Tag: big data

Briefing: Smart data adds value

Posted on by Guy Lean

RevPar in the UK hotel industry is growing. According to PWC’s UK hotels forecast 2016, there will be 2.2% growth in ADR in London in 2016, which will help drive a RevPAR increase of 2.3% and take yields to £122.

But hoteliers should not become complacent because of market positivity. Could hotel revenues be increased further with better use of data? Clever businesses are now valuing ‘Smart Data’ – data which is analysed and acted on, over ‘Big Data’, and want any data use to make a difference to the bottom line.

Hospitality experts discuss reacting to data insights:

Good data usage can really help push the revenue of hotels by giving hotels the insight into what’s working, what isn’t, and what they should do to capitalize their assets. Customer data can tell hoteliers how to improve their hotel, and outside data such as weather can tell hotels how to change their prices.

Weather is a particularly rich area of data. According to a report by BSA, “Satellites, weather observatories, radar, and other sensors capture more than 2.25 billion weather data points 15 times per hour — collecting 20 terabytes per day — making more accurate weather predictions around the globe possible.” And this is of course very easily applicable to hotels as weather can be a massive influencer on guest behaviour.

2011 research by Erik Brynjolfsson, Lorin Hitt and Heekyung Kim found that companies that used data to drive decision making saw overall productivity improve by 5-6%

A 2014 survey by Forrester found that companies were analysing only 12% of the data that they already have. There is an unknowable amount of data out there, much of it unstructured and most of it still unused, but this is slowly changing.

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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.

Briefing: Good data management brings insight and development

Posted on by Guy Lean

Our reliance on digital technology means that data is building at an increasing rate. According to IBM we currently create 2.5 quintillion bytes of data everyday and 90% of the data in the world today has been created in the last two years alone.

Much of this data is irrelevant but where businesses are identifying the correct data sources and taking the time to analyse them they are finding value. Hospitality business should also think about making accurate data available to guests and clients.

In this briefing four hospitality experts discuss data management and analysis:

Many disruptive businesses have digital and data front and center of their strategy.

In hospitality Airbnb employs ‘data scientists’ to analyse things like the likelihood of a host accepting requests from potential guests. This analysis can help them increase the amount of successful matches.

In other industries, companies like Uber have invested in clever data analysis to be able to make predictions about its customers’ behaviours outside of the cab.

Established hospitality brands are also investing in digital and data. In October last year Accor announced plans for its digital transformation, which involves a €225 million investment plan and focus on two ‘pillars,’ IT infrastructure and data management.

Much of the data used and produced today is on mobile devices. According to Accenture ‘50 billion devices will produce actionable data by 2020’.

Research by Ericsson found that mobile data traffic increased by 55% from 2014 to 2015.

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Video clips produced by yBC for the Hospitality Channel, including interview from industry conferences such as the IHIF conference as well as specific Hospitality Channel shoots.

Briefing: Data Security fears rise among consumers

Posted on by Guy Lean

A new report by Symantec found that 49% of UK consumers and 57% of European consumers are worried their data is not safe. The State of Privacy Report 2015 found that 81% people now recognise that their personal data has value, and one in three people give fake personal data so that their real information remains private. Whilst hospitality companies continue to find innovative ways to organise data and use it to personalise service, it is imperative that they ensure security is robust or they risk losing customers.

In this week’s videos, industry experts discuss responsible data usage:

Symantec’s survey of 7,000 people was conducted across Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Spain and the UK in December 2014. On average 88% of respondents said that a company keeping data safe and secure was an important factor in choosing a company to shop with. This ranked higher than great customer service (82%) and having quality products (86%).

A second information security company, TRUSTe found similar results in it’s 2015 Consumer Confidence Privacy Indexes which showed that 42% of Americans and 33% of UK residents are now more worried about their online privacy than they were year ago. The reports state that 77% of Americans and 80% of UK residents have moderated their online activity in the last year due to privacy concerns.

It is clear that there are negative impacts on a business when security is not properly addressed. One hotel booking site closed down last year after a major issue with the way it handled data meant that customers’ booking information could easily be accessed by members of the public, according to this BBC report.

