Big data analytics is a term for the practice of collecting, analyzing, and using large sets of data to make better decisions. The hospitality industry is one that has been historically difficult to manage due to its fragmented and unstructured nature.
However, with the advent of big data analytics, hospitals and other businesses in the hospitality industry are beginning to use data to improve operations, target marketing efforts, and much more.
What is Big Data Analytics
Big data analytics is a term that is used to describe a process that analyzes and interprets large amounts of data to make useful conclusions. The term “big data” describes data sets that are so large that they cannot be analyzed by even the most powerful computers. Instead, big data analytics requires the use of computers with specialized software in order to analyze and interpret large amounts of information.
This allows for the use of multiple tools, including computer programs, statistics and tools such as GIS mapping and geographic information systems (GIS). The worldwide big data market is predicted to expand to 103 billion US dollars by 2027, more than double its current size.
Big Data in the Hospitality Industry
Big data is changing the way businesses across the globe operate, and the hospitality industry is no exception. The rise of smartphones, digital devices, and social media has become a major source of new business leads for hotels. By embracing big data analytics, hotels can effectively adapt to this growing trend and capitalize on these new opportunities.
The hospitality industry is a perfect example of how big data analytics has been adopted in an effective manner, as they were early adopters of this technology many years ago. By using analytics to analyze their customers’ preferences and automate their marketing campaigns, hotels have seen tremendous increases in revenue. In the future, it is likely that big data analytics will continue to play a huge role in the hospitality industry.
Big data analytics are becoming a driving force behind many of today’s newest technological developments. From driverless cars to smart cities, big data analytics have proven their worth as they continue to be implemented in various industries.
As technology becomes more integrated into our everyday lives, it is becoming increasingly clear that the future of big data analytics lies in the hospitality industry.
The three main fields in which big data analytics is used in hospitality include hotel management, property management, and marketing. In each field, they can provide hoteliers with an unprecedented amount of information about their customers and how they interact with their hotels and properties.
Revenue Management
Revenue management is the process of maximizing revenue from a hotel property by using structured and unstructured data to optimize pricing and customer experience. It is a critical part of the hotel industry, as it can have a significant impact on profitability.
The tourism and hospitality industry is increasingly using revenue management techniques to improve customer experience and drive growth.
The worldwide hospitality industry was valued at 3486.77 billion US dollars in 2020, and it was expected to expand to 4132.5 billion US dollars in 2021, at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 18.5 percent.
Local events can have a big impact on customer behavior. Hotel companies need to be aware of this and collect data accordingly. Data security is a big concern for hotel companies, as they need to protect their guests’ information.
Local events can have a big impact on customer behavior. Hotel companies need to be aware of this and collect data accordingly. Data security is a big concern for hotel companies, as they need to protect their guests’ information.
Big Data Examples in the Hospitality Industry
There is a lot of talks these days about how artificial intelligence can be used to help hospitality companies make better use of their data. However, it is important to remember that there are two different types of data that can be used in this way: service usage data and external data.
There are many different ways in which big data analytics can be used across the hospitality industry. Here are some examples.
1. Hotel Management and Operation
Big data analytics can help hotels to more effectively manage their properties and employees, saving them money in the process. This is done by analyzing their customers’ preferences and behavior on a larger scale with software that utilizes machine learning and artificial intelligence to predict what their customers want before they even ask for it.
By doing this, hoteliers can make sure that there is never a time when a hotel room or suite is not properly cleaned and maintained for guests, or when an employee does not know about an upcoming event in their city or town. By 2027, the software segment would be the largest big data market category, accounting for 45 percent of the market.
2. Property Management
Hotels can also use big data analytics to help them with the management of their properties. This can include everything from the location and design of their hotel rooms to the maintenance they provide on their grounds, as well as what type of décor they use to make guests feel more comfortable and relaxed.
Additionally, this type of software can be used to monitor how each room is being used, which can help hotels determine if any particular room needs refurbishment or updating. Essentially, big data analytics give hoteliers an insight into every aspect of how a property is being run and allows them to adjust its operation accordingly.
3. Marketing
A third way that big data analytics is used in the hospitality industry is for marketing purposes. Instead of sending out countless hotel newsletters and arranging for countless pricey ad campaigns, hoteliers can instead use big data to effectively promote their properties.
