of the conversations that matter to shape your revenue management strategy in 2019. It promises to be a day of inspirational debate and networking opportunities. More details here www.opportunity2019.co.uk.
