Advertisements that influenced bookings: The following chart shows the impact of travel videos among the segment: - The top two activities travellers perform on smartphone, tablet and computer are: researching an upcoming trip and looking up for directions/maps. | Affluent travellers rely on digital for travel inspiration and booking, are increasingly viewing travel videos online and seeking out loyalty programs, reveals a Google study. Trip planning A majority of affluent travellers (70%) begin their trip research online even before deciding on the destination or mode of travel. About 50% plan to spend more time researching because getting value-for-money product is important. Despite the number of travel brands focusing on the trip planning stage, 59% of affluent travellers use search engines as their go-to source for travel ideas and information. They continue to comparison shop for all components of travel, especially hotels. Comparison activity in 2013 was higher than 2012 for all three sectors – air, hotel and car rental. While the affluent continue to prioritize upscale hotels, interest is growing with 48% to book peer-to-peer sharing services Airbnb and Zipcar. This is seen as an emerging trend among the affluent. The study says 68% of affluent travellers are influenced to book travel by advertisements. Among these, the top three influencing factors are search engine results, online ads and email promotions. Social media ads are considered as the sixth most influential factor. Trip inspiration While 87% of the affluent consider the internet as their travel planning source, only 64% consider it their travel inspiration source. Another top source of trip inspiration includes family, friends and colleagues. Magazines, traditionally viewed as a leading source for inspiration, are not viewed as important compared to other sources. When it comes to factors that influence them in prioritizing destinations, they give the highest importance to (in-destination) activities relevant to their interests. The other top criteria for selecting destinations include: price, past travel experience with a destination, online reviews and promotion. Brand sites (for hotels, airlines), search engines and online travel agents (OTAs) are the top sources for planning. Since 2011, the reliance on hotel brand sites has increased by five points, reliance on OTAs has decreased by five points and reliance on destination-specific websites has decreased by eight points. Multi-device influence on trip planning More than half of affluent travellers (55%) access travel information on their smartphones or tablets for planning. They use all screens to engage in travel-related activities, and hence a multi-device strategy is no longer optional for travel brands. The top two activities travellers perform on smartphone, tablet and computer are: researching an upcoming trip and looking up for directions/maps. Convenience is the top reason the affluent book on smartphones. Many affluent travellers depend on their smartphones for last-minute reservations of air, car rental, accommodation and vacation related products. Though the number of same day hotel booking services is increasing, the usage of smartphones for last-minute trip research is almost equally split across four sectors. Travel videos About 55% of travellers watch travel videos online, an increase of five points since 2012. The affluent leverage travel videos throughout all stages of travel and engage with all types of videos. Top video types viewed by the segment include brand videos, review videos by experts and videos posted by travel related channels. The influence of travel videos among affluent travellers is significant with 90% taking some type of action after viewing a travel video online. The following chart shows the impact of travel videos among the segment: Loyalty programs Almost all (96%) affluent travellers belong to a loyalty program, an increase of two points since 2012. They are also increasingly likely to book based on loyalty program membership of airlines, hotels, car rental brands and OTAs. Affluent travellers are interested in joining loyalty program mainly because of financial and future perks. The following chart highlights other major reasons: Not so surprisingly, 82% of affluent travellers prefer to get loyalty program updates via email. Methodology Google commissioned Ipsos MediaCT, an independent marketing research company, to conduct a study among US consumers to better understand the role that travel plays in: airline, cruise, lodging, car rental and vacation packages. Total sample size: 3,500 personal travellers, 1,500 business travellers and 1,500 affluent (with $250K+ household income) travellers. NB: The entire study can be downloaded here. - See more at TNOOZ |
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![]() I really enjoyed reading Piers predictions of trends int he Boutique market. Most fascinating was the change in room service! - Wilna Top ten boutique hotel future trends for 2014 Boutique Hotel News' Piers Brown gives his forecast of what the boutique hotel sector can expect to see during the coming year. Hotel shopfronting Hotel frontages will become more competitive places for advertising brands. It's not about an increased number parading affiliation plaques, or a multitude of front door or window stickers displaying the latest hotel recommendation or award for a variety of accolades - they're all too numerous, less noticeable and becoming distracting in nature. The majority are non-revenue generating for the hotelier welcoming the pre-booked guest. Even worse, many promote the very OTAs that take heavy booking commissions - why? That's a discussion for another time but we think there will be an increased focus on incremental direct revenue generation from appropriate third-party advertisers who value the space and a captive hotel guest demographic more. Expect to see more engaging hotel front window 'theatre' and digital brand advertising with heightened social media interaction popping up, particularly in high-value advertiser urban locations. Let's not forget, Selfridges, Oxford Street, London's prime retail store windows are amongst the most expensive in the world for brands to secure - tempted? OTAs get closer to the hotel guest These online travel agent technology companies are becoming a huge threat to direct hotel bookings, achieving expanding market share with heavy investment and increased customer (guest) loyalty based on price attractiveness. Price will remain a dominating factor. Expect to see OTAs collaborating more and purchasing 'high-touch' service travel agents or similar, as they look to get closer to guests in other ways, based on making the complete travel experience easier - keep an eye out for a splurge of complementing free mobile apps developed by OTAs too. Hostels create the 'pos(h)tel' experience The luxury hostel category grows boutique and individual, taking form and design inspiration from the likes of 'boutique chic' Citizen M and Marriott's Moxy hotel brands. Upscale hostels are now a booming business with many urban locations offering flexible lodging pricepoints, safe and friendly accommodation and great value food and beverage options.They're gunning for Generation Y business all day long as increasingly sophisticated young travellers on a budget migrate for the homier comforts of a posh hostel. It