Guest journeys have become more important in the last few years. As the importance of personalisation has grown, so has the need for a carefully curated journey for guests staying at any property.

One of the reasons why guest journeys have become so popular is because they help hoteliers deliver a seamless guest experience, where every touchpoint is planned and delivered at the right time. 

Another reason is because of the growing guest expectations. Guests demand more personalisation than ever before, along with a digital experience that allows them to make the most out of their stay. In addition, they want properties to provide something “extra” that makes them stand out from the crowd and worth remembering. 

Guest journeys can help you reduce the guest effort or customer effort, by providing the right information at the right time and on the right channel. This will have an impact on guest satisfaction, guest engagement and positive reviews.

Of course, to leverage guest journeys you first need to create one and make sure it is correctly implemented. There is a lot of information out there about customer journeys, but not so much about hotel guest journeys and the best practices you can follow. 

In this article, we will take a look at this aspect. 

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The starting points for hotel guest journeys: clean guest database

Hotel guest journeys are all about guest data. You need to know who are your guests and how to reach them best. However, this might not be as easy as it sounds. 

One of the main problems in the hospitality industry is the lack of unified data. There are many sources of data (PMS, websites, social media, booking engines, loyalty programs, etc.) and they don’t communicate with each other. There is a need for unified guest data and comprehensive guest profiles. 

This means that it is crucial for you as a hotelier to be able to manage your customer data. 

One of the most efficient ways to do it is with a system that can gather the data and organise it, like a Customer Data Platform. This will help you to always have data that is up-to-date and get the best insights about your guests. 

 A tip for you: In the case of Bookboost, our CRM has a hotel CDP in its core, which means it can gather and clean your data, and then you can use it to create guest journeys, all with one system.

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Best practices for hotel guest journeys

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1. Make sure the right message is sent to the right segment

Another important part has to do with how personalised your approach can be, and for that, segmentation is key. It plays a vital role in guest journey implementation. But how can you use segmentation in your hotel?

One great way is by dividing your audience into different segments based on different characteristics, such as their preferences, past purchase behaviour, or demographic information. 

In this way, you can ensure each group receives relevant information. For example, business guests will receive a different message than leisure guests or family guests. 

This not only helps in providing relevant and targeted information but also to avoid the amount of spam that a guest can receive, meaning, information that is not relevant for them. Both points help to enhance the guest experience. 

‍A tip for you: There is no need to do this manually, if you have a customer relationship management system (CRM), the segmentation can be done in minutes.

If you are not sure about which audiences you can create, read this: 9 audiences for better hotel marketing campaigns

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2. Utilise different touchpoints to create balance

Hoteliers normally go for two different approaches: either they send many messages and overwhelm guests or they don’t say anything until it is time to check-in. It doesn’t have to be all or nothing.

Hoteliers should aim to create a balanced guest journey, where they can leverage multiple touchpoints throughout the guest's lifecycle. Always being proactive and creating an experience that is worth remembering.

Some hotels find that having 3 touchpoints across the entire guest journey works for them, while others have gotten great guest feedback with 7 touchpoints. This means there is no exact number of touchpoints because it will depend on what information you send and who are your guests.

In this video, you can learn more about it. 

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3. Use automation in your guest journey to make it easier

Thinking about sending different touchpoints to different guests at different times can be overwhelming. But the good news is that you don’t have to.

Today, automation is key to ensuring smooth operations and consistent guest experiences. Using a tool like a hotel CRM system, you can automate the sending of different touchpoints like booking confirmation, pre-stay information, check-in reminders, invoices, and more. 

This streamlines your operations and makes your staff feel more efficient, because they don’t have to spend hours working on the text, replacing guest details and more. 

Yours Truly, a hotel in Munich, used to spend around two hours per day per employee working on updating guest details and manually sending messages from the guest journey. Once they decided to automate, they saw a considerable reduction in the time spent on sending messages and could spend more time providing VIP treatment to guests.

‍Get inspired and learn more about guest journey automation: 5 triggers to automate hotel marketing communications.

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4. Make a difference between first-timers and returning guests

One of the most popular segments where hotels can make a difference with personalised communication is first-time guests versus returning guests. 

While first-time guests are just starting to get to know your brand, returning guests have already been there.

This means they need different information. For first-timers, you can talk about the essence of the brand, where the breakfast is served and how the check-in process works. For returners, sending the same information would be a mistake. You can offer them more details if they need a reminder, but the main value will be in giving them some extra information or even a benefit for returning to your property. 

These two segments are the ones every hotel or serviced apartment can cater to, because they always exist.

5. Focus on your OTA guests

A big focus of the industry is to increase direct bookings, meaning turn your OTA bookers into loyal guests. Your guest journey can help you to achieve that goal.

A person who makes a booking via OTA in many cases hasn’t even visited your website or had a chance to engage with your brand. 

The goal is to build a relationship with that guest through personalised communication and highlight the benefits of booking directly instead of returning through an OTA. 

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6. Apply a step-by-step approach

Implementing a comprehensive guest journey might seem overwhelming initially, considering the numerous opportunities available. However, it is essential to start with the basics and gradually add more complex processes. 

It is important to always evaluate and iterate. Start by automating simple tasks and gradually expand to more sophisticated techniques. This step-by-step approach allows for effective implementation and continuous improvement.

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7. Simplify the complex data

An effective implementation of a guest journey in a hotel requires simplifying complex data for easy interpretation and decision-making. The more you can understand, the better decisions you will make.

You can analyse your marketing campaign's KPIs, such as open rate, CTR, and you can also pay attention to service-related KPIs, such as response time, guest feedback, and more. The point is that your data reporting should be clear for you and your entire team. 

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A great implementation builds great hotel guest journeys

Implementing a guest journey that uses segmentation, personalised communication, and automation can elevate your guest experience and increase customer satisfaction and loyalty. 

And you don’t have to do this alone. With a hospitality CRM system, cleaning your guest data, segmenting audiences, automating processes, and adopting a step-by-step approach, will be an easy task, since this system specializes in that, helping you to create a seamless and personalised guest journey that delivers exceptional service at every touchpoint.

These practices have worked well for different hotels across the world, but if you are new in the industry, we have created a guest journey template. Download it to get ideas on valuable touchpoints and adapt it to your brand.

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