The hospitality industry is constantly chasing how to provide and profit from the experiences today's travelers are seeking, whether that's Instagram-worthy moments or standout levels of service.
Reaching a hotel's core guest segment and delivering on that experiential promise is a daily challenge. Agnelo Fernandes, CEO of Cote Hospitality, said too often hoteliers try to quantify their hotel's experiential value by just looking at their on-property amenities.
"The amenities like the pool, like the spa, like the restaurant, they're not going anywhere. ... But the experience is something that people are going to take away," he said during a panel at the recent Hotel Data Conference. "So we focus a lot of time on figuring out how do people feel once they experience what we put together. It's never easy, and we keep making tweaks."
Cote's resort portfolio includes the Grand View Lodge in northern Minnesota and the Tanque Verde Ranch in Tucson, Arizona.
Aiming for personalization for each hotel guest might be a better target for hoteliers, Fernandes added.
"In today's world, sometimes breakfast makes sense, and sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes we want to have horseback riding, and then we can scale it back to whether it's a three-hour horseback ride or just a half-hour ride," he said. "As we think about experiences, we want to make it intentional. We want to make it personalized, and then customize it to what the guest actually wants."
Keeping guests and their spend on property is also a common sticking point for hotels and resorts, but there are opportunities for bringing unique local programming to the hotel that can keep guests engaged, said Sara Masterson, president of Olympia Hospitality. Olympia develops and manages primarily independent hotels, many on college campuses or in historic locations.
She acknowledged that in many instances, guests will go off property to fully experience their location, and that's fine. But hotels can do their part to incorporate elements of the location into the on-property experience too, while capturing some additional wallet share.
"The more a property can partner [to offer] curated food offerings, or partner with a music venue, or make sure there's children's programming on-site ... the more that hotel can bring the location into their four walls, the higher likelihood it is you're going to retain that guest over a longer duration of their stay," she said.
How hotels fund these unique experiences is also top of mind industrywide. Most travelers are more aware of resort fees, which help fund amenities and additional hotel offerings. Hoteliers must be clear in how they communicate them to guests, said Deborah Surden, senior director of market management at Expedia Group.
"Are travelers seeing that fee come with value? And if they're not, they're not going to convert because now that everything is transparent, you have your hotel price point and your fee right upfront," she said. "It's going to be visible, and you have to make sure you articulate what's included to show value, or else it won't drive that conversion."
Despite his company raising resort fees at some of its hotels, Fernandes said there's been little to no pushback from leisure and transient guests because of transparency. Groups, however, make it a point when they're negotiating contracts.
"I know there's a lot of conversation about it. We've not seen any resistance as long as we are being very clear upfront and declaring what those fees entail," he said.
Nick Farrell, senior vice president and head of sales at Phunware, echoed Fernandes' sentiments about personalizing and customizing experiences to guests based on their travel intent.
"The real opportunity for hoteliers here is to look at where's your hotel position, how can you put things in front of them, and not just a list of amenities they can select to upsell, but you've got to really understand the intent of the traveler, whether they're coming for a Taylor Swift concert or they're coming for a family reunion or a sporting event," he said.
Importantly, this type of operational thinking isn't reserved for only higher-end hotels, Farrell added.
"You can get into it even as a select-service or a focused-service hotel," he said. "Think about why your hotel was built. Was it a business center? Was it near an arena? All those things can be harnessed to tap into. Why are your travelers coming? Why are you a fit for them, and then how can you merchandise your solution toward that?"
How a hotel markets itself goes a long way toward influencing a potential guest to convert that interest into a confirmed booking, Surden said. She added Expedia's consumer research has found that videos, not just photo galleries of a hotel or resort, have a bigger impact on customer acquisition.
"Seventy-one percent of travelers are influenced by video, a stark contrast versus static imagery at 24%. Think about it: Do you want to see a picture of the ocean, or do you want to see the rolling waves of that ocean?" Surden said. "And 59% of travelers say YouTube content directly helps shape their travel decision, which is key. So the key callout here is if you're still leaning on static imagery, you're starting your marketing strategy and inspiration with one hand tied behind your back. It's really important to lean into video now more than ever."
As more travelers book their stays closer to their time of arrival, there are certain patterns about the booking behaviors of last-minute hotel guests, Masterson said.
"The last-minute booker, from our experience, tends to be not price-sensitive but value-oriented, and so understanding is breakfast important to this guest? Is parking important to this guest?" she said. "Is that where they are perceiving value that maybe would have them select you over a competitor? Things like late check-out, early check-in, things that don't have to have a cost to the property, also can sort of ease some of the friction in a guest making a booking decision at the last minute."
Plus, short-term hotel bookings give travelers a sense of control and flexibility, Masterson added.
"People want flexibility, and eight to 14 days is still outside the weather window, which is like 24 hours. So if you can give people comfort that they can make a decision and then actually flex from that decision, the cancellations are actually very small as a percentage of the last-minute booker," she said.
The short-term hotel booking window is likely here to stay, Surden said.
"Travelers are more confident; they have more technology at their fingertips," she said. "They're using comparison tools. They're getting personalized recommendations. They are feeling really empowered with the shorter booking window, whether we want it to stay that way or not."