THE HOTEL GUEST EXPERIENCE IS OUTDATED

In conversation with Barbara Mauthner, Corporate Sales Manager, conichi, ahead of her session at the Business Travel Summit Amsterdam next month. 

Tell us about your session in one sentence?

During my session I will showcase our revolutionary technology that enables guests, hotels and corporates to benefit from a personalised and seamless hotel experience.

What is the single most important piece of advice/information buyers will take away from your talk?

The hotel guest experience is outdated and does not fulfil the needs of today's customer. From pre to post stay we optimise the guest experience allowing for a personalised and mobile experience which will reduce process times for hotels and costs for corporates.

What’s the biggest challenge facing buyers now and why?

Meeting users needs while reducing processes and costs.

What’s the biggest opportunity they should be taking advantage of and why?

The ways new technology can impact the guest experience to reduce operational complexity, waiting times and costs.

Why is it important to have a summit dedicated to buyers in the Nordics and Benelux?

These locations show large amounts of corporate travelers who value time and efficiency and are among the most advanced in mobile services in Europe - thus these markets need to stay ahead of the trends in order to best cater to their customers.

What does being traveller-centric mean to you? How does it benefit buyers?

Being traveller-centric means creating an experience that is tailored around the traveller's needs: mobile, simple, effective and personalised. This benefits the buyer as it improves efficiency on the hotel side by reducing processes allowing them to focus on personal interactions with guests.  

Why are you looking forward to BT Summit Amsterdam?

I am looking forward to meeting industry leaders in order to share and discuss future trends and how we can impact the industry together.

GUEST BLOG: Technology at ground level

With technology and travel now linked intrinsically, the challenge for suppliers is to deliver and exceed traveller expectations. With more and more hotel bookings made on mobile devices, hoteliers have already had to adapt their online presence for smartphones and tablets to ensure that travellers enjoy the best brand experience in the lead up to arrival.   

Yet for hoteliers the technology they offer the business traveller can’t stop there. It's now about providing services that are tailored for the tech-savvy traveller once they arrive.

With guests often travelling with more than one mobile device, it's no surprise that reliable wi-fi with high connection speed is now a must for business travellers, along with multiple opportunities to charge their device within their room and communal spaces. And many travellers would not consider a hotel chain that doesn't provide this complimentary.

As travellers invest in the latest entertainment technology at home, they expect no less when they are travelling and next-generation television sets and MP3 docking stations are also becoming expected features in today’s hotel room.

With tough competition in the meetings and events arena there has also been a shift in expectations – with organisers demanding that hotels go the extra mile to provide services that make doing business more efficient. Meetings and event technology is a key factor to securing repeat business, so hoteliers must think about not only providing the very highest quality technology but ensure that it is easy to use and that dedicated staff are available to manage events on the ground.  

As pioneers in hotel technology, NH Hotel Group faces these challenges on a daily basis. To cater for the growing demand we have introduced our “High Tech Made Easy” initiative, the Group´s value proposition for the MICE segment, which includes 3D holographic projection technology.

For more information, please watch this video: New NH service High Tech Made Easy. This post was written by Rufino Pérez Fernández, Chief Commercial Officer at NH Hotel Group (www.nh-hotels.com). NH Hotels exhibited at the Business Travel Show last week, which experienced a 15% increase in visitor numbers and will return to Olympia in London on 24-25 February 2016.