It’s two months since the 9th edition of BTO (Buy Tourism Online) got over.
The drivers of this latest event were both the attention to the traveller and the integration of software.
The first issue dominated all the panel sessions: after nine years of digital revolution one feels the need to recover the value of people – a search for a new renaissance.
No more cold numerical analysis of aseptic data but an in-depth look at the reasons of the trip, as well as a respectful attitude for the tourist/traveller needs.
Following the suggestions of great P. Kotler people in BTO interpreted 3.0 marketing seeking the quality and the guest’s inner needs.
Quality is not just about luxury but also about care and attention to detail in every kind of hotel.
One has finally realized that storytelling was not enough and – which is even more – putting technology in the hands of big operators tended to standardize and to exclusively promote low cost sales, thus creating high earnings only for those who got to make money on every single booking.
Mass-market doesn’t actually produce quality.
The excitement pervading the hall during Michil Costa’s panel session, the owner of Perla Corvara, was a shining example.
The hotelier spoke simply of the values on which he based his daily work: respect for people (both employees and guests), passion – an essential feature for anyone involved in hospitality – («we consciously create well-being giving value to people because taking care of the others is a pleasure») and solidarity. His facility management is peculiar: employees, at all levels, are informed about the progress of the company and share their earnings according to a wage gap (1: 5.4) which they themselves created.
Of course, the main risks and profits go to the managers, but awareness and goal sharing are highly motivating for the entire group.
A second example was the intervention of Carlo Fontana (Hoxell), hotelier of excellence who developed software as well as a tracing method of the traveller’s needs which lets the guest be “listened” from booking until back home.
At each stage the traveller is taken care of, and information technology is exploited to speed up and create quick and direct links between the business travellers’ needs and the various hotel departments, so to quickly get solutions and achieve the expected quality standards.
The pursuit, by the world of Italian hospitality, of both this new Renaissance and a new vision about the values that travellers consider important, must have a match in the values proposed by the facilities.
Sustainability, respect for nature (how many eco hotel were born recently!) but also the pursuit of comfort, wellness, relaxation and finally communication as a value, as well as Wi-Fi being regarded as an indispensable tool in a reservation process, are a clear signal of this trend.
To enhance it informatics in hotels is now a basic element.
Big data are especially revolutionizing the world of hotel reservations.
In my next article we will see how.