With the Omicron variant already peaking in many parts of America, the travel industry is gearing up for the next wave of travelers ready to put the pandemic behind them. In preparation for this increase in travel demand in 2022, many local government organizations and convention planners are using consumer data to anticipate the needs of these travelers.
According to a recent study by Gartner, “As society begins to travel again, the tourism industry ecosystem must plan for organizational resilience and create a superb customer and citizen experience. Organizations and companies need to develop a data-driven approach to decision making and visual data exchange to create an adaptive data collection environment.”
These organizations are often able to draw upon multiple sources of data to paint a clearer picture of traveler behaviors. Most independent hotel and resort operators don’t have the resources to acquire and analyze rich data sets about their customers, but that doesn’t mean you can do a bit of data mining on your own.
The best way to obtain unique data from your guests is to establish communication with them. To do that, you must give them a compelling reason to establish a relationship with your brand. A cash back rewards program is an excellent way to entice their engagement. The earlier in the travel planning process that you can enroll your potential guest in a loyalty program, or at the very least obtain their email address, the better your chances of establishing and maintaining a direct channel of communication in which you can learn more about your potential guests’ expectations.
Capture Their Email
When optimizing the customer experience on your website, you should strive to capture the site visitor’s email address as quickly and seamlessly as possible — even before they have committed to booking with you. That way, even if you do not secure the booking, having their email address allows you to follow up with marketing messaging that could very well change an undecided traveler into a future guest. The Guestbook offers non-intrusive email capture technology that does not disrupt the experience of your site visitors.
Enroll Them In A Loyalty Program
Nothing boosts your returning guest numbers like a positive experience coupled with a meaningful rewards program. The Guestbook provides a seamless cash rewards program that offers 15% cash rewards which not only incentivize future stays, they become an additional data collection point that you can leverage in your marketing efforts.
Having established at least one line of communication with your site visitors and guests, you can begin to solicit data in combination with your more overt sales messaging. By asking questions (directly or via surveys) in every email or social media post, you may learn more about your customer than you imagine. While some will ignore invitations to engage further with your brand, there is no harm in asking, and the comments and feedback you do receive can help inform your future marketing efforts and deepen the guest’s understanding of your brand and what makes you different.
