Data is your best asset in any business, and hospitality is not the exception. Your data is not only your source of truth, but also the entrance to your guests’ world. 

It helps you understand who is coming to your property, why they choose your brand, and how to attract more people like them. 

However, it is also true that data can be a confusing topic and difficult to manage. It brings its own challenges. 

For starters, every business generates a massive amount of data daily, but within hospitality, the volume, complexity, and pace at which data flows can be overwhelming. This causes hoteliers not to know where to start, how to get their data in place and how to use it to make decisions.

Managing this data correctly has proven not to be an easy task. That’s why in this article, we will talk about three of the most common problems in the industry and the best way to fix them.

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Challenge 1: Scattered data across systems

It's common for hotels to use different tools and platforms for each department. The reception might use one system for reservations, the housekeeping another for managing room statuses, and the restaurant uses a separate tool for meal orders. 

What is also very common is that these systems don’t interact with each other. This creates data silos that don’t allow you to have a general overview of what is going on in your business. 

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Why is that a problem? 

• You can’t get a truly big picture of your guests.
• Any decision you make for your business will be only halfway right and you might be missing key details.
• It creates more manual work since your staff needs to run around gathering for the missing data.   

If your guest data is stored in different places such as PMS, CRM, loyalty programs and booking engine, this alone forces you to take some time to manually send data from one system to the other to have some clarity.

Having data scattered across systems not only gives you more manual work but also prevents you from focusing on how to use that data and getting more learnings about your guests and your operations. 

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How to solve it? Centralise your guest data

Ideally, you should have one source of truth. This means all your data should go into one system that can give you an overview of everything, allowing you to make data-driven decisions. 

Here is when a Customer Data Platform (CDP) comes into place. A CDP acts exactly as what you need: a central hub that integrates data from various sources. This means all your data from PMS, CRM, online review platforms, and more, will be stored in one single place.

No need to manually import or export, or chase data around for hours. In other words, lots of less manual work. 

This will provide you with a holistic view of guest information and giving you a master guest profile, where all information is consolidated, and you can truly see the big picture of every guest and your business. 

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How does this look in practice? 

Let’s say one of your guests has stayed at your hotel multiple times, but each time, they booked through a different channel. 

With a CDP, you can now see not only all their reservations under the same profile but also the services they used on every occasion, the reviews they left, the marketing campaigns they received, and even the messages they exchanged with the reception. 

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Challenge 2: An inaccurate database

When data is stored in different systems, it’s easier to have discrepancies, either from duplicates, grammatical mistakes or incomplete information. 

For example, instead of having one Michael Miles, you have 10 Michael Miles with the home address but different emails and phone numbers. 

Inaccurate, out-of-date, or irrelevant data can create a 'dirty' database. This can have a significant influence on your relationship with your guests as well as on your marketing efforts. 

For example, how do you know if your campaign is reaching the right people if all the profiles are messed up?

On the oher hand, a 'dirty' guest database could play tricks on you. 

It might mix the guest preferences, and you offer a lavish honeymoon suite for an elderly person who would be content with a cosy, small room. In conclusion, you get more clarity and piece of mind when you know your data is clean, free of duplicates and up to date. 

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How do you solve challenge number 2? Clean your guest data

A CDP can automatically validate and correct guest data, ensuring accuracy and integrity. It can also enrich the database by appending missing information from various sources, such as contact details or preferences. 

The practice of matching the right profile with the correct information is done thanks to the match & merge algorithm, that allows you to get rid of any duplicates and to have a master guest profile.

By regularly cleansing and enriching the guest database, you can send targeted marketing campaigns based on the right data to the right person.

For example, demographic guest data helps you understand where your guests come from, how old they are etc., so you can send customised recommendations based on their preferences. 

Website behaviour data allows you to identify where guests stay or leave, enabling you to adapt your websites accordingly.

Do you want to know more about how match & merge works for your hotel? Read this article.

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Challenge 3: Poor data security

Hotel data can be incredibly sensitive, including personal, credit card, and travel information. Thus, protecting sensitive guest information is not only a legal requirement but also crucial for maintaining guest trust. 

Guest data breaches not only lead to losses but can permanently tarnish the hotel brand's reputation.

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How to solve challenge number 3? Ensure data security

A reputable CDP provides robust security measures, including data encryption, access controls, and regular audits. It ensures that guest data is safely stored and only accessible to authorised personnel. 

Furthermore, a CDP helps hotels comply with data regulations by providing features like data deletion, consent management, and data subject access requests.

There's much more that a CDP can help you with: optimise your revenue, improve your operational efficiency, build guest loyalty etc. Get to know more in this article.

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Healthy Guest Data is key for healthy operations

In the hotel industry, data isn’t just a tool; it’s a vital part of the guest experience and the heart of efficient operations. 

Every guest interaction, preference, and detail collected is a chance to build loyalty and fine-tune your services. 

When data is well-organized, accessible, and secure, it becomes an asset that can drive everything from smoother operations to more engaging guest experiences. 

Investing in high-quality data management isn’t only about staying competitive—it’s about creating a hotel that truly understands and responds to its guests. 

In a digital world where trust and personalisation are key, taking good care of your data is essential for long-term success.

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