Alliants Guest Experience Study points to experience focus
Customers are focusing on facilities and service when choosing a hotel, according to a study from Alliants and Pulsar looking at social media mentions.
The report, which centred around the luxury segment, found that key areas of concern were booking and transportation, highlighting opportunities where hotels could differentiate themselves from the competition.
The research was based on 39.1 thousand social media posts and 2.3 billion web searches, which took place between February and June 2023, focusing on luxury hospitality mentions across sources including Twitter, Reddit, Instagram and review sites.
Facilities were the leading factor when deciding on a venue, followed by service, with price in third place.
Within the luxury brands, Shangri-La garnered the most positive sentiment, with Taj in second. The most popular type of travel linked to the Shangri-La brand was the family holiday, with 88.1% of mentions. This was followed by business travel at 9%.
Of the other brands, Ritz Carlton saw 61.1% of mentions linked to family holidays, with 18.3% considering romantic breaks and 16% business travel. At Four Seasons it was 45.8% family holidays, 25% weddings and 20% business travel.
The luxury sector remains dominated by leisure travel, with guests planning relaxing getaways with their families. Facilities and service are of primary importance for them and it is important that hotels live up to high expectations if they are to deliver the exceptional experiences customers dream of. Kashif Yamin, Alliant’s SVP for Data & Strategy
Guests were eager to comment on good and bad experiences on social media, with the good describing the personalised experiences and close attention they had received, with phrases such as ‘home from home’ being used. Complaints centred around tired facilities and poor customer service, including ineffective communication.
We’re seeing holidaymakers turn to visually-orientated platforms, such as Instagram, to share holiday highlights. While community-orientated platforms, such as Reddit, operate more as forums for advice and planning conversations. Dahye Lee, Marketing Research Lead at Pulsar
When looking at the concerns which social media users raised, 29.2% mentioned bookings, 28.0% transportation and 21.6% planning.
Sustainability was a common theme, garnering a high number of mentions around areas such as environment, healing, retreats and green initiatives.
Kash adds: Customer experience is not just about the hotel itself, but the relationship which it builds with its guests. This happens not only during the stay, but before and afterwards. Hotels can use digital communication to stay in touch, providing a method they are used to in their daily lives, which gives them an easily-accessible line of contact.
Hotels can offer to assist with transportation and other pre-arrival issues, ensuring that the guest is able to enjoy a luxury experience even before setting foot on the property.
Alliants has decades of experience helping customers discover the depth of their data which allows them to deliver exceptional customer experience, drive informed business decisions and increase revenue. To find out more, please get in touch.
About Pulsar
Pulsar is the world’s leading audience intelligence company, helping organisations to understand their audiences and create messages that matter to them. www.pulsarplatform.com
About Alliants
Alliants has helped many of the world's most respected brands deliver exceptional customer experiences. Founded in 2009, Alliants has built industry-changing technology solutions, including award winning mobile apps and chat applications that transform the digital guest experience garnering usage by millions of guests around the globe. In 2022, Alliants secured a minority stake investment from Zendesk, Inc. (NYSE: ZEN), the global customer experience software company headquartered in San Francisco. In 2023, Alliants was recognised as a UK Best Workplace in Tech™ , a certification solely based on employee feedback.
Emily Newman
Co-founder, NewDog PR
