CHICAGO, IL - Halfway through his family's vacation at a luxury resort in the Caribbean, Tom Click discovered on the other side of the sprawling resort, another restaurant. Not exactly like discovering Atlantis except this particular restaurant - as opposed to the resort's other three - served a full breakfast. Up to that point, Tom, his wife and two children had been going off-property for breakfast. It wasn't ideal for him, and the resort lost the business.
According to a study conducted by Novita Training, a Hospitality Consulting firm, such stories are not uncommon, and cost hoteliers significant incremental revenue, which is critical to the brand's bottom line.
The study, completed earlier this year, surveyed hotel guests on how well-educated they were on the hotel's services and examined how this affected their usage of the services.
For example, the 49% of guests surveyed who felt they were properly educated on the hotel's services used the services 1.7 more than those guests who did not feel properly educated. What's more, 54% of the guests claimed they would have spent more money at the hotel if they had known more about what the hotel offered.
The survey also studied the effect on repeat business and brand loyalty. A hotel guest who felt properly educated by the hotel was almost two times more likely to return to the property, and 1.8 times more likely to use the hotel brand in another location.
According to Robert Bilotti (top right photo), Learning Director at Novita Training, the impact on revenue of these results can be calculated in numerous ways, beginning with guests' non-room dollars spent and the lifetime revenue from a brand loyal customer.
Bilotti says Hoteliers can not only avoid lost revenue but actually increase dollars spent at their property by not assuming or hoping that the guest will educate him or herself. "Hotels who take the initiative and educate guests with the information they want and need are - in a way - able to teach their guests to spend more. We call this Hotel Guest Onboarding and it's a combination of training, customer services and sales."
Lula Cassidy (lower right photo), President of InnTerActive Marketing, specialists in hotel revenue enhancement, feels it's a win-win situation. Cassidy says, "The more hotels can do to educate the guest, the more satisfying a stay the guest has - be it a vacation or business trip - and the more the guest spends."
For more information on the data contained in the study, as well as additional guest and industry quotes, contact info@novitaunique.com.
Contact:
Marilyn Mara
Novita Training
1-773-590-3636
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