Focus: Digital Profiling
16 July 2010
Particularly at the upper end of the market, the need for hotels to differentiate is becoming ever more important. One way in which companies are seeking to do this and to increase guest loyalty is by greater customization of services.
Nowadays, most hotels use some form or other of guest recognition program. Movenpick vice president Middle East & Asia, IT, Roger MacFarlaine, has taken this one step further with his development of digital profiling.
“Digital profiling really comes off the back of guest recognition programs. We have a guest recognition program as we know the guest likes red wine and the New York Times, but there needs to be more. A few years ago, I started to come up with the idea of transforming hotels and hotel guests’ room to suit the guests’ specific needs,” MacFarlaine tells Hotel Management Asia.
“What I’m starting to do now is with all our new hotel projects, I’m looking at the network infrastructure, how the wiring should be placed and what systems are required to link the different elements. The three components are: the guest recognition program that captures those preferences; a converged network that aligns and further integrates those IT services; and, middleware software that connect your PMS and your building and your management systems.”
The technology works by recording basic information based on a guest’s prior visit to the hotel, which is transmitted on arrival by the guest to middleware software systems in the room, which then as adapt the room to match the guests preferences.
“As we go into 2010 and the future, it is all about personalization. We want to excite and delight our guest. We want to pamper them and give them a more personal touch than they’ve seen in the past. I think digital profiling enables the technology and enables very progressive network architectural design to pamper that guest, give them that heightened experience and make their stay a more memorable one,” MacFarlaine says.
Watch our video interview with Roger MacFarlaine to find out more about digital profiling and how it can enhance the guest experience.
[Duration of video: 09.24]
Also in the interview, MacFarlaine comments on:
- The growing sophistication of technology
- What he believes will be the next major advance in hotel tech
- How well the hotel sector is keeping up with the pace of technological change