This is done by analyzing large amounts of customer information, including both personal and business preferences. With this information, they can determine what kind of ad campaigns will appeal to their target audience and when those campaigns should occur so as to be most effective.
To ensure their success, hotels that want to utilize big data analytics must first take some steps in order to ensure that personal information is protected. This is a legal requirement, as well as a risk management one.
In fact, many companies offer businesses their first year of legal compliance solutions at no cost. Many hotels also take extra precautions to ensure that their big data is secure by keeping it off the internet, known as on-premise solutions.
5 Ways Big Data Can Benefit the Hospitality Industry
The global hotel sector was worth $570 billion USD in 2019. Marriott contributed the greatest revenue to the hotel industry in 2018, with $20.8 billion USD.
Service usage data is the data that hospitality companies already have about their own guests and operations. This data can be used to help improve things like customer service and operational efficiency.
Below are 5 important ways that big data can benefit the hospitality industry.
1. Targeted Marketing Strategies
The hotel market is a very competitive one, with numerous hotels vying for guests business by offering different types of amenities and services. One of the most effective ways to learn more about your target audience is by using predictive analytics on your existing data sets, to identify key predictors of customer satisfaction, value, and loyalty.
Predictive analytics can be used to segment your customers based on their needs, in order to provide them with products and services tailored specifically for their tastes.
2. Increase Revenue Streams
Another way that big data can benefit the hospitality industry is by increasing revenues for hotels and other hospitality businesses. Big data analytics can enable companies to understand their guests better by collecting and analyzing their behavior and preferences, in order to make customized offers at just the right time.
For instance, a hotel chain may notice that a customer is likely to check out of his room early in the morning and then return that night after dinner, so they can offer him a discounted rate on the room if he returns at night.
3. Reduce Operating Expenses
Big data analytics can also be utilized to save the hospitality industry a significant amount of money while improving its customer experience by monitoring performance and identifying ways to reduce operating expenses and increase productivity.
For example, hotel chains can use big data analytics to track their employees’ performance and identify where they could stand to cut costs, such as by reducing overtime hours or hiring more staff. Big data can also save companies money by enabling them to optimize energy usage in individual rooms, which is especially important for hotels with a large number of rooms and limited resources.
4. Improved Customer Service
By understanding their customers better through the use of big data, hospitality businesses will be able to provide better customer service. For instance, a hotel may notice that a certain type of customer is likely to smoke in their room, so they could send them an offer to upgrade to a non-smoking room at no additional cost. Another example is getting the right amount of staff on hand during peak travel times, such as the summer months or holiday weekends.
5. Optimizing Staff Schedules
By utilizing big data analytics, hospitality businesses are also able to more effectively schedule staff and resources. A hotel with a very popular nightclub may find that its busiest time is between 10 pm and midnight on Friday and Saturday nights. By analyzing data from the past, they will be able to more effectively plan what days and times of the week to add more staff in order to accommodate the needs of their guests.
Data analytics are becoming an increasingly important part of all industries, as businesses realize that there is valuable information buried within their customer data that can benefit them in a number of ways.
Big data in hospitality can help companies understand their customers better, save money by optimizing operational costs and increasing productivity, improve customer service by providing tailored products and services, and much more.
5 Big Data Analytics Challenges of the Hospitality Industry
By using data to make better decisions, the hospitality industry is beginning to see the advantages of their own use of big data. However, there are still some challenges that need to be overcome in order for businesses and government agencies to fully realize the benefits of big data analytics in the hospitality industry.
1. Conflicting Goals Between Large Companies and Small Hotels
Big data can be very valuable for large hotel chains like Hyatt, Marriot, and Sheraton. By analyzing customer preferences, they can easily serve customers better by targeting them with offers that will appeal most to them and provide a better experience overall. However, some small hotels may find themselves losing business as a result of increased competition from bigger hotels that are using technology more effectively.
2. Lack of Big Data Specialists in the Hospitality Industry
Big data is a relatively new concept, so many hospitality businesses still do not have the staff who are capable of harnessing the power of big data analytics to improve customer service and increase revenue.
This can actually be very beneficial for smaller hotels, which may benefit from their lack of competition against larger hotels and chains that are capable of using predictive algorithms to target customers based on their past spending patterns. However, it will be harder for smaller hospitality businesses to survive if they do not have access to big data specialists with analytics and programming skills.
