Another that do not provide traditional concierge

Another important thingto mention, the definition of concierge services need to be expanded to morethan just a knowledgeable employee.

This could mean smart digital devices andprograms doing this job. Software companies are creating systems andapplications that can offer information that do not provide traditionalconcierge services such as restaurants tips, driving directions, flightarrivals and departures, etc… However, these services could be more attractiveto Millenlials, while older and international guests, visiting the city for thefirst time, may prefer personal service.  Bjorn Hanson, divisionaldean of the Preston Robert Tisch Center for Hospitality, Tourism and SportsManagement at New York University says, “With the proliferation of midprice andlimited-service brands, high-tech concierge services represent an effort byhotel companies to differentiate themselves, to add a service that usuallyranks among the highest for guest satisfaction and to achieve higher rates,” Somehotels like Hyatt are using Twitter- based high-tech concierge services. Theyallow the guests to send requests using Twitter to a username calledHyattConcierge, where the agent in charge has to respond to messages within 15minutes. If the request requires a detailed response the agent will e-mail orcall.  E-tourismrepresents a paradigm-shift to the hospitality industry. The typical buyingprocess is formed of a sequence such as problem reorganization, search forinformation, evaluation of alternatives, decision to make purchase and mostimportantly the post purchase behavior.

Marketers within the hospitality businesseshave to solve the mystery and understand the behavior at every stage. Not onlythat but Hotels are challenged to offer a high tech “E-experience” living up tocustomers expectations.         Inconclusion, social media and online technologies transformed the consumers’ decision-makingjourney by influencing the whole process beginning from online search todecision-making and ultimately booking hotels.

We now talk about a “hotelconsumer decision-journey through social media”. Technologyhas infiltrated almost every aspect of our lives and developers in thehospitality businesses need to understand the importance of this.  Manybusinesses in the hospitality industry are already beginning to engage and makeuse of these technologies to satisfy guests and taking advantage of socialmedia as guests check-in and share their locations, tweet about theirexperience on Twitter and share their holiday photos and hotels stays withfollowers from all over the world on all social media platforms mainly Instagramand Facebook. This trend doesn’t seem to be ending soon, some even say this isonly the beginning, and hotels should be expecting to see even more socialmedia engagement from guests who use these platforms to give feedback abouttheir experience, complain and give compliments about their stay.

Guests expecthotel staff members to provide feedback and address and complaints or queries inreal-time, if possible.Marketerswithin hospitality fields as well as hotel management need to manage this trendproactively. Consumers are no longer fooled by big campaigns and tend to make decisionsabout where they’re going to travel to or book a stay based oncommunity-developed content and rating systems such as Trip Advisor and socialmedia. Forhotels and leisure groups to be able to stay on top of what’s being shared andwhat’s being said about them on the online world they need to develop activesocial media monitoring and communication strategies and make sure that theirstaff members address feedbacks that have been given online.Experiencewise, hotels are challenged to meet their guests’ expectation and attract newcustom by offering a smartly designed high-tech experience where clients feelin control of their journey. High spec HD televisions in hotel rooms are nolonger sufficient! Customers’ expectations are growing bigger every day.  This is true within every industry and in nonemore so than the hospitality industries.

All of these are not easy challengesto face especially that such changes a very costly. All we can say to hotels isto strike the iron while it’s hot!