We live in a world where technology unequivocally rules. Be it at a music concert, standing outside Le Louvre or witnessing a global event, smartphones and tablets are everywhere, constantly communicating experience and are here to stay.

The speed with which technology moves forward is increasing at an almost uncontrollable rate as the image above depicts and these changes have significant implications for the hospitality industry.

First and foremost, the very nature of traveling has changed, fostering a modern, ‘silent’ guest whose wants and needs are very much different from his or her predecessors.

Clearly hotels and the hospitality industry in general must adapt and react to these changes but in order to do so, we must first define…

Exactly who is the silent traveler?

1. The silent traveler shuns human interaction

In a sentence, the silent traveler is indicative of the new tech-savvy, individually competent generation who has endless information at less than an arm’s length – but more importantly they know how to use it.

To put it bluntly, the silent traveller doesn’t need to communicate through speech.

It’s not necessarily a question of volition (although sometimes the case); the 21st Century tourist doesn’t want to avoid human contact at all costs by any means.

It’s more the fact that they are adept individuals, capable of accessing all the information they need at the push of a button.

For example, a young couple hoping to enjoy a honeymoon in Paris and inevitably wanting to visit the Eiffel Tower can quite easily find out online at what time the weather and thus the view will be the most beautiful and how much the overall trip will cost them.

WiFi and 3G have become the bread and water of their generation.

If all this information can thus be accessed from a smartphone via a simple Google search there is just no need to ask reception unnecessary and seemingly inconvenient questions such as: “what time does the Musée d’Orsay close?”

The wealth of information online causes an unavoidable loss of human-to-human contact, less opportunity for the hotel to engage with guests and therefore communication in general becomes increasingly difficult.

If the guest prefers to view said info on a screen then it is imperative that the hotel correspondingly offers itself on a screen.

Not only will this allow for the hotelier to take back control of its in-destination services, but also the information provided is far more specific to the hotel and its surrounding area, thus also more beneficial for guests than an impersonal search engine.

The modern traveler doesn’t need help yet it nevertheless remains essential for hotels to find a way to break this barrier of silence. It’s time to act!

2. Mobile devices

Simply put, 9 out of 10 modern travelers will have a smartphone in their pocket, ready to whip out when necessary, or a tablet in their luggage, forever available in-destination to aid its owner with anything and everything… or both!

Officially that statistic stands at 85% (Source: TripBarometer) further emphasising the new opportunity presented to hoteliers of reaching out to their guests.

Clearly a significant proportion of their potential and current guests are actively using mobile devices when traveling as the table demonstrates, detailing their various uses.

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3. Strong social media presence

As we can see from the above table, the silent traveler has a strong social media presence with 61% admitting to posting updates, checking in or generally accessing social media whilst on the move.  

Furthermore according to a survey by SDL, 32% state they constantly post updates.

From personal experience and the overwhelming popularity of Instagramfor example, this content is often visual and beautiful.

This characteristic of the silent traveler could and should be exploited by hotels and other destinations.

Wouldn’t it be a great idea if hotels could somehow find a way to integrate a photo-sharing function or ‘Facebook check-in’ facility – it certainly makes sense from a marketing perspective.

4. Effectiveness

Speed and efficiency of service go hand in hand with the millennial.

In fact, they come to expect it, have grown up with it and know no different.

The modern generation of silent travelers doesn’t expect to have to queue to check in to a hotel and with technology available such as the iBeacon, he or she no longer has to even speak to anyone to unlock a reserved room.

If a guest could hypothetically order room service without having to pick up the phone, dial, wait and then communicate an order to a member of staff – in other words by pressing a handful of keys on a smartphone – then he or she will probably choose to order in such a way.

Especially if said guest speaks neither French nor English, then a device capable of offering immediate access to a hotel’s services in several languages is extremely useful, especially in today’s globalised world of travel.

Improved efficiency undoubtedly leads to an increase in guest satisfaction, greater online reviews and thus online presence, something that 85% of travelers admit is important to them when choosing where to stay (Source: SDL).

Immediacy of efficient, digital service is an expectation for both the silent traveler and the traditional, ‘normal’ guest, not a luxury.

