As luxury hoteliers are consistently asked to do more with less, capturing and utilizing guest data is more important than ever before. Luxury hotel properties that are effectively using technology to gather guest data give themselves the ability to improve their operations, increase revenue, and enhance the guest experience.
Hoteliers don’t need to implement expensive and complex systems to make a big difference in their property’s operations. They simply need a way to predictably capture data from their guests. That’s why properties around the world are utilizing technology like Canary’s Contactless Check-In to gather the data they need to improve their bottom lines. Here’s how our customers are doing just that.
Driving Direct Bookings
Capturing complete guest data is invaluable to luxury hotels who are looking to drive more direct bookings. Last year, 51% of hotel bookings were made from an Online Travel Agency (OTA), which charge between 15-30% of the value of each reservation. While hotels attempt to push guests who book through OTAs to return to their property by booking directly, the majority of luxury hotels are not equipped to gather the information necessary to market to returning guests.
If properties implement a self-service check-in tool like Contactless Check-In from Canary, they are able to capture the information that will allow them to effectively market to guests who’ve already stayed at their property. Our customers gather complete contact information for over 80% of guests through the Canary interface. With over half of bookings coming from OTAs, this means that properties without a self-service check-in solution like Canary are missing data on over 40% of their guests.
Capturing this guest data through Canary allows our customers to run email marketing and retargeting campaigns, which are significantly more cost effective than campaigns attempting to attract new guests. In fact, hotel marketing groups report that attracting new guests can be five times as expensive as driving return visitors, making gathering guest data essential for cost-effective marketing.
Revenue Management
Collecting guests’ data before they arrive also allows our customers to improve their revenue management. No-shows and late cancellations make it difficult to predict what room inventory will be available for a given night, which has a direct impact on every hotel’s bottom line.
With a self-service check-in process, hotels can gather accurate information on any no-shows and cancellations early in the day (typically at least four hours before guests arrive), allowing them to predict exactly how many rooms they will have available well in advance. This allows the property to predict if they will be overbooked, and understand how many rooms are available for last-minute bookings. With as many as 20% of bookings resulting in no-shows or cancellations, the ability to accurately forecast room availability has huge benefits to keeping occupancy as high as possible.
Operational Efficiencies
When hotel staff are aware of when guests’ arrival and departure times, they’re able to plan and staff their day in a way that would otherwise be impossible. If there is no way to predict when guests are coming and going, hoteliers are unable to staff housekeeping appropriately, for example, leading to unnecessary long hours and idle time. Additionally, hotels without visibility into guest arrival and departure times are unable to assign rooms efficiently, causing wasted inventory and decreased occupancy.
With a self-service check-in tool like Canary’s Contactless Check-In, hotels can plan for exactly when they will need housekeeping, and can allocate rooms to maximize revenue. Because Contactless Check-In also includes the opportunity to monetize late check-out, properties are able to generate even more revenue from the guests they already have.
Upsells and Add-Ons
Since we rolled out Contactless Check-In, our customers have seen a 25% increase in revenue from add-ons and upsells. While this increase has come from guests requesting add-ons during the Canary Contactless Check-In process, it has also proven to be a valuable source of data.
With approximately 30% of guests selecting add-ons during the Canary check-in process, our customers are able to use the data they’re gathering from Canary to promote their best-selling amenities, driving further revenue. Properties that use Canary can also see how changes in price are affecting sales for each amenity, allowing them to optimize to drive as much revenue as possible.
How To Get Started
Hotels have been turning to technology to keep their properties safe and adjust to changing guest preferences. However, it’s becoming increasingly clear that the benefits of technology like Contactless Check-In allow hoteliers to significantly drive their bottom line.
To get started, visit us at canarytechnologies.com to see what we can do for your property.
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