The Travelin' Man: Understanding What Travelers Want from a Hotel

The pandemic has forever changed the future of travel. However, the travel demand is up much higher, and new travel trends have emerged since restrictions were relaxed.

The changes include some never-before-seen demands from guests looking to travel in the safest and healthiest ways possible. Present-day travelers focus on contact-less everything, with a clear need for severe social distancing elements.

Have you been searching for new ways to improve the current relationships you have with your guests? If you want to run an efficient hotel and provide a top-notch experience, you have to put yourself in the shoes of each guest. This includes understanding what makes them feel comfortable and safe regarding COVID. But that's not all. There's a lot more to these requirements, and entertainment makes up a good bit of it.

Pay attention to your guests' personality traits. This can clue you into what they might enjoy during a visit to your property.

If you want to follow trends in travel, you need to not only understand what travelers want; you need to understand what different segments of travelers wish. Different demographics require different accommodations and have certain requests and demands when it comes to their safety standards.

This article goes into detail about different segments of customers and how you can keep them satisfied by simply paying attention and analyzing the right data.

What Do Guests Expect the Most Of?

According to studies, the three most important categories when it comes to hotel guests are:

● Cleanliness of the property

● Clear and understandable communication

● Restful sleep environment

Among these three, communication and cleanliness were the two most important. Now that you understand what the three main requirements are, let's take a look at the different market segments these guests belong to.

Different Types of Travelers

Listed below are the primary types of travelers, separated by what they require before traveling. Take note of each of these segments and compare them to your most regular clients. It's important to note that this data isn't guaranteed and is made with various metrics and trends.

Business Travelers

Business travelers want their stay at a hotel to be as easy as possible. Even the most minor inconveniences can de disastrous to their trip. They don't require many additional benefits as far as recreation goes, considering any extra time they have goes towards getting rest and sleep.

To put it simply, the business traveler's experience should go off without a hitch. The stay should be low-key and relaxing. Here's how to give these travelers what they want.

Business travelers want their stay to be easy. They don't have time to deal with the minor inconveniences that some other guests might have. They're usually in a hurry to get somewhere, or they're trying to use their precious free time to catch up on work or sleep.

Here's how you give business travelers exactly what they want:

The process should be fluid and smooth from booking to checkout - an incredibly easy journey from start to finish with no hiccups involved. It's important to remember that a guest experience like this doesn't just happen during operational hours.

Work must be put in behind the scenes as well. Business travelers are likely to have the following requests:

● 5G Wifi. This gives them a new opportunity to take on activities that come with work via their laptops. This also can be supplemented with quality audio and video equipment if you normally have it available.

● App-based customer service. These apps allow customers to choose check-in times, rate housekeeping performance and basically interact with your hotel in every way possible through their cell phones.

What Boomers Want

What do the 50 and 60-year-old retired segment look for? Boomers are known to give possessions more value than experiences. However, this doesn't mean they won't enjoy some sentimental gifts or a good old-fashioned "best the city has to offer’ type of tour." 

These are some of the things they're most likely to want:

● Top-notch VIP treatment. Whether it's a social club type of deal, tickets to a lounge or a concert, or even a smaller comedy club, this will make them feel extremely appreciated. They also appreciate loyalty and rewards programs that give them a chance to rack up benefits.

● High-end designs. Baby boomers are interested in traveling luxury-style. Upgraded packages and suites are right up their alleys.     

Despite the fancy additions you can add to any boomer hotel package, it's important to show value. While they like luxury, they still favor a deal, and won't overpay, no matter how fancy something is.

What Do Millenials Want?

Millennials are a new hot item when it comes to travel. A large part of that comes from the personalization they require during travel. This demographic wants a completely customized experience.

These are the things they're most likely to want or request:

● Customized packages and detailed amenities. It doesn't matter if it's picking upgrades for their room or additional activities, giving this segment of the market different things to choose from is a great idea.

● Give them culture! Anything with higher levels of culture is going to be a hit for millennials. Their trips are all about experiencing things from different perspectives.

● Mobile-first shopping. Most millennials do the majority of their shopping online. Certain hotels include customer service functions as part of their app. What does this mean? It means they get check-in alerts as well as messages alerting them to the fact that their rooms are ready. 

Gen-Z

Gen-Z wants an emotional experience from everything. Their emotional intelligence is incredibly high, according to surveys and studies, and the current cultural shift they're leading is being called a life-changing event.

Here's what they want:

● The best customer service possible.

● A real emotional connection. For a hotel, this means you must replace energetic marketing with different content-based items. They want informative sources of information.

● They want to trust your brand. Honesty and transparency are big for this segment of the market and be sure not to over-embellish any claims you make.

Keeping an eye on different market segments pays off huge when it comes to an understanding of what your guests want. Do your homework, and you should be just fine.

Useful tools that can help you prepare for things guests might want are Google Trends or something similar. This gives you insight into what certain markets are searching for and in what volume.

With your eyes on the right metrics and attention to detail, you can optimize your guest experience and give target demographics exactly what they want, leading to a much better guest experience.

Hotelogix Editorial Desk

Hotelogix's team of researchers and writers are constantly innovating to share the latest trends from the travel and hospitality space. Got suggestions? Write to us on editorial@hotelogix.com.