I choose this article because customer loyalty is really important in hospitality and it's necessary to constantly find a way to secure the loyalty of the guests.
Expedia is a very good example, as they reward their top customers by upgrading automatically during their stay.
To become a top customer and benefit of this upgrade, you have to book through Expedia at least 15 hotels or spend more than $10,000 in hotels and airfares annually.
Expedia is still working on this program by recruiting new hotels which accept to give free upgrades.
It is a small step but as we all know, it won't be enough. The problem still in the difference way of rewarding offered by different brands and independent hotels. If the traveler is staying in three different hotels and he is rewarding by upgrade and champagne in the first one and we could imagine with chocolates in the last one, it is pretty sure that he won't understand, because he is a top customer of Expedia.
In other words, I would say that Expedia is doing a great job but would it be enough ?
I am still convinced that hospitality and customer loyalty is a story of service quality. Giving amenities or upgrades is an option but a customer grades the entire stay. Even if a guest benefits upgrades, if there only one detail which he didn't appreciate, he won't come.
In Hospitality, the service is the success key. Every employees have to be vigilant each second.
I totally agree with you !! The hospitality and the customer loyalty is a real story of the service quality. I think that what makes the customer loyalty it is not only the amenities or upgrades, but it is how the customer lived his stay. A customer will decide to return in a hotel, only if the entire stay occurred without problem. And, consequently, as you said, the key to hospitality's success is the service; the quality of this service. Thus, the customer loyalty will be done according to the quality of the service offered by the hotel, by its employees.
RépondreSupprimerI totally agree with you too ! The service is the key success of the hospitality industry. If one customer leave the hotel happy with a good appreciation of the hotel then it can be sure that the hotel will "win" ten new guests. However, if a customer leave the hotel with bad impressions then it can cause some damages.
RépondreSupprimerExpedia and all the other companies should make some efforts to make some agreements with hotels, airlines to offer free upgrade or any other gifts to their best customers. It will reinforce the desire to book through expedia and it will definitely reinforce the customer loyalty.