Observation in the Experiential Hospitality

One of the key ingredients in the successful formula of the Experiential Hospitality is, without a doubt, the Guest Management Information, since knowledge of guests will enable us to design tailor-made experiences which will lead them to reach their hopes and aspirations.There is no better source of data about the guest than the guest himself may provide to us, therefore, in the Experiential Hospitality is essential to use tools that allow us to discover our best customer. It is true that, unfortunately, we do not always have enough data about the guest prior to his arrival; hence we must get it while we interact with him in our daily attendance. However, it is also true that fortunately the guest is constantly transmitting information, although much of it goes unnoticed as we are not adequately prepared to grasp.That is why the Experiential Hospitality takes up the use of an old technique employed by man in his constant quest to discover his environment, I am referring to observation. From Latin observatio, observing is the action and effect to observe (look closely, look demurely, warn). This is an action performed by human beings to identify, collect and assimilate information. In order to make good use of observation in the Experiential Hospitality we need to answer some questions like:

1-Who is the observer? All those who are involved in the attention to the guest, become observers capable of examining carefully the guest or interact with him through their own senses. 2 - Why should we observe? First of all we should be convinced of the importance of observing the guest, for it gives us the possibility to obtain information types which start emotional and differential meanings in the guest, the prelude to his fidealization. 3 - What should we observe?

The observation of the guest is directed to aspects such as his body language, behavior, habits, actions and reactions, likes,dislikes, preferences, belongings, that is, everything related to his emotional and behavioral patterns. 4 - When should we observe? The observation is continuous, provided that the guest is detected by an observer across all the Hotel sites the guest usually visits, places that become par excellence observation posts. One of the key advantages of observation is, quoting Van Dalen and Meyer (1981): "Observation provides one of the fundamental elements, the facts," which are merely validations for what is observed, say an example:Every morning we notice that the guest gets up early, always at the same time, go to the gym and comes back eating an apple. Which facts do we get from this observation? The habit behavior, i.e. his wake-up time and activity to be performed. The food preferences: fruits and specifically, apple in this case. How will those facts influence our daily attendance? Offer a wake-up call service at the usual time in anticipation of his order to guarantee that he can perform his daily routine. Let apples in the rooms fruits basket or make sure that there are apples among the fruits offered at the Spa. Offer power drinks or leave some of them in the rooms mini bar. Surprise him arranging a relaxing bath in the hot tub after having finished his physical activity. Use the tool my habit-your habit (see article The Experiential Hospitality and habit of the guest) as a most significantly, the use of observation in the Experiential Hospitality, being part of the daily care offered to guests, makes that the observable events (information or data taken from the guest) are produced as naturally as possible and without any influence from the observer or any other factor, so that the guest never feels

observed. This facilitates to surprise him with special details he perceives as unique and of his own, which therefore, will have an important effect on his emotional satisfaction.

The Resolution Solution 5 Simple Revenue Management Resolutions for 2012.

It is way too easy to get caught up in the minutiae of the revenue management process; opening and closing rates, inventory etc, and not pay attention to the trends in the discipline of hotel revenue management. Revenue managers may read all of the latest research and trends and have every good intention of implementing them but never quite get around to it. This is especially true for independent and boutique hotel revenue managers. It is vitally important to make the transition from gathering and analyzing data to seeing a pattern then acting on it to generate revenue. Not only must revenue managers be analytical, evaluate market conditions and understand existing demand to make pricing decisions, but they also must be able to interpolate this data in the context of corporate strategy and brand standardsin order to determine the best tactical actions to take. If all of this seems overwhelming, see below the steps that any revenue manger cantake to move the ball down the field in 2012. These are simple and straightforward. Here are 5 manageable resolutions you can do to enhance both your revenue management skills and revenue for the hotel: 1. Finish (or start) that 2012 Revenue Management Plan with strategies by month. While it may change during the year as conditions warrant, it provides that road map going forward. Which channels have produced how much and what can be

