MARKETING
Beyond Segmentation AMADEUS Germany’s leading travel technology partner and transaction processor for the travel and tourism industry has launched a very enlightening report which says, among other things, that hotels must embrace extreme personalisation to survive the turbulent decade ahead.
The report looks forward to a time when responsive guest environments become commonplace as guests demand greater personalisation, increased comfort and more innovative experiences. At the same time the report also highlights some new hotel models that may emerge. Forget the 'Stars'. You are judged by your Experience Factor Tomorrow's hotel and lodge standards must prove themselves beyond traditional 'Star Rating' categories.
The report reveals emerging behaviours and demands of tomorrow’s hotel guest and what this means for the future strategies, business models, services and innovation approach of branded hotel groups over the next decade. Amadeus looks to a future where augmented reality, customisable and responsive guest environments and service robots may become commonplace as guests demand deep personalisation, increased comfort and innovative experiences. Think like your guests In his foreword the Amadeus Director responsible for Hotel-IT exclaims: 'Think like your guests'. Understanding a customer is a strategic imperative for all tourism players in today’s world. Jerome Destors urges us to challenge our conventional thinking about how we sell, market and interact with guests and he warns us to think of customers as segmented groups as we have in the past….and still do. This report recognises that hotel/lodge guests no longer fit into these clean little segment boxes of yesteryear. This is why they have called the report: 'Beyond Segmentation'. This highly recommendable report can be down-loaded free of charge from the AMADEUS website.
For well travelled and experienced German hotel guests, star classifications have not been the real measurement criteria for a long time. They hardly state anything about the actual quality of a hotel or lodge. Star ratings mostly reflect minimum standards, which may also vary considerably from country to country. Therefore, it is impossible for the smart consumer to determine what experiences the hotel actually has in store for each individual guest. In order to define a hotel's experience factor in future, a new thought process is needed for category classifications. The Experience Factor counts Holidaymakers seek highlights and extraordinary experiences beyond the mini bar, laundry service, sparkling pool and coffee kettle. Modern tourists measure their hotel or lodge by its unique individuality and its experience factor. Hell, those clients of ours get cheeky, hey? What makes the Germans tick? Most of the outside world sees the Germans as a nation of nononsense and it is quite difficult to say exactly what is 'typically German'. What’s sure is that there are plenty of prejudices and clichés about us Krauts.
About the ASA The Association for the Promotion of Tourism to Southern and East Africa (ASA) - was founded in Germany in 1988 by a handful of enthusiastic Tourism Professionals. Their aim was to combine marketing forces, to exchange views and to exploit synergies where ever possible. 'Where possible' because the members consisted to a large extent of daring competitors. Soon the 'nasty competitors' became colleagues - even good friends. Our collective passion for Africa was much stronger than any rivalry. In the following years ASA conducted a number of remarkable promotional events. Today ASA boasts some 150 members - including airlines, tourism boards, European tour operators, African DMC’s, service providers as well as many representatives from the hospitality industry. For further information please contact ASA’s secretariat in Germany: Petra Gotta at petra@asa-africa.com or visit the website at www.asa-africa.co
4/2011
SATSA Tourism Tattler Trade Journal
27