Some predictions of what is likely to happen in the upcoming season
The post-pandemic era is drawing a new normality open to all kinds of predictions. The hotel sector is no stranger to these constant changes that are forcing companies to adapt their businesses quickly to meet the new needs of their customers.
One of the voices we have heard recently talking about challenges and trends in the hotel sector during 2022 is that of Iñaki González, CEO of DOT Hotels: "We have identified 7 trends that have become relevant at the end of this year 2021 and that we project will be the protagonists of 2022. These include a positive vision of the future, the deepening relationship between hotels and technology, direct sales as the first channel of interaction and the shortage of hotel staff. "
1.Improving 21, without reaching 19
We remain in pandemic, but we already see that 2022 is projected to outperform 2021 on recovery issues. The easing of travel restrictions and the opening of many previously closed places will lead to an increase in tourism both domestically and internationally.
This will generate more travel demand, but without reaching 2019 levels. Uncertainty is still present, especially in international travel, and new strains of coronaviruses continue to emerge.
Corporate tourism, critical for city hotels, remains well below pre-pandemic levels. Companies continue to have restrictions on business travel and still rely on video conferencing technology tools.
2.Direct sales continue to rise.
And it is fortunate for hoteliers that direct selling is here to stay. One of the queens of the channels from the end of 2020 and throughout 2021, this trend has stood out in all markets in Latin America and Spain. The customer prefers to contact and book directly with the hotel, in many cases because they are hotels in the same country, which gives them more confidence. Contacting the hotel directly makes the customer feel more secure and confident, so this trend will clearly continue in 2022; in addition, hotels will have the opportunity to increase their margins if they dedicate their efforts to boost these sales that reduce intermediation costs.
3.Guests prefer WhatsApp
According to Iñaki González, WhatsApp is here to stay and will become the main means of communication between guest and hotel, largely displacing email, telephone and other means of contact.
At this point, hotels will have to face the challenge of handling and attending to 100% of enquiries via this channel, which, if used correctly, could become a gold mine of bookings.
Those who do not handle this tool correctly may lose many guests who prefer to choose automatic channels such as OTAs, causing a decrease in profitability for the hotel.
4.ChatBot gains presence
Following the line of point 3 and taking into account that, in messaging services, speed is essential, hotels that implement a Whatsapp BOT in the first stage of the conversation will gain customers thanks to the speed of the response.
The chatbot should help resolve the guest's basic doubts, such as knowing details of the hotel and price. More complex questions or guests who wish to speak to a person should choose that option in the BOT and be attended to immediately.
5.Staff shortages
The loss of tourism jobs due to the pandemic may mean that independent hotels will struggle to find staff in 2022, as many have chosen to move to other sectors.
The remote working trend will also contribute to many workers opting for other sectors that do not require 24×7 working hours in operational areas.
How can we attract talent to lead the recovery of our hotels? This is undoubtedly one of the challenges of 2022.
6. Increasing costs
Many countries have provided support for companies and hotels to cope with the pandemic. 2022 will be the time to start repaying these government grants that were received in the first months of the pandemic and most hotels will have high levels of debt.
7.Virtual Receptions
Rethinking the front desk to combat staff shortages and cut costs will be a trend this year. Technology will play a big part in this with the rise of virtual front desk staffing to replace all or part of the front desk. It will not be a resounding change, but there will be a growth in this modality.
Here are the conclusions of Iñaki González: "Based on our expertise, as a rapidly expanding chain that helps to improve the management of independent hotels, we believe that if hotels focus on facing these 7 challenges and trends by taking measures from this moment on, they will be able to overcome 2022 by coming out stronger and adapted to the new era facing the hotel sector".
Photo by Towfiqu barbhuiya on Pexels
