Top Three Opportunities for Hoteliers in APAC

Due to a general relaxation of travel restrictions, 2023 is anticipated to be a more favourable year for hoteliers throughout the APAC area after the disrupted operating environment hotels endured through the pandemic.

FREMONT, CA: Hoteliers must evaluate their distribution costs per channel and make strategic plans in light of the escalating distribution expenses. Expensive third parties (like OTAs) should only be used when necessary, and hospitality businesses should focus on attracting customers to their most booking channels, particularly their websites. They should improve web traffic from interested travellers to increase direct bookings through their organisations' websites. Hotels must first comprehend travellers' tastes to accomplish this. What dates are they looking for, where are they looking, and why are they going to a specific market? Gathering this market intelligence provides data that can be used to create targeted marketing campaigns that attract the right type of interested travellers and those who are most likely to book.

By retargeting past visitors and directing them to their websites, hoteliers can also increase direct bookings. While researching a location, potential guests visit various travel websites and OTAs before deciding to stay. Hotels must keep their properties at the forefront of consumers' minds and persuade guests to book through the hotel's website. Technology that provides customised advertisements based on visitor behaviour or website activity can assist hotels in achieving a 10 per cent return rate on website visits and increasing direct booking opportunities.

Cost Management as a Central Focus in the Push for Profitability

Ahead of this year, operating expenses will have an increasingly negative impact on hotels' profitability. Investment in technology that helps maximise current resources (like staff) will be a focus. An automated revenue management system (RMS), for instance, is a piece of technology that boosts a hotel's operational efficiency while cutting costs.

Forecasts produced by the RMS can be used by properties to determine personnel requirements and account for periods of increased or lower demand. A hotel can create schedules such that it has fewer employees on hand if the RMS forecasts future low demand.

Optimising the Guest Experience Utilising Real-time Feedback

Guest retention is more important than ever in today's cutthroat digital booking environment. Satisfied guests are more likely to return as happy clients since attracting repeat business is more cost-effective than bringing in new business. Hoteliers must use real-time feedback in 2023 to provide the best possible guest experience.

Today's digitally-savvy guests are accustomed to instant interaction (the ability to interact with a brand about their experience) and response. Guests are no longer willing to take the time after leaving a hotel to assess and thoroughly review their stay. Indeed, those who do may be more likely to have had a negative experience, potentially leading to a negative online review. Rather, guests want to interact with the hotel and impact their stay while they can still do so. Considering a situation where arriving guests complained about a hotel's check-in process on social media or through the hotel's own app. In that case, the operations team could provide additional personnel to alleviate bottlenecks and provide a solution that improves the guest experience. This can benefit a hotel because any negative experiences a guest has can be identified while they are still on the property. Management then has the opportunity to correct the situation in order to improve the guest experience and perception.