Marketing & Guest Loyalty

With the US fully reopened and Europe steadily easing restrictions, Hotel bookings continue to grow significantly and have exceeded 2019 values, according to our industry research conducted in May 2021.

With the Covid-19 pandemic hitting travel and the hospitality industry especially hard, this March Medallia, in collaboration with the School of Hotel Administration’s (SHA) Center for Hospitality Research, launched an online hospitality community to crowdsource ideas with impact. Conceived as a place for hospitality thought leaders—from industry professionals to SHA professors and alumni—to support each other with innovative ideas and solutions to the industry’s most pressing issues and challenges, the community has already grown to 276 members.

The advance of technology and the widespread adoption of smartphones and handheld devices in recent years have enabled us to publish our experience about a product or service through online photo or video sharing and provide a review.

I love seeing visible signs of a customer- and employee-focused culture. My wife and I were on vacation in Mexico. The employees at the resort were amazing. They were upbeat, outgoing and willing to do anything to make their guests’ stay as perfect as it could be. Something I noticed right away was the customer-centric culture that was part of the atmosphere of the resort. You could feel that customer service was at the heart of what they were about.

Cost-optimization has always been a central notion in revenue management. That being said, the pandemic brought renewed attention to the topic. Today, more than ever, proper cost control is crucial to navigate these difficult waters and prepare for the "new normal." Whether we like it or not, every single decision revenue managers take on a daily basis, has an impact on the bottom line, meaning that revenue management is not only about optimizing the revenue streams, but also about increasing profitability. Favoring the distribution channels with the highest profit has become imperative in our industry. But how can hotels calculate the cost-per-acquisition of each channel? What should be taken into consideration? And how can this analysis influence one's distribution decisions?

EHL Success Stories: Start-Up Edition is a series to show support to our EHL Family and, more specifically, our hard-working AEHL entrepreneurs. This project aims to showcase EHL's entrepreneur mindsets, support new and upcoming ideas and businesses. While overcoming a challenging time for all companies, these Start Ups prove that resilience and hard work can overcome any problem.

Before the pandemic, hotel brands were at a crossroads with increasingly brand agnostic consumers and ever-expanding brand portfolios. But there is evidence that the pandemic may have led to consumers’ renewed appreciation for a well-recognized brand name that assures quality and instills trust. This change in consumer behavior will impact brand management strategies in several significant ways.

Innovation is the process of creating value through the implementation of new ideas. Crises generate the exact opposite outcome: tremendous value destruction. Innovation, therefore, seems particularly well-suited to act as a powerful countervailing force in times of hardship. The process of innovation under stable conditions, while not straightforward, is relatively well understood.

Great customer service. That’s what our customers want and that’s what we wish to provide. But it’s difficult remembering all the different steps to take to provide it. Thankfully, many have developed useful acronyms to help. In today’s post, I compiled many of the top customer service acronyms to use every day. Store these in your CS toolbox to use as needed.

Remote work is here to stay. Even if companies start to require teams to return to a central office following full population vaccination, the benefits of allowing for flexible work conditions are too good to ignore. For the employer it can mean vastly reduced rental costs, while for the employee it means less time spent commuting and the ability to handle life’s other responsibilities more adeptly like young kids. But the drawback is the monotony of working, eating, relaxing and sleeping in the same place.