When does the guest experience start?

Think back to your last trip and the happiness, excitement and anticipation that you felt about it. Now think about when those happy feelings started. Was it as you sat at the airport, waiting for your flight? Or was it the moment that you landed on the tarmac in your destination? Or was it when you arrived at your hotel, credit card in hand, ready to check-in to your room? Or, maybe, was it the minute that you decided to take a trip, even before you decided where you’d go? Or when you’d go on the trip? Or what you’d do while you were there? For most, the thrill of travel starts the minute that the decision is made to take a trip. Since 61% of travelers book their trip approximately three to four (or more) months prior to their departure date, that gives them lots of time to be excited – and, for smart hoteliers, lots of time to make sure that the traveler’s trip is the best one of his/her life. You’re probably asking yourself: how is it possible to make sure that the traveler has the best trip of their life if he/she hasn’t booked with my property yet? Booking engine upkeep Just like with any consumer technology (i.e. cell phones, TVs, tablets, etc.), there are always new advancements in web design and booking engine technology so your property can’t just create your website and booking engine, and expect that it will continue to function as needed, until the end of time. Here’s why. The customer’s booking experience can have a significant impact whether or not they book with your property and, if they do (which, let’s be real, isn’t very likely), it sets the tone for their stay; if it’s frustrating and complicated to book a room at your property, the guest is starting the trip on the wrong foot. You (or someone on your team) should be regularly going through the steps of booking a room on your website to ensure that the booking engine is easy-to-use, simple and straightforward, and offers a seamless booking experience. If it doesn’t, your property must update the booking engine, as needed, to ensure that your potential guests actually finalise the booking – and that it’s a positive booking. This isn’t something that you can put off until a rainy day; do. it. now. Rate confusion I’ve talked about the importance of eliminating all hotel fees but so many hotels aren’t listening. But you know what’s even worse than fees? Hidden or undisclosed fees, which are only sprung on the guest at check-in. And don’t be sneaky about it; it doesn’t matter if you did technically disclose the fees (in little, tiny font or only on a separate page that isn’t a part of the booking path) because, if the guest isn’t fully and completely aware of all of the additional fees prior to booking, you’re guaranteed an unhappy guest (and, most likely, a bad review) – before the guest has even gotten to the room. Everyone loves local tips Once the booking is completed (and you have the guest’s contact info), you have another opportunity to improve their overall travel experience, before the trip starts. Think about what you’d want to know before arriving in a destination and share that info with your future guests via email newsletters or social media. Not only will this improve the guest’s pre-trip experience, it can also create additional non-room revenue streams. Information that you could consider sharing includes: Airport transfer tips & company recommendations. (Your property could offer this as an in-house, paid service or partner with a local company, in exchange for revenue sharing.) Packing lists. Recommendations on local attractions, including resources on where tickets can be obtained for each. (Consider creating a package of discounted tickets to commonly-visited attractions, as another pre-arrival offering.) Share any other information that guests coming to your destination should know before arriving (i.e. traffic patterns, weather, local festivals or events that may impact their stay, etc.). In the end, your guest is much more likely to enjoy their trip, leave a positive review for your property and/or recommend it to friends and family, if their positive experience starts long before they’ve even arrived at the airport in their hometown (to start their trip). Knowing that, why wouldn’t you implement all of these tactics immediately. There’s literally nothing to lose – and a million possible positive outcomes, all of which will improve your property’s rating and increase overall revenue. That’s the literal definition of a win/win scenario. By Mark Lewis-Brown, president and CEO of Vertical Booking USA