The US love affair with hotels has gone digital, with a new study suggesting nearly every American traveller now wants mobile tech as part of their stay, with many prepared to pay extra for the privilege.
So, what do they want, and why do they want it?
A staggering nine in ten (89%) hotel guests surveyed by YouGov across North America said they now want stay-enhancing tech; and it looks like beating queues and quicker service are the driving forces behind it. The same number said hotels these days have at least one thing about them that wastes their time, with check-in delays and key card problems, cited as major culprits.
Questioned further, nearly two-thirds (60%) thought a mobile check-in service, being able to use smart phones as keys, and ordering room service on mobile devices would save them time, and nearly all of them (92%) said they’d make use of any minutes saved by hotel technology.
And that could mean spending. Examples of using that extra time include planning future bookings at the same hotel for over a fifth of guests, while ordering a drink at the bar and making restaurant reservations are top contenders for others.
Jeremy Ward, the former President of HTNG, commented: “This technology is here already and the hotel industry should see this as an incentive. It’s not to say turning hotels digital is easy, but the type of technology the research shows people want certainly isn’t the stuff of Star Trek or other famous sci-fi movies. It’s a powerful encouragement when you know there’s a demand, and when it seems many guests would pay extra for it. In fact, the results say nearly half (47%) would accept higher rates if those dollars included reliable tech.”
For the guests who responded to the study, nearly half (45%) said a good experience with stay enhancing tech would make them more likely to post a positive review on TripAdvisor, while well over a third (39%) said they’d be more likely to book with a hotel offering mobile check-in over others that didn’t.
But do happier guests, prepared to spend more money, mean hoteliers can expect to save money too?
Jason Jefferys, CEO of iRiS Software Systems, the people who commissioned the study believes yes: “The research suggests good mobile technology, which saves guests time, will build customer loyalty. It presents evidence of guests preferring to book through hotel-owned apps rather than via commission hungry OTAs. If hotels were thinking about introducing this type of service then hopefully these results will mitigate the perceived risks and be enough of a nudge to help them go for it!”
