“The amount of data an average hotel collects these days through different sources can be quite overwhelming,” says Iris Steinmetz, vice president of data partnerships at Berlin-based data management company, SnapShot. But much of it isn’t used, she says. “We are looking at data incorrectly, where it is often thought of as analytics, historical reports and dashboards, without considering the value that unstructured data – i.e., guest comments and reviews – can bring to the table when looking at optimizing profit and guest satisfaction.”
Contributed by Iris Steinmetz
Her thoughts: “There are skills hotels can and must embrace to stay competitive… Integrating and validating different data sources serves great importance. Some middleware platforms will facilitate this, while other user-friendly ecosystems will allow hotels to pick and choose the software solutions they need. The platforms that do fully integrate trials on their own data will allow even individual properties and smaller groups across several property management systems (PMSs) to get access to technologies previously only available for large hotel companies.
With data available from different sources, information can even be available about a guest who only stayed one night, making the predictability of value easier and leading to higher overall lifetime value. However, in many cases decisions are still based on too little information – a group with a higher room rate will often be accepted faster for instance. Oftentimes, knowledge and predictability of F&B data or other services consumed at the hotel is not available, and if it is, it generally is not included in the decision making of a reservations department.
“The biggest pitfall appears to be the lack of analysis on the available data. Analysis can be done in a more descriptive and less technical way (PMS reports), or by using prescriptive analytics and suggesting action based on trends with advanced processes (machine learning in a revenue management system). The way to determine the appropriate analysis will largely depend on the nature of the business and the funds available, but the ‘new soil’ should be mined to be fruitful and provide a rich harvest.”