There are regulations in place that all business are required to follow which define how they can hold data and what they must tell the consumer when collecting information. In the UK there is the Data protection Act 1998 which now includes a paper specifically written to address the issue of big data. In the US the Consumer Bill of Rights is being drafted to update data privacy policy.

If you’ve been sent to this page and you’re not yet on the circulation list to receive these regular briefings and you would like to sign up, you can do see here. It’s free.

Video clips produced by ybc.hpgcms.wpengine.com for the Hospitality Channel, including interview from industry conferences such as the IHIF conference as well as specific Hospitality Channel shoots.

Briefing: Guest data and great staff combine for the ultimate personalised experience

Posted on by Guy Lean

Data has been a hot conversation topic for a long time now. Personal information holds the secrets to your guests’ desires and is more available than ever. If data helps companies to ‘understand’ their customer, then the customer should reap the benefits. Once the guest arrives at a hotel there is no substitute for intuition. But staff must be equipped to use data on the fly to personalise service.

In this briefing four experts discuss how personalisation is the key to a great hotel experience. Comment from:

  • Frank Croston, Partner, Hamilton Hotel Partners on using consumer data to personalise promotions

  • Anton Bawab, Regional President, Viceroy Hotel Group on intuitive staff offering a more personalised service

  • Michael Levie, Chief Executive Officer, citizenM on valuing service with a smile

  • Stephan Balzer, Chief Executive Officer, Red Onion GmbH on more personalised stays being possible if hotels utilise data

 

If you’ve been sent to this page and you’re not yet on the circulation list to receive these regular briefings and you would like to sign up, you can do see here. It’s free.

Video clips produced by ybc.hpgcms.wpengine.com for the Hospitality Channel, including interview from industry conferences such as the IHIF conference as well as specific Hospitality Channel shoots.

Briefing: the ‘big data’ minefield

Posted on by pmalone

The digital economy is producing unparalleled amounts of data, in part due to increased customer engagement through social media and online platforms. Simultaneously, the capability of technology and data management systems is progressing rapidly, allowing the vast silos  of data within the hotel industry to be put to good use.

This briefing looks at the process of analysing the hospitality industry using data and the issues that arise from increased access to valuable and sensitive information. Comment from:

  • Wolfgang Neumann, President & CEO of The Rezidor Hotel Group on managing customer data

  • Carlo Gagliardi, Partner, PricewaterhouseCoopers on why hotels must use big data wisely

  • Andrew Boshoff, Head of Strategy & Development at Global Hotel Alliance on creating smart, usable data.

  • Elizabeth Winkle, Managing Director of STR Global on crunching data for the hotel industry

If you’ve been sent to this page and you’re not yet on the circulation list to receive these regular briefings and you would like to sign up, you can do see here. It’s free.

Video clips produced by ybc.hpgcms.wpengine.com for the Hospitality Channel, including interview from industry conferences such as the IHIF conference as well as specific Hospitality Channel shoots.

Briefing: the age of data

Posted on by pmalone

Hospitality is one of the most data rich industries on the planet. There is no doubt that most industries are truly envious of the depth of knowledge and understanding the industry has about every single person that walks through the doors. Data that can be so specific to an individual’s preferences when staying in a hotel.

How can the industry use this vital information in order to make a customer’s experience truly engaging?

The opportunity that the digital world now affords hospitality is prevalent on so many different levels and experts this week discuss where to exploit this data abundant industry. Including comment from::

  • Sean Worker, CEO of Bridgestreet on making data work for your business
  • Andrew Sangster, Editorial Director of hotelanalyst on utilising data within your organisation
  • Leo Brand, CEO of SwissCom Hospitality Services on making data personal to a customer
  • And Nigel Huddleston, Industry Head of Travel for Google on the early stage developments of permission based data
 


If you’ve been sent to this page but you’re not yet on the circulation list to receive these regular briefings and you would like to sign up, you can do so here. It’s free.

