Big Data and Millennials dominate regional Hotel Events

Autumn is convention and exhibition time in Asia which of course also includes a smattering of hospitality related events. I attended two: the China Hospitality Technology Alliance Conference (CHTA) in Beijing and the HotelManagement and Technology conference in Jakarta. The CHTA is the China equivalent of HTNG and has managed, in its sophomore year, to stage a slick event that pulled in a lot of big names to lend it some heft.

Standout topics for me were how to manage your OTA relationship (answer: they're here to stay so you better get your strategy right and if you rely 80% on them you are doing something wrong), whether the days of charging for things in the hotel room are over (a resounding yes) and how does big data impact hotels (in every way!).

Big Topic: Big Data

After the session on the latter, the instant WeChat poll of the audience on what info was most important to glean from big data clearly pointed to hotel guests' behaviour during their stay. And rightly so: from improving service to streamlining operations, data on guest behaviour is key for hotels moving forward. The airline industry, as always, is a few steps ahead when it comes to this topic. In a recent report by the FT, Wifi speeds, flexible screen based technology and in-flight entertainment systems featured were named as the key areas where airlines focus their efforts to innovate. "Expect personalised in-flight entertainment experiences, whereby a seat knows who you are before you sit down and what you watched last time," the article quoted one industry specialist. To a degree, it is possible to implement something similar in hotels today as well - provided guests use the same loyalty number to check in the same hotel brand. From building your own TV channel list and saving it for next time, to preferences for in-room dining, big data can facilitate a much more personalised experience which will help with differentiation and brand loyalty. But, as I said before, both airlines and hotels need to carefully manage their guest/passenger data in order to not appear too Big Brotherish which will be a turnoff for many people.  

How will Millennials impact Hotel Brands?

The Jakarta event in November was equally well organised and attended. What caught my attention during the conference was what appears to be a bit of an identity crisis between the plush established 5-star brands and the new, three star kids on the block, such as Tune Hotels.

While the latter promoted its 'cheekier' image explicitly to attract Millennials, Tune's COO Frank Trampert was quick to point out that his hotel chain was aiming at a much broader audience. Similarly, when asked what they would do to attract the Millennial travelers, the representatives of Mandarin Oriental, Fairmont and the like gave rather disappointing answers, mainly praising how their marketing team have embraced social networking techniques.

This very much looked like to me as if currently the hotels at either end of the spectrum expect Millennials to go through a transition from the Tune-style cheekiness to the traditional 5-star hotel brand - pretty much how things have progressed mostly for the past decades as travelers transition from cheap backpacking as students to sophisticated travel as they become established and affluent. While this may still happen, something tells me that this new generation of connected travelers are more likely to shake up this expectation which may have radical consequences on hotels' positioning and design. Watch this space.