done to stimulate them in 2012. Which channels have not produced and is there a strategy that can be deployed to improve their performance? Dont forget to include a front desk reservation sales training program if their conversion ratio warrants it. Yes, maximizing revenue from all sources is the revenue managers job. 2. Develop closer relationship with your OTA market managers and solicit their advice. This is one of the most basic things a revenue manager can do. Ask their advice suchas what strategies have worked well for other similar properties in similar situations and market conditions? They know the big picture and while they cant name names,they can help the revenue manager understand what is working and what isnt. 3. Develop and market that mobile app. This is more critical for boutique and independent hotels as the franchises will take care of the franchisees apps. The research indicates that more and more reservations are coming through this channel and that they are often last minute bookings within 48 hours of arrival. However, it is not sufficient to develop the app and expect your customers to find it you will need to promote it to them. Measure the results of mobile promotions and make adjustments. 4. Be scrupulous about maintaining rate parity and integrity. The issue of rate parity is obvious if you have ever given a rate to one of the OTAS and didnt change it on the others quickly enough your Inbox will fill with emails from all of the other market managers. Ensure that whatever promotion you are running on the OTA mobile apps is the same as on the hotels app. Rate integrity means that the customer can understand why you are offering a rate different from a published rate. Is it a weekend rate; is it a rate you going to offer every fifth Friday of

any month that has 5 Fridays? 5. Set goals for revenue from all channels and measure, measure, measure. Each channel on the budget and the reports should have a rooms and revenue objective attached to it. As part of that revenue management plan, you should include the strategies you are going to use to achieve these goals. Once those strategies are deployed, have a mechanism in place to measure the production. If the strategy isnt producing as you thought it would, adjust the strategy or try a new one. Dont be afraid to take risks not all new strategies are going to perform as you thought they would move on! There! Those arent so tough but they are critical for boutique and independent hotels especially.

Luxary Travel & Lifestyle Trends for 2012

It has been a roller coaster of an economy, and that unpredictability has had an impact. New Year's resolutions will have consumers looking for more fun. Theyll want to play games. Be entertained.Consumers will want something that enhances their product or service experience but at a discount. They are savvier than ever before and are making informed choices by researching untold numbers of social networking and user review sites. The daily deal industry, which became an industry almost overnight, has shaped the way they shop. These changing values and consumption habits are driving how we do business. All of this combined with a rapidly changing environment means that brands will have to constantly innovate. As fashion designer Josie Natori said to us recently, If you think youre ahead of the game, youre already behind. Here are seven emerging trends, which we see shaping marketing strategies as 2012 approaches:

1. THE HUNT FOR VALUE: ENGAGING AND ENTERTAINING

Affluents search for value was first a perceived necessity borne of a weak economy. Then it became a statussymbol, the mark of being a smart consumer.Now its also about the search itself: deal hunting needs to amuse, to be fun. Look for more gamification as brands will have to engage and entertain to build brand loyalty. Jimmy Choo created a virtual scavenger hunt to introduce its first sneaker collection - Catch a Choo - a quasi-scavenger hunt around London. When followers saw that a pair of sneakers had checked in somewhere in the city, the first to arrive there before the sneakers left could pick a pair in the style and size of their choice. Gamification is becoming one of the hottest trends in world travel. Tour operators, hotels, and airlines are successfully offering mystery weekend trips for loyal customers/fans by either a contest, auction or discount to unknown destinations with surprise itineraries. The secrecy adds an extra dimension of excitement to the travel experience.

2. A NEW LANGUAGE OF LUXURY

Luxury buzzwords over the past few years have been authentic, artisanal, vintage, and heirloom. Expect these to continue to resonate in 2012. Travel surveys we conducted this year, from spa media to wedding planners, indicate that the affluent still crave products and experiences that are authentic and offer a sense of place, in everything from food and dcor to destination offerings and entertainment.But take care. The tide will change by years end as certain buzzwords become adopted by the mass market. When Dominos introduces artisan pizzas and Burger King rolls out burgers on artisan buns you know its the end.What will replace these words? Luxury vocabulary will need to be more evocative, charismatic and precise -precious, rare, even sacred will better describe what were selling. If possible, avoid adjectives altogether. Successful images tell the brand story. The prose? Think good journalism: it describes.