Video clips produced by ybc.hpgcms.wpengine.com for the Hospitality Channel, including interviews from industry conferences such as the IHIF conference as well as specific Hospitality Channel shoots.

Briefing: investment in data is the future of hospitality

Posted on by pmalone

Staying connected to your customer is of paramount importance as customer loyalty is to brands. The hospitality sector is very unusual as the amount of data a hotel might have about an individual is perhaps more than any other industry. But how should hospitality embrace new technology to capitalise on the enormous amount of data it has?

Many believe there is a revolution coming in the way we communicate with consumers, colleagues and stakeholders and investment decisions about the use of new technologies requires much thought and understanding.

In this briefing we hear from technology experts in the realm of hospitality that discuss where the future of the digital world lies and where hospitality fits into this picture, including:

  • Nigel Huddlestone, Industry Head for Travel at Google on making data relevant to your business
  • Andrew Sangster, Editorial Director for Hotel Analyst Distribution & Technology on connecting the huge data silos within a hotel business
  • Cyril Ranque, SVP of Global Market Management for Expedia Lodging on his company being the ‘technology lab’ for many hotel business
  • And Arthur de Haast, Chairman – Hotels & Hospitality for Jones Lang LaSalle on the speed in which digital technology speeds up businesses.
 


If you’ve been sent to this page but you’re not yet on the circulation list to receive these regular briefings and you would like to sign up, you can do so here. It’s free.

Video clips produced by ybc.hpgcms.wpengine.com for the Hospitality Channel, including interviews from industry conferences such as the most recent IHIF conference as well as specific Hospitality Channel shoots.

Briefing: is hospitality harnessing online data?

Posted on by pmalone

The explosion of social networks in the past couple of years has opened new opportunities to engage with customers. People are quick to post comments, ask questions and write reviews. This trend is only going to continue.

Organisations cannot remain on top of everything that is going on, but they certainly need to be aware of what is being said. With numerous ‘listening’ tools in the market there is a need to be intelligent with online commenting as a business as well as getting a feel of what the market is saying about you.

But is hospitality doing enough in the digital world? This question is answered in this week’s briefing, including comment from:

  • Sean Worker, CEO of BridgeStreet on whether the industry is using the data intelligently.
  • Andrew Sangster, Editor of Hotel Analyst on applying the data to the consumer.
  • John Brennan, CEO of Jurys Inn Hotels on using data to target his customers.
  • And Peter O’Connor of the Essec Business School on the industry uptake of the new social technologies.
 


If you’ve been sent to this page but you’re not yet on the circulation list to receive these regular briefings and you would like to sign up, you can do so here. It’s free.

Video clips produced by ybc.hpgcms.wpengine.com for the Hospitality Channel, including interviews from industry conferences such as the most recent IHIF conference as well as specific Hospitality Channel shoots.

Briefing: using data intelligently

Posted on by pmalone

The proliferation of data has never been so prevalent. Information is being created like never before. Customer interaction in hospitality through technology and software has been used for some time. As these systems become more sophisticated, companies can in turn be much more targeted and personalised in the way they interact with their customers.

The problem in all industries isn’t so much getting the data, it is understanding the data and what it means for future decision-making. Experts believe that 80% of the data that is needed in contemporary decision-making now sits outside your business.

This week we hear from technologists, hoteliers and analysts on their perception of how this is impacting every business, including:

  • Simon Vincent, of Hilton Worldwide on his company using the data of a 30million strong loyal database of customers
  • Sean Worker, of BridgeStreet on the balance needed between technology and real experience.
  • Andrew Sangster, of Hotel Analyst on the lack of analysis the hospitality industry is doing on the vast data they create.
  • And Peter O’Connor, of the Essec Business School on how hospitality can be utlising the data more effectively.
 


If you’ve been sent to this page but you’re not yet on the circulation list to receive these regular briefings and you would like to sign up, you can do so here. It’s free.

Video clips produced by yBC.tv for the Hospitality Channel, including interviews from industry conferences such as the most recent IHIF conference as well as specific Hospitality Channel shoots.

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