won't be long before established hotel groups scoop up the major players in the sector in an effort to understand and retain this future hotel guest. Mobile no more The 'year of mobile' has come and gone as smartphone manufacturers show signs that mobile is no longer an emerging technology or media platform with flat revenues and declining average selling price for devices. Despite mobile accounting for 20 per cent of all travel sales, hoteliers battle to convert mobile users who are currently three times less likely to book a hotel room than those using a PC. Hotel marketers who proclaim themselves innovative and disruptive will already be looking elsewhere in the technological sphere for the next big thing. Tangible technology Cutting-edge hoteliers focus on 'wearable tech', with Google already pushing, albeit slightly odd looking,Google Glass to the market. Applications are numerous and hotel marketing innovators envisage what's possible and wonder how and when these technologies will be adopted by business and the average consumer. We're likely to see front of house staff wearing Google glasses for guest facial recognition as early as the first quarter of 2014. Suffice to say hotel websites will place more focus on remote engagement to reflect "what's happening in the hotel right now" with real time applications. Hotel reviews come clean Cleanliness is always a top priority for guests, and boutique hoteliers have an obligation to provide their guests with a safe and secure environment. Housekeeping practices vary across brands and properties with little or no standardization industry wide. The current validation method for hotel room cleanliness is a visual assessment, which has been shown to be ineffective in measuring levels of sanitation. Expect more regular and thorough contamination checks by hotel owners with adenosine triphosphate (ATP) measuring devices for instance, that determines microbial contamination on surfaces, and ultraviolet light pens for detecting stains invisible to the naked eye. Don't be surprised to see fanatical hotel reviewers carrying this handy tool! Luxury leaves the middle-class developed world behind For the luxury traveller who can still afford the high-end, things are going great. However, technology and the free flow of information continue to remove middle-class jobs, and those that remain do not pay what they once did. The cost of being middle class has increased out of proportion to the cost of merely living. This has ramifications from a boutique hotel guest booking, spend and hotel management wage perspective. Any middle class is essentially an urban phenomenon. In days past, when a town and its hotel industry fell into decline, its middle class disappeared. But as a new town rose in tandem with hotel development, a new middle class would spring up as if by magic. And that's what is happening now. A new middle class is appearing in Russia, India, China and the Middle East, and it's perhaps no surprise future projected hotel new builds in these areas tower over everywhere else. The rise and fall of room service creates a new dining experience Hilton Midtown New York's recent removal of room service sent shockwaves through the hotel industry. If management provide a service which is only marginally valued by the guest at best, then there is a strong motivation to end such a practice, and offer a simple, yet more streamlined approach to guest services. The elimination of room service also eliminates exorbitant service charges and guest complaints about cold food that's supposed to be hot, exorbitantly priced items and late deliveries. Ask yourself, whether removing room service and a food and beverage offering takes the experience out of your boutique hotel stay, or does it just make things a bit more streamlined, cut accommodation expenses and ensure a more "experiential" trip. For example, the recently opened Nadler boutique hotel in Soho, London encourages lodgers to dine in the local area because the offering is so good, liberating guests from the limitations of room service and restaurant fare. A grab and go breakfast offering like from the Aloft select-service brand with rooms designed with an empty fridge (no mini bar) for guests to use is the closest 'halfway house' option we've seen, catering to the ever more individually empowered guest who value their freedom and "no strings" approach. Denihan Hospitality's Affinia Hotels, a small luxury-boutique chain, has taken this approach one step further linking with the online grocer FreshDirect to provide specially packed meals for guests including healthy options. Through this partnership, Affinia Hotels can have guests' rooms fully stocked upon arrival, so that they feel like they're at home during their visit - hotel grocery delivery is not just for select-service, extended-stay or family resorts anymore. Foodification There is nothing more personal than food. Consumers today have an amazing personal connection with what they put into their bodies. Dining has become a comprehensive and interactive experience with diners becoming more knowledgeable about their food choice, peppering the waiting staff and chef with questions about sustainability, responsible husbandry, and local chef-prepared ingredients top dining trends. As a result, boutique hotels will focus on the trend of fresh, local and in season, displaying the percentage of locally sourced food or similar on the menu. Current buzzwords include 'farm to fork' and the SLOW philosophy ( seasonal, local, organic and wild), 'snackification' and 'small-plate movement' - the trend of communal and informal eating. The lure of small portions that encourage diners to purchase additional dishes, therefore increasing revenue. Variations include a healthy eating / low calorie total meal approach. While product is everything, don't underestimate organisational innovation with hotels increasingly taking their food offering to the street. The "Taste by Four Seasons"food trucks for example. More luxury retailers move into hospitality With Millennials defining themselves more by what they do than what they own, luxury brands continue to dare to remain relevant with consumers whose appetite for luxury and definition of luxury is constantly changing. Luxury retailers are already expanding beyond fashion and accessories as they aim to keep their customers interested with a 360 degree experience, based on what they are buying, what they are eating, where they are staying and who they are listening to. Boutique hotel guests are looking for information not only from their family and friends, but also from brand experts - balancing professional and shareable opinions with personal advice. Click here to read from Piers. ![]() I love reading about new trends and this article by Robert Rauch was particularly insightful. Millennials rule and service levels increase! - Wilna Top 10 Hospitality Industry Trends in 2014 By Robert Rauch, CHA
ROBERT A. RAUCH, CHA Robert Rauch serves as President of R. A. Rauch & Associates, Inc. He is a nationally recognized hotelier serving clients in all facets of the industry. Rauch has over 35 years of hospitality-related management experience. Widely recognized as the "hotel guru," Mr. Rauch maintains a blog where he expounds upon insights and trends in the hospitality industry at www.hotelguru.com. |
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