According to research by Gallup, luxury brands have the highest customer engagement level of all hotel segments, with 33% of luxury guests being fully engaged in a brand.
In the luxury/high end market, excellent service and memorable experiences are more important to guests than getting a bargain, so the potential for brand loyalty is higher. But it is becoming more and more difficult for hotels to offer a truly unique experience and keep up with what guests want.
In these videos industry experts discuss how they are attracting guests:
Engagement is important because, according to Gallup; ‘Hotel guests who are fully engaged spend 46% more per year than actively disengaged guests.’ If guests are engaged and returning to the same brand or property time and again, then these guests must be recognised and valued, as discussed above by Dan Wakeling. Gallup’s 2014 Hospitality Industry study found that ‘79% of guests who strongly agree that the hotel they visit most frequently takes care of their well-being, are fully engaged,’
Those who are willing to pay more for a high end stay have more requirements on their minds than a king size bed. Research by Booking.com found that sustainability is increasingly sought after and that ‘sustainable travellers’ were 50% more likely to intend to book more luxury accommodations in 2015 than they did in 2014, as compared with other traveller types.
The way that people engage with brands has changed. So how can one hotel make itself stand out over another?
The Zighy Bay Resort in Oman gives guests the option to paraglide into the resort on arrival.
In Sweden guests can stay in an Ice Hotel.
Some hotels and restaurants are epitomising ‘luxury’ by offering diamonds as part of their package.
And, as mentioned in the above video, Club Med offers a Cirque du Soleil experience.
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Video clips produced by ybc.tv for the Hospitality Channel, including interview from industry conferences such as the IHIF conference as well as specific Hospitality Channel shoots.
