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think act beyond mainstream Leveraging digitization to attract guests and improve efficiency Hotel Industry 4.0 2016 FebruaryTHE BIg 3 2 THINK ACT Hotel Industry 4.0 18% of European online bookings are completed on the move a figure that is rising fast. 44% of the European population in 2020 will have grown up with digitization. 2/3 of hoteliers collect guests master data systematically; not even half of them use it for planning purposes or to prepare tailor-made offerings.THINK ACT Hotel Industry 4.0 3 The environment within which hoteliers operate has changed dramatically in recent years. Online booking platforms have grabbed a sizeable chunk of marketing activities for themselves. The sharing economy a is flooding the market with a constant stream of new ca- pacity for overnight stays with no lead times. Mean- while, guests are expressing more and more specific demands that they expect to see met. Before anyone these days decides to book a vaca- tion, they first conduct thorough research on the inter- net. They also listen more and more carefully to recom- mendations from friends and other travelers. In creasing numbers of reservations are channeled via a handful of booking portals, which in turn dictate per-booking charges to the hoteliers. The more direct and transparent competition between hotels created by these portals adds to price pressure. At the same time, leading hotels are trying out a number of digital technologies to optimize the way they approach cus- tomers and run their operations. All these changes are taking place against the backdrop of ever more volatile international economic and political developments. Responding to this situation, Roland Berger and the Austrian Hotel Association (HV) recently conduct- ed the first broad-based international study to investi- gate the impact of digitization on hotel operations. Careful examination of 13 leading international hotel groups, 17 recent studies of the hotel industry and more than 100 technology start-ups in the travel and hotel industry revealed 19 relevant application scenar- ios for digital technologies. In a survey, these scenarios then tested against the experience and plans of 667 ho- teliers in German-speaking Europe. The results yielded a catalog of recommendations that can help hoteliers reestablish direct contact with guests and exploit the benefits of digitization for their own companies. c OMinG t O tERMS With thE nEW MEDia cULtURE At the dawn of the internet age, the hotel industry was one of the early risers, very quickly enabling direct bookings to be made. That, however, is largely as far as things went. Today, digitization is threatening to leave the travel industry in its wake and has already brought fundamental disruption to hoteliers business models. In just a few years, online platforms have raised their share of bookings in Europe from nothing to more than 20%, a figure that is still heading north. Are hoteliers missing out on the next phase of digital development? Not even half say their own establishments are “digitally advanced“.THINK ACT Hotel Industry 4.0 4 THE SHARING ECONOMY HAS CHANGED THE CULTURE OF HOW WE EXPERIENCE TRAVEL a Source: Roland Berger In the new media culture, residual capacity of every shape and size is also bundled and made available for sale on internet platforms. This practice is common- place in the travel industry too and is growing extreme- ly fast thanks to attractive (last-minute) offers of ac- commodation, mobility and culinary delights. At the same time, private capacity that has never been used before and was not even accessible until recently is in- creasingly coming onto the market and edging out in- cumbent organizations. To a greater or lesser degree, depending on person- al attitudes, these cultural shifts cut across every seg- ment of the population every social stratum, level of education and age group. While older generations use the internet and smartphones primarily as an add-on to their accustomed communication and information habits, digitization has penetrated every aspect of life Moreover, 70% of these bookings are channeled via only a small number of companies. B They are now the markets power brokers and hoteliers can only stand and watch. In what is known as the new media culture, infor- mation is available in real time. That alone makes it easier than ever before to compare vacation and ac- commodation offerings. Additionally, the fact that more and more people now own more and more mo- bile devices (such as smartphones and tablets) allows potential guests to communicate with others, find in- formation and make reservations at any time and in any place. Opinions are publicly accessible and shar- able the moment they are “posted“, and every experi- ence is reproduced mercilessly and incessantly in many cases before providers even have a chance to put things