Feeling the pinch? Between the rise of OTAs and fluctuating inflation, profit margins are tighter than ever. But there is a silver lining to these clouds — the power of hotel guest data.
Guest data is a goldmine for hotel businesses looking to boost their sales, improve guest experience, and drive up revenue.
This article covers:
- Why every successful hotel business leverages guest data
- How to collect guest data in today’s era of privacy
- 5 practical ways you can leverage guest data to turn a profit
Let’s get started.
Dive Deeper: What Exactly Is Hotel Guest Data?
Hotel guest data is all the information you collect from guests before, during, and after their stay. Think: guest information, the details of their stay, and their general preferences. We’ll dive into how to collect this data later.
Guest data can be used to track everything from what amenities and services your guests prefer, to what social media they spend the most time on, and more. This matters because it allows you to build guest segments — detailed snapshots of the various types of guests that you have.
Learn More: Advanced Guest Segmentation: The Secret To A More Profitable Hotel
Drive Profits through Personalization with Duve
Why Is Guest Data So Important?
Guest data is critical for any hotel that is serious about improving profits. The most successful hotel businesses in our network rely heavily on the power of guest data to improve guest experiences and drive growth.
Getting to know your guests is a crucial part of the hospitality experience. If you don’t know who is standing in front of you—how can you give them good service?
Jeremy Atlan
Duve’s co-founder and Chief Business Development Officer
Let’s look at a hypothetical example.
The Western Hotel began collecting their custom data from their hotel management system and pre-arrival emails. They quickly noticed that their most profitable guests were business travelers from mainland China. This came as a surprise, because they’d never intentionally targeted said demographic.
But armed with this new understanding of their guests, they began to include Mandarin translations of their menu and emails. Plus, they invested in a targeted marketing campaign on the Chinese social media site Baidu. The result? They dramatically increased their market share of their most profitable guest segment.
Next Up: The different types of guest data.
Decoding & Collecting Guest Data
Everything from personal information and stay details to guest behavior and feedback are valuable points of data that can be used to increase your profit margin.
It’s important to note that in today’s era of privacy, guests can be reluctant to share certain personal information. Always inform them of what you are collecting and ask permission. We all know how annoying it is to find your email on a newsletter that you never consented to subscribe to. Abusing guest data can be damaging to your brand and reputation — so make sure everything is above board.
Guest data can be broken down into various types. Let’s take a closer look at those types in the breakdown below:
- Contact Information Data – Names, addresses, email addresses. Marketing campaigns on social media.
- Guest Preferences Data – Poll them on social media, pre-arrival email, etc.
- Demographics Data – Crucial for targeted upsells — you need to understand your guests to communicate clearly with them.
- Stay-related Data – This includes historical data about previous stays.
- Engagement Data – Did they open your marketing emails? How did they book? What did they do during their stay?
- Hotels can collect guest data through various methods, including:
- Direct Collection: This involves collecting guest data directly from the guests through forms, surveys, and other feedback mechanisms. You might ask guests to complete a satisfaction survey at the end of their stay.
- Indirect Collection: This involves collecting guest data through the use of technology, such as tracking guest activity through key cards or tracking their behavior through social media.
- Third-Party Collection: This involves collecting guest data from third-party sources, such as travel agencies or booking platforms.
Guest data can typically be collected at 3 different points in your guests’ journey: pre-arrival (via pre-arrival emails), during their stay (check-in card, analysis of guest app usage and in-hotel behavior), and post-stay.
But what if your guests booked via an OTA? Then all that juicy data belongs to greedy companies like Booking.com, right? Well, yes.
But that’s where Duve comes in. After we heard so many hosts’ stories expressing their frustration with this situation, we decided to build the perfect solution to make their lives easier.
After booking a room, guests need to complete the pre-check-in process, which includes providing personal contact information. The property gets to save the guests’ personal details, communicate with them directly before, during, and after their stay, send them updates and important messages before their arrival, and even offer them attractive deals for their next stay.
Learn More: OTA’s VS Direct booking – Which is better for you?
Revolutionize Your Revenue Strategy with Guest Data Analytics!
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Advanced Guest Segmentation
Successful hotel businesses use guest data to create guest profiles or segments. That allows for highly accurate marketing and targeting.
Dividing your guests into different groups based on shared characteristics and habits is crucial for effective hotel market segmentation. Common guest segments include:
- Independent travelers
- Business travelers
- Tour groups
- BAR (best available rate) or PR (promotional rate) customers
- Hotel businesses also segment customers by age, gender, nationality, etc.
