Selling rooms is no longer enough. Ancillary services provide the opportunity to innovate

Ancillary services, which in recent years have proven to be a key source of revenue for OTAs and airlines, represent the opportunity to increase profits even for the hospitality industry, which should now develop a Post-Covid recovery plan.  

Following the global pandemic, two core concepts have emerged in the hotel industry that must be kept in mind. On the one hand, the crucial role of an effective customer care, which, combined with direct booking, turned out to be essential for hotels in managing the high number of cancellations that followed the health emergency. On the other hand, the increased need for tourism professionals to innovate and adapt their offer to dynamic external changes and new customer needs. 

A strategy that perfectly fits into this context is that adopted by Airbnb, a company that since 2016 has implemented its offer with by developing experiences directly organised by the hosts. At a time when, due to the pandemic, the sale of rooms and even more that of experiences based on human interaction, has suffered a significant decline, Airbnb has turned a problem into an opportunity by leveraging technology to launch online experiences to live at home. In this way, new sources of revenue have been created for the hosts and, in an era of social distancing, unlimited possibilities of human interaction have been provided.  

If this shows how it is possible to create value for the customer despite the global crisis, further proposals for innovation are made by tech companies that offer customization services. One example is iseatz.com, which has developed a software that allows its customers to integrate their tourism offerings with additional experiences and services to increase engagement, revenue and customer loyalty.   

At Twissen we observed how technology is once again an essential tool to face the Post-Covid recovery. On the other hand, it emerges that the hotel sector must become competitive not only by selling rooms, but by integrating its offer with ancillary services that make the customer experience engaging, seamless and personalised.   

Twissen