Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift. That is why it is called the present. There’s something to be said about staying in the moment — living for the present and not for the future. Like when a guest walks into your hotel, you’re not going to ask them when they’re coming back before they’ve even checked in. No, you’re going to focus on things like that guest’s afternoon spa treatment — undisturbed and complete with a coconut mask, because it’s the preferred facial from their guest profile.
But it isn’t wise for your hotel to live solely in the present, and your guest data will support that. Past guest behavior and booking data influence future marketing efforts — it’s simple.
When we look at the bigger picture of hospitality, it’s good to stay in the present — perfecting how you use your technology day to day and making the guest experience memorable. But as we’ve seen from the digital transformation, if your hotel doesn’t look toward the future, it’s easy to get left behind. And when your hotel gets left behind, your guests get left behind, too.
Every year, industry experts predict the future of hospitality. Trends emerge — some with staying power and some that quickly fizzle out. Before you write off this article as a bunch of noise adding to the trends talk, we have to tell you that we were right about trends for 2024.
What happened last year?
We predicted three major trends that would hit hospitality in 2024, and all three came to fruition.
1. Even more data-driven decision-making
As Patrick Norton, Chief Marketing Officer at Brittain Resorts & Hotels, said on the Hotel Moment podcast, If you don’t have some sort of data-driven piece as the nucleus of your technology stack, then you’re doing something wrong, and you’re gonna fall behind. Patrick went on to say, 2024 is about data.
2024 was all about data. Google nixed its third-party cookie policy and said, Never mind, with a mid-year policy reversal. This made first-party data and zero-party data the it data types to bring hoteliers closer to their guests while respecting their privacy. And that opened the door for AI to shine when it came to data-driven decision-making. Why? Because in 2024, over 50% of customers said they were willing to provide data in exchange for AI personalization — making every email campaign and call with a reservation agent tailored to each guest.
2. The rise of Customer Data Platforms (CDPs)
Revinate launched its own CDP in 2024, so we have to say that we nailed that trend. But, we weren’t the only ones thinking about CDPs. Jason Pirock, Corporate Director of Marketing at Springboard Hospitality, predicted on the Hotel Moment podcast that in 2024 CDPs are going to continue to be a big topic of conversation. I continue to hear from industry folks about trying to connect data from all these different places and creating these more robust profiles.