Effective guest segmentation allows hotel businesses to target marketing efforts, enhance guest experiences, and increase the chances of guests returning. Neglecting this research can result in ineffective targeting and difficulty attracting guests.
To collect and analyze guest data, many hotel businesses use branded guest apps. These offer a simple way to track guest satisfaction, engagement, and upsells. By leveraging the insights from guest data, hoteliers can make informed decisions to optimize the guest experience and boost business performance.
Read More: Advanced Guest Segmentation: The Secret To A More Profitable Hotel
Targeted Upsells
Guest data can be used to increase guest revenue and experience by understanding what your guests really want, and by offering them tailored upgrades, services, and experiences.
Some of the most effective upsells include:
- Early check-in or late checkout
- Transportation services or transfers
- Parking
- Tickets or tours
- Room upgrades
- Amenities (e.g., a bottle of wine)
Compiling a list of potential upsell offers is just the first step. The real magic happens when you match those offers to the guests who are most likely to buy them. And the key to unlocking this Personalization? Guest data.
Think about it: if you know a guest is traveling alone as part of a conference, a romantic amenity is probably not on their radar. And guests who arrive on a late-night flight are unlikely to splurge on early check-in. By leveraging the data you already have, you can craft upsell offers that are far more likely to convert.
Here’s the thing — testing is crucial. Offering multiple upsell options allows you to see which segments of guests are most likely to purchase which options. You might discover that business travelers are keen on late checkouts, or that families are happy to pre-pay for room service. Once you have this knowledge, you can further personalize your upsell options to boost revenue and guest satisfaction.
The good news? Technology can do much of the heavy lifting for you. Solutions — like Duve — can extract segmentation data from your property management system and serve customized upsell offers to guests based on their preferences.
Use A Branded Guest App
With modern hotel guest apps, hoteliers can now leverage the power of data to boost their bottom line while enhancing guest experiences.
By analyzing the data you can get from a guest app, you unlock a powerful world of possibilities. You can analyze past selections and preferences to identify trends and patterns. This information is used to suggest amenities, services, and activities that are most likely to resonate with each customer. From suggesting a romantic dinner for two to recommending nearby attractions based on past interests, Duve helps you create a unique experience that will keep your guests engaged and coming back for more.
Oh, and our guest app? It’s fully white labeled and branded to your hotel, so guests won’t even know they’re using a third-party app. And best of all, there are no downloads necessary — something your guests will thank you for.
Leverage Data To Enhance Guest Experience
20% of a business’s customers can account for 80% of their income. That means hotels can and should be using guest data to build a loyal base of repeat customers.
There are plenty of ways for hoteliers to do this: by knowing a guest’s individual preferences and behavior, they can pre-empt issues, create a personalized stay, and offer tailor-made rewards to their guests.
For example: your best customer travels with a partner who requires wheelchair access. Because you have access to their data, you know this as soon as they’ve made a booking and can offer them your most accessible room without them even having to ask, and avoid any misunderstandings at check-in.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What is the importance of capturing hotel guest data?
Guest data is essential for making data-backed business decisions. Targeted upsells and cross sells are far more effective than blind upselling. And this data lets you understand your most profitable demographics and target them accordingly.
Q: How can data collection be applied in the hospitality industry?
Data can be gathered upon check-in, during their stay, or at check-out. Think: pre-arrival emails, post-stay follow ups, or general observation of their behaviors and preferences during their stay.
Q: How can hotels leverage data to maximize revenue?
When you understand your guest segments you can increase your margins on upsells. Furthermore, you’ll be able to target guests with marketing and offers specific to them and far more likely to convert.
Give Your Guests The Experience They Deserve
Hoteliers are facing tough times – but guest data is here to help. And the best way to gather and use guest data is with a hotel management system like Duve.
Duve helps hoteliers like you unlock the power of guest data, increase upsells, and drive up revenue.
Don’t just take our word for it. Here’s what some of our customers had to say:
“Love the platform – all my loose ends are taken care of. I never have to worry about guests not knowing exactly what is going on as the automation ensures information is delivered on time and when my guests need it.” — Duve Customer, Canada
About the author
Hi, I'm Tal Lavi, a hospitality enthusiast dedicated to transforming your guest experience to an unforgettable one. With a passion for crafting engaging narratives and deep insights into guest behavior, let me take you on a journey to the future of guest experience.