right for disappointed guests. Share rides Share a meal with someone Meet someone Stay overnight in someones homeTHINK ACT Hotel Industry 4.0 5 A HANDFUL OF BOOKING PLATFORMS DOMINATE THE MARKET for the generation Y “millennials“ born between 1980 and 2000. Together with generation Z (those born after 2000), this group will, by 2020, account for nearly half of all potential hotel guests. They are the very first gen- eration to have experienced digital disruptions from a very early age. Highly interactive and equally inquisi- tive, the global citizens who populate this generation are ambitious and keenly aware of the quality of educa- tion. They are open to anything and everything and dont like to commit themselves until the last minute. They expect an excellent digital infrastructure and op- timal service as standard. They share new experiences with friends almost in real time and listen to the re- commendations of others. They “mingle“ freely, seek- ing contacts and both physical and virtual places of encounter. LESSOn i: LEaRn FROM MORE hEa ViLY DiGitiZED inDUStRiES Unlike bookstores and bank branches, hotels physi- cal places where you can stay the night cannot be re- placed by anything virtual. That gives them a major advantage over other industries. At least to some ex- tent, however, hotel rooms can be substituted by the private capacity that online platforms are increasingly offering, and that hoteliers have been suffering from for some years. That is why the hotel industry must learn from other industries that, at the present time, are more heavily affected by digitization. In the latter industries, the disruptions caused by new players have brought incumbent market leaders under huge pres- sure, forcing changes to legacy business models in the process. Forward-looking companies responded quick- ly to these changes and thought carefully about the ar- T raditional (offline) 49% Others 30% Leading OTAs 70% Other online providers 28.5% Shares of the OTA 2market OTAs 22.5%3%6% Mobile B Source: Hotrec, PhoCusWright, Roland Berger 2 Online travel agents 1 25 European countries, weighted Bookings in Europe 1THINK ACT Hotel Industry 4.0 eas in which new digital opportunities could in fact boost their business. Essentially, there are three key areas where action is needed here: Interaction with customers/guests Optimization of back-office operations Diversification into new business opportunities that relate to traditional core business The media, financial service providers, retail and tech- nology companies in general are among those sectors that have been most seriously affected by digitization. To date, the media industry has been disrupted by pre- viously unheard-of opportunities to publish content online and in new digital formats. Incumbent print media are painfully aware of this: Especially the fact that users have been and still are very reluctant to pay for content has caused traditional media companies revenues to plunge spectacularly. Even so, some are successfully mastering the digital transformation by transferring human and financial resources from print to online activities, by setting up central editorial de- partments for all channels and by establishing pay-per- use models online either for their own content or for external add-on services. In the finance industry, todays clients can do every- thing online, from payment transactions to getting ad- vice to applying for loans and having applications ap- proved. All this makes bank branches and personal consultants increasingly dispensable. To make matters worse, a host of new “FinTechs“ operating all kinds of financial services have rushed into the marketplace and are proving to be tough competitors for traditional banks. By consequence, more and more bank branches are being closed down and margins on both retail and corporate client business are dwindling. Those banks that are still doing well scaled back their branch networks ahead of time, replacing them with new branch concepts at central locations. Equipped with digital counters and ultra-modern designs, these locations facilitate self-service and even let clients chat with investment consultants by video. These banks have also put online banking on a Web 2.0-compatible basis, incorporating elements familiar from social media platforms. The disruption in retail is plain to see. Four out of five consumers have already made online purchases at least once mostly from new players who have seized the opportunity and are continuing to build on their Established players that successfully master the challenge of digitization: Adapt their cost structures and basic systemic costs to changed conditions. Have for some years been specializing in clearly delimited market segments. Its better to do a few things really well than to be average at a lot of things. Move early to begin what can be a very lengthy change process. That gives them