Transforming the hospitality landscape, HiJiffy pioneers the integration of advanced conversational AI with its Guest Communications Hub, revolutionising how hotels engage with their guests. This case study illustrates the remarkable impact of HiJiffy’s collaboration with Leonardo Hotels.

Drawing on metrics and reports from HiJiffy, matched with valuable insights from Leonardo Hotels, this study delves into the journey of enhancing guest experiences across multiple properties.

Navigating challenges in guest communication, Leonardo Hotels leveraged HiJiffy’s innovative solution to streamline operations and foster seamless interactions. Through firsthand testimonials, discover how this partnership enabled Leonardo Hotels to increase service quality and efficiency, setting new benchmarks in guest satisfaction.

The Client: Leonardo Hotels (part of the Fattal Hotel Group)

Operating in 123 destinations in and around Europe with a portfolio of 282 hotels offering more than 50,000 rooms, Leonardo Hotels stands out as a distinguished brand. Each property is centrally located and renowned for its high-quality service standards and stylish interior design reflecting regional charm.

At Leonardo Hotels, guests are at the heart of everything. The brand takes pride in its considerate and attentive approach to meeting guests’ wishes and needs, focusing on every detail to ensure a truly exceptional stay. Whether it is tourists, business travellers, weekenders, or conference attendees, Leonardo Hotels warmly welcomes guests seeking to make the most of their experience.

The Challenges​

The goal for Leonardo Hotels was to identify a solution that would increase overall efficiency and customer satisfaction in addition to automating and centralising communication through a reliable and effective system. They encountered the following challenges:

  • Enhancing Guest Experience
    Optimising the communication channel and automating responses to frequently asked questions, making it easier for guests to book directly and enhancing overall guest satisfaction.
  • Improve customer support
    Improving guest satisfaction by managing requests on a single platform and facilitating seamless communication between various properties. Aiming to gain further insights for analysis and enhance their processes effectively while also reducing the workload of the front-office teams.
  • Boost Loyalty Program
    Boosting the loyalty program for their AdvantageCLUB members by improving communication channels and providing personalised services.

By adopting HiJiffy’s innovative solution, Leonardo Hotels set out to accomplish these objectives and elevate its guest experience to new levels.

The Solutions​

Leonardo Hotels has successfully integrated HiJiffy’s Guest Communications Hub across its 213 properties, marking a significant milestone in the collaboration. Since the initiation of the partnership, the solution has evolved to become the hotel’s preferred method of guest communication.

With the expert guidance of HiJiffy’s Customer Success team, Leonardo Hotels enhanced the guest experience during the pre-stay phase, effectively tackling existing challenges. The initial challenges involved reducing the workload of front-office teams while enhancing efficiency and service quality for an improved guest experience.

  • Answering FAQs
    HiJiffy’s conversational AI, which specialises in more than 200 topics specific to the hospitality industry, handles travellers’ questions instantly and automatically. It provides a 24/7 service all week through channels like a chat on their website, WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger.
  • Converting direct booking
    Conversational AI integrated into the hotel brand’s booking engine guides guests through the booking process, ensuring a seamless experience.
  • Unified Communication Channels
    HiJiffy’s Guest Communications Hub serves as a centralised platform that unites all communication channels for every set of properties, allowing streamlined guest interactions. The solution also integrates with the hotel’s existing systems, allowing seamless information flow and enhancing overall operational efficiency.
  • Boosting loyalty programme subscriptions
    The optimised decision-tree logic actively promotes enrollment in Leonardo Hotels’ loyalty program, Advantage CLUB.

Through these strategic implementations, Leonardo Hotels has significantly increased guest satisfaction and optimised operational efficiency, reinforcing its commitment to exceptional service and seeking innovative solutions in the hospitality industry.

The Results​

Addressing the challenges with the related solutions results in great success. The findings are based on the HiJiffy data available in the Guest Communication Hub as well as insights and observations provided by Leonardo Hotels for this case study.

With a 93% automation rate, the implementation of the HiJiffy solution demonstrated its ability to overcome the challenges of answering guest questions 24/7 and streamlining these overall properties. The initial challenges of reducing front-office workload, improving efficiency, and enhancing guest experience with higher service quality were successfully addressed and resolved.

93% Automation of Conversations

Throughout the entire 2023, out of 280,622 conversations, around 261K were automatically handled by the HiJiffy virtual assistant without the need for a human agent. The requests cover a wide range of questions beyond the top FAQs like Parking, Check-in, and Breakfast.

Conversion rate from conversation to booking increased

The chatbot integration led to an impressive increase in direct bookings resulting from conversations with the virtual assistant. HiJiffy has significantly boosted the hotels’ direct online bookings.

14k hours of manual work replying to repetitive questions saved

If we consider the average handle time of guest requests (3:11 min), the chatbot saved 14,000 hours of work. This means that the team at Leonardo Hotels had more time to work on important tasks, rather than answering the same questions repeatedly and feeling dissatisfied. The time saved is equivalent to 577 days or 8 full-time employees working 8 hours a day, 5 days a week, for a whole year. Delegating repetitive tasks to the virtual assistant significantly frees up time for the team to focus on higher-value tasks, leading to improved productivity and efficiency.
Even though the website remains the primary channel, the improvements were also noticeable on Facebook Messenger, thanks to the integrated systems:

Since implementing HiJiffy, I’ve almost been spared the need to manually manage Facebook Messenger. Guest communications initiated there are now flawlessly handled, saving me considerable time. Ekaterina Emanova, Junior Digital Project Manager at Leonardo Hotels

Testimonials

Integrating HiJiffy’s chatbot solution has transformed our customer service experience. Previously, managing inquiries was challenging, resulting in delays and dissatisfaction among guests. However, following the implementation of the chatbot, response times have significantly improved due to its efficient handling of common queries and seamless resolution of complex issues. This enhancement has not only streamlined our operations but also boosted guest satisfaction and fortified our brand reputation. Without a doubt, partnering with HiJiffy has been an important step forward for Leonardo Hotels. Dan Ogen – Chief Digital & Marketing Officer Europe at Leonardo Hotels
We’re highly satisfied with HiJiffy’s exceptional support and responsiveness, continuously receptive to our suggestions for any improvements to our chatbot. Furthermore, our partnership consistently yields fresh insights into our guests’ needs, enabling us to gather valuable data that truly helps us enhance our customer satisfaction. Ekaterina Emanova – Junior Digital Project Manager at Leonardo Hotels
I have been Leonardo Hotel’s account manager for the last two years and it has been a very exciting journey! Thanks to their amazing feedback and input, we were able to improve features in our solution and grow as a company. Recently, we have created a custom flow for Leonardo’s loyalty program (Advantage CLUB) which will help the loyalty club team to easily help the guests with their queries and the team to be more proactive. We have been working very well as a team and I hope the Leonardo Hotels team keeps challenging us every day. Margarida Magalhães, Customer Success Manager at HiJiffy

About HiJiffy

HiJiffy was founded in 2016 with the mission of developing the most advanced conversational AI for hospitality. Seeking the perfect connection between hotels and their guests, HiJiffy created a powerful Guest Communications Hub.

Powered by its proprietary AI across the full guest journey, HiJiffy allows hoteliers to increase revenue from direct bookings and upselling while automating repetitive tasks to reduce operating costs and mitigate staff shortages.

In 2024, more than 2,100 hotels in over 60 countries reimagine guest communications with HiJiffy's omnichannel solution featuring cutting-edge tech innovations like self-learning AI, sentiment analysis, voice assistance, generative AI, and more.

Caroline List
Country Lead DACH
HiJiffy

View source