In recent years, the demographics of travelers have changed dramatically, with Gen Z tourists making up a significant part of the travel market. The Generation Z consists of people born between 1995 and 2012. This is the first generation to be born into a digital world. In other words, the generation grew up immersed with technology from an early age. Although some hoteliers may see this demographic as frugal, this is not the case. Not only do the younger generations have an impact on their parents’ vacation choices, but older Gen-Zers are reported to spend even more than typical visitors. Young travelers, eager to see the world and learn about it, are more inclined to return and invest more in the destination throughout the course of their lives. “Young people see travel as an essential part of their everyday lives, rather than just a brief escape from reality”, according to the UNWTO.
To appeal to the first generation of digital natives, it’s crucial to have as much visibility online as possible, to offer a seamless booking process, and to be able to offer personalized promotions.
Quick Booking
There is a significant distinction between older and younger generations. It’s critical to grasp these distinctions and use them to your advantage. According to research, millennials have a 12-second attention span, whereas Gen Zers have an 8-second attention span. This implies you just have 8 seconds to make a good first impression and persuade tourists to complete the booking process. Your booking process must be smooth in order to accomplish this. Guests must be able to pick a room type, a date, and a payment method easily on your website. The booking engine makes this possible. Booking engines are useful technologies that can be quickly integrated into your website and allow visitors to book straight from your site without having to travel to a third-party website. This enables you to give your visitors the fastest and most enjoyable experience possible. Choosing the best booking engine for your property will not only increase traffic but will also make you and your visitors happier. It’s also a major plus if you can reduce your staff’s burden. With pricing and availability synchronized and updated with each reservation, your staff has more time and energy to focus on other duties, resulting in a better guest experience.
Online Visibility
Your property’s requirement for a strong internet presence is nearly unavoidable. This entails not only having a booking website for your property but also being visible and listed on a variety of online travel agencies (OTAs).
By spreading your presence across various platforms, you are able to reach a larger audience. When it comes to picking an OTA, various nations and areas have different booking preferences, thus it’s critical that your property be featured on those platforms. “Gen Zers turn 31% more to OTAs than they were prior to the COVID-19 crisis.” according to Expedia. Managing your property across several platforms and keeping everything up to date will undoubtedly be challenging and time-consuming. A channel manager will be most useful to you and your property in this situation. A channel manager is a solution that allows hotels to connect to various OTAs and handle reservations and inventory updates from a single platform.
Choosing the appropriate channel manager will not only help you bring in more visitors and increase profitability, but it will also save you time so you can focus on providing a consistent guest experience.
Guest Relationship
Understanding the new habits and expectations of the tourists will assist you in making the best judgments possible. We’ve seen that younger travelers favor companies that share their beliefs and with whom they can connect. GRM (Guest Relationship Management) solutions aid in the development of a relationship with your consumers, which leads to increased loyalty and retention. Repeat consumers are likely to spend 300 times more, according to RjMetrics. Building this bond might be challenging at times, especially during these trying times. Technologies for guest relationship management enable you to communicate with visitors in their native language before they arrive, assist guests with any travel plans they may require, and swiftly and efficiently resolve any customer concerns. You’ll be able to communicate with visitors long after they’ve left your property, which is just as crucial as engaging with them during their stay. Making a positive impression even after their visit is an incredible strategy to make a lasting impact.
Exclusive Services
Despite having a shorter attention span, Gen Zers remember commercial material better than millennials and Gen X. This is crucial for retaining customers and encouraging them to return for more visits. Younger customers have a high degree of brand preference, which means they have a strong emotional attachment to the brands they choose. They are drawn to a brand because of its environmental reputation, customer service, and product uniqueness. Sustainability and eco-friendliness are key themes that should be included in your property in some way. Changes might range from the use of recyclable materials, waste reduction, and the elimination of plastic utensils to nearly anything that demonstrates that your company cares. You should also consider providing customer service and product uniqueness. Being in the hospitality industry, it should go without saying that customer service is one of the top concerns. Product exclusivity, on the other hand, may appear to be more challenging, but it isn’t. Providing your guests with special deals and coupons they can use during the booking process will pique their curiosity. It’s critical to have a promotion engine coupled with your booking process in these situations since the two together will give a quick, straightforward, and rewarding experience. Promotions aid in the creation of appeal and attraction, both of which increase reservations. To catch all sorts of reservations, you must use promotions to your advantage.
Given the pandemic’s irrevocable influence on traveler behavior, the power of Gen Z, and the ever-changing nature of the travel industry, it’s unavoidable that you modify the way you run your business. The more you understand and respond to these trends, the better decisions you will make and focus more of your attention on the matters that matter most. Whether it’s using the booking engine to provide your visitors a more streamlined booking experience, using the channel manager to streamline your operations, or using promotional coupons and follow-up emails to improve your guest engagements. These tools will help you stay on top of the latest trends and attract tourists with a distinct mentality.
By HotelRunner