3. DIFFERENTIATION BY LIFESTYLE IMMERSION

Online shopping has finally overtaken traditional shopping according to a new study by American Express Publishing and Harrison Group, and 2012 will be the year of reaffirming

traditional retail. To be able to draw shoppers from online retail back into the real world, brands must up their game. Quite simply, people want to experience more. British label Alfred Dunhill championed a branded lifestyle world by recreating the namesakes home into a store housing numerous artifacts and pieces of his earliest collections. The threestorey Home immerses consumers in a full shopping, dining and grooming experience with a branded bar and caf, a movie viewing room, a bespoke tailoring room, a leather goods area, a spa, a barber and old-fashioned gentlemans club. Hotels will need to ratchet up offerings that entertain, educate and transform for special interest groups Museums are also evolving into the lifestyle space by adding to their retail and dining offerings with cultural education programs such as painting, culinary, glassblowing, ring making, silk screening and letter press printing workshops. 4. THE NOW FRONTIER CONTENT MARKETING Content curation was last year. 2012 is for content marketing.The essence of content strategy is that instead of pitching products or services, you deliver consistent, ongoing valuable information to buyers, making them more intelligent. You also engage, reward and entertain them with the overall business goals of customer conversion and customer loyalty/retention, thus creating passionate subscribers. Some key content marketing ingredients: Insider insights can help grow audiences; interviews, behind-the-scenes photos and a day in the life stories can provide that sense of insider privilege that clients are looking for. Create rewards for Facebook likes and followers, which allows fans to become part of an inner circle (Kimpton rewards fans with periodic passwords that earn guests a surprising reward, from room upgrade to F&B benefits at check-in). Hold online events with limited attendance. This can be anything from a sneak preview video to early access to new stuff. Be invitation-only to increase your following for that sense of being part of the club feeling. Seek feedback through comments, contests and quizzes. The more you seek their opinions, the more theyll come back.

5. MARKETING FUNCTIONS CONVERGE, TRANSFORM

Social media: is this a function of PR? Ecommerce? Advertising? Management? Its part of all the above. And as digital marketing and e-commerce are converging, Facebook can be both a marketing AND a distribution channel with "f-commerce" capabilities on fan pages. This blurring and blending of marketing functions is creating new marketing disciplines, and is leading to new jobs and titles such as "community managers," "content managers" and "relationship leaders." Traditional marketing disciplines and their roles need to be redefined. Hats off to the Public Relations Society of America, which just launched a major initiative, with the help of crowd sourcing, to redefine public relations for the 21st century.Companies will also need to think about hiring a different way, looking for marketing staff with more varied skills.Theyll need people with solid, versatile, editorial skills; who can write blogs, white papers and slide presentations; that can conceptualize and perhaps even edit video. Brands will need content marketers who match their demographic. Those in social media roles most likely need to be like the customers theyre serving, or at least must be able to walk comfortably in their shoes.

6. ADAPTABILITY- THE NEW COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE Boston Consulting Group recently released Adaptability: The New Competitive Advantage, a white paper about the blurring of industries and constant need for recalibration strategies to meet changing market needs. It cited the desirability of a non-hierarchical corporate model with modular units that change depending upon the project. What was most interesting, they highlighted a model that emulates an ecosystem of co-dependent companies. Through broader signal detection, parallel innovation, superior flexibility and rapid mobilization, multi-company systems can enhance the adaptiveness of individual companies. The example: Apple and its system of suppliers, telecom partnerships and independent application developers to support the iPhone. As Stephen Elop, Nokias CEO wrote to his staff, Our competitors arent taking our market share with devices; they are taking our market share with an entire ecosystem.

7. MINI INDULGENCES, VIP FOR A FEE

The Spanish tapas concept meaning little plates - has boomed and is now being adopted across industries. The appeal? It affords product and service sampling, theres a social aspect of sharing, and of course the price. No need to go with the full tasting menu: choose what you want, customize it, and pay less. Small luxuries can just be about a treat to feel good or something you need thats usually inexpensive, but youll pay a little more because of the packaging, the branding and the experience that comes with it

8. THE RENTER ECONOMY Its been a growing trend over the last few years: the desire for less responsibility and the growth of fractional ownership in everything from real estate to jets, even olive groves. Consumers have been reluctant to commit money and responsibility in the recent economic environment, but theyre still looking to collect as many experiences as possible.