The hotel industry has undergone a massive shift over the last two years. Since 2020 and the COVID pandemic, unprecedented turmoil washed over all hotel owners. Now that 2022 is almost over, we seem to have mostly beaten the deadly virus - or at least learned to prevent it from spreading enough to allow us to travel again.
In this new reality, all hospitality business owners need to adapt to the new rules, or they will quickly fall behind their competition. In preparation for 2023, let's take a closer look at a few of the biggest trends and changes in the hotel industry over the last years.
Hospitality in the post-pandemic world
Even though we are seemingly past the worst point of the pandemic, it is still a very real threat to this day. Special care must be taken by hotel managers to ensure safety and hygiene - and there are a number of trends hoteliers can follow. Making hand gel and disinfection stations widely available for guests is a good start.
Too many people crammed into a tiny space might be a health concern as well. Make sure your hotel is well-ventilated, and that conference rooms and business areas aren't overcrowded.
Making safety and hygiene a marketing point is an effective strategy, reassuring guests and helping them feel safe at your hotel.
Guests expect more personalisation
All over the world, guests have also grown much more picky when it comes to their choice of hotel. Your guests will want to tailor their experience to their liking, picking and choosing out of all available options. This also creates a perfect opportunity for upselling and can be managed easily with a booking engine for hotels.
Your guests will also want to feel special during their stay - receiving actual attention and care from the staff, not being treated as just customers. Online reviews are one of the primary factors for guests when choosing a hotel for their stay, so giving your guests a personalised experience goes a long way for building long-term positive brand image.
The era of automation and booking engines
More and more guests are booking their stays from their phones and laptops - you're losing a lot of potential profit if you're not utilising a booking engine. While OTAs offer easy solutions for online booking, they also take a large cut for themselves.
Running your own booking engine can drastically increase your profits from direct bookings and improve your guest's experience - software like Profitroom, an extensive suite of applications for hotel managers, including an advanced booking engine, channel manager, and marketing automation functions, among other functions. You can book a demo and see for yourself how Profitroom can improve your hotel's growth.
