More Hotels Are Planning to Use Location-Based Services to Interact With Guests
Photo Credit: Hotel staff at the W Paris communicate with guests via messaging services like WhatsApp. More and more hotels are finding different ways to engage with guests via messaging as a part of their customer service and loyalty strategies. Marriott International
Skift Take
Using geolocation to push offers to guests is a good idea, in theory, but hotels need to be very mindful they don't overload or annoy their guests in the process. And given all the data breaches we've seen over the past few months alone, they need to be a lot more careful about how they're using that information, or any information for that matter, collected from their customers.
Nearly three-quarters (74 percent) of all hotels and resorts in a recent survey said they plan to implement location-based technologies within the next year, similar to how Hilton and Marriott have done so previously.
The survey of nearly 1,200 hotels, most of which would be considered full-service, was conducted by Zebra Technologies, a global technology solutions provider, as part of its 2016 Hospitality Vision Study. That same study also surveyed more than 1,680 hotel guests from around the world, 73 percent of which were aged 18 to 49.
Hoteliers' interest in geolocation-based technologies tells us that they're taking personalization and guest recognition seriously, especially since it can have a direct impact on their bottom lines.
"When you're doing geolocation offers, you're orchestrating the guest stay in terms of promoting on-property amenities, whether it be food, beverage, or even retail shops," said Tom Moore, Zebra Technologies' retail and hospitality industry le