5. Personalised experience

For a generation where individuality is celebrated, an emphasis is placed by the millennial upon unique experience.

In other words, the modern traveler paradoxically doesn’t want to be forced to have to engage in human contact in their destination of choice, but nevertheless wants to be made feel important – an individual.

They want to be sent reductions but fundamentally only on things they specifically want to receive. By collecting guest data, this is more than possible.

Someone who has previously visited the hotel spa can be pushed a special offer on spa treatment and through iBeacon technology once again this can be done by the hotel itself.

However target marketing in such a way is by no means exclusive to the iBeacon. Simply with an in-destination app and a scenario function, hotels can push real-time messages or pose questions to their guests.

In essence, an app provides the potential to constantly adapt content to suit the guest.

Communication thus becomes possible with the silent traveler – but primarily it’s not just any type of communication… it’s a personalised dialogue.

6. Price beats loyalty

For the silent traveler, a millennial fully immersed within the capitalised world, price by definition beats loyalty.

For example, only 9% of travelers (Source: SDL) consider loyalty when booking a trip

This fact with the overwhelming reach of OTAs hotels are seriously losing out both in terms of OTA commission but arguably more importantly, on customer retention.

A personalised, efficient service that doesn’t demand face to face interaction from the silent traveler significantly increases guest satisfaction and therefore loyalty. Loyalty however, significantly also comes the aforementioned ability to push personalised offers to the guest. I

If price beats loyalty, it is only because of the apparent mis-communication between hotel and guest.

This is something that hotels can exploit. Why not offer special reductions to special guests?

C’est-à-dire those who have previously purchased can be sent future reductions on products or services similar those already purchased.

For the hotelier this creates the perfect genre of guest loyalty. It’s not that the silent traveler wants to be ignored; more that the very nature of said communication needs to change.

Loyalty needs to be created by the hotelier through targeted reductions and promotions for interested guests.

How?

7. Mobile applications

With the smartphone population on the rise, it is logical that app usage has proportionally risen in popularity in recent times.

For example, referencing some Neilsen research, 60% of global travellers admit to using an app, rising to 75% of all US travellers who correspondingly are more likely to take a smartphone abroad (Source: SDL).

Essentially if you take a smartphone to a hotel, you are statistically more likely to use an app.

Now consider the aforementioned 85% who travel with a mobile device and all of a sudden a means of communicating with the modern, tech savvy, silent traveler presents itself.

The solution?

A mobile customer relations application

Why?

• A mobile in-destination application has the capacity to group together information specific and unique to each hotel and its surrounding area that a guest might want to see. The opening times and prices of the Eiffel Tower are now accessible for that couple on honeymoon as well as an updated weather module so that they can even pick the ideal day to see Paris from the sky. All this on one single application

• An app available on tablet, iOS, Android has a unique, universal value. Each and every guest can have access. Available even as a web-app, literally no one can feel left out.

• Facebook integration and an online check-in function are easily implementable into an app and this allow for the online sharing and promotion of the hotel’s content and services.

• Efficient as desired by the modern traveler, an app allows for immediacy; be it ordering room service or highlighting a problem with a guest’s stay.

• By directly receiving the notification of an issue, the hotel can rapidly respond, resolving the problem.

• Furthermore, easily translatable into several languages, an app breaks down the potential language barrier between customer and hotel by offering a real-time translation service.

• This general improvement on service indisputably improves guest satisfaction and thus online presence on review sites, pleasing both hotelier and the silent traveler who hasn’t even had to verbally communicate any in-stay issues.

• If successfully integrated, the hotel can personalise the guest’s experience to the max be it through iBeacon technology or a simply scenario facility, promoting specific services with respect to those who want to see them.

• Hotels now have a way of talking to those who don’t necessary need to be talked to.

And this is achievable all on one mobile application

Sources:

• Nielsen: Apps dominate mobile time spent accessing travel in U.S.
• TripAdvisor: TripBarometer September 2014 USA: The Psychology of Travel
• Appleinsider: Apple's iBeacon continues to spread with new rollouts by Lord & Taylor, others

Written by Roy Manuell

Photo Credits: Skitterphoto - Pexels

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