Artificial intelligence (AI) is on every business leader’s mind at the moment, and this is no different in the hotels and tourism sectors. There is extensive research pointing to the potential productivity, financial, and operational benefits of AI, and businesses across the world are trying to capitalise on this exciting opportunity.
In Australia, though, there is a significant gap between what businesses want, and whether they can reach their AI goals. While most are planning to spend more on AI, Australian businesses are less prepared to implement AI than they were in previous years, and only a third have a clear strategy for deploying AI. This disconnect highlights the growing pressure Australian businesses are under to act, despite lacking the skills and resources to develop effective strategies that would help them make the most of the technology.
To address this gap, should hoteliers become AI experts, or is there another way?
Hoteliers can join the shift to AI without needing to lead it
Travellers are already using AI, whether hoteliers are ready for it or not. They’re asking AI platforms for tips on how to get around on foot in Rome, they’re using AI tools to build itineraries based around the best satay chicken in Singapore, and they’re asking online chatbots for translations as they order a tailor-made suit in Hong Kong. These are common examples of Generative AI (GenAI) in action, and hoteliers should be aware this technology is already part of many travellers’ day to day lives.
However, leading the GenAI movement would not be the best use of resources or time for hoteliers. The bigger opportunity lies with predictive analytics, and the way AI can be used to analyse an array of data sets to help hoteliers genuinely innovate, grow, and meet customers where they’re at.
Making the most of predictive analytics requires hoteliers to not just use all the data at their fingertips, but to also look externally for what kind of publicly available data could help them understand upcoming trends and their impact on customers. This is one of the core reasons why hoteliers shouldn’t feel pressured to become AI pioneers on their own. Instead, they should be finding ways to understand the capabilities of AI, and then partner with experts that can bring their ambitions to life.
The more data the better, if you can analyse it
Less than half of Australian businesses have a formal data strategy in place, even though two-thirds see their company as data-driven. For hoteliers, lacking a data strategy is a missed opportunity and in today’s AI era, customers will soon start to feel the difference in the lack of streamlined and personalised experiences. Developing a data strategy is critical to developing an AI strategy, but again, there’s no need for hoteliers to do it alone.
By combining a hotelier’s data with anonymised data from tens of thousands of hoteliers around the world, customer insights and business planning can be elevated to another level. Global technology platforms can provide these capabilities that would otherwise be unattainable for hoteliers on their own.
For example, a hotelier on their own could look at past bookings to know which months of the year experienced peaks, which types of rooms are most popular, and which booking channels have generated the most revenue. In contrast, a technology platform with predictive analytics capabilities and access to anonymised data from thousands of accommodation sites could tell that same hotelier how to most effectively attract new guests during months when they have historically had low bookings, which perks and benefits competing hotels are offering that is leading to previously unpopular rooms to generate more reservations, and which booking channels are being missed that could introduce entirely new revenue streams from overlooked markets.
The latter scenario may seem far-fetched or futuristic, but these are the capabilities being developed and delivered today thanks to AI. It’s an exciting time to be a hotelier as the technology is still being explored and is in its early days of adoption across Australian businesses. Hoteliers who can act early will unlock revenue opportunities faster and more efficiently than competitors. Acting early, though, doesn’t need to involve resourcing, upskilling, and implementing everything related to AI on your own. Hoteliers are already shifting to digital-first customer services by partnering with technology experts, and continuing to do this as AI evolves and grows in the industry will be critical to enabling hoteliers to make the most of the technology without over-investing in a completely new field.
As published in AccomNews.