3. Using Big Data Analytics can Take Time
Big data analytics can be very complicated and lengthy processes that can take weeks or even months before results are fully analyzed. This can be especially problematic for smaller hotels, which may have little to no budget to devote to major improvements, such as purchasing new computer systems or hiring a team of programmers.
However, by utilizing the information management tools available in the hospitality industry today, it is becoming easier for these hotels to make their use of big data analytics a more permanent part of their business plan than it was just a few years ago.
4. Big Data Analytics Raise Privacy Issues
One of the biggest concerns with big data analytics is that the information that hotels collect on their customers can be used to identify and track them, potentially violating privacy laws.
This can include everything from health history to credit card spending habits, so it is important that hotels take the proper measures in order to ensure their customers’ privacy. Some ways they can do this is by anonymizing personal information such as email addresses, names, and phone numbers, or by combining data sets with other companies to minimize the likelihood of identifying a specific person.
5. Big Data Needs More Standardization in Order to be Most Effective
One of the biggest issues facing the hospitality industry today is a lack of standardization in big data analytics. Many hoteliers have already started to utilize big data to some degree, and most agree that large hotel chains will continue to push for the adoption of big data analytics in the future.
However, many hoteliers are concerned over the fact that there is no industry-wide standard for how this information should be collected, stored, and analyzed. This makes it hard for smaller hotels that do not have teams of programmers with talents in machine learning and artificial intelligence to compete with bigger businesses that can collect, organize and analyze their customer’s spending habits on a much larger scale.
5 Benefits of Big Data Analytics for Hoteliers
The travel and tourism industry is one of the fastest expanding, accounting for more than 10% of global GDP.
1. Increasing Revenue
Data is the king of information, and having access to the most up-to-date and relevant data can help a company build a stronger brand. By using big data analytics, hoteliers can optimize their reservation system as well as their marketing campaigns, allowing them to see which marketing techniques are most effective for different types of business.
For instance, if a hotelier suspects that one type of promotional content is more effective than another, they can ascertain which one will be more effective by analyzing data from previous campaigns on those specific channels.
2. Increasing Customer Loyalty
Hoteliers can also use big data analytics to help them with customer loyalty and retention. By analyzing customers’ preferences, hoteliers can cater their services to those of their most loyal guests, causing these customers to return more often.
Those guests who are seeking additional services or amenities will be the most profitable for a hotelier. In addition, using big data analytics allows hoteliers to make sure that loyal guests are treated more favorably by providing them with perks such as complimentary upgrades or even free meals in the hotel’s restaurant.
3. Trend Growth
Big data analytics also allows hotels to grow their businesses by identifying trends and planning accordingly for the future. This gives a hotelier the opportunity to strategize by researching where they want their business to be in the future and creating a plan that will help get them there.
For instance, if a hotelier wants to expand or open additional locations, big data analytics can show them whether or not their target demographic is in the right area. If this is not the case, then using big data analytics can help a hotelier find an alternative area that will provide a better return on investment for the company.
4. Customer Experience Improvement
Big data analytics can also be used to help hotels improve their customer experiences. For example, a hotelier may have a perception that more expensive rooms are more desirable simply because they are priced that way. However, this can be changed by using big data analytics.
By analyzing customer information, hoteliers can forecast how much each room will bring in as well as which type of customer is most likely to book that room. This analysis can help hotels determine which types of rooms will bring in the most revenue and improve their overall profitability.
5. Sustainable Businesses
With big data analytics, hotels also have a chance to become sustainable businesses by making sure that their business model is sustainable over time. For instance, if a hotelier wants to maximize their profits, they can analyze big data analytics to determine what costs are most important. By making changes in their business model that reduce one type of expense and increase another, they can ensure that they have better profitability over time.
Future of Big Data Analytics in the Hospitality Industry
The global big data analytics industry is estimated to generate 68.09 billion US dollars in yearly sales by 2025.
Big data analytics is here to stay. The future of big data analytics in hospitality is likely to build upon the technological advancements that have already been made.
The biggest change that has occurred over the past decade was how data was stored and processed. From the servers to storage, storage capacity, and processing power, companies all over-invested in technology to get a better grasp on their operations and other key business metrics.
Last Updated on October 12, 2023 by Priyanshi Sharma