time to thoroughly plan the necessary steps. Approach new media culture customers/guests by consciously focusing on their needs (even minor ones) and through holistic customer/guest management across all channels. Provide 360-degree service within their chosen niche. T o do so, they must accumulate and apply knowledge a process in which poaching digital specialists from other industries saves time. LESSOnS t O LEaRn : thE hO tEL inDUStRY nEEDS a nEW MinDSEt ! AFTER BOOKING 6THINK ACT Hotel Industry 4.0 7 DURING BOOKING Source: Roland Berger BEFORE BOOKING AFTER BOOKING 1 6 2 5 3 4 Searching & being inspired Refining & improving Reflecting Experiencing Booking Still too few activities Discovering & planning c anaLYticaL FRaMEWORk FOR thE cUSt OMER JOURnEY Guests should be addressed in every phaseTHINK ACT Hotel Industry 4.0 8 D POSSiBLE DiGitaL initiatiVES FOR thE hO tEL inDUStRY Source: Roland Berger Mostly established Mostly planned in the medium term Planned by a few hotels 19 relevant initiatives that should be tailored to guests (guest groups) and implemented FOCUS ON OPERATIONS Revenue management that draws on external data sources App to open/lock room doors Online check-in/check-out (via smartphone app or website) Service robot for baggage storage Internal (web-based) communication tool for staff Service robot in reception Self-service check-in/check-out (via a dedicated terminal in the lobby) Service robot for baggage transportation THINK ACT Hotellerie 4.0 9 FOCUS ON THE GUEST App for direct communication with hotel staff Adaptation of media content for various channels Regular newsletters for different target groups Locally-based push services Online room selection Ground plan app for navigation Presentation of offerings via webcam Mobile digital concierge Messaging app for hotel guests Real-time feedback app “Smart mirrors“/digital display boards THINK ACT Hotel Industry 4.0 10 short list of 39 application scenarios, attention was concentrated on those 19 that, in the opinion of the respondent hoteliers, can be implemented in the next three years at most. The bad news is that, in talks with the numerous German-speaking hoteliers we surveyed, there was lit- tle evidence that such digital applications are being implemented in practice. And even aside from these applications, the hotel industry still has a number of white spots where existing opportunities are being left unused. Take social media, for example. No channel other than Facebook is used intensively. Barely a third of the respondents currently have videos on YouTube, even though video has become the single most important online format. E Another example is the systematic capture of guest data. More than a third of respondents do not concern themselves even with pure master data, and fewer than half of hoteliers who store data systematically actually do anything with it. Sales is no better. Just over half of hoteliers align their sales activities with seasonal fac- tors, but a far larger proportion draw no distinctions whatsoever between different guests (or groups of guests). 60% of hoteliers give online travel agents too much freedom, although active revenue management and controlling is needed across all sales channels. By no means least, large stretches of the customer journey too are simply being ignored. Most studies and large hotel chains alike still restrict themselves to only two phases of the customer journey: “booking“ and “experiencing“ with the latter often passively equated with guests physical presence on the premises. As a rule, the customer journey phases “discovering and planning“ and “reflecting“ remain virgin territory, despite the fact that the customer journey as a whole is known to span six phases: c Phase 1, “searching and being inspired“: Future guests have not even thought about where they want to spend their vacation. They thus surf the net in search of inspi- ration. Phase 2, “discovering and planning“: Future guests have already made a tentative decision about the desti- nation and the kind of vacation they want (e.g. hiking in the Alps or a weekend city tour in Central Europe). They now look at the specifics: Where to stay? When to travel success. By contrast, traditional retailers are shrinking their selling space and axing outlets while at the same time trying to set up profitable online shopping chan- nels. For them, integrating these channels organizing multi-channel business, in other words is a never- ending challenge. Visionary retailers were also quick to use the inter- net as a vehicle to sell products to target groups beyond the reach of stationary retail outlets. Retail chains have begun to collect customer data systematically, analyze it and use it to target customers with personalized of- ferings and prices via multiple channels using blogs and their own online shops, or even by distri
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